Florida Courier - March 04, 2016 by Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC

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CELEBRATING OUR 10TH YEAR STATEWIDE!

Women’s History Month: Celebrating notable female accomplishments See Page B1 www.flcourier.com

MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

VOLUME 24 NO. 10

STILL PLEADING OUR CAUSE Media professionals considered the Florida Courier a dead man walking when it was launched as a statewide Black weekly newspaper on March 3, 2006. Exactly 521 weekly issues later, we’re still here – and still having impact. BY CHARLES W. CHERRY II FLORIDA COURIER PUBLISHER

‘Rape kit’ bill on governor’s desk BY MARGIE MENZEL THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – State lawmakers Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that would establish time limits for DNA testing in suspected rape cases, following revelations that thousands of evidence kits remain untested statewide. The House unanimously passed the bill (SB 636), which was approved by the Senate last week and now goes to Gov. Rick Scott. The bill would establish time limits for local law-enforcement agencies to submit sexual-assault evidence kits – known as “rape kits” – to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for testing. The agencies would have to submit the evidence within 30 days of the beginning of their investigations or after being notified by victims or victims’ representatives that they wish the evidence to be tested. Forensic testing by FDLE’s statewide crime lab would have to occur within 120 days of submission.

See VOTE, Page A2

Fast-tracking testing

front-page article on Dec. 17, 2005 in the St. Petersburg Times essentially introduced the statewide Florida Courier to the world. The introductions were not welcoming, to say the least. “At a time when big newspaper chains have announced space cutbacks, shrinking circulation numbers and massive layoffs, the Cherry brothers will stake their family-owned company’s future on a corner of the media business increasingly seen as outmoded and in decline,” wrote reporter Eric Deggans. “In the process, they will create a type of publication that exists almost nowhere else in the nation - a statewide newspaper focused on Florida’s nearly 3-million Black people…. One media analyst predicted such a project could cost anywhere from $3-million to $10-million.” Deggans went on to quote another Black newspaper owner who buried the Florida Courier prematurely.

Previously not required Testing DNA evidence could help law enforcement agencies catch rapists and prevent future rapes, but until now, Florida has not required kits to be submitted for testing. That decision has rested with local law-enforcement agencies. House sponsor Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach, Senate sponsor Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, and Attorney General Pam Bondi have contended that setting time limits would solve old crimes and prevent new ones. “These untested rape kits will go in a national database,” Bondi said Wednesday. “Think of the potential for solving unsolved rapes and unsolved murders and other very serious crimes throughout the country.”

Thousands untested Early this year, the FDLE reported that the state had more than 13,000 untested rape kits. The report came after Bondi in September called on lawmakers to See KITS, Page A2

‘Wasting paper’ “According to officials at the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a trade association for blackfocused newspapers, the 25,000-circulation Arizona Informant is the only other statewide, black-focused newspaper in the country. Started 34 years ago, the publication was an attempt to unite the state’s small numbers of geographically separated black people,” Deggans reported. “It’s going to be hard to

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

crack those cities which already have established African-American publications,” said Informant editor Clovis Campbell Jr. “Unless they offer something unique, with some unique information they’re going

to be wasting paper and ink and eventually a lot of money.” And so it was. But a decade ago, the Cherry family knew better. Here’s the story. My father Charles W.

NATION | A6

Thomas breaks silence at court hearing COMMUNITY | B2

EWC frat raises money for Flint residents OBITUARY | B2

Famed ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ dies

Cherry, Sr., who was the founder and publisher of both our family-owned newspapers as well as the key man in all of our existing family businesses, died in 2004 of colon cancer. At See CAUSE, Page A2

Lawmakers back needle exchange program BY JIM SAUNDERS THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Teen ‘doctor’ facing more charges

ALSO INSIDE

The Florida Courier’s first statewide issue was published 10 years ago this week.

TALLAHASSEE – Pointing to a high rate of new HIV cases in South Florida, the House on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that would create a pilot needle-exchange program in Miami-Dade County. The 95-20 vote came after repeated attempts in recent years to approve such a program, which supporters say would help prevent the spread of infectious diseases among intravenous drug users. Senators voted 37-2 last week to approve the bill (SB 242), and it is now ready to go to Gov. Rick Scott.

Clean needles During a lengthy floor discussion Wednesday, supporters said the bill can help with

outreach to people who have drug addictions, including providing information about treatment services. “We can provide clean needles, a smile and offer to help,” said Rep. Cary Pigman, an Avon Park Republican who is an emergency physician. “Maybe we can bring a life up from that pit of darkness and sadness that is addiction.” The bill, spearheaded by Rep. Katie Edwards, D-Plantation, and Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, would lead to the University of Miami operating a program that would allow drug users to swap used needles and syringes for clean needles and syringes. The pilot would expire in 2021 and would be funded privately without state or local tax dollars.

FLORIDA COURIER FILES

Thousands of DNA tests used as evidence is suspected rapes is languishing in police evidence lockers all over the state.

‘About people’ Similar bills had been filed dating back to at least 2013 but did not pass, at least in part because of concerns that lawmakers would appear to be sanctioning drug use. But Rep. Ray Pilon, a Sarasota Republican and former law-enforcement officer, appeared to attempt to defuse such concerns Wednesday. “This is not a bill about crime or criminals,’’ he said. “This is a bill about people.” Rep. Michael Bileca, R-Miami, was the only lawmaker who spoke against the bill. In part, he expressed concerns about the needle-exchange program being operated in mobile units instead of at a fixed location. Bileca was one of 20 Republicans who voted against the bill, including two others – Rep. Manny Diaz Jr. and Rep. Carlos Trujillo – from Miami-Dade County. Other lawmakers, including Edwards, deSee PROGRAM, Page A2

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4 COMMENTARY: RAYNARD JACKSON: DEMS AND GOP CONTINUE TO IGNORE BLACK VOTERS | A5

FOCUS

MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

BUSHwhacked in the presidential race I was sorry to see Jeb Bush drop out of the race for the Republican nomination for president of the United States, but he probably did the best thing. If you don’t know, The Gantt Report is politically independent and doesn’t endorse political candidates unless they are close friends that I know very well. I considered Jeb Bush a friend, but he was not a very close friend. Why am I friendly with Jeb? Well, he won’t say it on Fox News or probably anywhere else, but Jeb Bush endorsed my first book, “I Talked About The Beast.” That book was also endorsed by leaders of The Nation of Islam. More important than that, when I suffered a catastrophic injury in 2002 that caused brain damage, Jeb Bush was the only politician that called the hospital to wish me a speedy recovery.

Not one Even though my company, All

Bush bamboozled LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

World Consultants, helped put many Black elected officials in office and even though I paved the way for many Black lobbyists, I didn’t get a single call from any Black person in public office or from any Black lobbyist I helped to get lobbying contracts. I only heard from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. My company, All World Consultants, also made a lot of money from state government contracts while Jeb Bush was governor. More Blacks, Hispanics, women and other minority businesspersons made more money during the Jeb Bush term as governor than the terms of any other Florida governor in history!

Jeb Bush was bushwhacked and bamboozled by imperialist businessmen that contributed millions to his presidential effort. Jeb Bush fell for the okey-doke! Conservative donors gave money to Jeb. But they also told him how to spend it. Jeb Bush went on the hire some political idiots that didn’t have a clue how to generate votes and support for what I thought was clearly the best Republican choice for the GOP presidential nomination. In nationwide, statewide and local elections, the only question candidates need to ask about consultants and advisors is, “Who can deliver?” The Bush performance in Republican presidential primaries showed that his highly-paid political consultants couldn’t draw flies to an outhouse full of feces! Money can’t buy you love, and money can’t get Republi-

cans elected. Bush should have learned that from the failed Mitt Romney campaign against Barack Obama.

Pleased donors When Bush decided to shy away from minorities that could support him and help him, he shied away from himself, from his wife – a Hispanic – and his mixed-race minority children. He focused on pleasing newage conservative, imperialistic and rich closet Klansmen who only contribute to candidates that hire ultra-conservative political consultants. If Bush had garnered the support of conservative Whites along with Hispanic and Black Republican primary voters, Donald Trump would have been dumped! Also, when not on Fox News, Bush has regularly said he was not a political carbon copy of his father or his brother. He said he was his own man and would preside in his own way. But when the going got tough, the chicken went home to roost. He paraded his brother and other family members around in South Carolina. That decision got him three percent of Republican votes cast and ultimately ended

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION 2016

The Heat get historically hot

his campaign!

Look at yourself You are not like your brothers and sisters. You have your parent’s DNA, but you are not like Mommy and Poppy. If Bush had just said, “I love my family members, but I am not exactly like they are,” he would have fared much better! I’m sorry, but Jeb Bush had to learn the hard way. It’s good to acknowledge and accept your past and your family. But it’s bad to let your family bring you down and bring America down! If Bush would have asked me to help him, I would have. But he didn’t, and I didn’t. My “friend” got clowned in his own circus by Bozo Trump and Clarabelle Rubio. If a fool gets to go to the White House, blame Bush for not doing as well as he could have to win his party’s nomination!

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

PROGRAM from A1

fended the use of mobile units, saying that the needle exchanges must be conducted in places with the largest numbers of addicts.

Other benefits In addition to curbing the spread of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis, support-

KITS from A1

DAVID SANTIAGO/EL NUEVO HERALD/TNS

Miami Heat forward Luol Deng went to the hoop Tuesday as the Heat beat the Chicago Bulls 129111 in Miami. The Heat’s .675 shooting percentage was the best in the 28-year franchise history, as well as the best in the NBA this season.

CAUSE from A1

the time, I was assisting my brother, Dr. Glenn Cherry, in operating Tama Broadcasting, Inc. the owner of nine affiliated FM stations and two AM stations spread across Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

‘What we gon’ do?’ After Dad’s homegoing – after his burial – after everyone went home – we had the proverbial living room conversation that every family business has at this tragic juncture: “What we gon’ do now?” Mom’s answer: “We keep going.” Dad died on a Tuesday. Both newspapers were published the following Thursday and Friday respectively without incident after his death, and a week later after his funeral. (After that, keeping things going was easy.) We decided that I would leave our radio group and step into Dad’s shoes as publisher of both newspapers; Glenn would run the radio group. We also decided that the Florida Courier, which had originally served only Fort Pierce’s Black community since 1989, had to be expanded if staying in the

newspaper business was to be worthwhile. Owning 11 radio stations made us accustomed to thinking big. Mom agreed to use some of the insurance money Dad left her to assist in financing the expansion. We all agreed that Black Floridians deserved a firstclass, well-designed newspaper that used as much color as possible, with a focus on professionally written content without typos, misspellings, and sloppy errors. We used USA Today as our newspaper model. The great staff at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies linked me up with Edward Hashey, a graphic artist who had worked for the Wall Street Journal and other world-class newspapers, as our first graphic designer. And it was on from there. Here’s my message on behalf of the family in the first issue, March 3, 2006: You hold in your hand an act of faith reduced to newsprint, the result of four generations of planning, sacrifice, hope, prayer, education, and work. But we of the Cherry family know the Florida Courier you are reading right now is not a finished product; it is a work in progress, changing, evolving, from issue to issue, year to year, as it has now for almost 20 years. We invite you to be a part of our evolution. Our goal

is to share, among us and with our neighbors, the diverse thoughts, feelings, and desires of Black Floridians throughout this great state, and to inform, entertain, uplift, and challenge you in the process. You won’t like everything we write, or even how we write it. (Our Daytona Times and Fort Pierce-based Florida Courier readers can vouch for that.) We’ll agree to disagree on various issues. But there’s one thing on which you can depend; our story selections and editorial positions are our own. They are not dictated by what happens in Tallahassee, Washington, D.C., on Wall Street, or in courthouses or city halls or corporate offices throughout the state.  We have no personal or political beef with anyone. We retain the absolute right to disagree with anyone, and maybe everyone, on any given issue. And believe me, the disagreements will be made manifest over time. We proudly stand on the 250-year history of the Black press in America. We will continue to advocate and educate, much as we have done over the 30-year course of ownership of our Florida media interests. So contact us. Let us know what you like and what you don’t. But understand we are a familyowned, small (at least right now) for-profit business.

