Florida Courier - June 02, 2017

FC

EE FR

PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID DAYTONA BEACH, FL PERMIT #189

www.flcourier.com

READ US ONLINE

Aaron’s House event raises awareness about mental illness See Page B1

Like us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/ flcourier Follow us on Twitter@flcourier

www.flcourier.com

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

VOLUME 25 NO. 22

ANDREW’S LEGACY

Black Point Marina, on Biscayne Bay in MiamiDade County, was pounded by Hurricane Andrew in August 1992.

Here’s a short list of changes made in Florida as the 25th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew approaches.

What happened?

BY BRETT CLARKSON SUN SENTINEL / TNS

SOUTH FLORIDA – As the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season begins, Andrew’s legacy is everywhere.

It’s there when we plan and prepare for potential disasters.

It looms when we buy and build houses and property insurance.

In southern Miami-Dade County, it dots the landscape with vacant lots.

In southwestern Broward County, Andrew is partly credited – or blamed – for the population boom that changed seemingly overnight in the 1990s.

In August 1992, the wind picked up off the coast of Africa – the Atlantic Ocean’s hurricane incubator. Within days, it had become a tropical depression.

At about 5 a.m. Aug. 24, Hurricane Andrew made landfall near Elliott Key, the northernmost of the Florida Keys, with wind speeds that were later determined to have topped 165 mph.

It was the third-strongest hurricane on record to strike the US. In Miami-Dade, 15 people died as a direct result of Andrew. The official toll of people who died indirectly from Andrew was 25.

CARL SEIBERT / SUN-SENTINEL / TNS

However, in January 1993, the Miami Herald reported that at least 43 more deaths could be indirectly linked to Andrew, a stat that was included in updated versions of the National Hurricane Center’s preliminary report on the storm.

Twenty-eight thousand homes were destroyed. Another 107,380 were damaged. About 180,000 people were left homeless, and 1.4 million had no power.

Changed culture, codes

one of the best in the country.

(A building code is a set of minimum standards that govern how homes and businesses are built.)

In 1994, the first post-Andrew version of the South Florida Building Code arrived.

Improved roofing standards came first. Impact-resistant windows or hurricane shutters were a requirement for new buildings.

Andrew changed the storm culture in South Florida. The complacency that arose in the largely hurricane-free 1970s and 1980s, reflected in hurricane parties and stubborn refusals to evacuate, isn’t as prevalent as it once was.

The South Florida Building Code, used by Dade and Broward counties, had been regarded as

See ANDREW, Page A2

Maintaining silence

BUYING GUNS OR BUTTER?

$900 million missile test

Boy Scouts keeping sex-abuse cases secret

BY CHRISTIAN BOONE THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION / TNS

For decades, secrets of alleged sexual abuse have been collecting dust in the Boy Scouts of America’s headquarters in Irving, Texas, and in state and regional offices across the nation. And the Scouts are fighting hard to keep them locked away.

Former Scouts in Georgia and other states, many of them now middle-age, say the national organization’s refusal to make public the files helped facilitate sexual abuse inflicted by their scoutmasters.

Now in court

AL SEIB/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Streaking over the moon and the Pacific Ocean, a Minuteman III missile lights up the sky during an unarmed test launch on May 3 from California. President Trump wants to spend billions to upgrade America’s defensive missile systems. Read Marian Wright Edelman’s evaluation of Trump’s proposed 2018 budget on Page A4.

The accusers’ claim of a conspiracy of silence is the crux of a lawsuit filed last week against a former Athens, Ga., scoutmaster who allegedly molested a dozen or more Scouts and other boys in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. It’s the latest in a series of such lawsuits filed against former Georgia scoutmasters.

“Instead of making information publicly available or reporting it to the appropriate authorities, defendants kept silent while actively soliciting new Scouts when they knew without doubt that many Scout leaders had been credibly accused of pedophilic/ephebophilic tendencies,” says the lawsuit against Athens businessman Ernest Boland, who died in 2013.

Release ordered In 2012, a Portland judge ordered See SCOUTS, Page A2

State focuses on renewed Zika threat

BY JIM TURNER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

ORLANDO – Florida’s largely dry conditions, which might appear to be more conducive to wildfires, shouldn’t be seen as a reason to reduce vigilance in preventing the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

So far this year, Florida has had 50 cases of “travel-related” Zika – people infected elsewhere who brought

ALSO INSIDE

the disease into the state. That lags behind where Florida was at this point in 2016.

But last year’s outbreak didn’t explode until July and August.

And state Surgeon General Celeste Philip warned Tuesday that little water is needed Dr. Celeste for mosquitoes carryPhilip ing the disease to survive and breed.

No breeding problems “These types of mosquitoes like to live close to people, so some of the factors regarding precipitation and heavy rains are different,” Philip said.

“We are still concerned that a small amount of water, say a bottle cap, is

sufficient for breeding to occur.”

Also, the warm winter may have aided the survival of many of the eggs from the type of mosquito that carries the virus.

Philip joined Gov. Rick Scott and Orange County Health Department officials in Orlando on Tuesday as part of the state’s ongoing Zika preparations. Similar roundtables have been held in Miami, Jacksonville and Panama City.

“We all have to be part of this,” Scott said. “No standing water. Wear bug repellant. Wear protective clothing.”

Florida, which put up $61 million in responding to the emergency in 2016, reported 284 locally transmitted cases of the virus last year, with another 1,099 cases classified as

SNAPSHOTS NATION | A6

NOAA predicting 5 to 9 hurricanes this season Another bad stat for Chicago FLORIDA | A3

Pulse nightclub survivor dies in crash Tax-free sales holiday coming

See ZIKA, Page A2

COMMENTARY: MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN: PRESIDENT TRUMP’S CRUEL WAR ON CHILDREN | A4 COMMENTARY: RAYNARD JACKSON: BROOKS’ FIRING SHOWS THE NAACP IS CLUELESS | A5

WORLD | B3

African leaders snubbed at G7

FOCUS

A2

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

Devilish desperation is dangerous Everybody in the world has faced desperation at one time or another.

Good people will rise up, stand up and figure out a way to improve their situations.

On the other hand, the wicked and deceitful will lean on their animalistic and satanic instincts and resort to negativity, extremism, danger and violence!

Rising violence Bombings, shootings, stabbings and other types of violence are on the rise. Low-life, slimy, degenerate and desperate cowards are blowing up airplanes and trains; shooting unarmed men and women in airports; using cars and trucks to run over families, tourists and festival goers; stabbing unsuspecting men and women on public transportation vehicles; and setting off explosive devices designed to murder and maim unarmed, non-violent and happy-go-lucky teenagers at crowded concerts!

When times get hard, some people get on their knees and pray to God. Other people will

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

slither on a plane or train and run to worship the devils in foreign lands that will tell desperate men and women to kill or be killed!

“If you don’t wear this bomb backpack filled with screws, nails and steel ball bearings and kill as many innocent men, women and children as you can, we will kill you right now,” the devils may say.

These brainwashed devil disciples are convinced if they murder innocent people they will become martyrs, go straight to paradise, and enjoy the pleasures of 1,000 virgins!

Don’t believe that!

Your soul may go somewhere.

Your spirit may go somewhere.

Your legacy may have a life somewhere.

But if you do devilish acts and

disobey the laws of the Bible and the Quran, the only place you will go is to the cemetery, be put in a six-foot-deep hole, be covered with dirt, and become food for the maggots!

Even though devils like to kill innocent people, they never want to have a fair fight.

The desperate devil is brave when he has guns; brave when he has knives. And he is brave when has a whole network of other devils around him and supporting him.

It doesn’t take courage to shoot unarmed men and women. It doesn’t take courage to bomb a concert venue where most of the attendees are unarmed and unprotected teenagers.

Real courage It takes courage to do the right thing when it seems bad things are constantly happening to you.

It takes courage to keep looking for a job even though you are getting turned down for every job opportunity. It takes courage to stay in school when all you have is tuition money and nothing for

all else you need.

It takes courage to rehabilitate yourself after you’ve suffered a debilitating injury or illness. It takes courage to stick with your business ideas and plans when too many of your customers and clients tell you one lie after another. It takes courage to work with and mentor young people, to visit and help the elderly, and to help yourself deal with any personal desperation that you might have.

Desperate is dangerous Yes, a desperate man is an extreme man and a dangerous man!

But it is up to the individual man to decide if he will be bad news for the world’s devils on your job, at your school and in your community, or a good soldier in the army of God! I think it’s safe to say much of the wrongful desperation in the United States has been fueled by a desperate president.

The 45th president is desperate to take away health coverage from 23 million Americans to fund huge tax cuts for the rich.

The president is desperate to mistreat people of different religions, different races, different sexual orientations and people with different skin colors.

When closet Klansmen beat up members of the news media, the 45th president has nothing meaningful to say. When little skinheads and neo-Nazis wave Confederate flags and swastika flags in high school parking lots, nothing is done.

When you are desperate, oftentimes you make mistakes. You lie to the wrong person. You steal from the wrong person or you fire the wrong person.

Hang on!

Good people, when it looks like desperation is sinking in and when you feel like you’re at the end of the rope, tie a knot and keep holding on!

The devil’s desperation will never defeat the people’s determination!

Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere.

“Like” The Gantt Report page on Facebook. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants. net.

SCOUTS

from a time period prior to his appointment as Troop 26 Scout leader” in 1969. But they’ve yet to consent to turning over Weaver’s file.

the release of files collected nationwide from 1965 to 1985 that detailed the expulsion of 1,247 Scout volunteers. But the Scouts have successfully fought against releasing files from before or after that period, and, in some cases, even those compiled in the time outlined by the judge.

The Scouts organization argues that confidentiality must be maintained to protect the victims.

The alleged cases of molestation, it says, also happened more than 40 years ago in some cases and that comprehensive policies and procedures that are “barriers to abuse” have since been put in place.

Church kept secret

from A1

Not ‘morally straight’ But accusers insist that the Scouts should publicly release internal documents chronicling the predatory behavior of volunteers dating back at least as far as 1947.

By withholding the files, they argue, the Boy Scouts are contradicting their stated mission to “prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes” and, perhaps, their legal responsibility to protect the children they sought to mold.

“By doing this,” the lawsuit against Boland contends, “defendants knowingly put the youth communities of Athens-Clarke County, the state of Georgia and others across the United States, at risk of sexual molestation.”

It’s a conspiracy that persists, says attorney Darren Penn, cocounsel for the two men in the Boland case.

Their lawsuit challenges the Scouts’ status as a private organization, a position affirmed by the Supreme Court during the fight over prohibiting “open or avowed” homosexuals from leadership positions. That ban was lifted in 2014.

‘Public nuisance’ The lawsuit, in which the Boy Scouts of America and its Northeast Georgia Council are among the defendants, argues that because the Scouts often use public

ANDREW from A1

Other measures considered wind resistance and roof integrity. Cheaper materials like particle board were prohibited.

The first statewide building code took effect in 2002, superseding local codes and incorporating the stronger provisions which still serve as the basis of the state’s current building codes.

Property insurance High-cost property insurance can be traced to Andrew.

Insurers had dangerously underestimated the threat posed by a significant storm and paid more than $15.5 billion in claims related to Andrew, accord-

MICHAEL PEREZ/PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/TNS

The ‘Boy Scout’ statue stands in front of the Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Philadelphia. property for their activities, and target the public at large in their recruiting, the Scouts’ secretive behavior about known or likely predators constitutes a public nuisance.

