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Photographer’s book focuses on Michelle Obama’s White House years See page B1

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DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 7, 2017

VOLUME 25 NO. 48

KNOW YOUR STATUS

About 15 percent of Americans with HIV don’t know they’re infected, report says BY MELISSA HEALY LOS ANGELES TIMES / TNS

ATLANTA – Half of the Americans recently diagnosed with HIV had been living with the virus for at least three years without realizing it, missing out on opportunities for early treatment and in some cases spreading it to others, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What’s more, of the 39,720 Americans newly diagnosed with HIV in 2015, one-quarter had been infected for seven years or more without knowing they were ill.

Didn’t know

Among all 1.2 million Americans living with HIV in 2015, the CDC estimates that about 15 percent were unaware of their HIVpositive status. Those people are thought to be responsible for 40 percent of new transmissions of HIV, according to the study published Tuesday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is responsible for causing AIDS. Infection used to be considered a death sentence, until antiretroviral medications capable of suppressing the virus came into broad use in the late 1990s. The new report is the latest measure of how well public health authorities are doing at boosting rates of early diagnosis and care for HIV – goals that

PENCHAN PUMILA/DREAMSTIME/TNS

will extend life expectancies for patients and reduce the virus’ spread. For each of the new cases diagnosed in 2015, researchers estimated a rough time of infection on the basis of a patient’s level of disease progression. Based

on patients’ initial count of infection-fighting CD4 cells, they gleaned how long the HIV virus likely had replicated unchecked. A normal range for CD4 cells lies between 500 and 1,500; a CD4 count below 200 brings a diagnosis of AIDS.

Racial differences Although the median time between infection and diagnosis for all Americans was three years, there was considerable variability among patients of different raSee STATUS, Page A2

A suspect in custody Alleged serial killer caught COMPILED FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

FLORIDA SEAFOOD

Still in season

Everglades City calls itself “the Stone Crab Capital of the World.” Crab claws are served in restaurants throughout the world in-season from mid-October to mid-May. KATHERINE RODEGHIER/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

TAMPA – Howell (Trai) Donaldson III, a 24-year-old suspected serial killer who allegedly terrorized Tampa for nearly two months, was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon at the McDonald’s where he worked as a crew leader near the Ybor City neighborhood the murders took place, according to police. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Donaldson handed a manager a bag while he got a payday loan. The manager alerted an officer doing paperwork inside the fast food joint that there was a handHowell Donaldson III gun inside. The officer looked at the .40 Smith and Wesson inside and called for backup just before 3 p.m. Donaldson was charged with four counts of premeditated murder and booked into the Hillsborough County jail at around 3 a.m. Tuesday. Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan expressed gratitude to the fast food tipster. “We got a break. Somebody stepped up and did the right thing,” the chief said. “There’s a lot to go through, a lot to sift through and it’s going to take many things to fall in line.” The police department received more than 5,000 tips during the investigation, Dugan said.

Four dead Benjamin Mitchell, 22, was the See SUSPECT, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

Long prison term for synagogue bomb plotter

Supreme Court allows gun ‘open carry’ ban

NATION | A6

BY JIM SAUNDERS THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Presidents’ daughters defend Malia Obama

TALLAHASSEE – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a challenge to a Florida law that bars people from openly carrying firearms in public, ending a case that started

ALSO INSIDE

FOOD | B5

Holiday appetizers and gifts

nearly six years ago when a man was arrested in St. Lucie County. The court, as is common, did not explain its reasons for declining to hear the case. But the move effectively let stand a Florida Supreme Court ruling in March that said the open-carry ban did not violate the constitutional right to bear arms.

Showed his gun The plaintiff in the case, Dale Norman, was arrested in February 2012 as he openly carried a gun in a holster. Norman, who had a concealed-weapons license, was found guilty of a sec-

ond-degree misdemeanor, with a judge imposing a $300 fine and court costs, according to court documents. Backed by the Second Amendment group Florida Carry, Norman challenged the constitutionality of the state’s longstanding ban on openly carrying weapons. But the state’s 4th District Court of Appeal and the Florida Supreme Court ruled against Norman, leading him to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a petition filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, Norman’s attorneys pointed to major rulings in Second See BAN, Page A2

COMMENTARY: REV. JESSE JACKSON: MY HABITS MUST CHANGE BUT COMMITMENT WILL NOT FALTER | A4 COMMENTARY: BRUCE DIXON: TRUMP’S FCC GIVES MULTINATIONALS EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT | A5

FOCUS

DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 7, 2017

Running to and from church I attend church services about 35 times a year. I go to my neighborhood church every Sunday unless I am not feeling well, working, traveling or visiting some other “holy” place like a mosque, temple, synagogue or an African religious ceremony. As a child, my mother and grandmother insisted that my sister and I go to Sunday school to learn about God and to get some idea about morals and values. Father and grandfather didn’t encourage us as much, but they didn’t discourage us, either.

Two groups If you go to religious places you will realize most of the people there are female. Women attend church the most; contribute more; and they also sing, dance and shout more. But church women have company. It seems two groups of people make quick and sudden dashes to religious gatherings. They are men and women fresh out of bad relationships, and people that participated in failed crimes! No disrespect, but many Black believers in Islam find Allah (God) once they find themselves behind bars! And many women imagine God will send them a “good” man after they’ve made one bad relationship choice after another.

You never know Well, you never know who you’ll fall in love with or where you will fall in love, and you never know where you’ll find God. Some find God in the hospital or on their deathbed. Some find

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

God on the mountain or by the lake. You just never know. I, nor you, have to find your God in a church or any religious building. You shouldn’t run to church because of a bad marriage or relationship. You shouldn’t run to the mosque because you read “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” You shouldn’t run away from the church or run away from God because some fake-ass “social media militant” or false prophet posted something on the Internet that said churchgoers are idiots and fools, or that Jesus or some other historical religious men and women of whatever faith are not real.

God is very real It is the scriptures, the versions and the translations of Godly signs, signals, messages and acts that are not real, in some cases! The Bible is not necessarily “God’s” Word. The Bible is man’s words about God. The Quran is not Allah’s word. It is man’s word about Allah! Put your faith in God, Allah, Jehovah, Oludumare or the name for God that suits you. Believe in God and believe in yourself and the God in you!

Worship, then serve You don’t, or shouldn’t, go to

church to serve God. You go to church to worship God then you go into your homes, neighborhoods and communities to serve your fellow men and women! If you don’t believe or agree with anything you’ve read so far, believe this! I hate it when popcorn- and parking-lot militants suggest all they have to do is change their names to become religious scholars and experts of religious truths and untruths! They take on Hebrew names, Muslim names, African names and other names. They convince you that the name (first name, not the “slave name”) your parents gave you is a bad and undesirable name. That is ignorant, disrespectful to your parents and doesn’t have a damn thing to do with knowledge of God and self!

African origins Now, everyone knows by now that the first woman and man came from Africa. (Don’t take my word for it. Look it up.) The first knowledge of God and the first organized practice of religion also came from Africa. If you take on an African name to suggest you know something about Africa, you should know “real” Christianity originated in Africa, not Rome. The real idiots and fools make posts on social media and make stupid comments about Black people and their religious choices and don’t have a clue about what they are talking about! The Coptic Church of Egypt is the earliest Christian church in the world, going back to around

42 AD. According to Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, as well as Coptic traditions, Saint Mark the evangelist, who wrote the earliest of the four New Testament gospels, was the founder and first bishop of the Church of Alexandria. That’s before the Church of Rome was established, and way before the devilish King James put out his (some say) crazy and wrongful biblical version or translation. So, how can you love Africa and hate the religious origins of true Christian religious beliefs? Whatever your religious belief is – or is not – you must accept the culture of that belief! If you are a Jew, you must accept the culture of Judaism. If you are a Muslim, you must accept the Muslim or Arabic culture. If you are a true Christian, you should accept the TRUE culture of Christianity; and so on, for all other religious practices!

Do some research Islam too has African origins! The social media religious attackers should read the book “African Origins of the Major Western Religions” by Yosef A. A. benJochannan and start posting facts instead of fantasy and innuendo! Religious haters should also read “The Book of the Dead (The Papyrus of Ani)” if they can put down their smartphones for a minute. Anyway, even though I attend my neighborhood church almost every Sunday, I am not a member of the church. I don’t participate in any of the symbolic activities such as communion. I don’t go to church for the denomination, the preacher, the choir, the grape juice and crackers or any of that. I go to church-

es, mosques etc., to worship. Most of the time I worship God at home, or wherever I am. I get along with people of all faiths (or non-faiths). I took theology in college and studied and researched many religions, but everyone must believe or not believe what is best for them,

My personal beliefs I am most comfortable worshiping with true African religious believers. My personal religious leader was (Silo Crespo) the late Baba Omi Ademi, formerly a chief in the Yoruba culture and priest of Yemanja (Babalorisha), ordained Chief Araba of Lagos by Baba Omi Chief Fadunmoya Ademi Awontumba and his Royal Highness Oba Adeyinka Oyekan II, the Oba of Lagos. His house of worship, Temple Unity in Miami, Fla., is the only place of worship I have ever been officially associated with as a member. I accepted God, I accepted Baba Omi Ademi and I accept the true African religious culture! And that is why I respect whatever you believe (or don’t believe), and I despise religious fakers that post and repost spiritual nonsense!

Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere. “Like” The Gantt Report page on Facebook. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants. net.

BAN from A1 Amendment cases from Chicago and Washington, D.C. and argued that the right to openly bear arms exists outside homes.

Not a right

OCTAVIO JONES/TAMPA BAY TIMES/ZUMA PRESS/TNS

The Tampa Police Department investigated the murder of Robert Felton on Nov. 14.

SUSPECT from A1 first victim that kicked off the two months of terror. Monica Hoffa, 32, was killed on Oct. 11 and Anthony Naiboa, 20 was shot to death on Oct. 19 after taking the wrong bus home. Tampa police released chilling surveillance footage on Nov. 15 showing a suspect walking just be-

STATUS from A1 cial and ethnic groups. For instance, half of AfricanAmericans had been infected for 3.3 years when they were diagnosed, while the median time for Whites was 2.2 years. This gap was seen despite the fact that African-Americans were more likely than Whites to have been tested for HIV in the previous year. For Latinos, the median time to diagnosis was also 3.3 years; for Asian-Americans, it was 4.2 years.