If this newspaper is useful to you, support it by subscribing, by patronizing advertisers and letting them know where you saw their ad, by using us as a vehicle to market your business or event, and by telling somebody about us. But that’s not all. Add us to your prayer/mediation list, as you are on ours. Maybe that way we can assist each other in making the best decisions we can in a world that sometimes seems to teeter on the brink of the abyss. After all, we are all running this race called life daily, and the ancestors are watching.

Around the state When we first got started, I was as busy as a onearmed Jamaican wallpaper hanger. I assigned, wrote and edited stories, proofed pages, and picked up the newspapers from the printer in either Miami or Ocala before passing them off to Glenn, Louis Muhammad, Chicago Jones, and others in our “Underground Railroad” network of stops in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Daytona, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee (which we eventually dropped as being too far away.) On the content side, our first issue reflected the editorial diversity we strive

increase funding for crime labs to address the testing backlog. “It’s momentous that across the board, people recognized that quick processing of these forensic exams is crucial to help and support victims of sexual assault,” said Robin Hassler Thompson, a national expert on sexual violence and a member of the Florida Commission on Access to Civil Justice, referring to the bill’s passage. “It’s obviously crucial to the safety of our entire community.” In its report, FDLE found that kits were not tested for several reasons, including victims declining to proceed with investigations, state attorney’s offices declining to prosecute and suspects

to maintain. We featured “God,” with a long story about Miami-Dade activist Bishop Victor T. Curry, and “Negroes With Guns” – the title of a famous book, as well as a series of articles about Black gun ownership we were to publish nine years later. We had a fine young woman (and a young man) showing some skin as our first “Florida’s Finest” – an idea we got from Jet magazine’s “Beauty of the Week.” We also had comic strips drawn by Black artists; a crossword puzzle for kids; an HBCU sports page; a new car review; and an editorial page featuring both sides of the debate about reparations for slavery.

Back to NNPA Part of my duties and responsibilities also would be to reactivate our membership in the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the Black newspaper trade group. That was a major business decision because NNPA, like many Black nonprofit organizations, has an organizational culture like a small Black Baptist church in which everybody in leadership thinks they know the Lord better than the person sitting next to them – if you get my drift. I was to serve two 2-year terms on the national board of directors. Even-

ers of the bill argued that the needle-exchange program would have other benefits. For example, they said it could prevent children from accidentally stepping on discarded needles in places such as parks. Also, some supporters said the program could lead to savings in health-care costs for the state and the Medicaid program. Rep. Bobby DuBose, D-Fort Lauderdale, pointed to high costs to the public-health system in caring for people with AIDS.

pleading guilty.

‘Crime scene’ Hassler Thompson noted that collecting evidence included in rape kits is a lengthy and difficult process, involving taking scrapings from under the fingernails and other parts of the body. “The victim’s body is a crime scene,” she said. “It’s very invasive, and a victim deciding to do that is taking a very big step after enduring one of the most horrific things a human being can endure.” Some victims do not wish to file police reports. In those situations, the evidence kits may be held by local law enforcement or by rape-crisis centers for periods of time in case victims change their minds. Kits are forwarded to laboratories for testing only if reports are filed and victims have consented to testing.

tually I ran for the national chairmanship against incumbent Cloves Campbell, who trashed us when we first started. (I came in last of three candidates; I was too outspoken.)

Reviewing our progress We’re proud of the issues and stories we’ve focused on statewide for a decade now, starting with our first statewide issue featuring Martin Anderson’s 2006 death in a Florida boot camp. We followed it up for 19 consecutive weeks on our front page. We’ll review some of those high-impact stories over the next year as we celebrate this milestone. Mass media is a collaborative venture. It doesn’t happen without people who do their jobs with passion and commitment, week in and week out. You’ll meet many of them who have “brought us thus far on the way.” So on behalf of the Cherry family and all of the staff of the Florida Courier, we thank you for making us the statewide Black newspaper of record. We’ll continue “Sharing Black Life, Statewide” as long as the Lord wills – and the Everglades don’t rise.

MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

FLORIDA

Another arrest for accused fake teen doctor Judge orders mental health evaluation at Palm Beach center BY ADAM SACASA SUN SENTINEL (TNS)

WEST PALM BEACH – Malachi Love-Robinson, the 18-year-old arrested last month on accusations of impersonating a doctor, has been ordered by a judge to have a mental health assessment. The decision was made Wednesday as Love-Robinson had his firstappearance court hearing after he was arrested again. The mental health assessment will have to be scheduled at the Jerome Golden Center for Behavioral Health in West Palm Beach within the next 48 hours, the judge ordered.

Stolen check charges Love-Robinson, of West Palm Beach, was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on Tuesday night on one count of larceny and five counts of using another person’s identification without consent, records show. The teen’s latest charges stem from allegations that Love-Robinson was cashing checks stolen during house calls he made to an 86-year-old woman who said she found the 18-year-old through an online search. An arrest report released Wednesday said Love-Robinson “criminally used” Anita Morrison’s checking account to make $34,504 toward payments for his auto loans and credit cards. The judge also ordered no drugs, alcohol or weapons for

ADAM SACASA/SUN SENTINEL/TNS

Malachi Love-Robinson, 18, of West Palm Beach, looks over at his grandfather during his first appearance court hearing on Wednesday at the Palm Beach County Court Criminal Justice Complex in West Palm Beach. Love-Robinson. The teen is also banned from practicing “any sort of medicine” while on supervised release and was also ordered not to have any contact with Morrison.

Third open case Love-Robinson’s grandfather

was at the hearing but didn’t speak during the hearing or afterward to reporters. The case is the third open case for the teen, according to the judge. The teen was initially arrested Feb. 16 on a charge of practicing medicine without a license. The arrest came after he gave physi-

cal exams and medical advice to people, including an undercover officer, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said. Following his initial arrest, Love-Robinson was able to bond out of jail. Since the original allegations came to light, Love-Robinson

UF to sell alcohol at football, basketball games BY EDGAR THOMPSON ORLANDO SENTINEL (TNS)

The Florida Gators will sell alcohol at football and men’s basketball games, a dramatic change of course for a school that long frowned on the policy. Sales of beer and wine will be limited to premium seating at the Swamp and of the newly renovated O’Connell Center, the school announced. The SEC prohibits alcohol sales to the general public and UF has resisted selling alcohol at game to anyone in attendance. But other schools in Power Five conferences began to do so in recent seasons as a way to generate a new revenue stream to offset the rising costs in big-time college sports.

‘Amenity’ for fans Former school president Bernie Machen took a much stronger stance on alcohol. Machen wanted UF to be a dry campus and did not like the mon-

Juvenile detention cost split moves forward THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

A Senate committee Monday continued moving forward with a plan aimed at ending years of legal fights with counties about sharing juvenile-detention costs. But Senate sponsor Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, said a key will be getting all counties subject to the costs to agree to drop litigation and create a “clean slate.” Latvala told the Senate Rules Committee that all but two counties have agreed to such a condition, though he did not identify the counties. Monday’s approval by the Rules Committee prepares the bill (SB 1322) to go to the full Senate. The bill would restructure the cost-sharing system for juvenile detention costs, leading to a 5050 split between counties and the state. The legal fights in re-

Florida House backs Everglades ‘Legacy’ bill THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Position change The University Athletic Association is involved in projects totaling around $100 million, including the upcoming $64.5 million renovation of the O’Connell Center. UF noted it now is the sixth SEC school to sell alcohol at football games and the fourth to sell alcohol at men’s basketball games. Last summer, Mike Hill, the University of Florida executive associate athletic director of external affairs, told the Orlando Sentinel selling alcohol was not under consideration at UF. Hill had stated a similar position in previous conversations.

found himself the subject of international media coverage. On Feb. 18, he walked out in the middle of an interview with the ABC television program “Good Morning America” after telling the interviewer he didn’t like the way he was being portrayed.

GARY W. GREEN/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

Florida fans cheer during the Gators’ victory in a previous game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. The fans soon will be able to drink alcohol at games. iker “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” associated with the annual Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville. Machen retired in 2014 and was replaced by Dr. Kent Fuchs on Jan. 1, 2015. On the school’s website, UF stated “beer and wine sales are commonplace on campuses across the country,” with at least 34 schools selling beer at football games. UF stated at least 14 limit the sale to cent years have centered on arguments that the state has shifted too much of the tab for juvenile detention to counties. The effect of the bill is that counties would pay a total of $42.5 million during the upcoming 2016-17 fiscal year, down from $54.3 million this year, according to a Senate staff analysis. The dispute affects 38 counties. The remaining 29 counties are considered “fiscally constrained” and aren’t required to contribute to juvenile-detention costs.

‘Direct primary care’ gets House support In an issue that has received backing from doctors and small businesses, the House on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill that would clear the way for “direct primary care” agreements in Florida. Direct primary-care agreements generally involve month-

premium seating areas. “Providing alcohol in our premium seating areas for both football and men’s basketball was another amenity we wanted to provide to the fans in those areas,” UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley said on the school’s site.

Big sales Texas, West Virginia and Miami are among nine Power Five schools that sold beer to all fans ly payments that patients or their employers make to physicians or other health providers. The payments cover patients’ routine primary-care services, cutting out the role of insurers. The bill (HB 37), sponsored by Rep. Fred Costello, R-Ormond Beach, would make clear that the agreements are not considered insurance and are not governed by state insurance laws – a move that supporters say is needed to allow the agreements to go forward. During a brief discussion before the vote, Rep. Mike Miller, R-Winter Park, called the bill an “important step forward” in providing quality, affordable health care. Supporters have said the agreements could help small businesses that can’t afford to provide full health insurance coverage to employees. They say small businesses could help pay for direct primary care, which would provide routine services. The agreements, however,

last season. West Virginia’s athletic director, Shane Lyons, said last September that “approximately $500,000 a year just in beer comes back to us,” according to a New York Times article published last October. Alcohol sales at UF will end at the end of the third quarter of football games and at the beginning of the second half of basketball games. would not meet coverage requirements under the federal Affordable Care Act. A similar Senate bill (SB 132), sponsored by Sen. Denise Grimsley, R-Sebring, has gone through committees and is ready for the Senate floor.

State agency plans Mexico trade mission Enterprise Florida, the state’s public-private business recruiting agency, is heading to Mexico City. The “Export Development Trade Mission” is May 23 to May 26. A news release noted that targeted industries in Mexico –Florida’s 10th-largest trading partner – include automotive parts, building material, environmental technologies, Internet services, medical devices, security services, telecommunications equipment and transportation infrastructure equipment.

The House voted 117-1 on Wednesday to approve its version of the “Legacy Florida” bill (HB 989), which would provide 10 years of funding for Everglades restoration. The measure will now have to be negotiated with the Senate. The House proposal would provide at least $200 million a year for already-identified projects intended to restore the Everglades. The latest Senate proposal (SB 1168) would provide $145 million in annual Everglades funding and $50 million a year for the state’s natural springs. Also, the Senate bill would provide $5 million a year for Lake Apopka and $5 million a year for Kings Bay or Crystal River. Rep. John Tobia, RMelbourne Beach, cast the lone vote against the House measure, which lawmakers said will reduce the discharge of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee into nearby estuaries. Senators, including bill sponsor Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican who is slated to become Senate president this fall, said Monday they intend to push for higher numbers as budget talks continue. The money for the work would come from the state’s landacquisition trust fund, which is used to carry out a 2014 constitutional amendment that requires a portion of documentarystamp taxes to be set aside for land and water buying and preservation.