“That continues today – hiding information, concealing information, keeping it confidential,” Penn said. “But the law mandates that if you learn about this type of behavior you’re supposed to report it. Instead, they continue to hide it.”

The Boy Scouts of America and the Northeast Georgia Council declined interview requests. In a statement last week, Northeast Georgia Council CEO Trip Selman referred to the allegations being more than 40 years ago in some cases, a common response also cited in a lawsuit filed last year by a Gainesville man against Fleming Weaver, a longtime scoutmaster who was a protégé of Ernest Boland.

ing to a 2012 report from the Insurance Information Institute.

That drove many insurers out of the state and some out of business.

Those that remained raised rates and put the state on a path toward the high costs residents face today.

Before Andrew, one state-backed insurer, the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association, existed specifically to offer coverage for difficult-to-insure coastal properties. The state formed a second statebacked company after Andrew. They merged to create Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which began taking on more policies as insurers left the state.

By 2012, Citizens had more than 1.4 million policies.

Emergency management The response to Hurri-

New policies Selman said the Scouts have adopted stringent policies and procedures to prevent abuse.

“These include a thorough screening process for adult leaders and staff, criminal background checks, requiring two or more adult leaders be present with youth at all times during Scouting activities, and the prompt mandatory reporting of any allegation or suspicion of abuse,” Selman wrote.

“In recent years, the BSA conducted a thorough review to ensure all circumstances that predated this policy by many years were reported to law enforcement.”

Long battle The battle over the release of the files has been building for years.

The public disclosure ordered by the judge in 2012 was prompted by a case – tried by Paul

cane Andrew was a disaster. Survivors became desperate for food, water and shelter. There were communication breakdowns and confusion that led to the delayed arrival of supplies and troops.

Three days after the storm hit, Kate Hale, then Dade County’s director of emergency management, had had enough. With her famous “Where in the hell is the cavalry?” quote, help was on its way.

State and federal authorities recommended wholesale change in emergency management – better communications, better processes, better planning – at all levels.

“As they say, it only takes one,” said Miguel Ascarrunz, director of Broward’s Emergency Management Division. “It’s not a matter of if, but when. So therefore, prepare as you would every year, replenish your

Mones, co-counsel for the men suing Boland – in which an assistant scoutmaster, who had already confessed to molesting 17 Scouts, was allowed to continue volunteering with the program and thus abuse more children.

It resulted in a $19.9 million ruling against the Boy Scouts of America and a statement from the organization’s national president acknowledging that, “in certain cases, our response to these incidents and our efforts to protect youth were plainly insufficient, inappropriate, or wrong.”

Despite the ruling, however, the Scouts have continued to successfully fight against the release of files in most such cases.

In a Georgia lawsuit filed last year against former Gainesville scoutmaster Fleming Weaver, the Boy Scouts acknowledged in court documents that they have “acquired knowledge that Weaver has been accused of sexually abusing Scouts from other troops

The lawsuit by Robb Lawson of Gainesville alleges that he was sexually abused by Weaver almost four years after the scoutmaster admitted to the pastor of First Baptist Church, which sponsored the troop Weaver led, that he had molested two of its Scouts.

A prominent Scout official who attended the church was told about the abuse by his pastor but they agreed not to inform the Boy Scouts, the Northeast Georgia Council or law enforcement.

“One thing we’ve found, when we look at all the Boy Scouts cases, is a constant fight against releasing any of the documents,” said Emma Hetherington, director of the University of Georgia Law School’s Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic, founded to assist the survivors of child sexual abuse.

They’ve even fought some of the files that have been released publicly from being used in court cases. In doing so, Hetherington said, the Scouts have maintained that their interest is in protecting the victims. Disclosure would discourage people from reporting other abuse because the Scouts could not guarantee confidentiality.

‘Protecting themselves’ “No one is asking them to release the names of the victims,” Hetherington said. “They’re protecting themselves, not the children.”

“If you really want to protect more boys, you release the names of the offenders,” she said. “It’s about holding them accountable and holding the Scouts accountable. This is an organization that led the public to believe their child would be in one of the safest places they could be if they were in Boy Scouts.”

The Boy Scouts, like several other youth organizations, have experienced a membership decline in recent decades. Current youth participation is down more than 4 million from peak years, according to the BSA.

supplies, make sure you have an evacuation plan, (and) know whether or not you live in an evacuation zone.”

ZIKA

Forecasting

“travel related,” according to Department of Health numbers.

The money helped the state beef up its research and prevention efforts by hiring more scientists and expanding its labtesting capacity, Philip said.

In 1992, the three-day forecast for Hurricane Andrew showed the storm heading anywhere between Cuba and St. Augustine. Today, that same three-day forecast area is much smaller, and for Andrew it would’ve showed landfall happening somewhere between Key Largo and Vero Beach, explained Dan Brown, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.

In 1992, the first hurricane warning was issued on the Sunday morning, only about 24 hours before landfall. Today, forecasters are able to refine the potential strike zone earlier – which means we get more time to prepare.

from A1

South Florida focus Miami-Dade County was the focus of much of the state’s efforts last year to combat Zika, which is particularly dangerous to pregnant women because it can cause neurological defects in developing fetuses.

Four sections of Miami-Dade – Wynwood, Little River and two areas of Miami Beach – were

identified last year as Zika zones due to locally spread Zika. The designations by the Centers for Disease Control were all lifted before the year ended.

The South Florida county again tops the list with 19 cases this year, followed by 12 in Broward County and three each in Hillsborough, Palm Beach and Orange counties.

“Travel related” cases have also been reported in other areas of the state, including Polk, Walton, St. Johns, Monroe, Collier, Franklin and Indian River counties.

“As long as there are Zika cases anywhere else in the world, as long as we have as many travelers as we do, we have to be vigilant and proactive,” Philip said.

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

FLORIDA

A3

JIM RASSOL/SUN SENTINEL/TNS

People settle in at the shelter at Boynton Beach Community High School as Hurricane Matthew makes its way toward South Florida on Oct. 6, 2016.

Floridians urged to make hurricane plans now Tax-free weekend on disaster items is through June 4

BY LLOYD DUNKELBERGER AND TOM URBAN THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – After ending an 11-year stormless streak in 2016, Florida entered its annual hurricane season on Thursday with forecasters predicting an above-average season.

The 2016 season was the most active since 2012, with 15 named storms in the Atlantic Ocean, including seven hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

Hurricane Hermine, a Category 1 storm, struck Florida south of Tallahassee on Sept. 2, marking the first hurricane to hit the state since 2005.

A little more than a month later, Hurricane Matthew, a more

powerful storm, moved along the East Coast. Although it did not make landfall in Florida, it caused extensive damage, particularly in Northeast Florida, with some $1.18 billion in property insurance claims, according to the state Office of Insurance Regulation.

‘It only takes one’ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in a forecast released last week, predicted a similarly active season this year, based on warm sea-surface temperatures and a weak El Nino ocean-atmosphere pattern.

The federal agency is predicting 11 to 17 named storms, five to nine hurricanes and two to four major storms.

The forecast will be updated in early August, right before the peak of the hurricane season, which runs until Nov. 30.

“Regardless of how many storms develop this year, it only takes one to disrupt our lives,”

said Robert Fenton, acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Matthew on minds Bryan Koon, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said Floridians’ experience with Matthew and Hermine last year may heighten their awareness of the new hurricane season.

“Those folks will have that memory fresh in their minds,” Koon said. “Matthew was such a big storm that it threatened much of the state at some point during its existence. I think people will recognize June 1 maybe a little bit more than they have in the past few years.”

Koon and other state officials stressed the need for Floridians to prepare for the possibility of a major hurricane, which would bring high winds, flooding and power outages. During Hurricane Matthew, some 1.2 million customers of Florida Power and

Pulse nightclub survivor killed in car crash

“She had the best heart and the kindest soul and spirit you could ever imagine,” Hunter said. “She was always looking for the positive in any situation, and she had a smile that could light up anybody’s day, even in the darkest of hours.”

BY GAL TZIPERMAN LOTAN ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

Sevilla had just completed her second semester at Valencia College, where she was taking general education courses, college spokeswoman Carol Traynor said. She also worked at a clothing store in the Altamonte Mall, Hunter said, and had talked about wanting to be a firefighter.

The night of June 11, Sevilla and some of her teammates and friends went to see the Orlando Predators Arena Football League team play, then went to Pulse to dance at Latin Night.

As closing time neared, most of the group had left the club. Only Sevilla, her teammate Paula Blanco, and Blanco’s boyfriend, Cory Connell, were left inside, Hunter wrote in the days after the attack.

ORLANDO – The last year brought some difficult moments for Jahqui Sevilla, who escaped from Pulse nightclub after the shooting started. But she was getting better — going to college, working, playing fullback for the Orlando Anarchy women’s tackle football team.

Just after midnight Monday she was drivJahqui ing south on State Road Sevilla 417 when her Mitsubishi drifted into the northbound lanes, hitting another car headon. She and the other driver, 53-year-old Soraya Matias-Roth of Lakeland, were both killed.

“She was getting her life back from when it was stolen,” said Chandice Hunter, the Orlando Anarchy’s team captain. “It just breaks my heart. She’s like a little sister.”

‘Kindest soul’ Matias-Roth was carrying three passengers, who were injured but are expected to live, said Sgt. Kim Montes, a Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman.

Troopers are still investigating what caused the crash.

Sevilla, 20, joined the Anarchy about two years ago, Hunter said. On the field she was driven to succeed and improve, and she didn’t shy away from taking on bigger and tougher opponents.

Off the field, she had a goofy sense of humor, Hunter said. She collected things that reminded her of her friends and loved ones, like snap-back hats or small flags or anything with the Batman logo.

College student

Helped friend When the shooting started, Blanco was hit in the forearm. Sevilla kept pressure on the wound, waited until they could safely move and helped guide her outside. Connell was one of the 49 killed in the shooting.

On New Year’s Day, Sevilla rode on a float in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., with two other survivors, Victor Baez Febo and Isaiah Henderson, as well as Pulse owner Barbara Poma.

Photos from the parade show Sevilla smiling on the flower-covered float, with a striped gray-and-white scarf around her neck and a rainbow ribbon pinned to her coat.

“My heart is so broken with the loss of such a beautiful, pure soul,” Poma wrote on her Facebook page Tuesday morning. “Jahqui Sevilla you are so loved, and I was so blessed to have gotten the chance to be in your life.”

Light, the state’s largest electric utility, lost power at some point.

“Hurricanes are always going to be an inconvenience for us, but the more you plan ahead right now, the better chance you’ll have to get back on your feet and get back to normalcy more quickly,” Koon said.

Plan ahead Koon also said residents need to consider evacuation plans, which do not necessarily mean moving to public storm shelters.

“We want them to plan ahead,” Koon said. “They are going to be much more comfortable staying with somebody they know, or in a hotel, than they would in a shelter. Right now is a great time to start thinking about what you would do in that situation.”

Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier said property insurance coverage should be part of residents’ disaster plans.

“The time to evaluate your insurance coverage, fortify your home and prepare for how to protect yourself and your family is now,” he said.

Review policies One tip from Altmaier’s office is that residents can review the “declaration page” of their prop-

Man gets jail time for refusing to tell iPhone pass code

BY DAVID OVALLE MIAMI HERALD/TNS

MIAMI – A Hollywood man must serve 180 days in jail for refusing to give up his iPhone password to police, a Broward judge ruled Tuesday — the latest salvo in intensifying legal battles over law enforcement access to smart phones.