Why longer for non-Whites? The authors of the CDC report surmised that the longer diagnosis delay among non-White racial and ethnic groups might reflect an observed trend: For Whites, men who have sex with men are

fore 60-year-old Ronald Felton was killed.

Basketball player Donaldson played basketball for St. John’s University in New York sometime after graduating high school in Tampa in 2011, according to his social media accounts. He studied sports management and in 2016 he allegedly worked as a “guest experience host” for the Mets, according to his LinkedIn page. A records search says his pri-

the predominant sources of HIV spread, but for other groups, sexual contact between men and women is responsible for a higher proportion of infections. Age, too, was a key factor, with older patients more likely than younger ones to go years without knowing they were HIV-positive. Half of newly-diagnosed patients 55 and over were HIV-positive for 4.5 years or more without knowing it. Among those 34 and younger, the median delay between infection and diagnosis was about 2.5 years.

Location matters Fully half of people with undiagnosed HIV infection in 2015 were living in the South, the CDC said. States with the highest rates of undiagnosed HIV infection – between 16 percent and 19 percent – included Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, North Dakota and Wisconsin. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ver-

or criminal record: traffic tickets, three of which were in 2010, when Donaldson III was 17. Those were for a learner’s permit violation, a safety belt violation and speeding. He got a careless driving ticket at 19. He was arrested at least once during his NYC stint, but the 2014 case in Manhattan is sealed, a police source said. Donaldson’s profile on a website for the St. John’s Red Storm men’s team was removed shortly after midnight. Inquiries with the university and baseball team were not

mont and South Dakota and Idaho had the lowest rates, between 5 percent and 10 percent. Overall, the three-year gap between infection and diagnosis actually represents progress. In 2011 – the last time the CDC took such measures – half of Americans newly diagnosed with HIV had been infected for 3.6 years or more. That suggests that public health campaigns started by the CDC, including the “Testing Makes Us Stronger” push rolled out in 11 cities, have made inroads. Two CDC campaigns, launched in 2007 and 2011, set out to encourage testing and early HIV care on the part of AfricanAmericans and Latinos, and particularly among men who have sex with men. Such public health efforts have increased rates of testing among many groups at high risk. Among men who have sex with men, 71 percent told surveyors they had been tested in the last year,

immediately returned. His parents, Howell E. Donaldson Jr. and Rosita Donaldson, own a cosmetology school and run a nonprofit that helps give job and financial life skills education to the homeless and low-income families.

David J. Neal of the Miami Herald and Elizabeth Elizalde, Kate Feldman, Nicole Hensley and Stephen Rex Brown of the New York Daily News / TNS all contributed to this report.

as did 58 percent of people who inject drugs. Only 41 percent of heterosexual Americans at increased risk of HIV infection said they had been tested in the last 12 months.

Now a chronic disease Taking HIV medicine as prescribed allows people with the virus to live a virtually normal lifespan, generally without health complications. Managing one’s HIV infection with medication also significantly reduces the likelihood of transmitting the virus to sexual partners. “The benefits are clear,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. “Prompt diagnosis is prevention. It is the first step to protecting people living with HIV and their partners.” The CDC recommends testing all people between the age

But attorneys for the state wrote in a brief that the ban does not violate Second Amendment rights, as people can carry concealed weapons if they have licenses. “This (U.S. Supreme) Court has never held that the Second Amendment protects a right to openly carry firearms in public, and the reasoning set forth in pertinent case law supports the proposition that states fully accommodate the right to bear arms when they make available to responsible, law-abiding citizens some meaningful form of public carry,” the state’s brief said. “That is precisely what Florida has done here. Thus, Florida’s law is valid under any arguably applicable analytical framework.” State lawmakers have proposed measures that would allow people with concealed-weapons licenses to openly carry firearms, but the proposals have not passed.

of 13 and 64 for HIV at least once in their lifetime, and people at higher risk for HIV – including IV drug users and sexual partners of infected persons – at least annually. Health care providers may find it beneficial to test some sexually active gay and bisexual men as frequently as every three to six months.

‘Encouraging signs’ Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, the CDC’s director, called the new statistics “more encouraging signs that the tide continues to turn on our nation’s HIV epidemic.” HIV is being diagnosed more quickly, Fitzgerald said. The number of people who have the virus under control is up, and annual infections are down, she added. “While we celebrate our progress, we pledge to work together to end this epidemic forever,” she said.

DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 7, 2017

FLORIDA

Panel in favor of school board term limits Dozens of proposals

Constitution Revision Commission also advances measure to appoint all superintendents BY LLOYD DUNKELBERGER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – School board members would be limited to eight years in office, and school superintendents would be appointed in all 67 school districts under measures advanced Monday by a panel of the Florida Constitution Revision Commission. In a unanimous vote, the commission’s Education Committee backed a measure (Proposal 43), sponsored by Commissioner Erika Donalds, that would impose an eight-year term limit on school board members, who now serve four-year terms without limits on running for re-election. Donalds, a Collier County School Board member, said her proposal was patterned after the eight-year term limit for members of the Legislature, which was adopted by voters in 1992. “Term limits provide fresh faces and new ideas to elected office,” Donalds said. “Longtime politicians become entrenched with the status quo and develop a pride in ownership of the bureaucracy they helped to create and sustain.”

Some opposition Donalds said limiting terms will reduce the influence of special-interest groups in elections and remove the power of incum-

Erika Donalds

Marva Johnson

bency, making it easier for new members to join school boards. But the measure drew opposition from a number of education advocates. Chris Doolin, representing a coalition of 38 rural school districts, said imposing term limits would be “a giant leap” from the current system and could hurt smaller districts where there is “a limited pool of folks willing to run and serve on their boards.” “This proposal is arbitrary,” Doolin said. “It is unfair, and it doesn’t trust the voters.” Andrea Messina, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association, said a review of school board races since 2010 showed 65.5 percent of the races were competitive, with a 41 percent turnover rate. “School board races are some of the most challenged races in the local communities,” Messina

said. “We agree it should be left up to the local voters.”

‘Partially retroactive’ Shawn Frost, chairman of the Indian River County School Board, said he had advanced the idea of term limits because he believed board members should be performing “a public service” rather than looking to establish a career. Commissioner Marva Johnson, chairwoman of the education panel, added an amendment to Donalds’ proposal that would make term limits “partially retroactive.” She said her aim was to start the term-limit clock going back to the 2016 elections even though the proposal, if it is adopted by the full Constitution Revision Commission, will be on the 2018 ballot.

The 37-member Constitution Revision Commission, which meets every 20 years, has the power to place proposed constitutional amendments directly on the 2018 ballot. Its committees are considering dozens of proposals, with the commission expected to whittle the list of ballot measures in the coming months. Any proposals that go on the ballot would need approval from 60 percent of voters to change the Constitution. In a 6-2 vote Monday, the commission’s Education Committee also adopted another Donalds measure (P33) that would require all school districts to appoint their superintendents rather than have them elected. Currently, 26 districts, including all of Florida’s major metropolitan areas, appoint their superintendents, while 41 districts, representing largely smaller, more rural counties, elect superintendents.

Broadening the pool Donalds said Florida is out of step since the overwhelmingly majority of school systems across the nation appoint superintendents. She said only Alabama and Florida still allow elections. Donalds and other supporters also said allowing the appointment of superintendents would broaden the pool of potential school administrators, rather than restricting the job to county residents through the elections process. Pasco County Superintendent Kurt Browning, who is elected, opposed the measure.

“My fundamental concern is the loss of local control,” Browning said.

Stability cited Noting the statewide average for the tenure of appointed school superintendents was about three years, Browning said there is “much more” stability with an elected superintendent, who serves a four-year term. He also discounted the argument that appointing superintendents reduces the politics in the process, noting appointed administrators still need to keep the support of at least three members of a five-member school board. “It is political whether you are appointed or elected,” he said.

May 10 deadline Donalds also asked the Education Committee to delay a vote on a third measure (P32) that would eliminate salaries for school board members. The salaries now average more than $34,000 a year statewide, ranging from $25,413 in Lafayette County to $44,443 in the largest counties. The two measures approved by the education panel next head to the commission’s Local Government Committee. If amendments clear the committees and are taken up by the full commission, they will need support from 22 of the 37 members to be placed on the November 2018 general-election ballot. The commission has a May 10 deadline for finishing its work.

Long prison sentence for synagogue bomb plotter Hollywood man gets at least 25 years, which will include mental health help BY JAY WEAVER MIAMI HERALD/TNS

MIAMI – A Hollywood man who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up an Aventura synagogue suffers from such acute psychosis due to a cyst in his brain that he will be placed in a U.S. prison’s medical facility while serving at least 25 years, a federal judge in Miami ruled Tuesday. James Gonzalo Medina, 41, who was arrested last year on a charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against the AvenJames tura Turnberry Gonzola Jewish Center, Medina will be treated and then likely placed in a general prison population, Judge Robert Scola said. “This is a very, very serious offense,” Scola said, noting that without the FBI’s “intervention,” many Jewish people at the synagogue could have died as a result of Medina’s bomb threat. The actual bomb — sold to Medina in Hallandale Beach by an FBI undercover operative just before the planned terror attack — was a dummy, authorities said.

‘I need help’ During Tuesday’s hearing, Medina, who has a previous criminal history, urged the judge to place him in a U.S. prison’s medical facility so neurological experts can evaluate and treat his brain condition. “I just need help,” Medina told Scola. “I need help, your honor.” Medina said he became a Muslim and lost his wife and children

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

The FBI foiled a plan to blow up the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, above, which is located in South Florida. before he carried out the bomb plot. “I lost my mind,” he said. “I lashed out.” During an earlier plea hearing in Miami, Medina seemed reluctant to accept responsibility for the planned synagogue terror attack, suggesting he was “manipulated” by a federal confidential informant and an FBI undercover employee. But when questioned repeatedly by Scola, Medina admitted he was guilty of plotting the bombing to kill innocent Jewish people with the goal of publicizing the deadly attack to give credit to the terrorist group ISIS.