EDITORIAL

MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 274 Your humble ‘hosehead’ returns with a vengeance – I am feeling much better after being diagnosed and treated for severe sleep apnea, an illness that has affected my focus, energy, and discipline for years. Simply put, sleep apnea is when you involuntarily stop breathing because your brain doesn’t tell you to breathe, or your throat airway is completely obstructed or greatly reduced, for at least ten seconds at a time. I found out that my body had been starving for air like that at least 50 times PER HOUR for more than a decade. Occasionally, I would stop breathing for 30 seconds or more. Because my brain thought I was dying, it would occasionally force my heart to beat at 160 times a minute. Thankfully, the treatment is simple. I sleep while breathing through a hose and nose mask that pushes regular air down my throat to keep it from closing up. I have to do that every night. I’m Black, male, slightly overweight, and older than 50, which are all individual risk factors for sleep apnea. Brothers, sometimes it’s not lack of testosterone or exercise. It’s not stress, or “just getting old” that causes you to fight daytime sleepiness and fatigue, or take naps when you want to be active. It may be something as simple (and as complex) as not being able to sleep at night! Undiagnosed sleep apnea can cause you to have a stroke or heart attack IN YOUR SLEEP. It killed NFL Hall of Famer Reggie White a few years ago. It’s not something you can diagnose on your own. I’ll write the full story in the Florida Courier in the very near future. Meantime, in the seven days (and counting) I’ve been a “hosehead”– what many people with sleep apnea jokingly call themselves – I’ve gotten three days of at least 7 hours of sound sleep for the first time in years. It makes a difference… Getting what you pray for, Part 1– A whole lotta Democrats are hoping and praying that Donald Trump will be the GOP presidential candidate. If I were y’all, I’d rethink that. Trump in 2016 is to GOP voters what Obama in 2008 was to Democratic voters: a tremendous new-voter turnout machine. Eight years ago, liberals and

QUICK TAKES FROM #2: STRAIGHT, NO CHASER

CHARLES W. CHERRY II, ESQ. PUBLISHER

progressives hated Bush, who many considered a war criminal with blood on his hands – just like conservatives and neocons hate Obama now, who many consider to be a spineless coward. And eight years of Obama is to Republicans what eight years of George W. Bush was to Democrats. Have you forgotten that, as columnist Lucius Gantt wrote, that “every hoe and crackhead wanted to cast a vote for the first Black president?” Well, every redneck and closet Klansman wants to cast a vote for Trump. Meanwhile, Dem voter turnout through “Super Tuesday” was half what it was in 2008, partially because there was a pitched primary battle then between Obama and Hillary Clinton, similar to the GOP primary this year. Democrats underestimate “the Obama effect” on the GOP’s ability to turn out angry Republican voters at their peril… The Black vote: something for nothing… Again. According to some political commentators, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, which was energized by Deltas in the Congressional Black Caucus, was a major contributor to Hillary’s big victory in South Carolina by getting out the Black vote with the support of more than 40 chapters statewide. What did Delta get out of it? Did the Deltas demand that Hillary spend money with Blackowned media, use Black-owned print shops to produce yard signs, and do business with other qualified Black-owned businesses in the state? Not according to Black business owners I know in South Carolina. Deltas, if Hillary wants your support here in Florida, what are you demanding? Same question for any of the other Black “Divine Nine” sororities and fraternities, the Urban League, NAACP, or any other Black organization. You have members that are small biz owners. Are they benefiting from your organization’s sweat and shoe leather expended to give Hillary

The third Reconstruction era Many of us have been thrilled by the video of 106-year-old mentor and school volunteer Mrs. Virginia McLaurin visiting the White House during a Black History Month celebration to meet – and dance with – President and Mrs. Obama. Born a child of South Carolina sharecroppers in 1909, this was a day she never dreamed would come. Moments like these give us a chance to appreciate how much change a citizen like Mrs. McLaurin has seen in her lifetime. When she was born, America was firmly in the grip of Jim Crow, segregation, racial violence and political disenfranchisement that characterized the decades following the initial post-Civil War promise of Reconstruction. She moved to Washington, D.C. in 1941, in time to see the activism of A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and others urging the federal government to desegregate our armed forces and provide more economic opportunity for African-Americans. She saw burgeoning civil rights activities like these surge into a transforming movement across the South, including the 1963

MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN GEORGE CURRY MEDIA

March on Washington, in her new hometown. And she saw the Civil Rights Movement lead to significant changes – enough to allow her to visit president and Mrs. Obama in the White House in 2016.

Where are we today? Many scholars see the civil rights movement as a second Reconstruction era and a second try at rebuilding our nation into one truly committed to liberty and justice for all. But just as the progress of the first Reconstruction was followed by decades of retrenchment and reversal, many of the formidable threats millions of poor children and families of all races but especially children of color face today are very dangerous steps backwards. Unjust racial profiling and killing of Black boys and men by law enforcement officers enjoined

Clinton another political job? Trump victory speech – If you saw the Trump press conference from Palm Beach on Tuesday night, you saw him begin to turn his attention to the general election and Hillary Clinton. Trump said something I noticed. (I also laughed out loud watching New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who wished he was anywhere else on the planet rather than carrying Trump’s political jockstrap – something he is now doing). Trump said that all we had to do was carve off 25 percent of the African-American vote, and he wins. I was shocked, as he’s the first serious GOP presidential candidate I’ve ever heard say publically that he would go after the Black vote. And he’s absolutely correct about the Black voter percentage he needs. According to Cornell University’s Roper Center, George W. Bush got 9 percent of the Black vote in 2000 and 11 percent in 2004. (John McCain got 4 percent and Mitt Romney 6 percent respectively when they ran against Obama.) Can Trump more than double Bush’s Black vote percentage? I say yes. How? He’ll get Bush’s 11 percent, since Obama isn’t running. And he can make up the difference by doing something the GOP hasn’t done to date: putting the money where his mouth is to hammer out the message that Obama left Black America behind, and that Hillary will do the same; by bringing on credible Black surrogates (other than jackleg Black preachers) to stump in the Black community; and reaching out to Black business owners and aspiring Black entrepreneurs. Can he do that? Yes. Will he? We’ll follow his money, because it won’t be cheap. We will let you know… What GOP split? Don’t believe for a minute that any Trump-induced GOP split will be permanent. Republicans have shown consistently that winning is the ONLY thing that matters to them. They will mend fences and win ugly with Trump – especially with the possibility of multiple Supreme Court appointments for the next president hanging in the balance – rather than lose with dignity, character and philosophical consistency to Hillary, to protect them; mass incarceration of people of color – especially Black males; massive attacks on voting rights, which especially impact the poor, people of color, the elderly, disabled and the young; and re-segregating and substandard schools denying millions of poor Black, Latino and Native American children basic literacy, numeracy and other skills they will need to work in our increasingly competitive globalized economy should be siren calls to wake up and fight back.

Second era Past lessons have led some scholars and observers to believe we may be in a second post- Reconstruction Era, fighting deliberate widespread well-funded regression and backlash against progress made. But Rev. William J. Barber II, the head of North Carolina’s NAACP chapter and a leader in the “Moral Mondays” movement, views this historical moment with optimism but urges vigilance. In his new book with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, “The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement,” Rev. Barber argues that the beginnings of a Third Reconstruction are underway – rooted in “fusion politics” that have changed our nation before and can do it again. “The Third Reconstruction” de-

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: MORE MASS SHOOTINGS

ADAM ZYGLIS, THE BUFFALO NEWS

whom they universally despise. A split into a Ted Cruz-led farright Tea Party (that’s the cousin of the Ku Klux Klan) and a “new” moderate/establishment GOP led by Jeb Bush, John Kasich, et. al, would will be great for Black people by reducing or eliminating the stigma associated with being a “new” Black Republican. The “new” GOP could rebrand itself to be more inclusive. But don’t hold your breath. I don’t expect any schism to be permanent… Marco Rubio: His goldentongued mouth has painted him into a corner. If you don’t believe he’s a hypocrite for disowning his own immigration plan that provided “a path to citizenship” for illegal immigrants, you’ll believe it if he soon has to kiss a certain part of Trump’s anatomy (like Christie) in the name of party unity. It’s exactly that kind of self-serving duplicity that people hate about politicians. Trump is kicking down the front gate of the White House because of jokers like Rubio… Gambling and the Seminole Tribe: As of this writing late Wednesday night, the Seminole compact negotiated with Gov. Rick Scott is on its way to failure. When will the current Seminole leadership rebuild the historic coalition that it had with Black Floridians to work together for mutual good? Without that, any agreement with the state will be difficult if not impossible to finalize, because you won’t get Black support for it… To all politicians on the 2016 ballot: Thanks! We get all your press releases and email blasts. But the fact that you have rallies,

scribes how what has become the Forward Together Moral Movement was the outgrowth of several years of theological education and grassroots organizing in North Carolina. That coalesced in 2013 with Moral Mondays, a nonviolent civil disobedience campaign of protests, rallies, and arrests that has been adapted in other states, including Florida, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Ohio and New York.

‘People’s agenda’ The multi-faith, multiracial movement is committed to a 14-point People’s Agenda, including education, health care, the economy and reforming the justice and electoral systems, and is

CREDO OF THE BLACK PRESS The Black Press believes that Americans can best lead the world away from racism and national antagonism when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person. The Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief...that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.

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Many scholars see the civil rights movement as a second Reconstruction era and a second try at rebuilding our nation into one truly committed to liberty and justice for all. But just as the progress of the first Reconstruction was followed by decades of retrenchment and reversal, many of the formidable threats millions of poor children and families of all races but especially children of color face today are very dangerous steps backwards.

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

Opinions expressed on this editorial page are those of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of the newspaper or the publisher.

public appearances, and other events around the state is NOT newsworthy. And unlike the mainstream media, we will NOT cover your political events as news or entertainment, like major TV networks covered Trump. If you MUST say something in the Florida Courier, buy an ad. That’s why it’s called “paid media.” And since you send us your press releases, you already know how to contact us… To Democrats: This is NOT “the most important election of our lifetimes,” and we will NOT editorialize to our readers as such. Black Americans have survived a defective and dysfunctional U.S. Constitution that didn’t include us, domestic terrorism, slavery, Jim Crow, Southern Democrats (“Dixiecrats”) who changed parties to form the modern GOP, the FBI’s COINTELPRO that targeted and killed Black leaders, redlining, gerrymandering, the “Southern strategy,” Ronald Reagan, voter suppression, and the benign neglect of Barack Obama – among other things. We’ve been bloodied and battered, but we are still standing and striving. We’ll survive a GOP presidential victory in 2016…if it happens.

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supported by more than 150 coalition partners. The book describes the historical impact that can occur when people are willing to form strong coalitions for change. The coalition in North Carolina includes progressive people of faith, union members, immigrants, Appalachian workers and many more and may be a model for others committed to racial and economic justice. It is our time. We must all learn from the past to end another era of backlash and backsliding and keep moving forward together.

Marian Wright Edelman is founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund (www. childrensdefense.org).

Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC, P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, publishes the Florida Courier on Fridays. Phone: 877-352-4455, toll-free. For all sales inquiries, call 877-352-4455; e-mail sales@flcourier.com. Subscriptions to the print version are $69 per year. Mail check to P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, or log on to www.flcourier.com; click on ‘Subscribe’.

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MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

Dems and GOP continue to ignore Black voters Another election cycle – another year of Blacks being sold out by their media-appointed leadership. Why am I the only one who seems amazed at how Hillary Clinton is so ostentatiously pimping Black folks for her own personal gain? Clinton has spent more time in the Black community in the past three weeks than she has in her entire adult life and has invoked the name of “Obama” more than the sum total of all Blacks collectively.

