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TexasTowelie's JournalDelagate Norton Demands Removal Of Confederate Statue In DC: Report
WASHINGTON, DC — D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton says now is the time to remove a statue memorializing Confederate General Albert Pike in Judiciary Square, and she has introduced legislation to do just that.
Norton announced the legislation in a July 30 statement, noting that the bill would call for the U.S. Interior Department to remove the century-old statue, which sits on federal land.
The Freemasons contributed most of the original money to erect the statue in 1901 (Pike was a Mason and D.C. resident), and they now support the statue's removal, Norton said.
The statue drew attention from local protesters following violence in Charlottesville, Va. in 2017, when white supremacists descended on the town protesting the removal of a statue to Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Read more: https://patch.com/district-columbia/washingtondc/del-norton-demands-removal-confederate-statue-dc-report
Mediation fails again in case seeking to force Maryland to better fund and strengthen HBCU programs
Court-ordered mediation in a case that’s pitted supporters of historically black colleges against the state of Maryland for 13 years has ended without resolution once again.
A coalition of advocates accused the state in 2006 of fostering segregation by allowing well-funded academic programs at traditionally white institutions to undermine similar ones at four historically black institutions: Morgan State University and Coppin State University in Baltimore, Bowie State University, and the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.
In the more than a decade since the coalition first filed its lawsuit — which members have called the most important higher education desegregation case in decades — attempts to settle have repeatedly failed.
The Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education wants funding to enable the state’s four HBCUs to develop unique, in-demand academic programs that would help them foster distinct identities and attract students of all races. Lawyers previously estimated it would cost several hundred million dollars to do that, along with ramping up marketing efforts and paying for more scholarships.
Read more: https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-hbcu-lawsuit-mediation-fails-20190731-g6ge3o65yzdypnscsp425esi3i-story.html
Blind voters sue Maryland Board of Elections, alleging discrimination at ballot box
The National Federation of the Blind has filed a federal lawsuit against the Maryland Board of Elections, alleging blind voters are being discriminated against at the ballot box.
The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland and three individual voters ― Joel Zimba and Ruth Sager of Baltimore and Marie Cobb of Catonsville ― say in a suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court that they and other blind voters are being denied their right to cast a secret ballot at the polls as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
At issue is how Maryland accommodates voters who are blind. Since 2016, the state has maintained two voting options: a default option of paper ballots, which blind voters cannot use, and a voting machine accessible to blind voters that electronically marks their choices and then prints paper ballots.
But the machines, called Ballot Marking Devices, print a paper ballot that is different in shape and size than the default paper ballots most voters use. “Thus, when only one voter uses the [Ballot Marking Device] in her precinct, her ballot becomes easily identifiable, destroying the secrecy of her vote,” the lawsuit states.
Read more: https://www.baltimoresun.com/politics/bs-md-pol-blind-election-lawsuit-20190803-b3grd2ey4rhvzajc4p4rkzt7hm-story.html
Protesters demand action from Regal Cinemas outside Gambrills theater
Parents of disabled children took their issues with Regal Cinemas to the public after Regal issued a private apology to Mayo Beach Adaptive Camp for turning away their field trip.
About 50 disabled children and their parents flanked both entrances to the Gambrills theater on Saturday afternoon with signs reading “Inclusion is not a privilege, it’s a right,” “Bias training for all Regal staff” and “#DisabledLivesMatter. Boycott Regal Cinemas.”
The protest comes a day after Regal Cinema’s CMO defended the theater, saying private apologies and offers of a free screening were sent to the Mayo Beach Adaptive Camp after an incident where disabled campers were denied a screening as a “liability” last week.
The county’s Department of Recreation and Parks Director Rick Anthony said he won’t accept the apology or the free screening until an explanation is given for the incident, a public apology is made and the theater takes measures to prevent future incidents.
Read more: https://www.capitalgazette.com/news/ac-cn-regal-rally-0804-20190803-ogaguggfvvdnpihfamspnbform-story.html
(Annapolis Capital Gazette)
'I'd be happy to have him': Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings says Pres. Trump should come to Baltimore
After a week of President Donald Trump leveling criticisms at Baltimore and U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the congressman said he would welcome the president to come visit.
“I’d love for him to sit down and talk to the doctors at Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland and see the beautiful neighborhoods of our city, and I’d be happy to have him,” Cummings said at a community event Saturday near his Baltimore home.
The Republican president sparked a sharp reaction from many Baltimore residents and political figures when he tweeted July 27 that Baltimore was a “rat and rodent infested mess.” He continued for several days to tweet criticisms of Cummings, calling the Democrat “racist” and claiming falsely that Baltimore’s “corrupt government” had stolen billions from U.S. support sent to cities.