Avoided life term Medina, who has mental health problems but was found competent to stand trial, pleaded guilty to the weapons of mass destruction charge as well as a hate crime of attempting to damage religious property. But in doing so, he avoided a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. Under the terms of a plea agreement, federal prosecutors

Florida has paid millions in sexual harassment cases THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

The state during the past 30 years has paid more than $11 million to settle over 300 complaints filed by women and men who alleged sexual harassment in the workplace or said they worked in hostile

Marc Anton and Michael Thakur and public defenders Hector Dopico and Eric Cohen jointly recommended a maximum prison term of 25 years.

Treatment first Under a side agreement, prosecutors also said they did not oppose the defense’s request that Medina be sentenced to a prison with a mental health facility for a “provisional” life term so he could receive treatment for his brain condition. But after receiving that treatment, Medina would be transferred back to a regular prison and would only serve 25 years in total, according to the agreement. Judge Scola adopted it on Tuesday. Since his arrest last spring, Medina has been in custody at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami. Dopico highlighted his client’s mental health issues, saying “he has something in his brain that continues to grow.” “The tragedy to this case is that, had this been spotted and removed in 2007, we might not

environments, according to information released Monday. The largest payment on the list, $1.3 million, was made as part of a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Corrections filed by nurses who worked for the department. According to the information, the alleged harassment occurred in 2001, and payment was made in 2007. The list shows that payments were made to employees who worked at a spate of state agencies in addition to the Department of Corrections, including the Department of Health and the Agency for

be here today,” Dopico told the judge.

Undercover probe During the undercover investigation in spring of last year, a federal confidential informant met with Medina and two of his associates and discussed the attack plan on the synagogue for the first time, according to a plea statement and a previous FBI affidavit. Medina initially wanted to execute the rampage with an AK-47 assault rifle but shifted to a bomb plot. In April 2016, Medina talked about the timing of the assault with the FBI informant, suggesting it could be carried out on the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur — not realizing the upcoming holiday was Passover, the documents said. “That’ll be a good day to go and bomb them,” said Medina, who was recorded by the informant. Then, the conversation turned to who would claim responsibility for it. Medina said he liked the infor-

Health Care Administration, among others.

Universities on list The list contains one payment for $165,000 to a woman who filed a sexual harassment complaint against the Florida Legislature. The harassment occurred in 1994, and payment was made three years later. In addition to including complaints against state agencies, the list shows allegations of sexual harassment were made at seven of the 12 state universities – Florida State University, the Uni-

mant’s idea of using the name of a notorious terrorist group — Islamic State, or ISIS — to assume responsibility. “Yeah, we can print up or something and make it look like it’s ISIS here in America,” he said. “Just like that.” ‘Comfortable’ with killing Medina, who told the informant he had converted to Islam four years ago, said the planned attack would inspire other Muslims. “It’s a war, man, and like it’s time to strike back here in America,” he said. An FBI undercover employee introduced to Medina questioned him about his resolve to carry out the deadly plot. “You’re sure this is something you want to do?” the employee asked. Medina answered: “I feel like it’s my calling,” adding that he was “comfortable” with killing innocent women and children. The employee sold Medina an “inert” bomb in a Hallandale Beach parking lot, and together they drove to the synagogue. Medina exited the car and carried what he believed to be an explosive device. He was arrested by FBI agents as he attempted to place it near the synagogue.

versity of Central Florida, the University of Florida, the University of South Florida, Florida Atlantic University, Florida A&M University and the University of West Florida. The information stems from a request made by The News Service of Florida for payments the state made over the past 30 years. While Florida paid $11 million to settle sexual-harassment and hostile-environment cases, it has paid more than $74 million overall to settle nearly 2,100 employment-related claims.

EDITORIAL

DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 7, 2017

Moore loss would be D.C. ‘swamp’ win Voters in Alabama who are being urged to throw Judge Roy Moore under the political bus based on accusations of sexual misconduct – which he has denied – should look at the double standard treatment of the issue in the Washington, D.C. “swamp.” No less than 21 “guilt by accusation” Senate Republicans and the GOP establishment have universally thrown Moore under the bus based on allegations of sexual misconduct against under-age girls – over three decades ago.

No rush to judgment Senate Democrats on the other hand have been less harsh and have taken a more reserved socalled “due process” approach against their colleague, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., accused of various forms of sexual misconduct by four women. One instance was captured in a photo, for which he has apologized, and others which he does not recall. He says he will not resign. Both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have called for a Senate Ethics Committee (“run out the clock”) investigation. His Democratic colleagues get off the hook from passing judgment on him by saying the matter should be investigated by the committee. There have been no calls for him to resign by any of his colleagues –including the Republicans who were so quick to pass judgment on Moore!

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COLUMNIST

Our money used In the U.S. House, Democratic Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., used taxpayer funds to pay off a former staff worker who said she was fired because she refused his advances. Other former staffers have also accused him of harassment. Conyers is the longest serving member of the House and was the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee until he stepped down in the wake of the allegations. As was the case in the Senate, House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and a few other Democrats have called for an ethics committee investigation. Unlike in the Senate, one of Conyers’ Democratic colleagues, Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-NY, has called for his resignation. Pelosi even said that he had “done a great deal to protect women” – obviously not his alleged accusers – and called for due process.

Partisan divide Washington establishment GOP elites, and many Democrats as well, take the word of Moore’s accusers and want him to go away as being unfit. Yet they are not taking the word of either

Trump tweet about Moore tells more about Trump Donald Trump’s psychopathology afoot here is called “projection.” It is defined by people attributing to others traits, faults, and blame that inhere in themselves. And it explains almost every insult Trump has hurled at his opponents throughout this presidential campaign. So when you hear him calling other people crooked, insecure, weak, beholding to special interests, liars, etc., be mindful that he’s revealing self-conscious truths about himself, unwittingly.

Trump does it again With that, here is the typically juvenile way Trump tweeted on Nov. 26 about Doug Jones, the Democratic nominee for Ala-

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

bama’s open seat in the U.S Senate: The last thing we need in Alabama and the US Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISE TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster! Donald J. Trump @realdonaldtrump And, with projection in mind,

My habits must change, but my commitment will not falter After a battery of tests, my physicians have informed me that I am suffering from Parkinson’s disease, the very disease that bested my father. For the last three years, I have felt some of the effects. I have found it increasingly difficult to perform routine tasks. Getting around became more of challenge. Now I know why. Parkinson’s is an incurable, progressive disorder of the nervous system. It affects movement and often mood. More than 1 million Americans live it, with 60,000 diagnosed each year. It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s. Men are more likely to contract it than women; the el-

REV. JESSE L. JACKSON, SR. TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

derly more at risk than the young.

No cure There is no cure for Parkinson’s. But there are plenty of ways to slow its progress. For me, the diagnosis is not a stop sign, but a warning light that I must make lifestyle changes and dedicate myself to physical therapy to slow the disease’s progression.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: ROY MOORE AND THE TRUMPS

Franken’s or Conyers’s accusers and want an investigation. Note that not one Senate Democrat has said Franken is unfit for office and should resign. In the D.C. swamp, accusations of sexual misconduct against Republicans make the accused unfit for office. But such accusations against Democrats merit due process and investigation. What does this have to do with the Alabama U.S. Senate race? Alabama voters should keep this double-standard hypocrisy in mind as they mull over whether to vote for Moore or his opponent, former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones.

Fought the Klan Jones is to be commended for his successful prosecution of two members of the Ku Klux Klan for the bombing of a church in Birmingham in 1963 that killed four little Black girls. That said, and Moore aside, that is no reason to give Jones – who has said that he would have opposed the confirmation of Alabama’s popular Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general – a pass on his leftist liberal political positions which are not reflective of Alabama voters. They should know that Doug Jones is nothing more than Chuck Schumer with an Alabama accent. That’s the argument President Trump should be using against him in the deeply anti-abortion state of Alabama.

Pro-choice Dem For example, on abortion,

here is the unwitting truth Trump’s tweet revealed about himself: The last thing we need in Washington and the White House is a Putin/Bannon puppet who is WEAK on Russia, RACIST on immigration, RECKLESS with our Military and our indispensable allies, CONTEMPTUOUS of the Constitution, democratic institutions, and all norms of civil society, AND WANTS TO CUT TAXES SO THE RICH LIKE HIM CAN GET RICHER. Trump IS a disaster! #IDIOT. — Anthony L. Hall (@whyiHateTwitter)

‘Demonic force’ As you probably know, Roy Moore is the Republican nominee for this open seat. Several women have accused him of preying on them when they were teenagers, including one who said she was just 14 when a then-32-year old Moore sexually assaulted her. Yet Trump is drumming up support for him with that tweet. Political tribalism is tearing America apart. And Trump’s presidency smacks of a demonThis diagnosis is personal but it is more than that. I will use my voice to help in finding a cure for a disease that afflicts 7 million to 10 million worldwide. I plan to visit pharmaceutical companies and research centers to learn what is being done and what is needed to move forward.

Healthcare a right I have fought for universal, affordable health care for years. With Donald Trump’s budget calling for unconscionable cuts in medical research and disease prevention, and with the House Republicans voting to eliminate the tax deduction for families with high medical expenses and continuing to try to roll back health care coverage, millions of families will be injured. Healthcare in this rich nation should be a right, not a privilege. People suffering from cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s and other afflictions should be able to focus on their medical challenges without having to worry about

BILL SCHORR, CAGLE CARTOONS

Jones told MSNBC that he opposes a ban on abortions after the 20th week of gestation which is a bill now pending in the Senate after passage in the House. He went on to say that “I’m not in favor of anything that is going to infringe on a woman’s right and her freedom to choose.” In other words, according to Jones, babies have no right to life until born. He is the perfect poster boy for Planned Parenthood and the abortion rights lobby. Abortion is not the only reason for Alabama voters to vote against Jones. Jones in the Senate would be a victory for the Trump resistance, bringing the Senate that much closer to majority control by Chuck Schumer. That would give GOP Trump obstructionists like Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and John McCain, R-Ariz., to name a few – an ally in impeding

the Trump agenda of rebuilding the military, enacting tax and healthcare reform, bringing more choice in education, controlling our borders and fostering economic growth as well as job creation. These are a few of the real issues that Alabama voters should be concerned with when they vote next month. A Moore defeat would be a victory for the Washington establishment, major media, and the Trump resistance.

ic force designed to have Republicans and Democrats ape the Sunnis and Shias who have been fighting for the soul of Islam for over 1000 years. Still, it is unconscionable even for Trump to think that America would be better served if the Senate has another Republican (who happens to be an unrepentant pedophile) instead of another Democrat (who happens to be more conservative than Ronald Reagan). Which is why it is noteworthy that Trump’s daughter Ivanka has damned Moore by saying, “There’s a special place in hell for people who prey on children,” according to the Associated Press.