RAYNARD JACKSON NNPA COLUMNIST

pointed Black leaders are just happy Hillary shows up to meet with them and take photographs? Isn’t it amazing that she never addresses the high unemployment rate in the Black community? Isn’t it amazing that she never discusses meeting with any Black entrepreneurs? Isn’t it amazing Black Caucus ‘lapdogs’ that she never discusses BlackThe Congressional Black Cau- on-Black crime? cus (CBC), like the lapdogs that they are, have almost uniformly Making a living endorsed her candidacy. All the Blacks she meets with All the media-appointed civil rights groups and individuals make their living off the negative have endorsed her either outright pathologies prevalent in the Black or tacitly. Groups like the Nation- community. If the Black commual Coalition on Black Civic Partic- nity actually started solving probipation, the NAACP, and the Na- lems like unemployment, teentional Urban League are nothing age pregnancy, poor schools, etc., more than sycophantic support- how and where would the NAACP, the National Urban League, and ers of all things Democratic. I have a few questions for these the CBC Foundation get their groups that have blindly sold out funding? How could the CBC justhe very Black community that tify their continued service in the United States Congress? they claim to represent. Observing Hillary’s interaction with the Black community, one Name something would conclude that all Blacks Can anyone name me some- are involved in some aspect of thing specific that Hillary has do- the criminal justice system. As ne for the Black community in her shocking as it might seem to libmore than quarter of a century in eral Democrats, most Blacks have public life? nothing to do with the criminal Why has Hillary, the self- justice system. avowed feminist who is married Yet that seems to be all that to the “first Black president,” not she talks about relative to Blacks. publically demanded Obama Will she ever address how under nominate or even just consider Obama, the continued existence nominating a Black female to the of Historically Black Colleges and vacant Supreme Court seat? Universities (HBCUs) is in doubt? Why is it that the media-apThe average Black voter has

Why do Blacks love the Clintons? Let’s start with another question: Why do the Clintons love Blacks? Pretty simple – they get the vast majority of Black votes. All of those votes and they don’t have to do anything in return. In fact, they use us as expendable creatures. They get White votes by doing harm to us and we offer no payback. When Black voters helped get Bill Clinton into the White House, he quickly moved to the center instead of staying left. He wanted to show Whites that he was indeed White himself and not the “first Black President” as we started to call him.

Tough man He wanted to prove that he can be tough on crime. One of his last acts as governor of Arkansas was to execute a seriously retarded Black man. He remarked after the execution, “I can be nicked a lot, but no one can say I’m soft on crime.” That was just the beginning. Within two years he signed a $30 billion crime bill which started a

Here’s why If the compact is approved as it is proposed, the Tribe has the exclusive right to add blackjack, craps and roulette at each of its seven casinos. If the Senate bill passes, pari-mutuels in six counties including Palm Beach, Lee, Brevard, Washington, Hamilton and Gadsden would be applying to install up to 2,000 slot machines in their facilities. They could also cease their racing or live events and essentially become 24-houra-day casinos.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: MARCO RUBIO VS. DONALD TRUMP

no allegiance to Hillary and the Democratic Party; this is why I am so frustrated with the Republican Party.

Open to GOP The average Black voter is open to Republican solutions to Black unemployment, stronger enforcement of housing discrimination laws, school choice, civil and voting rights legislation, etc. The Republican Congress must begin to engage with Blacks on substantive policy issues. Republican presidential candidates must begin to discuss Black entrepreneurship, school choice, and racial disparities with an eye towards proffering solutions. We already know that Hillary and the Democrats will use fear to try to get Black voter turnout up. They know they have nothing of substance to say to motivate Blacks to vote Democrat, but they also know that Republicans are totally inept when it comes to engaging with the Black community. Democrats will use the usual mantras: “Republicans want to suppress the Black vote; they want to repeal civil rights laws; they want to build more jails for Blacks,” etc. None of these accusations are rooted in fact.

Demand fairness

DARYL CAGLE, CAGLECARTOONS.COM

agree to put Black Republicans on their various panels throughout the week of their meetings. To my astonishment, their response is, “We can’t do that. We need them more than they need us.” Let me interpret that statement for you. They are afraid to play hardball with Black groups because they “may” be called racist by the liberal media. I am amazed at how much of the interactions Republicans have with the Black community is out of fear of being labeled a racist, as opposed to engaging with the Black community based on a set of shared values and interests. Between both political parties, there have been close to 20 presidential debates, and no substantive discussion on the Black unemployment rate, the decline of HBCUs, or Black entrepreneurship. Why?

Republicans will reflexively go to all the liberal Black conventions (NAACP, Urban League, etc.) in their bizarre attempt to prove they are not racist; but they never demand any concessions from these groups like they would Black media invisible from a White group. I have constantly advised ReBlack media, especially Black publicans to refuse to speak to any newspapers, are totally invisible Black conventions unless they in the presidential debates in both

parties. Both parties are tripping over themselves with Hispanic media and addressing issues specific to that community; but with Blacks, not so much. This despite the fact that Blacks vote at a much higher percentage than Hispanics and Blacks have a much larger voting-age population. Both parties fear Black people. The Democrats fear that Blacks won’t turn out without Obama being on the ballot; Republicans fear Blacks won’t vote for a Republican. Both are equally wrong.

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC, a D.C.public relations/government affairs firm. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

world in incarceration rates. It gets worse! Hillary steps in and is quoted: “They are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are often the kinds of kids that are called ‘super-predators.’ No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel.” In essence, they were wild animals. Then came HUD. No one with a drug felony can live in public housing. If a resident is convicted of a drug felony, the entire family must leave. President Clinton would call this “One strike and you are out” initiative. To add more fuel to the fire: funding for public housing was reduced by 61 percent. He dismantled Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC) and lowered the overall budget for welfare. The prison budget was twice as high as the food stamp budget. Unemployment in Black communities soared. The statistics were covering the fact that imprisoned persons were not counted in the unemployment rolls. It is like they don’t even exist.

This was the worst economic tyranny since the beginning of New World slavery. Most just smiled and loved their First Family. Where do we go? How can we overcome what has happened to our race in this country during the 1990s? Must we go through this again? The thought of that frightens the hell out of me. As Michelle Alexander writing for Thenation.com states, “It didn’t have to be like this. As a nation, we had a choice. Rather than spending billions of dollars constructing a vast new penal system, those billions could have been spent putting young people to work in inner-city communities and investing in their schools so they might have some hope of making the transition from an industrial to a service-based economy. Constructive interventions would have been good not only for African-Americans trapped in ghettos, but for blue-collar workers of all colors. At the very least, Democrats could have fought to prevent the further destruction of Black communities rather than ratcheting up the wars declared on them.”

we can’t get our just share of the American Dream. My people we need to let “Pharaoh” go. He doesn’t have us. We are clinging to him. The Clintons admit their mistakes. What we need to know from them is how are they going to correct these misdeeds? Since we are so forgiving and naïve with our votes, perhaps we should trust them one more time. If we do this, we will go down as the most stupid demographic living in the entire world. What we need to do is plan on developing a new generation of people who will be productive and creative. It is imperative that we expect positive results from our elected officials and fire those who cannot perform the task. Remember we do have a choice. Reconsider your love for the Clintons. You deserve more.

extracting “high profits from lowincome groups.” She writes: “The casinos’ method is to induce low-income gamblers to make a huge number of small bets per visit, to visit the casino several times per month, or even per week...The key to executing this method is the slot machine.” The article cites research showing that, of 15 types of legal gambling studied, casino gambling “had by far the most harmful effects on people at the lower end of the income ladder.” And, here in Florida, a study on gambling expansion commissioned by the Legislature in 2013 found that at least 90 percent of the money spent in new gambling facilities in Florida would come from local residents, not tourists!

them. Dollars that would be spent on food, shelter and clothing will instead end up as profits for gambling operators.

The losers in this mega-gambling expansion are low-income communities and citizens whom expansion proponents lull by mostly false promises of jobs and economic prosperity. As I have previously written, the other losers in this “gambling creep” is the Black business community and especially the Black press – the real voice of Florida’s Black communities.

ri-mutuel industry! One could wager with good odds that after the compact issue has been resolved, the Seminoles will most likely forget that there are Black-owned newspapers serving Black communities in their casino regions. The one thing that the proponents of expanding gambling and slot machine do not want the Black community – especially the Black press – to know is the disproportionate negative impact that legalized gambling has on low-income individuals. There is much evidence. A 2013 study on the “Effect on Low-Income Individuals, Families and Communities,” by the Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice in Hawaii found that “legalized gambling…has negative impacts on the entire community, but does even greater harm to those living in poverty.” As to jobs, it stated: “Gambling neither creates high paying jobs nor prevents unemployment… casino gambling is no guarantee for stable employment.”

Support rare

Extracting profits

Although the Seminoles have been placing ads in a few Blackowned newspapers in support of the compact, such advertising and support by the Seminoles has been rare to non-existent. The same can be said of the pa-

A June 2014 article by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead in the New York Times aptly entitled “Gaming the Poor” puts casinos in the same category as “payday lending rentto-own stores and tax refund anticipation loans” when it comes to

HARRY C. ALFORD NNPA COLUMNIST

wave of new federal prisons. He provided the states with $16 billion in state prison grants and expansion of police forces. This was in preparation of what he was about to do. He lightened federal offenses for use of cocaine, and greatly increased punishment for crack. This sent our youth to those new prisons for crack use and gave slack to the Whites using cocaine.

Blame Bill

Today, many of us cry about overcriminalization of our youth. Well, Bill Clinton is the “father” of it. Since this milestone, AfricanAmericans account for more than CBC mum 80 percent of all people incarcerKeep in mind that our Con- Blacks got played ated for drug use. Suddenly, the gressional Black Caucus generWe got played big time. Our United States began leading the ally supported all of the above. vote is pretty much worthless if

Gambling expansion harmful to low-income communities In what is becoming an annual tradition in Florida, legislators are debating bills that could expand gambling in one or more parts of our state. This year, the feeding frenzy is over ratifying the proposed compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State of Florida. The potential big winners: The Seminole Tribe, and the state’s pari-mutuel industry. The losers: Low-income Floridians and their communities.

EDITORIAL

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COMMENTARY

Seeking a lifeline

Harry C. Alford is the cofounder and president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Contact him via www.nationalbcc.org. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

The bottom line Promoting expansion of gambling as an economic bonanza for low income communities contradicts reality! Former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham sums it up nicely in his friend of the court brief in the Gretna gambling case now before the Florida Supreme Court. Opposing any expansion of existing gambling without statewide voter approval, he concludes: “If left unchecked, gambling can inalterably change the very fabric of a community. If unrestrained it can corrupt government, cannibalize business, and deliver a host of social and economic ills that adversely affect not merely a single family or community but an entire region and state.”

It is certainly understandable that elected officials from economically depressed areas would seek any lifeline that would help their economically depressed communities. Unfortunately, and as experience has shown, promises of prosperity from gambling are a myth. All too often, rather than add Clarence V. McKee is a conto the economy of a community, casino gambling and slots will sultant to No Casinos Inc. Click suck hard-earned dollars of local on this story at www.flcourier. residents who can’t afford to lose com to write your own response.

TOJ A6

NATION

MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

Thomas talks during Supreme Court hearing The justice hadn’t asked a question during argument in 10 years. BY DAVID G. SAVAGE TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas broke his decade-long silence Monday and asked several questions during an oral argument about whether people should lose their right to carry a gun because of a domestic violence conviction. Thomas took the side of a Maine man who lost his right to own a gun after he pleaded guilty to a domestic violence charge and paid a $200 fine. Speaking near the end of an hourlong argument, Thomas pressed a government lawyer to cite another example of where the law permanently “suspends” a citizen’s constitutional right based on a misdemeanor conviction. He was referring to the Second Amendment right to have a gun. No one would lose their First Amendment right to speak or publish a book because of a misdemeanor conviction, he said. “Can you think of another constitutional right that can be suspended based upon a misdemeanor violation of a state law,” Thomas asked, suggesting that the government might have a better case if the underlying crime had involved the use of a gun.

2004 case Federal law forbids felons from possessing a gun, and in 1996, Congress went further and outlawed gun possession for anyone who “has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.”

