National News - Page 83

DOJ opens environmental justice probe of Alabama health departments, the first under 1964 law

By Christina Carrega, The US Department of Justice has launched an investigation into whether the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Lowndes County Health Department have put Black residents at a higher risk of disease by failing to properly rid their communities of raw sewage. This is the first environmental justice investigation the Justice Department has conducted under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits recipients of federal funding from engaging in discrimination. Lowndes County is between Selma and Montgomery. Residents of the area, historically called “The Black Belt,” are predominately Black and have a median income

123 years later, a North Carolina Black man killed in a massacre receives a funeral

By Delano Massey, Daniel Shepherd and Theresa Waldrop, Joshua Halsey was murdered in the November 1898 massacre of Black people in Wilmington, North Carolina, by White supremacists. On Saturday, 123 years later, Halsey was honored with a funeral. Halsey’s unmarked grave is the first identified of the victims — thought to be more than 100 by the Third Person Project, a historical research group. There could be as many as 250 victims, John Jeremiah Sullivan, who worked with the project, told CNN. It was the tireless efforts by the project to locate the unmarked graves and no small amount of

North Carolina GOP-controlled legislature approves congressional map

By Kelly Mena, North Carolina’s GOP-controlled state legislature on Thursday approved the state’s new congressional maps, which have boundaries likely to give Republicans an advantage there for the next decade. The state gained a 14th congressional seat after the 2020 census. Ten of the 14 seats will lean Republican, according to the non-partisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project. Republicans currently hold eight of 13 seats. In North Carolina, the legislature is responsible for redistricting, and it doesn’t need approval from the governor for the maps to become law. That means Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is unable to veto the maps. State House Rep. Destin

Officer who responded to Ahmaud Arbery’s shooting testifies what he saw when he arrived on the scene

By Dakin Andone, Christina Maxouris and Devon M. Sayers, Prosecutors in the trial of three White men charged with the killing of Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery called their first witness on Friday, a police officer, after opening statements by the state and defense attorneys. Glynn County Police Officer William Duggan testified he responded to the scene after finishing an off-duty job because he was nearby. He told the prosecution that he found a Black male on the ground and saw other people nearby, who he later identified as the defendants. The officer testified that based on what he observed, he felt Arbery was dead

White House chief of staff ‘confident’ Biden’s administration’s vaccine mandate for private businesses will be upheld

By Jasmine Wright White House chief of staff Ron Klain said he was confident the courts will uphold the validity of the Biden administration’s new vaccine rules that apply to private businesses with 100 or more employees, certain health care workers and federal contractors, after a federal appeals court temporarily blocked the requirements on Saturday. “I’m quite confident that when this finally gets fully adjudicated, not just a temporary order, the validity of this requirement will be upheld,” Klain told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press.” “It’s common sense … If OSHA can tell people to wear a hard hat on the job,

Hotly contested elections shake up local school boards

By Katie Lobosco, After a year of contentious debates over mask mandates, social distancing rules and curriculums regarding race, new candidates challenged incumbent school board members Tuesday in elections across the country. Usually elected and unpaid, members of school boards found themselves on the front line of Covid politics and culture wars. Protests have erupted, shining a national spotlight on local boards that in the past dealt with less controversial decisions about district budgets and staffing. After months of contentious interactions, the National School Boards Association in October asked the federal government to help look into threats against school board members and educators — a

Some companies and states are fighting Biden’s employer vaccine mandate. But local efforts show mandates can work

By Travis Caldwell, With the Biden administration’s new timeline for mandating vaccinations or weekly testing for those working at private businesses with 100 or more employees, critics in the public and private sectors are quickly positioning themselves against the measure. The rules, long-anticipated in an effort to get further ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic that has now killed more than 750,000 Americans since early 2020, will take effect January 4. Multiple states have declared they will take the issue to court. And while some local mandates have shown success in getting unvaccinated Americans onboard with inoculations, a handful of companies and organizations expressed doubts

With a jury now in place, the murder trial in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery begins today

By Christina Maxouris, The trial for the three White men charged in the killing of Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery is set to begin Friday morning, again drawing the nation’s attention to the small-town Georgia case in which race has continued to be a central factor. Jurors — 11 White and one Black — selected in a long and grueling process will decide whether Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., are guilty of malice and felony murder in connection with Arbery’s shooting. They also face charges of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. All have pleaded not

Pfizer says its experimental pill reduces risk of hospitalization, death from Covid-19

By Maggie Fox, and Amanda Sealy,  Drugmaker Pfizer said Friday its experimental pill designed to fight coronavirus reduced the risk of hospitalization and death for high-risk patients taking part in a trial of the drug. The company hopes it can eventually offer the pill, given in combination with an older antiviral drug called ritonavir, to people to take at home before they get sick enough to go to the hospital. A so-called interim analysis — done before the trial was scheduled to end — showed an 89% reduction in the risk of hospitalization or death from Covid-19 if patients got

Mayor signs legislation making Philadelphia the first major US city to ban police from stopping drivers for low-level traffic violations

By Evan Simko-Bednarski, Maya Brown and Emma Tucker, A Philadelphia law banning traffic stops for minor violations is set to go into effect early next year after the city’s mayor gave final approval Wednesday. The law, which passed Philadelphia’s city council last month by a 14-2 vote and has the support of the city’s police department, designates seven low-level violations for which traffic stops are prohibited, including bumper issues, minor obstructions, broken lights and a license plate that is not visible or clearly displayed. “This legislation establishes Philadelphia as the 1st large U.S. city to ban minor traffic stops with the goal

1 … 81 82 83 84 85 … 138

Covering HBCUs and the African American Community

Quick Link

Home
About Us
Sports
Entertainment

Gallery

© 2024 HBCU News Corporation – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.