‘Special place’

ing Moore. After all, birds of a feather… But many Republican senators are making quite a show of declaring the accusations of sexual misconduct against Moore politically indefensible. They are even threatening to expel him if Alabama voters are morally bankrupt enough to elect him. The problem is that these are the same Republican senators who were themselves morally bankrupt enough to champion Trump when he was just the Republican presidential nominee – despite accusations of sexual misconduct against him, including rape, that were even more politically indefensible. #HYPOCRITES!

This puts an awkward twist on the Trumpian compulsion to project. Arguably, Ivanka was unwittingly damning her own Daddy as follows: “There’s a special place in hell for people who champion men who prey on children for political benefit.” That said, it’s all too understandable that Trump is support-

Anthony L. Hall is a native of The Bahamas with an international law practice in Washington, D.C. Read his columns and daily weblog at www. theipinionsjournal.com. Click on this commentary at www. flcourier.com to write your own response.

going bankrupt. My habits must change, but my commitment will not falter.

Long history On July 17, 1960, I was arrested, along with seven other college students, for advocating for the right to use a public library in my hometown of Greenville, S.C. That day changed my life forever. From that experience, I lost my fear of being jailed for a righteous cause. I went on to meet Dr. King and to dedicate myself to the fight for peace and justice. Now at 76, I’ve come too far to turn back now. I’d still rather wear out than rust out. I will continue to work on behalf of the “least of these.” I’ll continue to try to instill hope where there is despair, to expand our democracy, to comfort the stranger, to free innocent prisoners across the world. As a civil rights advocate, I faced clubs and hoses, jail and hate. As a presidential candi-

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date, I faced a deluge of assassination threats. I’ve been blessed with a long life, while others were taken from us. Each challenge, each threat, each loss only made me redouble my efforts. This diagnosis jarred me, but it won’t knock me down.

Pray for me I want to thank my family and friends who have rallied to my side. I will need your prayers and graceful understanding as I undertake this new challenge. As we continue in the struggle for human rights, remember that God will see us through, even in our midnight moments. These times are troubled. We are tested once more, but together, we will Keep Hope Alive.

The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is president and CEO of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

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DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 7, 2017

EDITORIAL

Trump’s FCC gives multinationals exactly what they want When it comes to the people’s will, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has never been good listeners. The Trump FCC wants to kill subsidies for poor people to pay phone and Internet bills, and remove caps on how much telecommunications companies can charge the families of prisoners to receive phone calls. Its FCC chair used to represent a prison phone company. And they intend to kill network neutrality. Last week, former Verizon lobbyist and current FCC chairman Ajit Pai unveiled the details of the Trump administration’s plan to scrap the network neutrality rules which prevent telecoms from selectively blocking or throttling traffic, from segregating the Internet into slow and fast lanes to favor or penalize customers and content providers according to the whims of corporate “business logic.”

What is it? “Net neutrality” is the legal notion that the Internet should be available to all content, to all technologies, to all messages and to all people, and that nobody has the right to restrict who can send, receive or connect to it. The concept of network neutrality emerged out of almost a century of the peoples’ struggle against the greedy monopoly interests that controlled telephone networks in the US. Phone companies – originally there was only one, THE phone company prohibited devices manufactured by others to connect to phone networks, and refused to build infrastructure out to small towns, rural and poorer urban areas. When neighborhoods and rural communities organized their own phone companies (frequently as cooperatives), the phone company purchased judges, governors, members of Congress and state legislatures to outlaw, prohibit, close them down or confiscate them, and preserve monopolies over communications networks.

Fight against monopolies It was out of these 19th-and early 20th-Century struggles against corporate interests that the concept emerged of phone service – like water, gas and electricity – as a public utility to which everyone, rich or poor, rural or urban, possessed an inherent right guaranteed by regulation in the public interest. When the Internet took off in the early 1990s, the only way to connect to it was through the existing phone networks. So the Internet was initially regulated by the same regime which governed phone service. Greedy corporations whined and chafed and protested. Internet companies demanded to do what phone companies did. (They often WERE the phone companies!) and charge higher fees for long distance as opposed to local Internet.

BRUCE A. DIXON BLACK AGENDA REPORT

They wanted to charge the senders and the recipients of email. They wanted to restrict what kinds of devices connected to “their” Internet, and what software was deployed over it. And most of all, Internet companies insisted that if they were denied the right to privilege their own content and slow down or block that of competitors and those they wanted to shake down, the sacred principles of the free market would be violated and they wouldn’t make any money.

Throughout the year, I have written about the opportunity Democrats have to successfully execute midterm campaigns. In a previous commentary, I asked if Democrats would take advantage of America’s need for strong leadership – or rely on acrimony towards Donald Trump – to engage voters (which many argue was the party’s demise in the 2016 election). Another question that Democrats need to ask themselves is will the party blow this opportunity by taking Black voters for granted – again? It’s an important question that should not be taken lightly. Heavy Black voter turnout ensured victory in the recent elections in Virginia, New Jersey and in numerous local races across the country. Next month’s U.S. Senate race in Alabama will also hinge on Black voter enthusiasm.

Stage is set

No ‘backseat’

Privatization is always theft. In this case, it set the stage for overturning the hard-won legal protections the public had gained in previous decades fighting for public access to phone networks. Industry observers knew by the late 1990s that expansion of fast Internet access would only be possible over existing and new cable networks, not the existing telephone networks, and began tailoring their legal objections to regulation in the public interest accordingly. They began claiming that since “theirs” was increasingly not a wired phone network, the public interest regulations like network neutrality didn’t apply to them.

Sensing the opportunity, candidate Barack Obama declared that he “would take a backseat to no one” when it came to protecting network neutrality. But this was the same Barack Obama who said he’d rein in the oil companies, raise the minimum wage, pass a law to make it possible for people to organize unions and maybe put on some comfortable shoes and walk a picket line. He simply lied. By the 2008 Democratic convention, Obama was declaring himself the candidate of “clean coal.” In his first month as president. he froze the wages of federal workers. He took extraordinary measures to protect BP after the

SEAN PITTMAN GUEST COMMENTARY

It looks easy

JOHN COLE, THE SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE

Under wraps

For most of the 1990s, there was a Democrat in the White House: Bill Clinton. Like Barack Obama, Clinton was first elected with a thumping majority in the House and Senate He lost it after only two years by demobilizing his own base and moving sharply to the right. Clinton’s “reinventing government” initiative required every state, county and local government unit to list parts of their own functions that could be privatized, and begin putting them out to bid. Conceiving, engineering and building the Internet was an exclusive project of the federal government, costing tens of billions of taxpayer dollars and employing thousands of scientists, engineers and construction workers on direct federal payrolls and contracts to design, test and build its backbone which was ready for prime time by the early 1990s. The same crew of neoliberal corporate operatives who wrote and rammed through NAFTA, including Rahm Emanuel and Bill Daley of the Chicago Daley dynasty, crafted the Telecommunications Acts of 1995 and 1996. They privatized the Internet, giving away the American people’s massive public investment to a handful of greedy telecommunications corporations for pennies on the dollar.

Dems can’t forget Black voters in 2018

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: NET NEUTRALITY

By the last part of Georgie W. Bush’s administration, they’d purchased enough FCC officials, judges, federal and state legislators – including most of the Congressional Black Caucus – to make their argument the law of the land. Colin Powell’s son, also a telecom lobbyist was the FCC chair, and his proposals were substantially the same as those on the table today. But it wasn’t a public argument, at least not at first. Telecoms, under the same ownership as newspapers, cable and broadcast media, had no interest whatsoever in letting the public know that the handful of corporation which owned most of the book publishing, broadcast media, wireless, phone and cable network were aiming for dictatorial power over the Internet, too. Consequently there were practically NO stories in corporate news media on the corporate power grab. In dozens of articles in 2006, 2007 and 2008, Black Agenda Report was one of the outlets which explained again and again what was at stake for minority communities, and for everyone if the telecoms were permitted to do away with network neutrality. Despite the mainstream news blackout on the issue, preserving network neutrality and the relative freedom of the Internet became the cause not only of the left and the Democratic party’s mass base, but the cause of millions of ordinary Americans who otherwise supported Republicans. The number of public comments filed in the period leading up to the Bush-era FCC meeting which would have eliminated network neutrality shattered all previous records. So many Republican members of Congress were swamped with such an unprecedented volume of faxes, phone calls and emails from their own base that the White House and congressional leaders feared an open revolt and possible action to make network neutrality the law of the land, even in a Republican-ruled Congress. The Bush White House allowed FCC Chairman Powell to withdraw his proposal.

Rightward shift

age society’s racist elements with dog-whistle politics and divisive tweets. Who can forget his “bothsides” comments following the alt-right protests in Charlottesville? Comments that caused Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck, to resign from Trump’s manufacturing advisory committee. The president has a track record of demeaning Black women: journalists April Ryan and Jemele Hill, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, and perhaps most disheartening Myeshia Johnson, widow of Sgt. LaDavid T. Johnson, one of four soldiers fatally ambushed in Niger. The president also routinely attacks Black men involved in professional sports including Stephen Curry, Marshawn Lynch, and Colin Kaepernick. Not to mention the mothers of the NFL players who chose to kneel before games.