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Above are the Supreme Court justices in a 2012 photo. They are: Clarence Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, Antonin Scalia, Stephen Breyer, Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The high court unanimously upheld that provision three years ago as long as the defendant had used “physical force.” The justices on Monday heard an appeal from a Maine man who pleaded guilty in 2004 for having “knowingly or recklessly” caused or engaged in “offensive physical contact” with his girlfriend. The man, Stephen Voisine, was arrested five years later for having shot a protected bald eagle. When federal investigators discovered his earlier conviction for domestic violence, they charged him with unlawful possession of a firearm.

The court agreed to hear his appeal to decide whether “reckless” conduct was enough to trigger the ban on gun possession.

Why he’s silent Thomas’ courtroom silence is rare. Though in earlier decades it was common for justices to sit silently for weeks at a time, today the other eight justices typically ask at least one question during every argument. Thomas has given several explanations for his silence. He told law school audiences that his colleagues asked too many questions and did not permit lawyers

to make their arguments. Prior to joining the court in 1991, Thomas served one year on the U.S. court of appeals, where he was one of three judges asking questions during arguments. Thomas also said that from his days at the Yale Law School, he preferred to listen rather than ask questions in class. Before Monday, the last time Thomas asked a question during oral arguments was in February 2006.

Sided with Scalia On occasion in court, he leans over to speak privately to Justice to be re-elected as mayor. Among other accomplishments, Barry is credited with hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development in D.C. during his tenure, much of which was spent with Black businesses and contractors. He died Nov. 23, 2014 at the age of 78.

‘Something bigger’

CHUCK MYERS/TNS

Then-Washington D.C. City Council member and former mayor Marion Barry speaks at the D.C. Full Democracy Freedom Rally and March in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 15, 2011.

Changing name of D.C. high school to honor Barry sparks controversy BY JAMES WRIGHT TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

The possible renaming of Ballou Senior High School in Ward 8 in Washington, D.C. to the Marion S. Barry Senior High School has drawn some strong reactions from community members and alumni of the institution. The D.C. Commission to Commemorate and Recognize the Honorable Marion S. Barry Jr. has recommended that the current administration rename Ballou Senior High School in honor of Barry. The commission had

Winfrey loses $27 mil in Weight Watchers stock EURWEB

Oprah Winfrey lost some loose change on Feb. 27 as Weight Watchers stock took a huge tumble. CNN Money reports that

other recommendations such as renaming Good Hope Road S.E. in Ward 8, the new University of the District of Columbia student center in Ward 3 and either a bust or statute in the John A. Wilson Building located in Ward 2. However, changing Ballou’s name has generated the most discussion. “I think the alumni and the students should have a say on changing the name of Ballou,” the Rev. Oliver Johnson, a parent of two graduates from the high school, said. “I talked to both of my children, who are graduates of Ballou about this and while shares of Weight Watchers dropped 30 percent after the lifestyle brand announced a quarterly loss of $11 million. Winfrey’s stake fell by $27 million on Feb. 27 as a side effect. Winfrey signed on as the face of Weight Watchers last October when she acquired a 10 percent stake in the company, joined its board and became a member herself.

they were fond of Marion Barry, they aren’t too sure about the name change.”

Died in 2014 The commission held a public hearing last August to get public input on how to honor Barry and many of the speakers supported Ballou being renamed in honor of the former mayor. The formal recommendation for the honor was made Nov. 23. Nicknamed “Mayor for Life,’’ served three terms as mayor before surviving a drug arrest and jail sentence; then coming back

Its stock is currently trading almost 60 percent below the peak it hit in November as a result of Winfrey’s endorsement. The stock is down 50 percent for the year, with membership and meeting attendance slipping as well. Winfrey is believed to have accumulated a profit of close to $30 million since joining up in October.

Saying Barry deserves even greater recognition, Monique Goldston, who graduated from Ballou in 1997, doesn’t support the high school name change. “Ballou has a history with that name,” Goldston, who lives across the street from the school, said. “Marion Barry did a lot for the city as a whole and he should be remembered for something bigger than just a high school.” Christopher Barry, a member of the commission commemorating his late father, is circulating a petition and is active on social media promoting the name change. Barry, who ran and lost in the April 2015 special election to take his father’s council seat, said that Ballou isn’t a name that a predominantly Black high school should have. “Who was Frank W. Ballou? Christopher Barry asks rhetorically. “What I have heard is that he was a segregationist and didn’t believe in Black education.”

Who was Ballou? Ballou served as the superintendent of the D.C. public schools from 1920-1943 when racially segregated schools were District law. Ballou Senior High School was opened in 1960 when the Congress Heights neighborhood in which it sits was predominantly White. Christopher Barry said that “Barry High School” would be one of the few landmarks for Blacks in the city. An anti-name change group held a public meeting at Ballou on Feb. 18. Isabelle Jenkins,

Stephen Breyer. At times, Breyer has said that Thomas had raised an interesting point and tried, without success, to encourage Thomas to raise it with the lawyer. Some speculated that the recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia may have prodded Thomas to break his silence. A fellow conservative, Thomas joined Scalia in 5-4 rulings that had upheld individual gun rights under the Second Amendment. Without Scalia, Thomas may believe the court lacks a strong voice in favor of the Second Amendment. a longtime D.C. resident tried to attend the meeting but when she revealed that she supported the name change, she was told by an organizer that she shouldn’t participate. Jenkins exploded in indignation. “Who do they want to name the school after, George Wallace or Bull Conner?” Jenkins told the Afro American Newspaper. “Heck, Marion Barry has done so much for this city that I think the White House should be named after him....Barry helped to secure funds for the re-building of this school. Without his intervention, the students and faculty wouldn’t have this nice shiny building to come to every day.”

Mayor must decide Karen Lucas, a leader in the anti-name change group and a 1988 Ballou alumnus, suggested another high school be named in honor of Barry. “The new Empowering Males High School should be named for him,” Lucas said, speaking of an all-male public secondary institution that will open in the fall in Ward 7. D.C. Council member LaRuby May (D-Ward 8) hasn’t commented publicly about the name change but her chief opponent, former Ward 8 State Board of Education member Trayon White, is a 2002 graduate of Ballou and supports the name change. Mayor Muriel Bowser will make the decision on the school’s name change and the D.C. Council must vote to approve or disapprove it. “Mayor Bowser hasn’t set up a definite date on deciding on the Barry Commission’s recommendations,” said LaToya Foster, Bowser’s senior communications officer. “The mayor is committed to honoring Mr. Barry in a way that symbolizes his great accomplishments and contributions to the city.”

This story is special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspaper.

Oprah Winfrey is shown here in October 2015 in an advertisement for Weight Watchers.

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J U LY

Jan. 5, 1925: Nellie Tayloe Ross is inaugurated as governor of Wyoming, becoming the first female governor in the U.S. Jan. 7, 1896: Fanny Farmer’s first cookbook is published with standardized cooking measurements. Jan. 8, 1977: Pauli Murray becomes the first female AfricanAmerican Episcopal priest. Jan. 25, 1980: Mary Decker became the first woman to run a mile under 41/2 minutes, coming in at 4:17.55.

July 2, 1979: The Susan B. Anthony dollar is released. July 7, 1981: Sandra Day O’Connor is nominated as the first woman Supreme Court Justice. July 12, 1984: Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, D-N.Y., is chosen as the first female to run for vice president. She joined Walter Mondale, D-Minn., on the Democratic Party ticket. July 19-20, 1848: The Seneca Falls Convention, the country’s first women’s rights convention, is held in Seneca Falls, N.Y.

Janet Reno

Toni Morrison

F E B R U A RY Feb. 4, 1987: The first National Women in Sports Day is celebrated. Feb. 15, 1953: Tenley Albright becomes the first American woman to win a World Figure Skating championship. Feb. 24, 1967: Jocelyn Bell Burnell makes the first discovery of a pulsar, a rapidly rotating neutron star. Feb. 27, 1922: The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women’s right to vote.

Aug. 9, 1995: Roberta Cooper Ramo becomes president of the American Bar Association. She is the first woman to hold that office. Aug. 26, 1920: The 19th Amendment of the Constitution is ratified granting women the right to vote. Aug. 26, 1970: Betty Friedan leads a nationwide protest called the Women’s Strike for Equality in New York City on the 50th anniversary of women’s suffrage. Aug. 30, 1984: Judith A. Resnick joins the maiden flight of the space shuttle Discovery, becoming the second U.S. woman in space.

Sally Ride

MARCH March 4, 1917: Jeannette Rankin, R-Mont., becomes the first female member of Congress. March 11, 1993: Janet Reno is confirmed as the first woman U.S. Attorney General. March 13, 1986: Susan Butcher wins the first of three straight, and four total, Iditarod dog sled races. N AT I O N A L A R C H I V E S March 20, Harriet 1852: “Uncle Beecher Stowe Tom’s Cabin,” by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is published. It becomes the best-selling book of the 19th century.

APRIL April 7, 1805: Sacagawea begins work as an interpreter for Lewis and Clark on their expedition. April 7, 1987: The National Museum of Women in the Arts opens in Washington, D.C. It’s the first museum devoted to women artists. April 19, 1977: Fifteen women in the House of Representatives form the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues. April 28, 1993: The Ms. Foundation sponsors the first “Take Our Daughters to Work” day. In 2003, the day was changed to “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work” day.

SEPTEMBER

By Wendy Zang, McClatchy-Tribune

It wasn’t until 1987 that Congress declared March Women’s History Month, in celebration of women’s contributions and achievements. The month was a step up from Women’s History Week, which had been recognized, first in Sonoma, Calif., in the late 1970s, and then a few years later nationally. While March provides some time to focus on female accomplishments, great women should be celebrated for more than 31 days. Here’s a look at some important dates in women’s history to recognize all year long.

Sandra Day O’Connor Mary McLeod Bethune

Rosa Parks

Geraldine Ferraro

JUNE June 9, 1949: Georgia Neese Clark is confirmed as the first woman treasurer of the United States. June 10, 1963: Equal Pay Act is enacted prohibiting discrimination based on gender in the payment of wages June 18, 1983: Dr. Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space. June 25, 1903: Madame Marie Curie announces her discovery of radium.

Sept. 12, 1910: In Los Angeles, Alice Stebbins Wells becomes the first woman police officer with arrest powers in U.S. Sept. 20, 1973: Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in the battle of the sexes tennis match. Sept 26, 1973: American Baptist minister Capt. Lorraine Potter becomes the first woman U.S. Air Force chaplain. Sept. 29, 1988: Stacy Allison becomes first U.S. woman to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.

OCTOBER Oct. 4, 1976: ABC’s Barbara Walters becomes the first woman co-anchor of the evening news. Oct. 4, 1993: Ruth Bader Ginsburg becomes second female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Oct. 8, 1993: Toni Morrison wins the Nobel Prize for Literature; the first African-American woman to do so. Oct. 23, 1910: Blanche Stuart Scott becomes the first American woman pilot to make a public flight.

NOVEMBER

M AY May 5, 1938: Dr. Dorothy H. Andersen presents results of her medical research identifying the disease cystic fibrosis. May 8, 1914: President Woodrow Wilson signs a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. May 21, 1932: Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to complete a solo transatlantic flight, flying 2,026 miles from Newfoundland to Ireland in just under 15 hours. May 29, 1977: Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to qualify for and complete the Indy 500.