Christopher Wheeler, 41, was taken into custody in a Broward Circuit Court, insisting he had already provided the pass code to police investigating him for child abuse, although the number did not work.

“I swear, under oath, I’ve given them the password,” a distraught Wheeler, his hands handcuffed behind his back, told Circuit Judge Michael Rothschild, who earlier in May found the man guilty of contempt of court.

‘The right call’ As Wheeler was jailed Tuesday, the same issue was unfolding in Miami-Dade for a man accused of extorting a social media celebrity over stolen sex videos.

That man, Wesley Victor, and his girlfriend had been ordered by a judge to produce a pass code to phones suspected of containing text messages showing their collusion in the extortion plot.

Victor claimed he didn’t remember the number. He prevailed.

On Tuesday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Charles Johnson ruled that there was no way to prove that Victor actually remembered his pass code, more than 10 months after his initial arrest. Johnson declined to hold the man in contempt of court.

“The judge made the right call,” said his lawyer, Zeljka Bozanic. “My client testified he did not remember. It’s been almost a year. Many people, including myself, can’t remember passwords from a year ago.”

erty insurance policies, which summarizes the coverage.

In last year’s season, more than 119,000 Floridians made property-insurance claims after Hurricane Matthew, with more than 101,000 residential claims.

Hurricane Hermine resulted in nearly 20,000 claims, including 14,000 residential claims, representing $139 million in total losses.

Tax holiday Under a new law signed by Gov. Rick Scott, residents will have a three-day tax “holiday” when they will not have to pay sales taxes on “disaster preparedness” supplies through June 4.

The exemption covers things like flashlights, portable radios, tarpaulins, first-aid kits, batteries and coolers, with all items having a price limit. For instance, Floridians can buy a portable generator tax free, if it costs $750 or less.

There has already been one named storm in the Atlantic, with Tropical Storm Arlene, a rare pre-season storm that formed over the eastern Atlantic in April.

It is included in NOAA’s estimate of up to 17 named Atlantic storms this season.

Struggle for judges Victor and his girlfriend, reality TV star Hencha Voigt, are accused of threatening to release sex videos stolen from Miami social media celebrity YesJulz in exchange for $18,000. Voigt is also facing a contempt of court charge — she provided her pass code, but it did not work.

She’ll appear in court next week to explain why.

Both cases underscore the friction over courts ordering defendants to give up their pass codes, which critics say violates a citizen’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Judges have struggled to determine how much access law enforcement can get to smartphones, tablets and hard drives — particularly ones using increasingly sophisticated encryption technology.

“For me, this is like turning over a key to a safe-deposit box,” Johnson said in ordering Victor and Voigt to give up their pass codes.

Appeals court decision Both Wheeler and Victor were ordered to give up their pass codes under a Florida appeals court decision out of Sarasota that allowed for police to compel a pass code for a suspected video voyeur. The Florida Supreme Court has yet to take up the issue.

Wheeler was arrested in March on accusations that he hit and scratched his young daughter. He was charged with child abuse.

Detectives believe that his phone contains images of repeated injuries to the child, which could prove evidence in the case. A Broward judge earlier authorized a search warrant for Wheeler’s iPhone, but detectives had been unable to get in.

When a judge ordered him to provide the pass code, it didn’t work. Rothschild held him in criminal contempt earlier this month.

Wheeler will eventually be allowed to post bond pending an appeal. If he gives up a working pass code, he’ll be allowed out of jail, Judge Rothschild told him.

EDITORIAL

A4

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

President Trump’s cruel war on children Our nation’s budget should reflect our nation’s professed values, but President Trump’s 2018 Federal Budget, “A New Foundation for America’s Greatness,” radically does the opposite.

This immoral budget declares war on America’s children, our most vulnerable group, and the foundation of our nation’s current and future economic, military and leadership security.

Shreds safety net It cruelly dismantles and shreds America’s safety net laboriously woven over the past half-century to help and give hope to the 14.5 million children struggling today in a sea of poverty, hunger, sickness, mis-education, homelessness and disabilities.

It slashes trillions of dollars from health care, nutrition and other critical programs that give poor babies and children a decent foundation in life, while assuring trillions of dollars in tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and powerful corporations who do not deserve massive doses of government support.

The cruel Trump budget invests more in our military – already the most costly in the world – but denies vulnerable children and youths the income, health care, food, housing and education supports they need to become strong future soldiers to defend our country. Seventyone percent of our 17-24 year olds are now ineligible for military service because of health and education deficits.

President Trump invests in fighting those he sees as outside enemies through weapons and walls, and turns his back on the internal enemies that threaten the basic domestic needs of our people – health care, housing, education and jobs that pay living wages.

What it does The Congress and the people of the United States must reject

MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN NNPA COLUMNIST

This draconian budget slashes over $3 trillion dollars in the next decade and tramples America’s values and is anti-child, anti-poor, and anti-low-income working people. It erodes the security of our nation’s future.

President Trump’s 2018 budget and the mean-spirited values it reflects. His budget: • Slashes $610 billion over ten years from Medicaid which nearly 37 million children rely on for a healthy start in life and which pays for nearly half of all births and ensures coverage for 40 percent of our children with special health care needs. The budget also assumes passage of the more than $800 billion additional cuts in Medicaid included in the American Health Care Act for a total Medicaid massacre of more than $1.4 trillion over ten years.

• Rips $5.7 billion from CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program), which covers nearly 9 million children in working families ineligible for Medicaid.

• Snatches food out of the mouths and stomachs of hungry children by slicing $193 billion over ten years from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which some still call food stamps. SNAP feeds

A timid GOP is mystifying and perilous I have no doubt that much of the mainstream media and Democratic leadership were wishing that President Trump’s historic and successful overseas trip would be a failure or be marred in controversy. The country be damned!

To them, peace in the Mideast; defeat of terrorism; reassertion of America’s leadership role in the world; and leaking of national security information at home, are all secondary to Democratic control of the House and Senate in 2018.

Perfect president?

While the media virtually deified Obama who could do no wrong, they have detested Trump. Such treatment brings to mind Thomas Jefferson’s comments in 1807 to John Norvell regarding the news media of his day, “…the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.”

Just how prophetic Jefferson was is evident in the study from Harvard University showing how disgracefully slanted and biased the mainstream media is against Trump.

Although media bias is not new, the depths to which they have sunk to politicize and distort the news regarding the president is unprecedented – and disgraceful. In fact, it could be argued that journalism as prac-

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COMMENTARY

ticed by today’s mainstream media is a dying art.

Revealing study The Harvard study revealed that the tone of some news outlets was negative 98 percent of the time; and that they were more hostile than in the same period of the previous three presidential administrations.

For example, news reports from CNN, NBC, and CBS were at levels of 93 percent negativity, respectively, and The New York Times and The Washington Post at levels of 87 percent and 83 percent negativity respectively.

No American should be pleased with such biased and slanted news coverage by the nation’s major media outlets. It doesn’t portend well for Americans’ respect for the media, which is already at an all-time low.

No live coverage Such bias was on full display when major broadcast and cable networks refused to carry live the president’s important speeches in Israel, speeches condemning terrorism and affirming support for Israel following the Manchester terror attack.

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: DONALD TRUMP VISITS EUROPE

nearly 46 million people including nearly 20 million children.

This cut is an unprecedented 25 percent reduction in a core safety net program that in 2014 lifted 4.7 million people, including 2.1 million children, out of poverty.

Reduces temporary assistance • Chops $22 billion over ten years from TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program) including $6 billion that eliminates the TANF Contingency Fund which helps support some of our neediest families.

• Slashes programs to assist families with housing and end homelessness by $7.4 billion, a 15 percent cut for 2018 including $2.3 billion from Housing Choice Vouchers, which would leave more than 250,000 low income households without them; $1.8 billion – nearly 29 percent – from public housing already in desperate need of repair and expansion; and $133 million – 5.6 percent – from homeless assistance grants.

• Whacks $72 billion over ten years from the Supplemental Security Income Program (SSI), which more than 8 million children and adults with the most severe disabilities depend on to keep going. Despite the president’s promise not to cut Social Security, his budget cuts $48 billion from Social Security Disability Insurance, which assists, among others, grandparents and other relatives raising children because their parents cannot care for them.

• Slashes job training programs by $1.1 billion, or 40 percent, over ten years for youths, adults and dislocated workers. It denigrates the concept of public service jobs by eliminating the Corporation for National and Community Service, and with it AmeriCorps, Vista and Senior Corps.

• Cuts federal education funding $9.2 billion in 2018 alone at Republicans should be particularly outraged at such distorted news coverage since it is designed to denigrate and delegitimize Trump’s election that put the GOP in control of Congress and the White House.

But let’s not hold our breath expecting Republicans to fight back against a one-sided media and their allies in the Democratic Party.

The biggest threat to the Trump presidency is not the mainstream media – although a threat it is – and not Democrats in Congress – although a threat they are.

The biggest threat to the Trump presidency is the lack of any counterattack and major pushback by Republicans to the Democrats’ and media’s assault on Trump and his agenda. This assault is based on leaks from socalled “current and former officials” and the publication of outright falsehoods.

Killing Trump’s agenda Make no mistake that the ultimate goal of the media and Democrats is to do whatever they can to derail the Trump agenda. Too many Republicans in Congress appear to have forgotten that the only reason Hillary Clinton is not president is not because of them.

It is because of the same Donald Trump whom the media and Democrats are trying to discredit daily.

Of course, Trump has not helped the situation by often stepping on his own message; contradicting his team; and having an apparent undisciplined leak-plagued White House where no one, at least on the domestic affairs side, seems to be free to tell him, “No.” Unlike Republicans, Demo-

MARIAN KAMENSKY, AUSTRIA

a time when a majority of children in all racial and economic groups cannot read or compute at grade level. It slashes $143 billion over ten years from student loans by eliminating the loan program that encourages graduates to take public service jobs and restricts other programs that subsidize college education for first generation college students and others from low-income families.

Broad cuts • Shears $54 billion in 2018 ($1.6 trillion over 10 years) in non-defense discretionary programs which include a broad range of health, early childhood, education, child welfare and juvenile justice programs as well as environmental protection, foreign assistance, medical and scientific research and other federal government programs.

The Trump budget would reduce spending for these important programs 2 percent a year for the next ten years.

• Zeroes out funding for the Legal Services Corporation to deny the poor their only option to defend themselves against injustice.

• Eliminates core programs that offer extra assistance to low-income children, families and communities including the Social Service Block Grant ($1.4 billion in 2018 alone, $16.3 bil-

crats rarely break ranks and can usually be counted on to unite against attacks on their presidents, as they did in the Obama IRS, “Fast and Furious,” and spying-on-journalists scandals, as well as the Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton lies about Benghazi.

But now, with Trump in the White House, Democrats are playing the “holier than thou” card, basking in the halo of political and media self-righteousness looking for scandal at every turn.

GOP silent So where are the Republicans? Where are the continuing demands for the Department of Justice to immediately investigate the illegal activity of leaking intelligence information for political purposes which damages national security putting lives in danger?

Where are the continuing calls for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, as part of his duties, to launch a criminal investigation into the possible spying on, unmasking of and leaking of the names of Trump campaign and transition officials to the press by Obama loyalists – including the role of

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.

Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Sales Manager

W W W.FLCOURIER.COM

Dr. Valerie Rawls-Cherry, Human Resources

Charles W. Cherry, Sr. (1928-2004), Founder Julia T. Cherry, Senior Managing Member, Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Cassandra CherryKittles, Charles W. Cherry II, Managing Members

Transfer of wealth At the same time, Trump’s budget includes an estimated $5 trillion tax package for the wealthiest individuals and corporations who neither need nor deserve massive government support and dramatically increases spending on defense and border security.