For a political party with a record of passing strong civil rights laws and social programs that have helped all Americans, worrying about Black turnout shouldn’t be a concern. Theoretically, Black voters should be more than willing to vote in 2018, given President Trump’s treatment of the Black community. Consider the record: President Trump hasn’t gone Anger’s not enough out of his way to nominate Black While frustration with Trump’s candidates for administrative or race-baiting may be enough to judicial appointments. dissuade Black voters from castTrump continues to encour- ing their votes for Republicans, it

Deepwater Horizon disaster and handed out hundreds of underwater fracking permits. He never mentioned the minimum wage till he ran again in 2012, and has yet to utter a word about that union card check bill. And his FCC chairs the first six years of his presidency did nothing to advance the cause of network neutrality or protect communities from digital redlining and price gouging. In his last two years, President Obama finally instructed a new FCC chief, who had taken part in writing the disastrous Telecommunications Acts of 1995 and 1996, to come up with regulations protecting network neutrality. But unlike laws passed by Congress, administrative regulations are easily undone by the next administration. On banking, the military budget and other matters, the Obama crew was too lazy, too risk averse and too deep in the corporate pocket themselves to fight for and lock down network neutrality while they had congressional majorities and massive public support. Somebody should go ask TaNehisi Coates why they didn’t address these matters “when they were in power.” So here we are, with a new president, the same news blackout, and the same corporate power grab that was tried nine and 10 years ago. Trump’s FCC intends to overturn the vaunted Obama protections with a majority vote and a stroke of a pen on December 14.

Different time This ain’t 2007-2008, the end of a fatally weakened and discredited Republican White House and congressional regime in which even public knowledge of the power grab was a surprise. Democratic-oriented corporate media, and a good part of the Democrats’ mass base, are consumed with Russiagate and the fake “resistance,” and not interested in stirring people up against corporate rule. Black Democrats on both the federal and state levels have been almost uniquely unhelpful, since telecom corporations used to give them money when few other mega-corporations would. Same with groups like the NAACP and Urban League, and Rainbow/PUSH. Until now, the right-leaning

will be the job of the Democratic Party to produce candidates that can excite constituents and drive them to the polls. African-Americans remain a consistent bloc of Democratic voters, and to take them for granted is no option. Florida Democrats can’t afford any political missteps. In 2018, the Sunshine State will hold key races for governor, the Florida Cabinet, and the U.S. Senate. The outcome of those elections will shape the direction of the nation’s third-largest state for the foreseeable future. In 2018, the party should champion issues that are important to Black voters. In Florida for example, the restoration of felons’ voting rights is a no-brainer since the state’s current restoration policies have silenced more than 20 percent of Florida’s potential African-American voters. Democrats must also find and support qualified Black candidates for public office. The party should work more closely with Black incumbent-candidates and members of the Congressional Black Caucus to develop voter registration drives and getout-the-vote efforts.

public seems may be too absorbed in the polarizing racist theatrics of Big Cheeto in the White House to pay attention to network neutrality. Telecom shills and operatives have stepped up their game, too. The previous record for public comments was 3.2 million. This time there were 22 million comments, many of them with names and email addresses harvested from known data breaches. The New York state attorney general has requested the FCC provide logs that might help investigate the fake pro-corporate comments, but the FCC is not listening. Relief from the federal courts is possible, says FreePress.Net staffer Joe Torres. “You make a new rule, you repeal an old one; you’re required to justify it, and the justifications offered by this FCC, our lawyers tell us, are surprisingly weak…”

Lawsuits filed “There’s litigation in progress over the previous rules, where phone companies opposed the LifeLine program which funds phone and Internet services to some of those who cannot afford them, and over rules that limit how much companies can charge for intrastate phone calls from prisons. The Trump FCC has refused to defend these policies in court... “We’re also energized because in the last 24 hours there have been 75,000 phone calls to members of Congress opposing these new rules. We believe many of them are coming from people put in motion by places like Reddit, which lean rightward, not leftward. So we’re far from dead yet. We’ll be fighting to make our voices heard, whether they want to listen or not.” On December 7, network neutrality advocates will be protesting at Verizon stores nationwide. Click on this story at blackagenda.com to find one near you, or to host one.

Bruce Dixon is managing editor of BlackAgendaReport. com. Contact him at bruce.dixon@blackagendareport.com. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Stay neutral The party can also help itself by remaining steadfast in their policy of neutrality in party primaries. Black candidates should get a fair shot to campaign among Democrats without worrying about overt favoritism from the party. Hiring recognized political consultants of color, putting paid advertising in Black-owned media, and hiring a statewide team that is reflective of Florida’s diversity would also improve Democrats’ positioning in 2018. Next year’s elections offer Democrats their best chance to re-establish political power, a sense of purpose and a chance to govern. If Democrats can figure out how to reach Black voters, 2018 could be the year.

Sean Pittman is the senior partner of Pittman Law Group, a Tallahassee-based law firm with statewide operations that specializes in government, administrative and corporate law. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

NATION

TOJ A6

DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 7, 2017

American once held prisoner in North Korea dies in fire BY LYNDSAY WINLEY AND TERI FIGUEROA SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE/TNS

SAN DIEGO – Investigators suspect the death of a 38-yearold man who was found on fire in the Mission Bay Park area on Nov. 17 was an accident or a suicide, San Diego police said last week. An off-duty California High-

way Patrol officer was driving west on Pacific Highway near Sea World Drive about 11:30 p.m. when he saw the man on fire, homicide Lt. Todd Griffin said. The officer stopped to help, but the man died before he could be taken to a hospital. He was identified as Aijalon Gomes, who had recently moved to the San Diego area from Boston, Griffin said.

Previous suicidal attempts Jacqueline McCarthy, Gomes’ mother, confirmed her son was the same Aijalon Gomes who illegally crossed into North Korea from China by walking across a frozen stretch of the Tumen River in January 2010. He was apprehended by border guards soon after. He was sentenced to eight years of hard

Aijalon Gomes

labor and fined $700,000. “I know it affected him,” she said of her son’s incarceration. McCarthy said her son tried to commit suicide several times before former President Jimmy Cart-

Tennessee university accused of profiling Blacks for drug tests

Malia Obama leaves the State Dining room of the White House on Jan. 12 in Washington, D.C. OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS

BY NIGEL ROBERTS BLACKAMERICAWEB.COM

Presidents’ daughters slam media for Malia Obama coverage BY GLENN BLAIN NEW YORK DAILY NEWS/TNS

NEW YORK – Ivanka Trump and Chelsea Clinton stuck up for another first daughter on Nov. 24, blasting media coverage of former President Barack Obama’s eldest daughter, Malia. President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter tweeted, “Malia Obama should be allowed the same pri-

vacy as her school aged peers. She is a young adult and private citizen, and should be OFF limits.” Clinton, the daughter of former President Bill Clinton, followed less than an hour later with her own tweet urging privacy for Malia Obama. “Malia Obama’s private life, as a young woman, a college student, a private citizen, should not be your clickbait. Be better,” Clinton tweeted.

Seen smoking, kissing The tweets came after a video went viral showing Malia Obama — 19-year-old Harvard University student — blowing smoke rings. She was also recently photographed kissing a Harvard fan at a tailgate party before a football game against Yale. It is becoming common for the children of presidents to rally around each other. Chelsea Clinton earlier this year criticized the Daily Caller for a piece it published in August that was critical of Trump’s youngest son, Barron.

Two African-Americans students at Tennessee’s Trevecca Nazarene University are demanding an apology from school officials after they were allegedly singled out for suspicion of drug use, WSMV-TV reported. “So they get called out, pulled out of bed after midnight, have to submit to a drug test, threatened with a judicial hearing and no apology. No looking into anyone else to see who else it could have been,” Terrence French, a mentor to one of the students, tweeted about the incident.

No Whites questioned French, known as “Cirvant” on Twitter, said his mentee and one of her roommates, who is

er helped negotiate his release in August 2010. “He was a beautiful person,” McCarthy said, later adding, “He was selfless. He was always giving his last to everyone.” San Diego detectives called to investigate don’t believe Gomes’s death was a homicide, but the medical examiner’s office will determine the official cause of death.

also Black, were ordered to take a drug test after a resident assistant smelled marijuana on their floor and searched their room but found no drugs. The racial profiling accusation stems from the resident assistant bypassing the Black students’ two suite mates, who are White. Indeed, the only students questioned and ordered to submit to drug testing were the only two African-American students on the floor. The mother of one of the students took to Facebook to demand justice for them, the NBC affiliate said.

Apology unlikely An apology from the university, however, is unlikely. University officials point to a policy that requires them to conduct a search and a drug test when there is reasonable cause to believe that students are in possession of narcotics. After a meeting with the students and their families, the university said there is “no indication of targeting in this incident,” a statement said. Meanwhile, the mood on campus is tense, a student told the news outlet. He explained that the campus is divided on whether the search and drug tests were racially motivated.

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Jay-Z rakes in Grammy nods See page B3

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA

DEC. 1 – DEC. 7, 2017

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Shooting survivor ready to work again See page B4

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SECTION

White House photographer Amanda Lucidon included a candid photo of Michelle Obama laughing with the first dogs in her new book, “Chasing Light.”

‘CHASING LIGHT’ Photographer releases visual diary of Michelle Obama’s White House years BY CHRISTEN A. JOHNSON CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

manda Lucidon moved in faith. After taking a buyout from her California newspaper job, in 2008 the photojournalist relocated to the nation’s capital, a place she believed would offer “unlimited possibilities.” Lucidon excelled as a freelancer in the competitive D.C. market, earning awards that brought her to the same spaces as influential people in the industry. That’s how she met Pete Souza, the former chief official White House photographer. She remembers leaving an unmemorable impression in the exchange with Souza, so when

he called two years later to ask if she wanted to apply for a job, she thought he had the wrong number. Turns out, she just happened to be right about the possibilities.