AUGUST

LEARN MORE Check out these sites to learn more about women in history: n Library of Congress — www.womenshistorymonth.gov n The National Women’s History Project — www.nwhp.org n The History Channel — www.history.com/content/womenhist n National Women’s Hall of Fame — www.greatwomen.org/home.php n Department of Defense — www.defense.gov/specials/womenshistory n The Biography Channel — www.biography.com/womens-history SOURCE: NATIONAL WOMEN’S HISTORY PROJECT, THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS • PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ERIC GOODWIN/TNS

Nov. 1, 1848: The New England Female Medical School opens becoming the first medical school for women. In 1874 it merges with Boston University and becomes one of the world’s first coed medical schools. Nov. 11, 1993: The Vietnam Women’s Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., honoring the 265,000 women who voluntarily served during the Vietnam era. Nov. 14, 1946: Emily Greene Balch, co-founder of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Nov. 28, 1881: The first organizational meeting is held for the predecessor group to the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

DECEMBER Dec. 1, 1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus to a white person. Dec. 5, 1935: Mary McLeod Bethune creates the National Council of Negro Women. Dec. 7, 1941: Capt. Annie Fox becomes the first woman awarded the Purple Heart for her service while under attack at Pearl Harbor. Dec. 17, 1993: Judith Rodin becomes the first woman to head an Ivy League school, as president of the University of Pennsylvania.

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J U LY

Janet Reno

Toni Morrison

Sally Ride

SEPTEMBER

By Wendy Zang, McClatchy-Tribune

Sandra Day O’Connor Mary McLeod Bethune

Rosa Parks

Geraldine Ferraro

NOVEMBER

AUGUST

CALENDAR

MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

STOJ

NAJEE & REGINA BELLE

Miami Gardens: A Unity Prayer Breakfast and symposium is March 5 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Betty T. Ferguson Community Center. The theme is “Breaking the Silence to End Violence.’’ More information: 786-4867672 or email Miamibna@ gmail.com.

Regina Belle and Najee are among the artists scheduled to perform at Jazz in the Gardens March 18-20 in Miami Gardens. Artists include Aretha Franklin, Janelle Monae and Usher. Details and complete lineup: www. jazzinthegardens. com.

Miami Beach: Catch Kirk Franklin at the Jackie Gleason Theater on March 15. Orlando: “Let’s Dance,’’ a tour featuring Silento, is March 5 at House of Blues Orlando. Other performers are iLoveMemphis, DLOW, We are Toonz and 99 Percent. Hallandale: An award reception for area women is at 4 p.m. March 12 at Greater Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Hallandale. It’s sponsored by the Divine Divas of S. Florida, a Red Hat Society chapter. Melbourne: “Three Black Kings,’’ a concert featuring Duke Ellington’s final work of the same name, is March 5 at the Scott Center Auditorium at Holy Trinity and March 6 at Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center, 1707 16th St. Tickets: www. SpaceCoastSymphony.org. Tampa: Computer Mentors and the Temple Terrace Public Library will provide free basic coding/logic skills and Lego Robotics programming to youngsters 10-13. Classes will be Tuesdays, 5-6 p.m., March 15-May 31 at the library. Details: Contact Kelsey Peduzzi at 813-506-6770 or kpeduzzi@ templeterrace.com.

MIKE EPPS

The Festival of Laughs featuring Mike Epps, Tony Rock and Cocoa Brown is March 19 at the University of South Florida Sun Dome.

Estero: Nick Cannon presents “Wild N Out’’ at the Germain Arena on March 15. The show is at 8 p.m. St. Petersburg: On March 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Enoch Davis Center, the Federation of Families of Florida and Swiyyah Woodard will provide a free mental health awareness forum. Woodard will

discuss her mental illness and new book, “Don’t Call Me Crazy! Again!” More information: www.swiyyah.com. Tampa: The Gasparilla Music Festival on March 12-13 will include Steven “Ragga’’ Marley, Erykah Badu and Talib Kweli. The event is at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, 600 N. Ashley Drive. Tickets:

GMFtickets.com. Jacksonville: Herb Alpert takes the stage March 4 at the Florida Theatre Jacksonville. The show starts at 8 p.m. Fort Lauderdale: ASCENT: Black Women’s Expressions Art Exhibition is on display through March 4 at Cotilla

Gallery, Nova University, 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Blvd. Free. Tampa: The Legends of Southern Hip Hop show is April 23 at the USF Sundome. Performers include Juvenile, Too Short, Trick Daddy along with 8 Ball & MJG. Miami: Beyonce’s Formation World Tour stops at Marlins

Park on April 27 and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on April 29. Jacksonville: Rihanna: Anti World Tour 2016 makes stops on March 12 at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Amalie Arena in Tampa on March 13 and AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami on March 15.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE FOR BLACK STUDENTS. NO EXCUSES. The classic guide from Florida Courier publisher, lawyer and broadcaster CHARLES W. CHERRY II PRAISE FOR ‘EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCUSE’:

Omegas at Edward Waters collecting water for Flint residents Members of the Chi Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. at Edward Waters College (shown above) continued their water drive for Flint, Michigan residents on March 2. The students began collecting water upon hearing that the water supply in Flint was contaminated with lead.

Greyhound Transit has agreed to provide free transportation for the Omegas to deliver the water. A group will leave for the 18-20 hour bus ride to Flint on March 14. Anyone interested in donating water can contact the chapter president, Antinaris Davis, at 786-837-1041 or email the group at chichapterques@gmail.com. The chapter was created on the campus of Yale University in 1921. Edward Waters College was granted the Chi Chapter in 1961. Members of the Chi Chapter include former Nathaniel Glover, president of Edward Waters College.

“This guide for African-American college-bound students is packed with practical and insightful information for achieving academic success...The primary focus here is to equip students with the savvy and networking skills to maneuver themselves through the academic maze of higher education.” – Book review, School Library Journal • How low expectations of Black students’ achievements can get them higher grades; • Want a great grade? Prepare to cheat!

Gilbert Hill, boss in ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ films, dies at 84 EURWEB

“Beverly Hills Cop” film series star Gilbert R. Hill has died. He was 84. Hill, a real-life Detroit policeman, was best known for portraying Eddie Murphy‘s frustrated no-nonsense boss, Inspector Douglas Todd, in the classic 1984 box office hit “Beverly Hills Cop, as well as its sequels, 1987’s “Beverly Hills Cop II” and 1994’s Beverly Hills Cop III.” According to DeadlineDetroit.com, Hill was batGilbert tling respiratory problems Hill when he died Feb. 17 at Detroit Medical Center SinaiGrace Hospital. “We are relieved that his passing was peaceful and painless,” Hill’s family said in a statement.

In addition to acting, Hill is noted for his service to the city of Detroit, which spanned more than 40 years. The Birmingham, Ala. native, who rose to head Detroit Police Department’s homicide division, was a political success as president of the Detroit city council. Although he ran for mayor in 2001, Hill ultimately lost to Kwame Kilpatrick.

• How Black students can program their minds for success;

Natural for role

www.excellencewithoutexcuse.com

Hill’s time in front of the camera came through “Beverly Hills Cop” director Martin Brest, who was in Detroit scouting locations for the first film in the cop series. After meeting Hill, who showed him around town, Brest decided on a whim to ask Hill to read a few lines. At the time, Hill had been a cop for about 25 years. “I thought, ‘Holy smoke, there could be something here,’” Brest recalled in a January 1985 story for People magazine. Regarding Hill, Brest noted that “not only was (Hill) able to put out a lot of hottempered emotion but, in a subtle way, convey an underlying love, the kind a father would have for a son. That’s difficult for a professional actor, and the fact that Gil was doing it just blew my mind.”

• Setting goals – When to tell everybody, and when to keep your mouth shut; • Black English, and why Black students must be ‘bilingual.’ …AND MUCH MORE!

Download immediately as an eBook or a pdf Order softcover online, from Amazon, or your local bookstore ISBN#978-1-56385-500-9 Published by International Scholastic Press, LLC Contact Charles at ccherry2@gmail.com

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MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

COMING SOON Oakland Park Blvd. & University Dr.

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HEALTH

A look at health care outside of the US Citizens in Canada, Britain and France spend less, report better medical access

countries, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. And Americans generally wait less to see a medical specialist, though they have more difficulty seeing a primary care physician when they are sick. More broadly, Americans die more frequently from illnesses that can be averted or controlled with timely medical care, including childhood measles, diabetes and colon cancer, research suggests. And in nearly all industrialized countries — whether the government directly provides insurance as is done in Britain or heavily regulates private insurers as in the Netherlands — patients enjoy more financial protections.

BY NOAM N. LEVELY TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON — Declaring the U.S. health system the “envy of the world,” as President George W. Bush did during his 2004 re-election campaign, was once an easy applause line for politicians. But this year, two leading presidential contenders, Republican Donald Trump and Democratic hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, have invoked America’s foreign competitors when discussing their health care plans. There is a lot abroad that might interest Americans. Canada, Britain, France and other developed countries not only spend substantially less on health care, but their citizens also often report better access to medical care and far fewer financial worries. They also enjoy better health. Although Americans three decades ago lived as long as Britons and longer than Germans, the Irish or the Portuguese, they now live on average two years less than residents of these countries. “The United States is a real outlier,” said Francesca Colombo, head of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s health division, which tracks health system performance around the world. “All countries have challenges with their health care systems, but the U.S. is widely seen as having many more.”

20 million served The presidential campaign has thrust a renewed spotlight on the U.S. health care system, with Republicans, including Trump, promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act and Sanders pledging to replace it with a government-funded system that would provide “Medicare for all.” Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, is the only candidate who said she would build on that law, commonly called Obamacare. The act, which President Barack Obama signed in 2010, is

Added protections elsewhere

BILL PUTNAM/ZUMA PRESS/TNS

Supporters of an Affordable Care Act (ACA) rally at the U.S. Supreme Court on June 25, 2015, in Washington, D.C. closing some gaps between the U.S. and its global counterparts, in part by guaranteeing Americans coverage for the first time. The law has also helped about 20 million people get coverage, according to government data. And although health care costs are still rising, the increases have been slower than they were before the law was enacted. But resistance to the law has blocked millions of poor Americans from getting health insurance in states that have chosen not to expand their Medicaid safety nets through the law. And though the law imposes many new protections — including banning insurers from denying coverage to sick people — it largely preserves America’s complex and expensive system with its multiple forms of insurance and largely unregulated prices.

More expensive system “The particular way we have chosen to do this has left us with

a whole range of ills … including a system that is much, much more expensive,” said Dr. Donald Berwick, a former Harvard University physician and longtime patient safety advocate who ran the Medicare and Medicaid programs in Obama’s first term. “We are literally laughed at by other countries.” The average price of the cancer drug Gleevec, for example, was $6,214 in the U.S. in 2013, according to a survey by the International Federation of Health Plans. That was nearly double the price in Switzerland and more than six times the price in New Zealand. Similarly, heart bypass surgery cost nearly five times as much in the U.S. as in the Netherlands. A hip replacement was more than double in the U.S. Berwick, who has worked extensively with international health care systems, ran unsuccessfully for governor of Massachusetts on a platform advocating a single government-fund-

ed health plan as the best way to control costs. Sanders is now doing the same, invoking similar systems internationally. Trump, though he has disavowed such a “single-payer” plan for the U.S., noted that such a system “works in Canada” and “works incredibly well in Scotland.”

Some positives Those comparisons have drawn fire from many conservatives, who argue the American system still outperforms its competitors. “Single-payer would ruin America’s health care system, deliver subpar care for patients, kill jobs and bankrupt the country,” Pacific Research Institute President Sally C. Pipes warned in a recent Forbes column. For some medical conditions — such as breast cancer and heart failure — U.S. patients do have better survival rates than patients in other industrialized

Canadian and British patients, for example, usually aren’t charged co-payments when they go to the doctor or even when they are hospitalized. In Sweden, patients’ annual out-of-pocket costs were capped at about $168 for medical services, according to a 2013 report by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York foundation that studies health systems domestically and around the world. And in Germany, caps protect patients from having to pay more than 2 percent of their income for medical care; the cap is 1 percent if patients are low-income or have a chronic illness. The added protections mean lower bills. Just 1 percent of British patients said they had serious problems paying medical bills, the Commonwealth Fund report found. In the U.S., by contrast, 23 percent of patients reported similar financial hardship. “In other countries, there is much more of a feeling that coverage is reliable, that it is constant,” said Robin Osborn, who directs the fund’s international health policy program. “There isn’t the sense of vulnerability that we see so much in this country.”