This draconian budget slashes over $3 trillion dollars in the next decade and tramples America’s values and is anti-child, anti-poor, and anti-low-income working people. It erodes the security of our nation’s future.

The Trump budget would not pass the test of any great faith or standard of fairness. It must be rejected resoundingly by the Congress and the American people.

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

The biggest threat to the Trump presidency is the lack of any counterattack and major pushback by Republicans to the Democrats’ and media’s assault on Trump and his agenda.

This assault is based on leaks from socalled “current and former officials” and the publication of outright falsehoods.

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.

lion over 10 years); the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to ward off heat in the summer and cold in winter months ($3.4 billion); the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME, and Community Development Block Grant, Indian Community Development Block Grant, and Choice Neighborhood programs ($4.1 billion).

Jenise Morgan, Senior Editor Angela van Emmerik, Creative Director Chicago Jones, Eugene Leach, Louis Muhammad, Lisa Rogers-Cherry, Circulation Penny Dickerson, Staff Writer Duane Fernandez Sr., Kim Gibson, Photojournalists

MEMBER

Florida Press Association

National Newspaper Publishers Association

Society of Professional Journalists

National Newspaper Association

Associated Press

former National Security Adviser Susan Rice?

Why are they so timid? Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., can’t do it all.

The only obstruction and collusion I see going on in Washington are the media and Democrats’ efforts to obstruct the Trump presidency and agenda.

Limited response Too few Republicans returning fire. Too few Republicans moving ahead on implementing the president’s priorities on health care, immigration, jobs, and tax reform. Too many Republicans being quick to jump ahead of Democrats to attack the Trump budget before the ink is dry.

Like the lion in the “Wizard of Oz,” the Washington GOP establishment needs to take a trip to see the Wizard and get some courage.

Clarence V. McKee is a government, political and media relations consultant and president of McKee Communications, Inc., as well as a Newsmax.com contributor. This article originally appeared on Newsmax.com.

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’.

SUBMISSIONS POLICY SEND ALL SUBMISSIONS TO NEWS@FLCOURIER.COM. Deadline for submitting news and pictures is 5 p.m. the Monday before the Friday publication date. You may submit articles at any time. However, current events received prior to deadline will be considered before any information that is submitted, without the Publisher’s prior approval, after the deadline. Press releases, letters to the editor, and guest commentaries must be e-mailed to be considered for publication.

The Florida Courier reserves the right to edit any submission, and crop any photograph, for style and clarity. Materials will not be returned.

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

Trump kisses up to Saudis, kisses off Europe One of the many unseemly things about President Donald Trump is his longing admiration for dictators that I ridiculed as “dictator envy” in a previous column. But even I was left stupefied as I watched him play über dictator on the world stage last week.

Specifically, Trump began his first presidential trip abroad at an “Arab Islamic American Summit” in Saudi Arabia, where he reveled among potentates as if they had just elected him their honorary caliph. He ended it at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Belgium, where he treated Western leaders as if they were nothing more than ungrateful vassals of his “America First” state of mind.

Trump did in two days

‘Sociopathic tendency’

He sowed discord in

What truly beggars belief, however, is the antic camaraderie Trump exhibited among those Muslim autocrats. I’ve already referenced his dictator envy. His sociopathic tendency to ‘project’ is the only other thing that can help explain it.

This refers to his infamous habit of accusing others of traits, blame, behavior, etc. that inhere in himself. In this case, perhaps Trump is the closet Muslim he used to accuse Obama of being.

Trump clearly thought he was being fêted. But he was being fattened like a white cow for zabiha (slaughter). After all, the 50 Sunni leaders at this summit clearly intended to lure him (i.e., the United States) to side with them in the Sunni-Shia conflict that has defined Islam for over a thousand years. They tried this with Obama to no avail for eight years. But Trump fell for it hook, line, and sinker in four months.

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

what Russian President Vladimir Putin has been trying to do for nearly two decades: NATO – the greatest military alliance in the history of mankind and the unassailable guarantor of peace on the Continent of Europe since WWII.

dreds of billions in arms and other deals. And Trump showed Pavlovian appreciation. But the real price for his egomaniacal folly will be paid in the blood of more American soldiers on the killing fields of the Middle East, as well as that of innocent Americans on the streets of the United States.

His folly in this latter case is Price to pay particularly insidious, because They fattened him up with hun- Trump is siding with the very

Enforce the law

Republican. Richard Nixon appointed him to serve on the Federal Communications Commission in the early 1970s. He was the first Black to ever serve there and is singularly responsible for the diversity in media ownership that we see today. Without Hooks, networks like BET and TVOne would never exist.

RAYNARD But somehow, the NAACP rareJACKSON ly mentions Hooks’ Republican ties in any of the group’s written NNPA COLUMNIST literature. Maybe Hooks’ speech at the NAACP’s 1990 convention any of their own actions; and the is why they sanitized his Republiplight of the Black communi- can linage. ty can always be blamed on others. This Clintonian tick led them No alibis to fire their latest president and He said, “It’s time today...to CEO, Cornell William Brooks. bring it out of the closet. No lonBrooks should have never been ger can we proffer polite, explihired for this post. Brooks was a cable, reasons why Black Amerihorrible speaker and not a charisca cannot do more for itself…I’m matic leader. The national board calling for a moratorium on exselected him three years ago be- cuses. I challenge Black America cause they wanted someone eas- today – all of us – to set aside our ily controlled. alibis.” Ouch!

Since the 1970s, the NAACP has Bruce Gordon came from a only had two heads who made family with deeps roots in the any difference in America and the civil rights movement, but he organization: Benjamin Hooks worked his way up the ladder in and Bruce Gordon.

Corporate America and became a

The equality that the NAACP once sought was not predicated on some “special” rights or entitlements that some groups wanted the courts to create out of thin air (gay rights). The NAACP and Blacks wanted the Constitutional rights we were already entitled to. The NAACP simply wanted the government to enforce the laws on the books, not create new ones.

Like Hillary Clinton, the A Black Republican Hooks was an icon of the civil NAACP can never seem to bring itself to accept responsibility for rights movement and a staunch

NAACP should continue to clean house The national office of the NAACP has made a couple of significant changes lately; they dismissed Chairwoman Roslyn Brock and President Cornell Brooks.

Although I served in various capacities within the Cincinnati branch for nine years (20052014), through which we did excellent work for our community, I have not been a fan of the national office since Myrlie Evers took over back around 1994 or so.

Bitter taste My experiences in our local branch left a bitter taste in my mouth as I watched the national office use its national representative, Gill Ford, to intimidate members and even suspend them for life because they refused to capitulate to his will.

Many branches across the country have suffered from Ford’s arrogance, collusion, and disruption of local branch elections and other branch activities. He had his own agenda for

JAMES CLINGMAN TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

certain branches and exercised it summarily and arbitrarily without a response from his national bosses.

Despite branches calling, writing, suing, and filing complaints against this guy, he continued to ride roughshod over the volunteers who do much of the work and pay dues and assessment fees to the national office.

Control and money Ford’s actions – supported or ignored by his superiors in Baltimore – showed me it was all about control and money, and never about support of local branches, unless those branches bent to the dictatorial will of Gill Ford.

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: THE POPE AND DONALD TRUMP

Sunni leaders who fund and/or inspire over 90 percent of the terrorism that plagues the world today.

Meanwhile, this is the same Trump who ridiculed Obama for bowing to the Saudi king. But, in his contradictory fashion, he also accused Michelle Obama of “insulting the Saudis” by not wearing a headscarf during her husband’s state visit.

As it happens, though, Trump’s contradictions are surpassed in their brazenness only by his hypocrisies. Therefore, it came as no PATRICK CHAPPATTE, THE INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES surprise when a video of Trump curtsying to the king went viral last week. He also didn’t seem to the continent ‘really must take Rape ‘joke’ mind his wife insulting the Saudis our fate into our own hands.’”

Trump might soon be canooby not wearing a headscarf during dling Duterte some more, this his state visit.

Wrecking the alliance time for imposing martial law Trump did in two days what in the Philippine city of Marawi, Continuing insults where pro-ISIS forces are trying Trump began insulting Amer- Russian President Vladimir Pu- to create an Islamist sanctuary. tin has been trying to do for nearica’s European allies long before In exhorting government forces his arrival in Brussels on May 24. ly two decades: He sowed discord to “drive them out,” Duterte “has in NATO – the greatest military alTherefore, it also came as no sursought to reassure soldiers who prise when, on this occasion to liance in the history of mankind might be accused of committing and the unassailable guarantor of reaffirm the ties that bind NATO, abuses under martial law and jokhis words reeked like a skunk at a peace on the Continent of Europe ingly said that if any of them were since WWII. garden party. to rape three women, he would He hurled patently misguidAll that was left was for Trump personally claim responsibility ed allegations about Europeans to withdraw from the G7 – the in- for it,” according to Reuters. sponging off American taxpay- fluential group of Western deThe joke’s on anyone who ers for their national defense. He mocracies that meets regularly thinks Duterte was just joking. added injury when he physically to coordinate economic, securi- This is the same Duterte who repushed aside the prime minister ty, and energy policy. Yet, despite portedly joked during his presiof Montenegro – who happened all this, the preternaturally clue- dential campaign about murderto be standing where Trump felt less Trump is hailing his trip as “a ing drug dealers. Nothing has dishe needed to be to preen as top great success.” tinguished his presidency quite peacock for a routine photo op.

This brings me to his burgeon- like his murderous anti-drug Accordingly, he not only stunk campaign. up the place, but behaved like ing bromance with Philippines Trump’s longing admiration for a bull in a China shop to boot, President Rodrigo Duterte. Ac- Duterte is laced with dictator encording to CNN, “…Trump told his which probably gives bulls a bad vy. name. Alas, the fallout might Philippines’ counterpart that he prove historic. According to the was doing a good job fighting an Anthony L. Hall is a BahamiWashington Post, “(German illegal drug epidemic in his coun- an native with an internationChancellor Angela) Merkel sug- try, an effort that has led to thou- al law practice in Washington, gested that the era when Europe sands of deaths and drawn inter- D.C. Read his columns and daily could rely on the United States national condemnation from hu- weblog at www.theipinionsjourmay be coming to an end and that man rights groups.” nal.com.

Brooks’ firing shows NAACP is clueless The NAACP used to be a storied organization that was a major player in the historic fight for full equality for Blacks in America.

That was before they got bought out by the Democratic Party in the early 1970s; before they bowed downed to the alter of the homosexual community; and before they sold themselves to the likes of radical liberal George Soros and his “open borders” crowd who believe that everyone has a right to be in the US, legally or illegally.

EDITORIAL

high-ranking executive with telecom giant Verizon. His 2005 appointment shocked everyone, because the NAACP typically hired preachers or politicians.

I am proud to say that during my tenure we stood up to the bully and did our work. I really hope Ford is gone as well and, if not, that the new administration will reel him in and monitor what he does. Much of the negativity and chaos within branches has been caused by Ford, and overlooked by Brock, Brooks, and Ben Jealous.

Current NAACP Chairman Leon Russell and Vice-Chair Derrick Johnson sent a letter out announcing the Brooks’ termination and their intentions for the NAACP’s future. Here’s an excerpt: “… in the coming months, our leadership will embark on a ‘listening tour’ for the first time in our history. It is clear that Americans of all genders and ages, from all of the corners of all 50 states, have been aching to be understood, to be seen – and now, they are demanding to be heard.