Cummings spoke to reporters about the incident for the first time Saturday at a ribbon-cutting for a community park in the 1900 block of McCullough St., several blocks from his Druid Heights home.
Read more: https://www.capitalgazette.com/latest/bs-md-pol-elijah-cummings-druid-hill-20190803-20190803-ciksmnobiva2tbdxhlzrtaxxfa-story.html
(Annapolis Capital Gazette)
Man paid two D.C. police employees $40,000 in bribes for crash reports
A Washington-area man pleaded guilty to one count of felony bribery Wednesday, admitting he paid more than $40,000 to two D.C. police employees to obtain confidential information from traffic crash reports after police restricted the release of such reports in 2015.
Marvin Parker, 60, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. In a plea agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, prosecutors and the defendant agreed on a sentence recommendation of 24 to 30 months.
Parker entered his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson. No sentencing date was set, Parker has not been detained, and plea papers include no mention of any cooperation agreement.
Parker is the owner of RPM Associates, prosecutors said, a consulting firm that Maryland state business records show registered in Silver Spring. His attorney, Damon Colbert, declined to comment.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/man-paid-two-dc-police-employees-40000-in-bribes-for-crash-reports/2019/08/01/273992da-b3b6-11e9-8949-5f36ff92706e_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d9169c294396
'Trump 2020' banner leads to fans being removed from Orioles-Blue Jays game
Multiple news reports say that four fans who attended Thursday’s Baltimore Orioles’ game were removed from the team’s stadium after unfurling a ‘Trump 2020’ banner.
The fans have not been identified, USA Today reports, adding that “Camden Yards’ stadium policy states that no banners can be hung anywhere in a way that would obstruct other fans’ views of the game, according to the Orioles’ website.”
TMZ has additional details:
“Four men who unfurled a Trump 2020 banner at the Orioles game in Baltimore on Thursday were escorted out of the stadium while fans chanted, “Take it down” -- and it was all captured on video,” the site says.
“The men displayed the “Keep America Great” banner from an upper deck railing behind home plate -- and it hung for about 10 minutes before stadium officials took action.”
Read more: https://www.pennlive.com/sports/2019/08/trump-2020-banner-leads-to-fans-being-removed-from-orioles-blue-jays-game-report.html
Coal plant owner to pay $1M over Chesapeake contamination
BALTIMORE (AP) — The owner of a coal plant on a river north of Maryland may have to pay a $1 million fine over pollution leaking into the river and flowing into the Chesapeake Bay.
The Baltimore Sun reports Talen Energy and its Brunner Island coal plant reached a consent decree with environmental groups and regulators that’s expected to be filed in federal court this week. The plant is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) upstream of the Chesapeake on the Susquehanna river. The river sends fresh water to the Maryland bay.
The paper says that last year, groups raised concerns about chemicals leaking into groundwater from coal waste. In the settlement, the plant owner agreed to investigate and address contamination.
Talen official Debra Raggio said it’s committed to complying with environmental regulations.
https://www.apnews.com/edf5d2a1693e47cab691639b8f1f6c0f
(no more at link)
Illegal Pete's company name is now legal in Delaware
DOVER, DEL. — Illegal Pete's is now legal in Delaware.
The Colorado-based restaurant chain has won a fight with Delaware officials who refused to accept its conversion to a Delaware limited liability company because the company's name has "a negative connotation."
Attorneys for the Division of Corporations indicated in a recent court filing that the agency had reversed course and filed the restaurant company's certificates of conversion and formation to become a Delaware LLC.
Illegal Pete's certificates, which originally were filed in late October and rejected, had been accepted as of July 8, according to the state's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Illegal Pete's has until Monday to respond to the motion to dismiss.
Read more: https://www.wral.com/delaware-relents-illegal-petes-can-use-its-sketchy-name/18546428/
Obstacles remain in preventing "double-dipping" by lawmakers
DOVER — Unlike some states, Delaware’s legislature is not full-time.
That means most of the state’s 62 lawmakers have other jobs — jobs that can potentially pose conflicts of interest or lead to questions about “double-dipping.”
Many legislators work in the private sector, either for another company or for a business they own, or are full-time lawmakers.
A few are employed by nonprofits that receive state funding, such as Senate Majority Leader Nicole Poore, a New Castle Democrat who is president of Jobs for Delaware Graduates, and House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, a Bear Democrat who serves as the executive director of the Police Athletic League of Delaware.
Read more: https://delawarestatenews.net/news/obstacles-remain-in-preventing-double-dipping-by-lawmaker/
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