Some myths about breast health and mammograms BY LISA GUTIERREZ KANSAS CITY STAR TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri announced last week that she has breast cancer, which was detected through a regular mammogram. “It’s a little scary, but my prognosis is good,” she said. But what women don’t know about breast health can, in some cases, be fatal. Physicians were quick to point out that McCaskill’s diagnosis, for instance, reinforces the importance of mammograms, Xray pictures of the Sen. Claire breast. McCaskill Advice on how often to have mammograms, and when to start them, however, got very complicated last fall. The American Cancer Society issued new guidelines recommending that women with an average risk of breast cancer have mammograms every year beginning at age 45 until age 54, then every two years thereafter.

New guidelines The society previously told women to get annual mammograms starting at 40. Its new guidelines said that women 40 to 44 should still “have the opportunity” to have mammograms if they want them, and that women 55 and older should be able to have them once a year if they choose. The recommendation does not match advice from other health groups, some of which still recommend annual mammograms every year beginning at age 40. And it doesn’t sound anything like the recent controversial recommendation from the U.S. Preventative Task Force — an independent panel of primary care

experts — which reiterated its advice that mammograms be performed only every other year for women ages 50 to 74. Without a clear consensus on breast cancer screening, most organizations recommend that women talk to their doctors about the pros and cons of mammography and when to begin screening.

Common misconceptions Here are some commonly held misconceptions about breast health. Annual mammograms increase your risk of cancer because of the radiation they use. Yes, mammograph machines use radiation. But the amount is low and safe, according to the American Cancer Society. Every person is exposed to certain daily levels of radiation, known as background radiation. The dose that a woman getting a mammogram of both breasts receives is about the same amount she would get from her natural surroundings over about seven weeks. Older machines that used higher amounts of radiation are no longer used.

More than mammograms Whew! My mammogram report was negative. Nothing to worry about. Not entirely true. Mammograms have been known to fail to detect about 10 to 20 percent of breast cancers, which is why breast exams performed by your health care provider, and self-exams, are still considered important.

Lumps and cancer Oh no. I found a lump. I have cancer. About 80 percent of lumps in women’s breasts are benign,

HEATHER CHARLES/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

Betty Daniel, right, of Chicago, gets her routine yearly mammogram from mammography technician Stella Palmer at Mt. Sinai Hospital. caused by cysts or noncancerous conditions. But if you find a lump in your breast that persists, or notice any changes in the breast tissue, tell your doctor. A mammogram, ultrasound or biopsy can determine whether a lump is cancerous. And a note about breast selfexams: Don’t use them as your only weapon against breast cancer. They are increasingly being phased out as a screening tool. Studies have shown that selfexams don’t offer the early detection and survival benefits of other screening tests, including mammograms. But the exam is still important so a woman knows what her breasts normally look and feel like.

Watch for changes I didn’t find a lump during my self-exam, so I must not have cancer. Breast cancer doesn’t always present itself in the form of a lump. Here’s what else you need to be looking for, according to Pre-

vention: breast pain or nipple tenderness; a change in how the breast or nipple feels or looks; a lump or thickening in or near the breast or in the underarm area; scaly, red or swollen skin on the breast, areola or nipple; a breast that feels warm to the touch, and nipple discharge. If you find any of those things, tell your doctor.

Size doesn’t matter I won’t get breast cancer because I have small breasts. Don’t kid yourself. Breast size doesn’t have anything to do with your chances of getting breast cancer. However, larger breasts can be more difficult to examine with a mammogram or clinical breast exam than smaller ones. And truth? Ladies with larger breasts might find the mammogram procedure uncomfortable — all that breast squeezed between two plates of glass — but the exam lasts just a few seconds.

Men not exempt I’m a guy, so I can’t get breast cancer. Wrong. So wrong. Every year about 2,190 men are diagnosed with breast cancer, and more than 400 of them will die. Like women, men should do breast self-exams and tell their doctors if they see or feel any changes. In men, breast cancer is typically found as a hard lump under the nipple and areola.

Other myths I drink coffee, use antiperspirants, wear an underwire bra and use chemical straighteners and relaxers in my hair. I’m going to get breast cancer! So many myths, so little time to debunk them. None of those things has been proved to cause breast cancer. And good news for coffee drinkers: Some early research suggests that caffeine might actually lower your risk of breast cancer.

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

STOJ

By Alex Kline/McClatchy-Tribune

As March is now upon us, we celebrate Women’s History Month and commemorate the amazing ladies who took women from having no legal existence to being political leaders. The field is as vast as it is diverse, with martyrs, astronauts, poets and first ladies filling the outspoken — and at times shocking — role as revolutionaries. The memorable women said some incredible things and paved a solid road to equality, all while proving they were so much more than their necessary and important roles as wives, mothers and caregivers. The changes wrought by these women are best expressed through their own words. Read on for a brief history lesson on the important women of our past and for some inspiration to continue their work.

“The air is the only place free from prejudices.” — Bessie Coleman (top), Aviator lll

“If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.” — Abigail Adams, first lady lll

“As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold the person down, so it means you cannot soar as you thought otherwise.” — Marian Anderson, singer lll

“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.” — Ella Fitzgerald, jazz singer lll

“We rely upon the poets, the philosophers and the playwrights to articulate what most of us can only feel, in joy or sorrow. They illuminate the thoughts for which we only grope; they give us the strength and balm we cannot find in ourselves.” — Helen Hayes, actress lll

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.” — Julia Ward Howe, social reformer and author lll

“Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.” — Zora Neale Hurston, anthropologist and author lll

“If they want to hang me, let them. And on the scaffold I will shout ‘Freedom for the working class!’” — Mary Harris Jones, labor organizer lll

“I have no power of submitting tamely to injustice inflicted either on me or on the slave. I will oppose it with all the moral powers with which I am endowed. I am no advocate of passivity.” — Lucretia Mott, feminist and abolitionist lll

“Loosen your girdle and let ’er fly!” — “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias (above), athlete “Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.” — Susan B. Anthony, suffragist lll

“Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.” — Rachel Carson, marine biologist and author lll

“I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.” — Amelia Earhart, aviator lll

“Energy rightly applied can accomplish anything.” — Nellie Bly, investigative journalist

“I can truthfully say I know of no other recreation that will do so much toward keeping a woman in good health and perfect figure than a few hours spent occasionally at trap shooting.” — Annie Oakley, markswoman lll

“I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.” — Harriet Tubman, slave, liberator of slaves and spy lll

“Sometimes questions are more important than answers.” — Nancy Willard, poet and writer lll

“The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it.” — Roseanne Barr, actress

SOURCES: BIOGRAPHY.COM, WWW.GREAT-INSPIRATIONAL-QUOTES.COM; HTTP://WWW.LOC.GOV/TEACHERS/ CLASSROOMMATERIALS/PRESENTATIONSANDACTIVITIES/PRESENTATIONS/WOMENS-WORDS/ALTERNATIVE.HTML

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” — Dolly Parton, singer lll

“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.” — Peace Pilgrim, teacher, spiritual leader and peace prophet lll

“Never let a problem to be solved become more important than the person to be loved.” — Barbara Johnson, best-selling writer lll

“I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.” — Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady lll

“I am not afraid… I was born to do this.” — Joan of Arc, Catholic saint and martyr

“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.” — Janis Joplin (above), singer

lll

“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe, American abolitionist and author lll

“The soul should always stand ajar. Ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.” — Emily Dickinson, American poet lll

“Though I am grateful for the blessings of wealth, it hasn’t changed who I am. My feet are still on the ground. I’m just wearing better shoes.” — Oprah Winfrey, talk show host and producer lll

“We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.” — Anne Frank, Holocaust victim lll

“I am prepared to sacrifice every socalled privilege I possess in order to have a few rights.” — Inez Milholland, suffragist lll

“I was born to swing, that’s all.” — Lil Hardin Armstrong, bandleader lll

“We are coming down from our pedestal and up from the laundry room.” — Bella Abzug, lawyer and congresswoman lll

“I do not know the word ‘quit.’ Either I never did, or I have abolished it.” — Susan Butcher, Iditarod winner lll

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady lll

“Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.” — Mae Jemison, astronaut lll

“In politics if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.” — Margaret Thatcher, British politician lll

“Life is too large to hang out a sign: ‘For Men Only.’ ” — Barbara Jordan (left), politician ILLUSTRATIONS BY MICHAEL HOGUE/ DALLAS MORNING NEWS/TNS

STOJ

MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

submitted for your approval

Popular singer and reality star K Michelle celebrated her 33rd birthday on March 4. Born Kimberly Michelle Pate, she is a graduate of Florida A&M University where she pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in 2001. Her new album, “More Issues Than Vogue, will be available on March 25.

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.

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Shaquille O’Neal, known as “Shaq,’’ turns 43 on March 6. The Miami Heat announced last month that his No. 32 jersey will be retired at the start of the 2016-17 season. The retired NBA player maintains a home in Central Florida.

Civil rights leaders say Oscar tune out plunged ratings EURWEB

RYAN GREEN/ABC/TNS

Andre Benjamin plays a parent in the ABC series “American Crime.” He is best known as Andre 3000 with Outkast.

Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson and Project lslamic Hope President Najee Ali along with other civil rights leaders said their call for a tune out of the Academy Awards telecast plunged viewer ratings of the Feb. 28 show to an eight-year low. At a Monday press conference, they said will detail plans to go after the sponsors of the Oscar telecast before next year’s Oscar telecast if

the film industry does not promote immediate and genuine top to bottom diversity in the Academy and the film industry. “The White Oscars tune out this year was a smashing success, “says Hutchinson and Ali. “The next step will be to put Oscar telecast sponsors on notice that the next call will be a sponsor tune out without real and immediate changes in industry diversity. This will further drive home the message that lip service by the industry to diversity for minorities is no longer acceptable.”

Benjamin draws on his life for ‘American Crime’ role BY RICK BENTLEY FRESNO BEE (TNS)

Andre Benjamin has done some acting over the years, but the rapper and songwriter is better known as being part of the hiphop duo Outkast. His limited acting work didn’t stop writer/director John Ridley from casting Benjamin in his much-heralded ABC anthology drama, “American Crime.” It’s a big acting challenge for anyone, as the second season deals with the attack on a high school student and its aftermath. It’s a plot line that focuses on race and parenting. Benjamin and Regina King play the parents of one of the young men connected to the incident. Benjamin found it easy to

slip into the role as the father of a teenager because he has a son the same age as his TV offspring.

Reflects on family Other inspiration for playing the role came from his own life. When he was growing up, manhood was taken somewhat for granted. It’s different now. “I think the world is opening up a little bit more. It’s more than just, hey, talk tough and play baseball, play football. And I think with these shows, it gives attention to the subject,” Benjamin says. “I think that as a Black family, a family that’s well-to-do, you have double challenges because you’re Black and you’re privileged, but at the same time, they put

you in a place where you’re a target because some people may feel like you may not deserve it. “So I take my kid to private school now. I may be looked at a little bit different because they may feel like I may not have earned it, you know, in that way,” he says. “So taking on this role, I can say that it hit home for me.”

‘Phenomenal friend’ As for the casting of Benjamin, Ridley says he was just repaying the faith the singer had in him. Benjamin was one of Ridley’s supporters when he was being told the short-run drama series would never work. The concern was that the intense style of storytelling

in which a story only runs one season would not be accepted by fans of more traditional TV. The view changed when the first season was strong enough to get a second season order from ABC. “Andre is a phenomenal friend. I would not be here, and this is not hyperbole, I would not be sitting here, right here, right now, were it not for Andre and the partnership that we formed on that film when other people said you cannot do this,” Ridley says. “He chose to do it, and that’s an individual who is afforded a space in his life to do whatever he wants. “He wanted to work, not with me but in the service of a story that he thought was worth telling.”