‘Place at the table’ “We want to meet those demands, and in doing so, ensure that we are harnessing the energy and voice of our grassroots membership as we pursue transformational change. As we reimagine ourselves, we want to

President George W. Bush had rightfully ignored the group and refused to attend their national convention until Gordon came on board. Gordon’s business background helped him to navigate the political battlefield and he was able to build a personal relationship with President Bush, to the dismay of his group’s board.

This friction led to his abrupt resignation in 2007. Gordon stated, “I did not step into the role to be a caretaker, to be dictated to…

I stepped into the role to understand as best I could the needs of the African-American community and then to propose strategies and policies and programs and practices that could improve conditions for African Americans…

The things I had in mind were not consistent with what some – unfortunately, too many – on the board had in mind.”

All about control

lieve in the issues the national board has made a priority. Many state NAACP leaders say one thing publicly and believe another thing privately. How can the NAACP claim to represent the Black community when it is out of sync with what the Black community believes and wants?

The Black community is very conservative, doesn’t support amnesty for illegals, and is the largest voting bloc supporting school choice and vouchers! Still, the NAACP passed a resolution last year at their national convention opposing school choice.

Here’s my list I dare the NAACP national board to choose someone like Condoleezza Rice, Shannon Reeves, or Jennifer Carroll as their next leader. Unfortunately, the NAACP national board is totally incapable of thinking outside the box or giving up control.

The NAACP has become the retirement village for the Black bourgeoisie.

The NAACP’s national board demands undying fealty. They love to micromanage their presidents. Attempt to cut their puppet strings, and you become useless to them. God forbid a president makes a decision on his own or Raynard Jackson is founder attempts to make the group more and chairman of Black Amerirelevant to the 21st century.

The tragedy is that most lo- cans for a Better Future (www. cal NAACP leaders don’t be- bafbf.org). be formed in the likeness of the people whom we serve – and to do so, we must first see, meet and listen to them…As we embark on this journey, everyone will have a place at the table.”

The most striking statement to me is that in 107 years, the NAACP has never gone on a “listening tour” to hear from its branches. Draw our own conclusions from that excerpt. I encourage you to read the entire letter and critically analyze it to see if it meets your approval, especially if you are a member.

The heralded NAACP has finally gotten the message it seems, and is ready to hear from the grassroots. I trust they are truthful in that regard and will follow through. If they do not and merely put a new face on the same old problems, my advice is for members to walk away and leave them to their own devices. If they are sincere, I urge you to support this new vision and get involved to help bring it to fruition.

Great potential A Black organization with over a half-million members can do so much to move us toward economic empowerment. It will not happen if corruption and dis-

trust exist at the top. Nor will it happen if those on the local level participate in that corruption and/or turn a blind eye, a deaf ear, and a mute voice to election tampering and mistreatment of branches that refuse to go along with the nonsense from the national office.

I wish Brothers Russell and Johnson well in their quest to recapture the glory of the NAACP, but they should know there is a great deal of discontentment out there which must be heard and respected. When that is acknowledged and dealt with, fairly and immediately, the organization can move forward.

A great place to start the listening tour is Ohio. It has been at the center of the storm for years.

James E. Clingman is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. His latest book, “Black Dollars Matter! Teach Your Dollars How To Make More Sense,” is available on his website, Blackonomics. com, and Amazon Kindle eBooks.

TOJ A6

NATION

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

Agency predicts 5 to 9 hurricanes this season Above-normal storms expected during June through November season

east coast from Florida to South Carolina.

“That caused $10 billion worth of damage and caused 34 deaths just in the United States,” he said. “In the Caribbean, another 550 or more people were killed by that storm, making it one of the deadliest on record.”

In the 25 years since Category 5 Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida, forecasting accuracy has improved 65 percent, said Mary Erickson, deputy director at the National Weather Service.

BY WAYNE K. ROUSTAN SUN SENTINEL/TNS

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting an abovenormal 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season, with five to nine hurricanes — two to four of them Category 3 (winds at least 111 mph) or stronger. The forecast calls for 11 to 17 tropical systems (winds a least 39 mph).

The Atlantic Hurricane Season is June 1 until Nov. 30.

The weakness or absence of storm-suppressing El Nino climate conditions, combined with above-normal ocean surface temperatures and average or weaker vertical wind shear across the Caribbean and Atlantic Coast are factors pointing to an active hurricane season, said Ben Friedman, acting NOAA administrator.

Forecasters say there’s a 45 percent chance of an abovenormal hurricane season and only a 20 percent chance it will be below average.

Rare early storm April’s Tropical Storm Arlene was a rare preseason storm, but it was also an indication of an active season ahead, Friedman

New satellite

CHARLES TRAINOR JR./MIAMI HERALD/TNS

Hurricane Wilma, which hit southern Florida in 2005, was the last major storm of Category 3 or stronger to strike the U.S. Jennifer Farrington sits in the remains of her living room in 2005 after the storm destroyed her trailer. said last week.

“Our season outlook predicts a range of storm activity in the entire six-month period across the Atlantic,” he said. “It does not predict when, where and how these storms might hit and if they will make landfall.”

Not since Hurricane Wilma hit southern Florida in 2005 has a major storm of Category 3 or stronger struck the U.S. “Some may think that’s lucky,” he said. “But, in fact, tropical storms and hurricanes can be just as damaging and

just as deadly.”

Death, damages As an example, Friedman pointed to last year’s Hurricane Matthew, which caused storm surge flooding along the

A new weather satellite above the equator will move into orbit over the Atlantic Coast this summer to give forecasters a more detailed view of storm formations that might threaten the U.S. and Caribbean.

High-definition hurricane- and lightning-mapping programs will enhance forecast accuracy, Erickson said.

“The primary goal of these improvements is to pinpoint where the biggest impacts are going to be,” she said.

NOAA is emphasizing personal preparations as key to minimizing the effect of the hurricane season.

“Just because it’s not a major hurricane doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous, doesn’t mean it’s not deadly, doesn’t mean that we don’t need to be prepared for it,” Friedman said.

Chicago is only major city to lose population from 2015 to 2016

BY MARWA ELTAGOURI CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

E. JASON WAMBSGANS/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

Chicago’s population fell by 8,638 residents between 2015 and 2016. It was the only city among the nation’s 20 largest that lost population during the year, according to newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Chicago was alone among the nation’s 20 largest cities in losing population last year — and it lost nearly double the number of residents as the year before, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

It’s the city’s third consecutive year of population loss for Chicago. The city’s population fell by 8,638 residents from 2015 through 2016, to 2,704,958. The year before, it declined by 4,934.

The population of the greater Chicago area, defined by the Census Bureau as the city and suburbs extending into Wisconsin and Indiana, is also declining. Numbers made available in March showed a drop of 19,570 residents in 2016 — the biggest loss of any metropolitan area in the country.

Up in South Illinois’ population fell by more than any other state’s in 2016, down 37,508 people, according to census data released in December.

Population in Southern states was up. The South in 2016 included 10 of the 15 fastest-growing large cities. The population of Texas continues to rise, and the Census Bureau listed five Texas cities as major cities with the largest population increases.

Chicago’s population drop is part of a larger pattern of slowed urban growth in 2016.

Shrinking Chicago Chicago was the only big city to lose population, according to Census Bureau data.

GAIN AND LOSS IN POPULATION Chicago ranked third in population, but it was the only city among the 15 largest to lose people from 2015 to 2016.

32,113

Phoenix

27,173

Los Angeles

24,473

San Antonio

21,171

New York

20,602

Dallas

18,666

Houston

17,738

Austin, TX

15,715

San Diego

13,455

Jacksonville, FL

-8,638

Columbus, OH

10,046

San Francisco

8,883

Philadelphia

2,908

Indianapolis

2,869

San Jose, CA

2,723

Chicago

THE HOUSTON COMPARISON Houston ranked fourth, right behind Chicago, with a population of 2,303,482 in 2016. However, whereas Chicago lost 8,638, Houston gained 18,666 from 2015 to 2016. Historically, Chicago began declining around 1950, while Houston has continued to grow.

Population in millions Chicago Houston 4.0

2016: 2,704,958

3.0 2.0 1.0

2016: 2,303,482 1900

’20

’40

’60

Source: Analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by William Frey of the Brookings Institution

’80

2000

’16

Graphic: Chicago Tribune/TNS

During the 2008 recession, families chose to stay in or move to core urban areas, and migration to the suburbs decelerated. Now, as families recover economically, they’re deciding it’s time to move back to the suburbs — a trend experts say may keep city populations steady for the next few years.

Muslim man sues Little Caesars, claiming ‘halal’ was a lie DETROIT FREE PRESS

A Muslim man is suing Little Caesars for $100 million after he says he was served and then accidentally ate pepperoni made with pork, a food prohibited by Islamic law.

The complaint says Mohamad Bazzi of Dearborn, Mich., ordered halal pizza twice from a shop in Dearborn. The boxes were labeled “halal,” but the pies inside were topped with regular pepperoni.

Majed Moughni, Bazzi’s attorney, said he rushed to file the lawsuit on May 25, the eve of Ramadan so no other Muslims would accidentally eat pork from the pizza shop during the holiday.

“It’s really upsetting,” Moughni said. “My clients want the public to know. Especially during Ramadan, it would be a travesty if Muslims … in Dearborn bought pizza from Little Caesars and discov-

ered they were eating pork.”

Second time The lawsuit says the first incident happened March 20. Bazzi and his wife were midway through eating a pizza from the shop when they realized it had pork pepperoni.

They “became sick to their stomach,” according to the lawsuit. Three days later, they filed a police report.

The second incident happened May 24, the day before the lawsuit was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court.

Halal is the Muslim equivalent of Judaism’s kosher and requires that meat be prepared according to Islamic guidelines, such as reciting a prayer while the animal is cut.

A spokeswoman for Little Caesars did not immediately return messages for comment.

HEALTH FOOD || HEALTH TRAVEL | |MONEY SCIENCE | BOOKS | MOVIES | TV | AUTOS LIFE | FAITH | EVENTS | CLASSIFIEDS | ENTERTAINMENT | SPORTS | FOOD COURIER

IFE/FAITH

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

Some fast facts about Ramadan See page B2

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

Toddlers served more fries than veggies See page B4

SOUTH FLORIDA / TREASURE COAST AREA

WWW.FLCOURIER.COM

|

SECTION

B

S

1

‘A Dining Room of Hope’

BY JENISE GRIFFIN FLORIDA COURIER

T

AMPA – Pamela Robinson paused at each table in the large waterfront dining room and offered a warm smile and heartfelt greetings to the many friends, family members and supporters who had gathered to raise funds for Aaron’s House, a foundation started in memory of Aaron, her only son.

While the atmosphere in that dining room was lovely, light and inviting, the subject was heavy. A taboo subject for many. A topic often ignored.

That Tampa dining room was filled with people who knew Pamela Robinson’s pain and sorrow. Some had walked with her. Family and friends knew of the sleepless nights, the agony she had lived through. A mother with a broken heart.

Aaron Keith Robinson died on Aug. 4, 2014, from an accidental gunshot wound after what’s referred to as a psychotic episode. Thirteen years earlier, he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness describes bipolar disorder as a chronic mental illness that causes dramatic shifts in a person’s mood, energy and ability to think clearly.

People with bipolar have high and low moods, known as mania and depression, which differ from the typical ups and downs most people experience.