Through her lens Lucidon accepted, which made her the only female photographer during Barack Obama’s second term as president. Her new book, which she calls her “visual diary,” debuts a collection of Michelle Obama portraits, and reflects on the many ways the former first lady affected Lucidon’s life. This conversation with Lucidon has been edited for space and clarity. Q: What did you learn from watching Mrs. Obama through your lens? A: That life’s challenges are actually our strengths — they teach us resilience. She shared that with students across the country, and it deeply resonates with me. I learned to be fear See LIGHT, Page B2

See CLASSIC, Page B2

Amanda Lucidon spent four years covering Michelle Obama. Lucidon’s new book includes 150 candid photos, many previously unreleased.

‘Sing, Unburied, Sing’ is a powerful, poignant family story As “Sing, Unburied, Sing’’ begins, Jojo is having a 13th birthday party. This year, he tells us, there is no happiness in his home. Members of Jojo’s Black family – Pop and Mam, the grandparents he adores; Leonie, his decidedly imperfect mother; and Kayla, the baby sister he is determined to protect – are crowded into the bedroom, because Mam is dying of cancer. Hooked on drugs, Leonie is preoccupied with the imminent release of Michael, Jojo’s White father, from Parchman Farm, Mississippi’s penitentiary. Nor can Jojo forget that Big Joseph, his White grandfather, refuses to acknowledge his existence.

vage the Bones, Sing, Unburied, Sing,’’ is beautifully written, powerful and poignant. Every one of her large cast of characters (including two ghosts: Given, Leonie’s brother, who was killed by Michael’s cousin; and Richie, a 12-year old boy, who was sent to Parchman for stealing food for his nine brothers and sisters), is memorable and fully realized. Ward’s theme is compelling. Southern Blacks, she reminds us, must “pull the weight of history” behind them, “like a cotton sack full of lead.” That history, of course, was soaked in racism and violence. As she relates the experiences of Pop, Richie, and Jojo, Ward demonstrates a profound understanding of the resentment, anger, and despair the past and the present stimulated.

Compelling theme

Mam’s life lessons

BY DR. GLENN ALTSCHULER SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

BOOK REVIEW Review of Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel by Jesmyn Ward. Scribner. 289 pages, $26.

Jesmyn Ward’s first novel since “Sal-

When Leonie got her period, at age

12, and began to be hungry for love, we learn as well, her mother told her that the world made fools of the living “and devils them throughout.” Mam believed, however, that a person could navigate the world if she had faith that it was “plotted orderly by divine order, spirit in everything,” and practiced herbal healing. Leonie came to reject her mother’s lessons. “Sometimes,” she tells us, “the world don’t give you what you need, no matter how hard you look. Sometimes it withholds.” In “Sing, Unburied, Sing,’’ there aren’t all that many exceptions to “sometimes.”

‘Magical realism’ In her use of the literary technique of “magical realism,” her terrible honesty about race hatred, and the ferocity of African-American love and loyalty, Ward affirms her kinship with “Beloved,’’ Toni Morrison’s iconic novel. In “Sing, Unburied, Sing,’’ Mam and Pop are exemplary parents. Jojo wonders how Big Joseph could look at Pop, listen to every word he says, “and see anything See REVIEW, Page B2

CALENDAR

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

are $75. Details: Email Collierdst@ gmail.com.

Tampa: The 10th Year Black Business Bus Tours Reunion is Dec. 16 at 9 a.m. leaving from the Bounce Boy, 5008 E. 10TH Ave. Details: 813-3946363 Boca Raton: The Rock the Block New Year’s Eve Party is at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. Performers: Salt N Pepa, Wang Chuck and A Flock of Seagulls. Sunrise: Janet Jackson’s State of the World Tour stoops at the BB&T Center on Dec. 11 and Jacksonville’s Veterans Memorial Arena on Dec. 12. Miami Beach: Catch Ceelo Green on Dec. 15 at the Faena Theater. Kissimmee: Reggaeton Old School is scheduled Dec. 16 at the Silver Spurs Arena at Osceola Heritage Park. Daytona Beach: A Motown Christmas Spectacular is Dec. 16 at The Peabody featuring the Motortown All-Stars and the Marvelettes. Miami: The Art Blues & BBQ Festival is Dec. 2 from 2 to 7 p.m. featuring the Chicago Blues All-Stars, Ike & Val Woods and the Valerie Tyson Band. Location: African Heritage Cultural Arts Center. RSVP at www.ahcacmiami.org Naples: The Collier County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority will present its Red Velvet Holiday Jazz Brunch at 11 a.m. Dec. 10 at the Vineyards Country Club. Tickets

Orlando: Songs for the Soul: An Intimate Evening with Brent Smith and Zach Myers is Dec. 12 at House of Blues Orlando. Hollywood: Kevin Hart: The Irresponsible Tour stops a Hard Rock Live on Dec. 21 and the CFE Arena on Dec. 31. Jacksonville: The Jacksonville Children’s Chorus will present “The Cool Side of Yuletide on Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. at 5 p.m. at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church. Details: Jaxchildrenschorus.org.

DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 7, 2017

DOUG E. FRESH

Keyshia Cole & Friends will be at Jacksonville’s Veterans Memorial Arena on Dec. 29. With K-CI & JoJo, Ja Rule, 112, Doug E. Fresh, Carl Thomas and the 69 Boyz.

Miami: The Great Xscape Tour stops at the AmericanAirlines Arena on Dec. 5 with Xscape, Monica, Tamar Braxton, Zonnique and June’s Diary.

KEITH SWEAT

The Miami Funk Fest is 5 p.m. Dec. 30 at the Miramar Regional Park Amphitheater. Performers: Keith Sweat, Anthony Hamilton, 112, Uncle Luke and Trina.

Clearwater: The Silver Anniversary Celebration of Winter Wonderland is Dec. 2-22 in downtown Clearwater. Free entrance, but a charge for some activities and food. Proceeds help kids in Pinellas County. Details: ccvfl. org. Miami: Lady Gaga’s world tour stops at the AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami on Nov. 30 and Tampa’s Amalie Arena on Dec. 1. Orlando: Catch Jagged Edge with Sammie on Dec. 3 at the House of Blues Orlando. Miami Gardens: Free one-one business consulting sessions are available through December for Miami Gardens residents. Call M.D. Stewart & Associates for an appointment at 305-890-4984.

JODY WATLEY

The Colors of Christmas is Dec. 6 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale. Performers: Peabo Bryson, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., Ruben Studdard and Jody Watley.

and meeting such inspiring people was remarkable. Growing up I saw places like the Great Wall of China in books but never thought I’d go, let alone with Mrs. Obama. I never stopped being thankful for this special position. I felt like, “Wow, what did I do to deserve to be here?”

Documenting history

Amanda Lucidon captures the private and public moments of Michelle Obama.

LIGHT less and willing to try new things. We often don’t try because we’re afraid to fail, but you don’t know you can succeed unless you try. That was my approach with this book. It was a little scary, but I tried it and it’s been amazing.

‘Surreal’ position

REVIEW from B1 but a man.” Jojo, it seems clear, is that parent to Kayla. Leonie, albeit with considerable anger and sorrow, delivers the folk offerings Mam has taught her, so that Given “can pull the veil from her head and let it fall back so they can look upon each other with love, clear and sweet as the air between them.”

The singing Most important, Ward embraces song, a venerable African-American tra-

Q: What did it mean to be a part of history in terms of documenting the first African-American first lady? A: I’ve always been passionate about stories on civil rights and discrimination issues. When Pete asked me if I was interested in applying, I thought, “Absolutely, this is an amazing opportunity,” but I was also thinking, “I’m not a political photographer.” But I was able to connect the dots. Photographing the Obamas made complete sense to me and was totally consistent with my prior work and what I’m passionate about. It was my responsibility to photograph the presidency for history, and I took the role very seriously. It was a new level of recognizing the importance of the photos you were making.

A day’s work

from B1

The new book is a collection of striking and intimate photographs of Michelle Obama coupled with personal reflections and behind-thescenes stories from Amanda Lucidon.

STOJ

Q: How did you feel having this position? A: It felt surreal. Being able to walk up to the White House, a living, breathing museum, every day for four years always felt amazing to me. Witnessing history, flying on Air Force One, traveling to the most amazing places in the world

Q: Describe a typical day. A: We had a schedule and knew the events we needed to arrive for, but days could change and things could pop up. We covered all of the events that happened in the White House, official events that were open to the press and events that weren’t. We also covered domestic and international travel. For big events like state arrivals, we were all there. We’d have someone in the back, and on the sides. We worked together as a team to make sure we preserved and documented history.

Compassionate, funny Q: What was Mrs. Obama like? A: I got to be in this small bub-

dition, as an affirmation of love and family, perseverance in the face of injustice, a way to face life and death. “So many of us,” Richie says, “Hitting. The wrong keys. Wandering against. The song.” Singing, Ward suggests, changes nothing – and everything. The ghosts, victims of starvation, rape, and justice, hover in the trees until Kayla begins to sing.

of the world.” The ghosts “smile with something like relief, something like remembrance, something like ease.” They are gone. Pop, Jojo and Kayla can now return to their house, with Kayla humming and shushing, like she is the big brother and Jojo is the baby, “remembering the sound of the water in Leonie’s womb, the sound of all water.”

No more ghosts

Dr. Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University. He wrote this review for the Florida Courier.

She sings louder, waving her hand in the air, and Jojo savors the moment, “when Leonie rubbed my back, rubbed Kayla’s back, when we were frightened

ble and see that she is all the things everyone hoped: compassionate, thoughtful, kind, nurturing and funny. She loved to have fun, too. I always admired that about her. She had such a serious role but liked to laugh and share light moments with her staff. She’d tell short jokes about me. I’m 5-foot-4-inches, so when I was directing a group photo, she’d be like “Look for Amanda, she’s the little one!” or, “She’s small but she’s mighty!” I’d have to tell her where to stand, too, and it took courage to tell her what to do. At events, she’d always take time to meet people, give a hug, take a selfie, say something encouraging. Seeing her prioritize people was incredible.