MARK BOSTER/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Last year’s Oscar winner John Legend and his wife, Chrissy Teigen, arrive at the 88th Academy Awards on Feb. 28 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

FOOD

MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

From Cara Cara to kumquat Offbeat citrus offers lots of appeal BY CATHY THOMAS ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Strip away the wrapping — the fragrant prize inside is worth the work. Citrus fruits are vibrant gems, their juice-packed segments tidily arranged like spokes of a wheel. Bound in sunlit peels, the flavors and visual possibilities seem endless. Many supermarkets and farmers markets sell more varieties of citrus than ever before, showing off piles of behemoth pomelos, redblushed blood oranges and Cara Cara oranges with bright, salmoncolored interiors. There are containers of kumquats, too. Chefs know the just-right acidity that citrus can bring to dishes. Whether the fruit is added in segments, peeled slices or as a smidgen of juice, it can cure taste bud boredom. Whole Foods and Asian groceries are generally good sources for offbeat varieties. Here’s an introduction to a few extraordinary varieties.

Blood orange Imagine oranges that aren’t orange. Their flesh is a shocking purplish-red. OK, blood-red. They are sweet, with an irresistible raspberry-like flavor, generally seedless. More glory than gory. These stunners provide color and flavor drama, too. They can be eaten out of hand, turned into marmalade or squeezed into fabulous wake-upred juice. Try them in cocktails such as mimosas (sparkling wine mixed with blood orange juice).

Cara Cara orange A cross between two navels discovered in the mid-’70s at the Hacienda de Cara Cara in Venezuela, now most are California-grown. Sampled next to traditional navel oranges, both are seedless and have similar outside color, but inside the Cara Cara’s flesh is a splendid, deep salmon hue. It is slightly sweeter and less acidic and edged with a hint of blackberry and sweet cherry.

Pomelo Picture a citrus fruit that’s almost as big as a volleyball; that’s the pomelo. It’s an ancestor to the grapefruit that is wildly popular in Asian cuisines. It ranges in flavor from tangy with a slightly tart edge to spicysweet. The thick, soft rinds vary in color: yellow, yellow-brown, limegreen or pink. The sweeter-thangrapefruit flesh also varies, from light yellow to deep pink, from juicy to slightly dry. Generally, pomelos are less juicy than grapefruit, so when cut into sections, they hold their shape better. The rind is often candied and found in fancy fruitcakes.

Kumquat These beauties look like tiny round or oval oranges, generally about 1 inch long. The entire fruit is edible, and because the rind is sweet and the interior is tart, they are like an inside-out orange. In Cantonese, kumquat translates as “gold orange,” a nod to the fruit’s role as a symbol of prosperity. Although they can be thinly sliced, seeded and used raw in green salads, I think they shine best when cooked.

Cut kumquats in lengthwise quarters. Use small pointed knife to pluck out seeds and finely chop. Set aside. Place milk in large, heavybottomed saucepan. Scald milk on medium-high heat. To scald means to heat milk just below the boiling point. Remove from heat. In large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla to combine. Whisking constantly, add hot milk little by little in a thin stream to egg mixture. If you add the hot milk too quickly, it might curdle eggs. Stir in kumquats. Ladle mixture into 6 (1-cup) custard cups. Place cups in 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Add enough hot water to the pan to come 1 inch up the sides of the cups. Place in oven and bake 40 minutes or until set and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm or chilled. SOURCE: “MELISSA’S GREAT BOOK OF PRODUCE” BY CATHY THOMAS (WILEY, $29.95)

Let’s bring dinner back to the table. Let’s leave our devices and distractions behind. Let’s pass food and share stories. Let’s laugh until it hurts. Let’s smile. And love. Let’s breathe new life into old traditions. Let’s make dinner on Sunday, Sunday Dinner again. publix.com/sundaydinners

CITRUS AND BEET SALAD Yield: 4-6 servings 2 medium red beets, tops trimmed 1 inch from bulb 2 medium golden beets, tops trimmed 1 inch from bulb 3 blood oranges, divided use 1 Cara Cara orange Optional: peeled segments of 1/4 pomelo 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1/2 small fennel bulb, very thinly sliced crosswise 1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced Good-quality extra-virgin olive oil Coarse sea salt, such as fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt Freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro and/or Italian parsley For beets, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash beets, leaving some water on skins. Divide and enclose in two separate aluminum foil packets; place on rimmed baking sheet and roast until beets are tender when pierced with a knife, about one hour. Let cool. Meanwhile, using a sharp knife, cut all peel and white pith from all citrus except one blood orange (cut top and bottom off citrus, making those two cuts parallel to each other and cutting just below white pith — place cut side down on work surface and cut off peel and pith in strips starting at the top, following the contour of the fruit). Cut remaining blood orange in half and squeeze juice into small bowl or cup. If using pomelo, cut the peeled fruit into segments along the membranes. Peel cooled beets and cut off stems. Slice two beets crosswise into thin rounds. Cut remaining two beets into wedges. Layer beets and oranges on plates or a platter, dividing evenly (add pomelo segments if using). Arrange fennel and onion over beets. Add lemon juice to blood orange juice; stir and spoon over salad; drizzle salad generously with oil. Season to taste with coarse sea salt and pepper (do this at the last minute if making ahead). Let salad stand for five minutes to allow flavors to meld or refrigerate up to four hours covered with plastic wrap. Garnish salad with cilantro and/or parsley leaves. Serve this irresistible sauce atop grilled or broiled pork chops or chicken thighs.

FOOD

MARCH 4 – MARCH 10, 2016

TOJ

From Cara Cara to kumquat Offbeat citrus offers lots of appeal BY CATHY THOMAS ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Strip away the wrapping — the fragrant prize inside is worth the work. Citrus fruits are vibrant gems, their juice-packed segments tidily arranged like spokes of a wheel. Bound in sunlit peels, the flavors and visual possibilities seem endless. Many supermarkets and farmers markets sell more varieties of citrus than ever before, showing off piles of behemoth pomelos, red-blushed blood oranges and Cara Cara oranges with bright, salmon-colored interiors. There are containers of kumquats, too. Chefs know the just-right acidity that citrus can bring to dishes. Whether the fruit is added in segments, peeled slices or as a smidgen of juice, it can cure taste bud boredom. Whole Foods and Asian groceries are generally good sources for offbeat varieties. Here’s an introduction to a few extraordinary varieties.

Blood orange Imagine oranges that aren’t orange. Their flesh is a shocking purplish-red. OK, blood-red. They are sweet, with an irresistible raspberry-like flavor, generally seedless. More glory than gory. These stunners provide color and flavor drama, too. They can be eaten out of hand, turned into marmalade or squeezed into fabulous wake-up-red juice. Try them in cocktails such as mimosas (sparkling wine mixed with blood orange juice).

Cara Cara orange A cross between two navels discovered in the mid’70s at the Hacienda de Cara Cara in Venezuela, now most are California-grown. Sampled next to traditional navel oranges, both are seedless and have similar outside color, but inside the Cara Cara’s flesh is a splendid, deep salmon hue. It is slightly sweeter and less acidic and edged with a hint of blackberry and sweet cherry.

Pomelo Picture a citrus fruit that’s almost as big as a volleyball; that’s the pomelo. It’s an ancestor to the grapefruit that is wildly popular in Asian cuisines. It ranges in flavor from tangy with a slightly tart edge to spicy-sweet. The thick, soft rinds vary in color: yellow, yellow-brown, lime-green or pink. The sweeter-than-grapefruit flesh also varies, from light yellow to deep pink, from juicy to slightly dry. Generally, pomelos are less juicy than grapefruit, so when cut into sections, they hold their shape better. The rind is often candied and found in fancy fruitcakes.

Kumquat

CITRUS AND BEET SALAD Yield: 4-6 servings 2 medium red beets, tops trimmed 1 inch from bulb 2 medium golden beets, tops trimmed 1 inch from bulb 3 blood oranges, divided use 1 Cara Cara orange Optional: peeled segments of 1/4 pomelo 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1/2 small fennel bulb, very thinly sliced crosswise 1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced Good-quality extra-virgin olive oil Coarse sea salt, such as fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt Freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro and/or Italian parsley For beets, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash beets, leaving some water on skins. Divide and enclose in two separate aluminum foil packets; place on rimmed baking sheet and roast until beets are tender when pierced with a knife, about one hour. Let cool. Meanwhile, using a sharp knife, cut all peel and white pith from all citrus except one blood orange (cut top and bottom off citrus, making those two cuts parallel to each other and cutting just below white pith — place cut side down on work surface and cut off peel and pith in strips starting at the top, following the contour of the fruit). Cut remaining blood orange in half and squeeze juice into small bowl or cup. If using pomelo, cut the peeled fruit into segments along the membranes. Peel cooled beets and cut off stems. Slice two beets crosswise into thin rounds. Cut remaining two beets into wedges. Layer beets and oranges on plates or a platter, dividing evenly (add pomelo segments if using). Arrange fennel and onion over beets. Add lemon juice to blood orange juice; stir and spoon over salad; drizzle salad generously with oil. Season to taste with coarse sea salt and pepper (do this at the last minute if making ahead). Let salad stand for five minutes to allow flavors to meld or refrigerate up to four hours covered with plastic wrap. Garnish salad with cilantro and/or parsley leaves. I like to serve this irresistible sauce atop grilled or broiled pork chops or chicken thighs. It’s easy enough for a weeknight dazzler, but delicious enough for company. Here I serve the sauce-topped protein over raw spinach leaves for a salady taste and texture, but if you prefer, saute the spinach in a little olive oil and season with garlic salt.

KUMQUAT-SPIKED CUSTARD Yield: 6 servings 6 kumquats, washed, dried 2 1/2 cups milk (whole or 2 percent) 3 large eggs 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract Simple baked custard is a delectable treat when augmented with finely chopped kumquats. The rich mixture balances perfectly with the small amount of tangy citrus. For dessert top them with a smidgen of whipped cream and ground cinnamon. Serve them plain as a fast breakfast indulgence. Or use candied sliced kumquats as garnish (in small skillet, place 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons water; place on medium-high heat and simmer until sugar dissolves, and then add three sliced and seeded kumquats — simmer until liquid evaporates). Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat to 350 degrees. Cut kumquats in lengthwise quarters. Use small pointed knife to pluck out seeds and finely chop. Set aside. Place milk in large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Scald milk on medium-high heat. To scald means to heat milk just below the boiling point. Remove from heat. In large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla to combine. Whisking constantly, add hot milk little by little in a thin stream to egg mixture. If you add the hot milk too quickly, it might curdle eggs. Stir in kumquats. Ladle mixture into 6 (1-cup) custard cups. Place cups in 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Add enough hot water to the pan to come 1 inch up the sides of the cups. Place in oven and bake 40 minutes or until set and knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm or chilled. SOURCE: “MELISSA’S GREAT BOOK OF PRODUCE” BY CATHY THOMAS (WILEY, $29.95)

These beauties look like tiny round or oval oranges, generally about 1 inch long. The entire fruit is edible, and because the rind is sweet and the interior is tart, they are like an inside-out orange. In Cantonese, kumquat translates as “gold orange,” a nod to the fruit’s role as a symbol of prosperity. Although they can be thinly sliced, seeded and used raw in green salads, I think they shine best when cooked.

SWEET-SOUR-SPICY KUMQUAT SAUCE Yield: 4-6 servings 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced 6 kumquats, washed, dried, thinly sliced crosswise, seeded 3 tablespoons sugar 2/3 cup water 1/3 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries 1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes Heat oil in medium skillet on medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook until starting to soften, about four minutes, stirring occasionally. Add kumquats, sugar, water, cranberries, vinegar and red pepper flakes. Bring to simmer, stirring frequently until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens, simmering about eight to 10 minutes. Spoon over cooked chicken or pork chops placed on a bed of cooked or raw baby spinach leaves.