Aaron’s House event raises awareness, funds to help individuals living with bipolar disorder and depression and their families.

Robinson recalls the support groups she attended while Aaron was alive.

“I still remember them to this day. It is my hope that Aaron’s House blesses other people in the same way. “‘Because we live, he lives’ is written on his tombstone, and I believe that sharing his story and helping others in similar situations is something Aaron would do.

“He loved his family and friends very much, and he would be proud to know that Aaron’s House looks out for the family members and caregivers of people living with bipolar,’’ Robinson continued. “It empowers family members so that they do not have to live in silence, shame, or stigmatization. It is a place of hope.

“Aaron always had friends at his house – it was the hangout spot. Aaron’s House aims to draw people into a comfortable environment where they can feel supported.’’

Diagnosed at 19

2

A safe haven The May 7 dinner and program at Tampa’s Rusty Pelican restaurant, titled “A Dining Room of Hope,” was a fundraiser for Aaron’s House, called a safe haven for parents and caregivers of loved ones living with bipolar and depression.

Held during Mental Health Awareness Month, it provided valuable facts to attendees on living with a mental illness, recovery, stigma and advocacy.

Robinson, a Tampa Bay-based attorney, launched Aaron’s House in 2015 to advocate for individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder or depression and their families by providing resources and support. She runs it with the help of a seven-member board of directors.

The non-profit organization provides temporary housing for families and members who need to get a short respite. Aaron’s House also has peer and family support groups as well as other support services.

“When people come to the group sessions, they are able to get a sense of community and see firsthand that they are not alone in their situation. That has such a positive and lasting impact that even if they come one time, it sticks with them,” Robinson told the Florida Courier.

‘A place of hope’

3 Pamela Robinson (wearing white dress) is surrounded by her family after the program at the Rusty Pelican.

1

At the May 7 event, Johnny Crowder encourages people to be vocal about mental illness.

2

4 Aaron

3 Robinson attends his sister’s swearingin ceremony as an attorney with mom, Pamela.

Kenneth Gant, who played for the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Bucs, talks about his depression.

4

PHOTOS COURTESY OF AARON’S HOUSE

With a good treatment plan, most who are diagnosed can live well with the condition, according to medical professionals.

Aaron tried. Robinson called her son a “ham” who had a very outgoing personality and natural leader. “So many people looked up to him.”

Aaron was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 19. The age of onset is typically in late teens and early adulthood.

“It was a huge impact on the family because we didn’t fully understand what bipolar meant and why it couldn’t be controlled,” Robinson related.

“We sought all kind of help for Aaron – therapy, medication, different housing arrangements. He hated the medicine because it made him lethargic, and therapy didn’t help because he could tell that most therapists did not genuinely care about him,” she noted, stating that Aaron could “read people very well.”

“I understood how he felt, but at the same time I wanted him to consistently try different forms of help so that he would get better, so it was a struggle.

Aaron was 31 when he passed away on April 4, 2014.’’

It wasn’t suicide. His mother said that while joking around during a psychotic episode, Aaron dropped a loaded gun. It went off.

Telling their stories For the first Dining Room of Hope in May 2015, Pamela called on her sisterin-law, actress Angela Robinson, to be the guest speaker. The actress, who grew up in Jacksonville and graduated from Florida A&M University, is best known for her current role as villainous Veronica in Tyler Perry’s “The See HOPE, Page B2

CALENDAR

B2

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR Miami: Courage to Believe’s annual Black-onBlack Crime Solutions Panel is 11 a.m. June 10 at Miami Dade College.

More information: www. thecouragetobelieve. com Clearwater: Catch Trevor Noah, host of “The Daily Show’’ on Comedy Central, on June 2 at Ruth Eckerd Hall and June 3 at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach.

Miami: The Griots’ Gallery invites the public to the opening of “In the Spirit of Collaboration: Sam Gilliam and Lou Stovall’’ exhibit on June 10 at 1 p.m. with a program at 2 p.m. Location: 8260 NE 2nd Ave. Free.

Details: www.griotsgallery.com.

Fort Lauderdale: The Christian McBride Trio performs June 10 at the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center.

Jacksonville: Diana Ross is scheduled at 8

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

STOJ

p.m. June 28 at Daily’s Place.

Miami Beach: The Macy Gray Live show is at the Faena Theater on June 2.

Tampa: Tickets are on sale for the Total Package Tour with Paula Abdul, New Kids on the Block and Boyz II Men at the Amalie Arena on July 15.

RICKEY SMILEY

Miami: Chance the Rapper is scheduled June 13 at AmericanAirlines Arena and June 14 at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.

Full Gospel Baptist presents Rickey Smiley and Friends on June 30 at Hard Rock Live Orlando.

Orlando: Plans are underway the 18th Annual Darrell Armstrong Classic Weekend Aug. 11-13 for his foundation that helps premature babies.

Sponsorship info: Call 407-252-333 or email jbm395@gmail.com.

Tampa: Lionel Richie and Mariah Carey are scheduled Aug. 11 at the Amalie Arena for a 7 p.m. show.

Jacksonville: Rick Ross and K. Michelle perform July 8 at the Times Union Center for the Performing Arts.

MARY J. BLIGE GINUWINE

An All White Affair starring Ginuwine and DJ Envy is July 21 at Hard Rock Live Orlando.

Liberty City music fest to focus on ceasing gun violence South Florida hip-hop radio personality “Papa Keith’’ in conjunction with 103.5 The Beat and City of Miami Commissioner Keon Hardemon will present “People Matter Fest,” a day celebrating life, unity, music and non-violence in Liberty City.

The Miami festival will take place on Saturday, June 17 from 1

to 8 p.m. at Charles Hadley Park, 1350 NW 50 St. It is open to the public and requires RSVP at PeopleMatterFest.eventbrite.com.

People Matter Fest is a vehicle from Papa Keith’s “Papa Keith 4 People Matter” or #PK4PM millennial movement and social media campaign. The event will feature Miami artists, including

7 facts about the Muslim holiday Ramadan

BY CHRISTINE CLARRIDGE SEATTLE TIMES/TNS

Regardless of your faith, you may well know that Ramadan is a holy period for Muslims that is marked by reflection and fasting during the day.

The 30-day holiday is based on the lunar calendar and officially began in the United States this year on Saturday but Muslims usually begin their practice of observation at sunset the night before.

Here are some things you might not know: 1. The correct greeting to those observing the holiday is “Ramadan Mubarak” or “Ramadan Kareem,” which wishes them a blessed or generous Ramadan.

2. Practicing adult Muslims do not consume food or water during the daylight hours of Ramadan, but just as important-

trucks along with art exhibits.

Cease-fire campaign Preceding the event will be a citywide call for a 24-hour cease fire. The cease-fire campaign aims to challenge Miami-Dade countywide to put the guns down for 24 hours starting at 8 p.m. on June 15 and continuing through 8 p.m. June 16.

The campaign will include a social media memorial dedication to 24 different parents who have lost a child from the sense-

less act of gun violence. The 24 hour-dedication will be kicked off by Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, and closed out

by Santonio “Blaze’’ Carter; father of King Carter, a 6-year-old boy who was tragically killed by a stray bullet in Miami while playing outside of his apartment complex.

For more information, visit peoplematterfest.com or contact info@peoplematterfest.com.

ly they also try to refrain from spiritually negative practices such as gossiping, lying, swearing and arguing.

3. While they may never ask, your Muslim friends will most likely appreciate it if you don’t tempt them by deliberately eating, drinking or smoking in front of them and if you show patience for any hungerinduced crankiness.

4. Although the Quran does not specify the exact date, Laylatul Qadr (“Night of Power”) – the holiest night of the year - celebrates the night Allah reportedly revealed some of the holy book to the Prophet Muhammad. It is generally recognized as occurring some time on an oddnumbered day in the last 10 days of the observed holiday.

5. While some people report experiencing endorphin highs from daily fasts, others binge once night falls and gain weight.

6. In Arabic countries, Ramadan is prime-time TV binge-watching season and many stations work to produce 30-episode series (an episode for each night) for their audience.

7. The most traditional way to break the fast is to eat dates – which are among humankind’s earliest cultivated crops – either alone or in more elaborate dishes.

HOPE

from Page 1 Haves and the Have Nots’’ on OWN. The event is co-chaired

by Aaron’s dad, Donald Robinson. This year, Kenneth “The Shark” Gant, a former Tampa Bay Bucs player turned Polk County pastor, was the keynote speaker.

Gant told of living with depression and having “suicidal thoughts” while an NFL player. His life turned around when he shared what he was going through with then-Bucs coach Tony Dungy. He related how Dungy cried with him and offered his support.

Another speaker was Johnny Crowder, lead vocalist of Dark Sermon, a metal band, who talked about the need for those living with a mental illness to talk about it.

“I am mentally ill, and I don’t care if the whole world knows it. In fact, I hope the whole world hears,” he related.

Through his writings and

headliner Trick Daddy, in addition to JT Money, Ball Greezy, Kent Jones, Billy Blue, Zoey Dollaz, Ice Berg, Brianna Perry, Lil Dread, Y.D., Baby Soulja Papa and Blaze Carter.

Keith The People Matter Fest will include a Juneteenth village, kids zone, father and son 3-on-3 basketball tournament, battle of the DJs, food vendors and food

Tickets are on sale for Mary J. Blige’s Strength of A Woman Tour, which stops at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater on Aug. 22 and Dailey’s Place in Jacksonville on Aug. 23.

COURTESY OF AARON’S HOUSE

Aaron Robinson, a father of two, died in 2014 at age 31. songs, Crowder is trying to tear down the sigma associated with mental illness.

‘No color’ Motown Maurice, an actor and entertainer whose goal is to be a talk-show host in Hollywood, also was in the dining room on May 7. It was his second Aaron’s Hope fundraiser. Last year, Motown, who was raised in Tampa and now lives in California, was the emcee.

“Unfortunately, I never got a chance to meet Aaron. Since I met Pam, Aaron has become my spiritual brother,” Motown, as he prefers to be called, told the Courier.

“Aaron’s House is a cause that I’m willing to fight for.

Mental health has no color or prejudice. It affects us all.

“It troubles me most whenever I watch the news and hear about the fatal killing of unarmed young men. In most cases, it’s a young African-American male by the hands of the police, only to find out later that the victim had a mental illness. There’s nothing more infuriating than knowing a mentally ill person senselessly lost his life during an episode.’’

Motown continued, “There was no need for the use of guns in that situation. Not only do police need reform, but families also need more awareness. That’s where Aaron’s House come in. That’s where I come in and hopefully over time, I can use my growing influence to fight the ignorance and stigma that’s associated with mental illness.”

For more information about Aaron’s House, send an email to aaronkrobinsonshouse@gmail.com, or visit the website at aaronrobinsoninc.org.

UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH PERFECT WORLD PICTURES A SECRET HIDEOUT/CONSPIRACY FACTORY/SEAN DANIEL COMPANY PRODUCTION

TOM CRUISE “THE MUMMY” ANNABELLE WALLIS SOFIA BOUTELLA JAKE JOHNSON COURTNEY B. VANCE EXECUTIVE PRODUCED MARWAN KENZARI AND RUSSELL CROWE MUSICBY BRIAN TYLERSCREEN PRODUCERS JEB BRODY ROBERTO ORCI

BY ALEX KURTZMAN p.g.a.