Element of surprise Q: In the book, you talk about how it’s easy to make Mrs. Obama the center of every picture, but the real magic happens around the edges. Why do you think people have such big reactions to her? A: It’s her presence, authenticity, humility and how grounded she is that really puts people at ease, yet moves them at the same time. There’s a photo where she’s surprising Turnaround Arts students who were waiting in a room after their White House performance. Mrs. Obama was walking down the hall and says, “Those kids were amazing, I want to say hi. Let’s surprise them!” I slipped in before to get the reaction. She opened the door and said, “Hey everybody, how you doing?” They erupted with joy; it was such raw emotion. If you were just focusing on Mrs. Obama’s face, you would miss those moments. I like looking at how people react to the layers of her.

Favorite photo Q: What’s your favorite photo you took of her? A: I really like the one with Mrs.

Obama and Mrs. Akie Abe, wife of the prime minister of Japan, sitting on the floor petting Bo and Sunny. Mrs. Obama learned that Mrs. Abe loved dogs, so she had them come down and meet Mrs. Abe. They just sat on the floor in their formal attire and (petted) the dogs. It was one of those moments that was so candid it surprised me. Q: I love the one where she’s in the middle with her back turned, and all you see are the faces and reactions of the girls. A: I love that one, too! We met those girls when we went to Liberia and Morocco as a part of the Let Girls Learn initiative. They were a part of a CNN documentary about global girls education, and once the documentary was created, Mrs. Obama wanted to screen it at the White House. We invited those girls to come from Liberia, some had never been out of their town. They were shrieking with joy as they walked through the doors of the White House. All the photos have a story like this.

A Mom first Q: You dedicated the book to your mother and daughter. How did Mrs. Obama influence those relationships? A: Being a mother is another extraordinary experience where I’m learning every day, and appreciating my mother even more because of it. I hung up the picture of Mrs. Obama and her daughters at the Great Wall of China when I was making the book because, at that point, my daughter was only 4 months old. I wanted to be reminded that even though I was working so hard, my daughter was No. 1. Mrs. Obama showed me that despite her important roles as first lady and a professional woman, being a mother was always her first priority. I admire those values. I’m glad I got to learn so much from her.

Jesmyn Ward, winner for Fiction, attends the 68th Annual National Book Awards on Nov. 15, at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. ROBIN PLATZER/TWIN IMAGES/SIPA USA/TNS/

STOJ

DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 7, 2017

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest? E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier. com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/ glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.

FLORIDA’S

finest

Thousands of Caribbean culture lovers converge on South Florida every year before and during the Columbus Day weekend to attend the annual Miami Broward Carnival, a series of concerts, pageants, parades, and competitions. On Carnival Day, “mas” (masquerade) bands of thousands of revelers dance and march behind 18-wheel tractor-trailer trucks with booming sound systems from morning until nightfall while competing for honors. Here are some of the “Finest” we’ve seen over the years. Click on www.flcourier to see hundreds of pictures from previous Carnivals. Go to www. miamibrowardcarnival. com for more information on Carnival events in South Florida. CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Grammy nominations reflect more embrace of hip-hop, diversity Grammy ballot

BY RANDY LEWIS LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Nominees in top categories for the music industry’s major awards; the ceremony will be broadcast Jan. 28 on CBS.

After treading cautiously through the realm of hip-hop for nearly four decades, the Recording Academy belatedly has embraced the genre wholeheartedly in its most prestigious categories for the 60th Grammy Awards, nominations for which were announced Tuesday. Combined, genre stars Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar received 15 nominations, and one-time rapper Childish Gambino, the musical alter-ego of actor Donald Glover (“Atlanta,” “Solo: A Star Wars Story”) received five nods for his more recent, funk-leaning work. Each artist received nods in the top categories of record and album of the year, acknowledging the central role hip-hop and urban music hold in contemporary pop music.

Eight for Jay-Z Jay-Z leads this year’s nomination slate with eight surrounding his “4:44” album, followed by Compton’s Lamar with seven and R&B-pop singer-songwriter Bruno Mars with six.

Album of the year Awaken, My Love! Childish Gambino

Despacito Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee The Story Of O.J. JAY-Z HUMBLE Kendrick Lamar 24K Magic Bruno Mars

4:44 JAY-Z DAMN. Kendrick Lamar Melodrama Lorde 24K Magic Bruno Mars

Song of the year

Best new artist

Despacito Ramón Ayala, Justin Bieber, Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd, Erika Ender, Luis Fonsi & Marty James Garton 4:44 Shawn Carter & Dion Wilson Issues Benny Blanco, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen, Julia Michaels & Justin Drew Tranter 1-800-273-8255 Alessia Caracciolo, Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, Arjun Ivatury & Khalid Robinson That's What I Like Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip

‘Good judgment’ Additionally, nominations in the Grammys’ four general categories of record, album, song and new artist illustrate the broad-based diversity at work in today’s pop music, with nods to artists of color and women, with a notable absence of white males among the top artist nominees. “I think the nominations are a reflection of a very savvy current voting membership who really do have their fingers on the pulse of what is happening in music,” Academy President Neil Portnow told The Times on Monday. “I think they’re also exhibiting good judgment about what represented excellence in music this year.”

Record of the year Redbone Childish Gambino

STEVE RUSSELL/THE TORONTO STAR/ZUMA PRESS/TNS

Jay-Z performs on his “4:44” Tour at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Nov. 22. The artist was nominated this week for eight Grammys. California-born, Georgia-reared Gambino, Georgia-born R&B-pop singer songwriter Khalid, Chicago producer-songwriter No I.D. and St. Louisborn R&B artist SZA tied with five apiece, academy officials announced early Tuesday. Album of the year nominees are Jay-Z’s “4:44,” Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!,” Lamar’s “Damn.,” Lorde’s “Melodrama” and Mars’ “24K Magic.” Contenders for recordof-the-year, which honors vocal performance, songwriting, production and engineering, are Gambino’s “Redbone,” Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s “Despa-

cito” (which also featured Justin Bieber), Lamar’s “Humble.,” Jay-Z’s “The Story of O.J.” and Mars’ “24K Magic.”

‘Despacito’ makes history “Despacito,” one of the runaway hits of 2017 that has racked up more than 4.4 billion views on YouTube for the accompanying video, is the first non English-language song nominated for overall song and record of the year, an acknowledgment of the growing influence of Spanishspeaking musicians, and listeners, in the U.S. today. Nominations for song-

of-the-year, which is strictly a songwriting category, are “Despacito,” “4:44,” Julia Michaels’ hit “Issues,” Logic with Alessia Cara and Khalid’s single “1800-273-8255” and Mars’ “That’s What I Like.” All are collaborations among multiple songwriters ranging from two, in the case of “4:44” (written by Shawn Carter — Jay-Z’s given name — and Dion Wilson), to eight for “That’s What I Like.” Three of those songs focus on social or topical issues such as womanizing (“4:44”), suicide (“1-800273-8255”) and relationship struggles (“Issues”), while two are more light-

Alessia Cara Khalid Lil Uzi Vert Julia Michaels SZA

Graphic: TNS Source: National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

hearted celebrations of the party spirit and romance (“Despacito” and “That’s What I Like”).

for “Rainbow,” her first in five years, and for pop solo performance for her single “Praying”).

Diverse new artists

Jan. 28 show

The new artist nominees also constitute a diverse bunch, from Philadelphiabased hip-hop artist Lil Uzi Vert, Georgia-born military brat Khalid and Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara to the aforementioned SZA and Iowaborn, Santa Clarita, Calif.reared electro-pop singer/ songwriter Julia Michaels. Singer-songwriter Kesha, whose career had been sidelined for years while she has been tied up in court battles with producer Dr. Luke, whom she accused of sexual assault, landed two nominations for pop vocal album

In conjunction with this year’s 60th anniversary award ceremony, the Grammy Awards show will originate this year from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Jan. 28, instead of its usual home at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Grammy Awards are determined by 13,000 voting members of the Recording Academy, which consists of performers, songwriters, producers, engineers, managers, record executives and other industry personnel. Recordings eligible for consideration were released between Oct. 1, 2016 and Sept. 30, 2017.

HOLIDAYS

DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 7, 2017

STOJ

ington High, tried to run, too. A car hit and killed her.

‘A true soldier’ Miami-Dade homicide detectives are still looking for the gunman’s light-colored Kia and Hyundai, which suffered “extensive damage” to the right front passenger-side area. She was rushed to Ryder Trauma Center with four gunshot wounds. “She had tubes down her throat. She couldn’t talk. She was sedated,” recalled her mother, Quatisha Hepburn, 39, recalled. Her recovery wasn’t certain. “The thought of her being paralyzed, it just doesn’t agree me. I get goosebumps thinking of it,’ said her grandmother, Katrenia Hood, 57. “But she came out a true soldier.”

Graduated anyhow

PHOTOS BY C.M. GUERRERO/MIAMI HERALD/TNS

Quanisha Hepburn’s mother shows an x-ray of a bullet still lodged in her 18-year-old daughter’s body.

How to help Quanisha Hepburn Young Miami woman, HOLIDAY CHARITY who survived multiple gunshot wounds, Shooting unsolved ready to get back Hepburn is lucky to be alive. Another young woman – like to work. her, an innocent bystander – was BY DAVID OVALLE MIAMI HERALD/TNS

Quanisha Hepburn loves to move. As a youth cheerleader for most of her childhood, Quanisha moved to the music at littleleague football games, earning dozens of medals and trophies. But at 18, Hepburn had to learn to walk again after a gunman wounded her in a shooting at the Golden Glades bus terminal in North Miami-Dade. Suddenly, just moving was a struggle. But she fought to regain enough strength to make it across the stage to accept her highschool diploma from Northwestern High. Today, seven months after the shooting, Hepburn is stuck in place. She’s still got a bullet lodged in her back from the April shooting, millimeters from her spine. The 18-year-old wants to resume work, but without a car, Hepburn can’t juggle a job and twice-weekly physical therapy. “If I get a car, I can get up and go find a job,” said Hepburn, who lives in public housing in Brownsville. “And when I get a job, if I get a car, I can get back and forth to work.”

killed in the brazen April shooting that remains unsolved. But life still hasn’t been easy for Hepburn. She lives with her parents and two brothers in a cramped apartment at the Annie Coleman projects in Brownsville, a community long hit by poverty and violence. Within two weeks of her wounding, her mother wrecked her car and her uncle was shot and killed in an unrelated shooting. The night Hepburn was wounded was supposed to be a celebration.