CHRIS MORGAN SEAN DANIEL p.g.a. SARAH BRADSHAW STORYBY JON SPAIHTS AND ALEX KURTZMAN & JENNY LUMET SCREENPLAY DIRECTED

BY DAVID KOEPP AND CHRISTOPHER MCQUARRIE AND DYLAN KUSSMAN

BY ALEX KURTZMAN A UNIVERSAL PICTURE SOUNDTRACK ON BACK LOT MUSIC

© 2016 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS IMAX® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF IMAX CORPORATION.

LOCAL LISTINGS FOR STARTS FRIDAY, JUNE 9 CHECK THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES

STOJ

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

WORLD

B3 which announced that since Ebola has been vanquished, West Africans from the so-called Ebola states should pack their bags and return home or face deportation when their temporary visas expire this month.

“The designations of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone terminate effective May 21, 2017,” the Department states on its website. Some 58,000 Haitians also facing the same TPS termination have been given an additional six months stay.

Advance notice

SHANNON PRATHER/MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE/TNS

Cynthia Kwennah, right, shown in this 2014 photo, lost nine family members to Ebola. Thelma Saye is Kwennah’s good friend and neighbor whose husband and 17-year-old son were in Liberia.

Thousands of Ghanaians in US facing deportation West African residents who escaped Ebola fear return to nothing TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE/ GLOBAL INFORMATION NETWORK

Ghanaians who have overstayed their U.S. visas are facing a new Trump Administration push

to deport hundreds or thousands of Africans including those from countries stricken by the Ebola epidemic in 2014.

That was the message from the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, in an interview with Ghana’s Starr FM Online earlier this year.

“In fact about 7,000 (Ghanaians) are currently at different stages of the deportation process.

And we are not apologetic about that,” the U.S. Ambassador was quoted to say. “We have a lot of Ghanaians who have overstayed their visas in the U.S. and I think that they need to be concerned about whether they would be allowed to remain illegally,” Jackson said.

“My guess is they will be given some options, but the president will be serious about asking those

who’ve violated their visa status to depart.”

Reason to worry The ambassador offered assurances that the Trump administration would not paint every African country with the same brush. But Nigerians should be worried, he cautioned.

“Ghana’s economy is growing, Nigeria’s is shrinking. We have a very different relationship with Ghana. Ghana is more supportive of free trade and shares a long history of peaceful existence which Nigeria does not have.”

Subsequently, more worrying news for Africans in the U.S. came from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),

Last year, TPS beneficiaries were given eight months advance notice of the expiration in three notices in the Federal Register.

These notices urged individuals who did not have another immigration status to use the time before the terminations became effective in May to prepare for and arrange their departure or to apply for other immigration benefits for which they may be eligible.

Minnesota is home to a large Liberian and Guinean community mostly in the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities metro. Alhaaji Mohamed Bah, president of the Guinea Association of Minnesota, commented: “There’s no way of going back” since many of the TPS holders lost homes, jobs and families to Ebola.

They’d rather die In recent weeks, as the end of the TPS approached, Bah said he’s been getting calls from people who fear deportation.

“Some of them even said: ‘It’s better for me to die because going back is like death for me; I don’t have anybody anymore,” he recalled.

Abdullah Kiatamba, executive director of African Immigrant Services, underscored: “For those who escaped Ebola, uprooting them from the U.S. could be devastating.”

African leaders overlooked at G7 summit Presidents complain of lack of opportunity to discuss countries’ pressing issues TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE/ GLOBAL INFORMATION NETWORK

African leaders invited to the summit of seven developed countries looked on in frustration and dismay as the leaders of wealthy nations ignored their invited guests and their pleas for help on a score of urgent issues.

Six Kenyan journalists who attended a briefing were eager to lob questions at the wealthy nation representatives – particularly on the subject of the millions of refugees fleeing poverty and oppression with many winding up at

India bans sale of cows for slaughter

BY PARTH M.N. AND SHASHANK BENGALI LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

MUMBAI, India – The Indian government has issued a nationwide ban on selling cattle for slaughter, the toughest measure yet imposed to protect cows, an animal that conservative Hindus regard as sacred.

Under new rules issued this week, the government ordered that no cows or buffaloes could be traded at a livestock market without a signed declaration by the owner that the animal was not being sold for slaughter.

Anyone buying livestock would have to present a document showing that he or she is an “agriculturalist.”

Political move?

The rules came as part of a tough new law against animal cruelty, but commentators said they were aimed at placating hardline Hindu supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist government.

Hindus form an overwhelm-

the bottom of the Mediterranean.

“We held our breath as (European Council) president (Donald) Tusk spoke on immigration and terror,” recalled journalist Bernard Namunane of the Daily Nation. “He mentioned Europe, the Middle East and then… Asia, not Africa.

“Only five questions were allowed. Journalists from Poland, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy asked the questions. Again nothing on Africa.”

Not mentioned The briefing ended with no mention of Africa, the financing of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) or any other matter of trade and finance.

The now traditional ‘African segment’ of the summit was inaugurated in Genoa, Italy in 2001

to enable dialogue between the G7 leaders and the African countries invited by the Presidency.”

President Uhuru Kenyatta was one of the four heads of African state invited to this year’s summit. He questioned the wisdom of keeping African leaders away from such meetings when the continent was the melting point of issues affecting the world.

“The continent is often at the sharp end of the greatest challenges facing our planet, combating terrorism or bridging the gaping disparity in trade that perpetuates poverty,” the Kenyan leader said. “It’s high time a voice from sub-Saharan AfriMahamadou ca was given the Issoufou platform.”

Pinarayi Vijayan, the state’s chief minister, tweeted that the law would rob hundreds of thousands of people of jobs, cripple the leather industry and affect the diets of millions of people.

The rules build on legislation passed in several states, most led by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, to ban the slaughter of cattle. The laws have stoked violence by Hindu vigilante groups that have attacked Muslims and others on suspicion of smuggling cattle or possessing beef.

India’s environment minister, Harsh Vardhan, said the new rules applied only to sales at livestock markets and that cattle bought and sold directly from farms would not be affected.

Leaders berated Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou called on the G7 leaders to take swift measures to end the Libyan crisis.

He also berated the leaders of the world’s most industrialized countries for failing to fulfill their

aid promises to tackle poverty.

His West African nation is one of the poorest nations on earth, with more than 60 percent of the population living below the poverty line. Niger is one of the main transit points for African migrants seeking to reach Europe through Libya.

as what happened Monday. YOU are the opposite.”

ing majority among India’s 1.3 billion people, and many of them eschew beef out of respect for the bovine.

But beef, which is cheaper in India than many other sources of protein, is a major part of the diet of Muslims, Christians and Hindus from the lowest rung of the ancient caste system, known as Dalits, or “untouchables.”

The leader of the southern state of Kerala, which has a large Christian population, criticized it as “fascist” and a “clear attack on our plurality.”

Law’s impact

GLOBAL INFORMATION NETWORK

African heads of state get a photo-op with President Trump.

Tour suspended

ROBERT GAUTHIER/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

The 23-year-old Ariana Grande is shown at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 15 in Los Angeles. After the May 22 bombing at her concert in England, she returned to her home in Boca Raton, Fla.

Grande to hold benefit concert in Manchester

BY CHRISTIE D’ZURILLA LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Ariana Grande has announced her intention to return to the “incredibly brave city of Manchester” to spend time with fans and play a benefit concert to assist victims of the suicide bomb attack launched after her May 22 show in the British city.

“I have been thinking of my

fans, and of you all, non stop over the past week. The way you have handled all of this has been more inspiring and made me more proud than you’ll ever know,” the 23-year-old singer said in a statement on social media on May 26.

“The compassion, kindness, love, strength and oneness that you’ve shown one another this past week is the exact opposite of the heinous intentions it must take to pull off something as evil

Grande gave no details about when she would return other than to say they would be coming as soon as things were confirmed.

The statement was her first since a brief tweet after the bombing saying she was “broken” and “so so sorry.” That day, Grande and her mother left Britain for Florida.

She acknowledged her own reaction to the incident in saying she was “sorry for the pain and fear you must be feeling and the trauma that you, too, must be feeling.” She also talked about not wanting to “go the rest of the year” without being out there for her fans. At this point, her tour has been suspended only until June 5.

“There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better,” she said to the victims of the attack and their loved ones. “However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I can possibly give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in any way.”

Those who were most tragically affected, Grande said, “will be on my mind and in my heart everyday and I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life.”

B4

HEALTH

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

STOJ

Study highlights transgender health disparities gender adults had a body mass index of at least 25, qualifying them as overweight. That may sound high, but it was significantly lower than the 72 percent share for the transgender adults.

Lack insurance Transgender adults were more likely to be uninsured.

Nearly 21 percent of transgender adults lacked health insurance when they were surveyed.

By comparison, only about 11 percent of cisgender adults did not have health insurance.

Transgender adults were more likely to let a health problem go untreated.

More than 1 in 5 transgender adults said they had let a health problem fester because they couldn’t afford to get the necessary treatment. In contrast, 1 in 8 cisgender adults were in the same predicament.

Dealing with depression

IRFAN KHAN/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Alexa Vasquez, a transgender female, is shown with physician assistant Lyle Cook at St. John’s Well Child & Family Center in South Los Angeles. A new report describes significant health disparities between transgender and gender-majority adults.

Overall, they were younger, poorer, less White and more likely to be unemployed than their cisgender counterparts.

BY KAREN KAPLAN LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

Being transgender in America may be hazardous to your health.

A new report in JAMA Internal Medicine characterizes a variety of health disparities between people who are transgender (that

Toddlers eating more fries than veggies

BY KATHERINE BURGESS WICHITA EAGLE/TNS

Would you rather eat french fries than your vegetables?

That’s no surprise, considering that even U.S. toddlers are more used to eating fries than veggies on any given day, according to a survey of children’s eating habits.

The survey found that one in four 6- to 11-month-olds and one in five 1-year-olds ate no vegeta-

is, their gender identity is not the same as their gender at birth) and people who are cisgender (their gender identity matches their gender at birth).

Spoiler alert: There are many.

The data come from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a health survey sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2014, 20 states added questions about gender identity to their survey; five more joined them the following year.

Myriad of issues Researchers from Brigham &

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Dear Mayo Clinic: I’m interested in the new procedure approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that can repair cartilage in the knee. How does it work? Who’s a good candidate for this procedure?

A: The new technique is called matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte implantation, or MACI. It can be effective for repairing isolated cartilage damage in the knee, but it’s not useful for people whose knee cartilage is diffusely damaged due to arthritis.

Your knee has two kinds of cartilage: the articular cartilage and the meniscus. Matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte implantation is used to repair articular cartilage damage, which can come from an isolated injury or defect, or as a result of arthritis.

Can’t heal itself Of these two problems, isolated injuries and defects are much less

Fair or poor health Transgender adults were less likely to describe themselves as healthy.

The CDC asks Americans to describe their overall health as excellent, very good, good, fair or poor. The researchers reported that 29 percent of transgender adults rated their health as fair or poor, compared with 17 percent of cisgender adults.

Overweight adults Transgender adults were more likely to be overweight.

Just under 66 percent of cis-

common than arthritis.

They usually happen due to an athletic injury or another medical condition, such as osteochondritis dissecans. Both isolated cartilage defects and arthritis have similar symptoms, including knee pain, swelling and loss of motion.

No matter the cause, cartilage damage is challenging, because cartilage doesn’t have its own blood supply. Therefore, it can’t heal itself. Once cartilage is damaged, without treatment the damage stays the same or gets larger over time. And so, identifying cartilage damage soon after it happens and starting treatment promptly is crucial to successful repair.