Shooter opens fire Earlier that evening, Hepburn’s mom dropped her off at the Golden Glades Park & Ride in North Miami-Dade, a transportation terminal at 16000 NW Seventh Ave. It was a friend’s birthday. Hepburn and a group of young people boarded the bus, which drove to Hollywood beach and back. Music blared. Everyone danced. Just before 2 a.m., the bus stopped back at the parking lot. Hepburn and a bunch of girls needed to use the bathroom at the terminal. But first, they began posing to take photos. Suddenly, a car pulled up and

Appears ‘strong’

Quanisha Hepburn, 18, sits in front of her medals that she won as a cheerleader.

HOW TO HELP

Wish Book is trying to help hundreds of families in need this year. To donate, pay securely at MiamiHerald.com/wishbook. For information, call 305-376-2906 or email wishbook@miamiherald.com. The most requested items are laptops and tablets for school, furniture, and accessible vans.) Read more at MiamiHerald.com/wishbook.

someone inside opened fire.

Prom queen killed Whether they were aiming at the girls is unclear – there were other people in the terminal that morning – but what ensued was chaos. “I was dazed out. I could hear a commotion,” Hepburn recalled. “I could hear people screaming.

The crowd did not know that under her gown, Hepburn was connected to a tube and a bag to collect fluid still discharging from her liver. “She appears to be very strong, willing and determined,” said Denise Brown, founder of the victims advocacy group RJT Foundation, which donated gift cards and flowers to Hepburn’s family. “I actually attended her graduation ceremony – that was a big deal, to see a young woman fight through all of that and still graduate.”

Looking for work

When it first happened, I tried to get up but I couldn’t.” Four bullets hit Hepburn, in the stomach and thigh. Another teen, 17-year-old Danesha Goulbourne, was also shot and wounded. Two other girls were hit by cars as they tried to run from the shooting. Jasmine Dixon, 21, a former prom queen at Booker T. Wash-

5 tips to tackle holiday travel

Still, life has become listless afterward. Before the shooting, Hepburn was working at a nearby Burger King, manning the register and drive-through window. But standing for too long is now uncomfortable, so she would prefer a job that allows her to sit. She has applied to a job at the Amazon shipping warehouse in West Miami-Dade, affixing labels and arranging mail orders. She did an interview, but is still waiting to hear back. “It’s seasonal, but if you show up on time and don’t miss days, you can become permanent,” Hepburn said. That may well happen, Hepburn knows – if she can find steady transportation.

itself along with any associated court costs. Learn more at tikd. com.

Expect the unexpected Odds are high that the busy travel season will bring unexpected delays and traffic jams, whether from accidents, additional volume or adverse weather conditions. Keep an emergency kit in the trunk so you’re ready for whatever unplanned scenario might occur. Protection from the elements such as blankets and extra layers of clothing, as well as snacks and water, are smart additions to the kit. Also include basics like first aid supplies, a flashlight and flares.

FAMILY FEATURES

Its a sure bet that all of the holiday preparation and time visiting with loved ones will have you spending more time than usual in the car. Prepping before you start logging those extra auto hours can help keep the season merry and bright.

Keep essential information handy

Keep your energy up Bouncing from place to place can be a real drain – not just personally, but on your electronic devices, too. Be sure your phones and cameras are ready for the season by carrying extra chargers and connectors in the car. It’s a good idea to have adequate car adapters, of course, but also remember an extra wall charger or two, in case you need to carry a device with low power into your next stop. A portable power supply is also helpful in case your phone (and the wish list it contains) go dead during a shopping session.

Hepburn underwent two surgeries, including one to remove a bullet from her stomach, leaving a long scar that snakes down her belly. Although doctors couldn’t remove the bullet from her back, they’ve assured her the fragment won’t move. In all, Hepburn spent two weeks in the hospital, then was mostly bedridden at her family’s apartment. To graduate, Hepburn took her final school courses online – from her phone, because she has no laptop. But Hepburn didn’t miss out on her senior activities. She was strong enough to attend her prom, albeit gingerly and still wary of crowds. And in June, she walked across the stage at Northwestern High’s graduation.

FAMILY FEATURES

Keep an emergency kit in your trunk so you’re ready for whatever unplanned scenario might occur.

Be aware of heightened traffic enforcement During the holiday season, the police are likely to be out in force so it’s an especially good time to honor speed limits and pay attention to traffic laws. If you’ll be traveling to a different state, it’s also a good idea to research what traffic laws may be different from your state; laws about practices

such as U-turns and right turns on red can vary. If you do end up with a traffic ticket, there are ways to keep the experience from putting a damper on the season. “Most drivers don’t realize that if they simply pay their traffic ticket they’re admitting guilt and can see their insurance rates increase by thousands,” said Louise Finlay, director of marketing for

TIKD, a company that offers consumers a more cost-effective way to handle traffic tickets directly from their smartphones and computers. The company guarantees that drivers who use the service will always pay less than the fine amount. In addition, if points are assessed, the company will reimburse the driver for the amount paid to TIKD, plus pay the fine

Before you set out, create a quick list of information you’re likely to need on your trip. Include nearby loved ones who might be called to pick you up in the event of a breakdown, your insurance agent and any reservation numbers or contact information for reservations such as a hotel room at your destination.

Do an all-over equipment check Before heading out, be sure your vehicle is in good operating condition. Check for proper tire inflation, wiper condition and fluid levels, as well as a healthy battery and functioning braking system.

STOJ

DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 7, 2017

FOOD

B5 FROM FAMILY FEATURES

From savory appetizers to delicious holiday gifts, cheese is a musthave holiday ingredient. These recipes from Chef George Duran, host of TLC’s “Ultimate Cake Off” and Food Network’s “Ham on the Street,” make it easy to elevate your cheeseboard, serve up delightfully delicate puffed pastries or make glass canning jar gifts to give away to guests. Each dish features Jarlsberg Cheese, which was created in 1956 and remains based on the original Norwegian recipe, offering a slightly nutty, mild and delicious taste that helps every dish live up to festive occasions. Best known for its classic wedge, Jarlsberg is also available sliced and in snacks and crisps for simple appetizers, savory sides and even takehome treats your guests will love. Find more ideas to elevate this holiday season at jarlsberg.com. TOMATOES GRATIN Servings: 4 4 tomatoes 2 ounces balsamic vinegar 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 4 ounces, divided 4 garlic cloves, sliced thin 4 sprigs fresh thyme (or equivalent dried) salt, to taste pepper, to taste 2 ounces pine (pignoli) nuts 8 ounces shredded Jarlsberg Cheese Heat oven to 350 F. Cut tomatoes in half. In bowl, whisk together vinegar, 1/3 cup olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper; gently mix in tomatoes. Transfer to ovenproof dish. Place tomatoes cut-side up and bake 15 minutes. In pan, toast pine nuts with remaining olive oil until golden then set aside. When tomatoes are cool enough to handle, remove skins and return to baking dish. Sprinkle tomatoes with shredded cheese. Return to oven and broil about 5 minutes, or until cheese turns golden and bubbly. Top with toasted pine nuts.

Holiday entertaining excellence Savory appetizers, gifts and more CRANBERRY AND WALNUT PHYLLO TRIANGLES Servings: 4 Filling: 1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries 1/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup raisins 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup 1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice Triangles: 10 sheets fresh or frozen phyllo dough 1/3 cup melted butter 2 1/2 cups Jarlsberg Chunk Cheese, cut into 25 cubes 2 cups chopped walnuts Heat oven to 375 F. In saucepan, combine cranberries, sugar, raisins, honey, orange peel and orange

FRENCH-STYLE MARINATED CHEESE Servings: 1 jar 6 ounces Jarlsberg Original, Lite or Hickory Smoked Cheese 2 ounces black or green olives 1 small leek, bulb only (or small shallot) 1 tablespoon fresh oregano or tarragon (or equivalent dried) 1 teaspoon green or black peppercorns 2 sprigs fresh thyme (or equivalent dried)

juice; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature. Carefully lay one phyllo sheet on cutting board and brush with melted butter. Place another sheet of phyllo on top and brush with melted butter. Cover remaining sheets with damp towel to prevent drying out. Position brushed pastry horizontally and cut into five strips. Place 1/2 teaspoon cranberry filling, one cube of cheese and 1/2 teaspoon chopped nuts in lower corner of each strip. Fold dough over filling to form triangle. Fold triangle up then over, forming another triangle. Continue folding to end of strip. Brush top with melted butter and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon chopped nuts. Repeat with remaining strips of dough and remaining sheets of phyllo. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack before serving. Note: If using frozen phyllo dough, thaw in refrigerator overnight.

1 clove garlic 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1glass canning jar Cube cheese and thinly slice olives and leek. Finely chop oregano and peppercorns, and finely mince thyme and garlic. To make marinade: Whisk vinegar with oil, oregano, peppercorns, thyme and garlic. Layer cheese, olives and leeks inside jar. Cover with marinade and seal tightly. Place jar in refrigerator to marinate 1 day. For best results, use within 3 days. HOLIDAY DEVILED EGGS Servings: 12 6 eggs 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1 teaspoon white vinegar 1 teaspoon mustard 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1 cup shredded Jarlsberg Cheese Topping options: Paprika Parsley Bacon

Shredded Jarlsberg Cheese Cooked crab meat Scallions Boil large pot of water. Carefully add eggs and boil on high 2 minutes then simmer 13 minutes. While eggs cook, chop parsley and scallions, if desired. Once eggs are cooked, transfer to bowl of ice water; cool 8-10 minutes. Peel eggs and cut in half lengthwise. Separate egg yolks into another bowl. Reserve egg white halves. Combine egg yolks with salt, pepper, vinegar and mustard.

Add shredded cheese and mayonnaise; mix until smooth. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of yolk mixture into each egg white half. Add toppings, as desired. For classic deviled eggs, sprinkle paprika and chopped parsley over eggs. For a savory alternative, cook four strips of bacon and chop. Top eggs with chopped bacon and shredded cheese. For a unique variation, try topping eggs with cooked crab meat and chopped scallions.

DECEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 7, 2017

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