Identify the cause It’s also important to have a thorough evaluation to identify what caused the cartilage damage, because treatment is based on the underlying cause and potentially correcting those factors.

The matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte implantation technique is only useful for re-

Cause for concern The study doesn’t make the claim that being transgender is the reason for the health disparities. But the differences were too big to be due to chance.

The study authors noted that since these results were based on survey responses from only some of the states, they might not reflect the health status of transgender people across the country.

However, they were strong enough to make one thing clear, they wrote: “This study confirms that gender minority adults in the United States experience health disparities compared with their cisgender peers.”

Some toddlers are getting no vegetables at all on some days, a new survey shows.

bles at all on days they were surveyed.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends vegetable consumption with every meal and snack,” lead researcher Gandarvaka Miles, a doctoral candidate with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, told HealthDay News.

“On two random days, parents didn’t report any vegetable consumption for these children.”

About 26 percent of 1-yearolds ate french fries the day before the survey, compared with 7.5 percent who ate dark green vegetables and about 17 percent who ate deep yellow vegetables.

The study was published May 1 and appears in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics.

There’s a new technique for repairing knee cartilage damage MAYO CLINIC NEWS NETWORK/

Women’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, both affiliated with Harvard Medical School in Boston, examined responses from 314,450 cisgender and 1,443 transgender interviewees. People who described themselves as transgender accounted for less than half of 1 percent of the entire sample.

Overall, the transgender people were younger, poorer, less White and more likely to be unemployed than their cisgender counterparts.

The researchers also found significant health differences between the two groups.

Transgender adults were more likely to be depressed.

Among the transgender adults who took the survey, 22.3 percent had been diagnosed with depression. That was significantly higher than the 18.4 percent of cisgender adults who got that diagnosis.

Transgender adults had more cognitive problems.

When asked whether they had any problems with “concentrating, remembering or making decisions,” 10 percent cisgender and 18 percent of transgender adults answered yes.

DREAMSTIME/TNS

pairing isolated cartilage damage.

To understand why it can be helpful, consider a road repair analogy. If you have an isolated cartilage defect or damage, it’s like having one or two potholes on a road.

Once those potholes are repaired, the road is sound again.

With arthritis, it’s as if there are many potholes in the road. Fixing each individual hole won’t restore the road overall, and more potholes will form over time. A more comprehensive approach is needed to make the surface sound.

Two-stage process For those who are good candidates for matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte implantation, the technique is a two-stage process. The first step is knee arthroscopy.

During this minimally invasive procedure, a physician looks inside your knee and assesses the cartilage damage — measuring its size and mapping its location. A sample of the cartilage also is taken from the knee. Afterward, that sample is sent to a lab, where the cells are used to grow more cartilage cells.

With matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte implantation, the new cells are grown on

No matter the cause, cartilage damage is challenging, because cartilage doesn’t have its own blood supply. Therefore, it can’t heal itself.

Once cartilage is damaged, without treatment the damage stays the same or gets larger over time.

And so, identifying cartilage damage soon after it happens and starting treatment promptly is crucial to successful repair. a membrane scaffold in the lab.

That’s different than the cartilage repair techniques previously used.

In the older approaches, cartilage cells were grown in a lab and implanted into the knee under a patch created from a membrane taken off the outer surface of a bone, called the periosteum, or implanted under a membrane made of collagen.

Recovery time By growing the new cells on a membrane scaffold and then implanting them into the knee where the cartilage is damaged, a 3-D structure is created that more

closely mimics natural cartilage, which allows for faster healing and lowers the risk of complications.

Full recovery from matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte implantation still can take up to one year, though, so you need to be motivated and willing to undergo rehabilitation over the course of a year.

If you suspect knee cartilage damage, see your health care provider. He or she may refer you to an orthopedic surgeon to review your options and decide if you might be a good candidate for matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte implantation.

STOJ

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

Meet some of

FLORIDA’S

finest

FINEST & ENTERTAINMENT

B5

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.

Thousands of Caribbean culture lovers converge on South Florida every year on the Columbus Day weekend to attend the annual Miami Broward Carnival, a series of concerts, pageants, parades, and competitions. On Carnival Day, “mas” (masquerade) bands of thousands of revelers dance and march behind 18-wheel tractortrailer trucks with booming sound systems from morning until nightfall while competing for honors. Here are some of the “Finest” we’ve seen over the years.

Go to www.miamibrowardcarnival.com for information on this year’s Carnival.

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Will future theme parks be based on original ideas?

Universal’s Volcano Bay doesn’t have movie, book or TV tie-in

BY ROBERT NILES MERCURY NEWS/TNS

Guardians of the Galaxy, Harry Potter, Fast and Furious, Frozen.

Why can’t theme parks come up with new attractions based on original ideas?

While some fans might long for the days when Disney opened new rides and shows such as the Country Bear Jamboree and the Haunted Mansion, with no movie or TV tie-ins, theme parks love the promotional boost they get from opening new rides and shows with a built-in fan base.

When you’re spending tens or hundreds of millions of dollars on a new attraction, you want every advantage you can get.

Yet Universal has opened a new water theme park in Orlando based not on a movie, TV show, or toy line, but on its own, original story.

Totally original Universal’s theme park designers have concocted a story about the made-up Waturi people of the South Pacific to bring life to its new Volcano Bay theme park at the Universal Orlando Resort.

For years, Universal’s theme park motto was “Ride the Movies,” and it’s been nearly 20 years since the Universal theme parks developed a major attraction that wasn’t based on a movie, television show or at least a popular book.

Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure theme park originally included a “Lost Continent” land that drew from ancient and medieval-themed mythology, but in 2010 Universal converted almost all of that land into its first Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

South Seas angle According to Universal’s back story for the park, the Waturi traveled via outrigger canoes across the South Pacific — from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) to Bali — before discovering the island of Volcano Bay, where they finally settled, creating a home in the style of the places they’d visited.

It’s a cute story, but one that easily can be ignored by anyone who just wants to get on the water slides or lounge by the many pools. Yet Universal is hoping that the extra attention to story and decor will attract theme park fans that might otherwise opt for Disney’s also well-decorated and themed Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon water parks.

For Volcano Bay, Universal had decorated the water park with a

JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO SENTINEL/TNS

The Krakatau volcano is the centerpiece of the new Volcano Bay water park at Universal Studio in Orlando. variety of South Seas motifs, including Tahitian, Maori, and even Thai influences.

Competition: Pandora Volcano Bay’s big competition for attention this summer hails from Disney, but it’s not one of those water parks, and yes, Typhoon Lagoon was getting a major refurbishment and some new attractions. It’s Pandora — The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

That new Walt Disney World land is based on a film — James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster, “Avatar.” But it might as well be based on a theme park-original story given how few fans seem to

feel any passionate connection to that story of giant blue naturelovers on a world being invaded by greedy human business people.

Disney is also banking on the sequels to “Avatar,” all ready in pre-production with scripts that actress Sigourney Weaver called “incredible.”

Based on early booking reports from Orlando-area travel pros, Avatar isn’t bringing fans to the park the way that Harry Potter did for Universal, or even how Frozen and Cars did for Disney in recent years.

Many millions spent Still, Disney reportedly spent

approximately $1 billion developing Pandora, and while Universal is not said to have spent anywhere near that on Volcano Bay, the park clearly represents an investment of many millions of dollars.

For the two biggest companies in the theme park business to make the money they expect on these attractions, they will need fans to embrace them without the help of an already widely beloved entertainment franchise.

If they do, maybe that will inspire theme parks to turn loose their designers to develop more original ideas. Now wouldn’t that be fun?

Radio host receives honorary doctorate from Shaw Nationally syndicated radio host Tom Joyner urged the 202 graduates of Shaw University on May 13 to follow the lead of their new alma mater to become doers who “change the game.”

He reminded graduates that Shaw changed the game often, as the first institution of higher learning established for freedmen, the first college in the nation to offer a four-year medical

program, and the first HBCU in the nation to welcome women.

“How will you change the game,” Joyner asked graduates. Instead of “talking about it, whining about it or tweeting about it,” he challenged graduates to take bold action, just as those before them did, no matter what they lacked. “What if Ella Baker had been more concerned with posting than pro-

testing,” he said, referring to Baker’s leadership as a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee on Shaw’s campus in 1960. “They did what they could. Do what you can. Everybody can do something.”

The host of “The Tom Joyner Morning Show has raised more than $65 million for students at HBCUs through his foundation.

COURTESY OF SHAW UNIVERSITY

Dr. Tasnhi-Ann DuBroy, president of Shaw University, bestows Tom Joyner with an honorary doctorate while trial attorney Willie E. Gary, a Shaw Board of Trustee, looks on.

FOOD

B6

JUNE 2 – JUNE 8, 2017

S

A standout

GRADUATION

menu FROM FAMILY FEATURES

If you’re like many families, this time of year is filled with celebrations including everything from graduations to weddings, and they all have one thing in common: food, food and more food.

Whether you’re organizing a party of your own or taking a dish for a potluck, these ideas are perfect for creating a standout dish that fellow revelers will truly enjoy:

Make a DIY delight Guests of all ages enjoy creating custom treats, and it’s easy to set up a DIY station for all kinds of snacks. Grab a handful of coordinating containers for all the ingredients and supply serving-size bags then let your imagination soar with a candy medley, trail mix or even a popcorn bar.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FAMILY FEATURES

Go ahead, take a shortcut This busy season, you get a pass on making everything from scratch, and options like Armour Original Meatballs are terrific for entertaining because the work is already done for you. With a few simple additions, you’ll have a delish dish to share in no time.

Barbecue Glazed Meatballs make for a simple and easy recipe. If you’re looking for something fun and creative, try these Barbecue Meatball Bites.

Get clever and sweet Every party needs dessert and if you’re honoring “one smart cookie” of a grad, why not sweeten things up with a table filled with cookies of every flavor. The sentiment will earn almost as much appreciation as all those guests who get their taste buds tickled.

These recipes and more can be found at ArmourMeats.com.

BARBECUE GLAZED MEATBALLS Prep time: 20 minutes Total time: 20 minutes Servings: 16 1-1 1/2 cups grape jelly 1 cup barbecue sauce 1 bag (14 ounces) Armour Original Meatballs

In large saucepan, combine jelly and barbecue sauce. Cook and stir over medium heat until jelly melts.

Add meatballs and heat over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, or until meatballs are hot and glazed, stirring occasionally.

Serve in slow cooker set on low, if desired.

Select the coupons you like and save instantly when you enter your phone number at checkout. Sign up for Publix Digital Coupons at publix.com/savingstyle.

BARBECUE MEATBALL BITES Prep time: 10 minutes Total time: 25 minutes Servings: 12 Nonstick cooking spray 1 can (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent dough 1/3 cup barbecue sauce, divided 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided 12 Armour Original Meatballs chopped dill pickles crispy fried onions Heat oven to 425 F. Coat 12 muffin tin cups with nonstick cooking spray. Roll out dough and cut into 12 squares; press into bottom and up sides of each muffin cup.

Spoon 1 teaspoon barbecue sauce into bottom of each cup and top each with about 1 tablespoon cheese. Place meatballs on top of cheese. Spoon another 1/2 teaspoon barbecue sauce over meatballs and sprinkle with more cheese.

Top with desired amount of dill pickles and fried onions.

Bake 13-17 minutes until dough is browned and meatballs are hot. Let stand 10 minutes before removing from muffin tins to serve.