Maryland USA Shooting - Five dead, others 'gravely injured' in shooting at Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland USA

The scene outside 888 Bestgate, where an active shooter was in the Capital Gazette Newspaper office / newsroom, with heavy police, fire, and rescue presence.

Story by Annapolis Capital Gazette
Written by Kevin Rector

Link: http://www.capitalgazette.com/bs-md-gazette-shooting-20180628-story.html

At least five people were killed and several others were “gravely injured” in a shooting Thursday afternoon at the Capital Gazette in Anne Arundel County, authorities said.

A shooter is in custody, police said. Police would not name the suspect or say what type of weapon was used.

There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload

— Phil Davis (@PhilDavis_CG) June 28, 2018

Anne Arundel County Police initially confirmed about 3:15 p.m. that they were responding to an “active shooter” at 888 Bestgate Road, where the newspaper’s offices are located. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded to the scene.

The Capital Gazette is owned by The Baltimore Sun.

Phil Davis, a Capital Gazette crime reporter who was in the building at the time of the shooting, said multiple people were shot, as others — himself included — hid under their desks. He said there was a lone male gunman.


The scene outside 888 Bestgate, (brown building - left) where an active shooter was in the Capital Gazette Newspaper office / newsroom, with heavy police, fire, and rescue presence.

“Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Can’t say much more and don’t want to declare anyone dead, but it’s bad,” Davis wrote on Twitter as he waited to be interviewed by police.

“There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload.”

In a subsequent interview, Davis said it “was like a war zone” inside the newspaper’s offices — a situation that would be “hard to describe for a while.”

“I’m a police reporter. I write about this stuff — not necessarily to this extent, but shootings and death — all the time,” he said. “But as much as I’m going to try to articulate how traumatizing it is to be hiding under your desk, you don’t know until you’re there and you feel helpless.”

Davis said he and others were still hiding under their desks when the shooter stopped firing.

“I don’t know why. I don’t know why he stopped,” he said.

Police arrived and surrounded the shooter, Davis said. He declined to elaborate.

Authorities said police responded to the scene within a minute. "If they were not there as quickly as they were it could have been a lot worse," Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said.

Officials at Maryland Shock Trauma Center confirmed the hospital was treating at least one victim.

Agents with the ATF were on the scene in Annapolis to provide support to local law enforcement, said Amanda Hils, a spokeswoman for the federal agency. ATF can help with tracing weapons, conducting interviews and other assistance.

President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that he had been briefed on the shooting. “My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Thank you to all of the First Responders who are currently on the scene,” Trump wrote.

Gov. Larry Hogan, on Twitter, wrote, “Absolutely devastated to learn of this tragedy in Annapolis.”


Maryland Governor Larry Hogan speaks during a press conference following a shooting in Annapolis, Maryland, June 28, 2018.

He said he was in contact with County Executive Steve Schuh, and that Maryland State Police were on the scene assisting county police.

“Please, heed all warnings and stay away from the area. Praying for those at the scene and for our community,” he wrote.

Ben Jealous, the Democratic nominee for governor, said he was “deeply saddened about the unfolding events in Annapolis.”

“As we await more information from the authorities, I’m keeping everyone at The Capital Gazette and the surrounding community in my thoughts and prayers. I’m grateful to our law enforcement for their efforts to respond to this crisis and ensure the safety of Marylanders in the area.”

House Speaker Michael E. Busch has represented Annapolis since 1987 and said The Capital is “the voice of the community.”

Even with a shrinking staff, Busch said, “they knew the pulse of the community and had a lot of influence on what took place.

“This is a shocker,” Busch said. “Over the years, a lot of these people become friends. They do their job, you do your job, and you respect them for it. A lot of good writers have come out of there.”

“This is really something that is totally, totally shocking, that we don’t know how to understand.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen wrote on Twitter, “My heart is with the families, friends, and loved ones of the victims as we learn more about this terrible situation. We must unite to end the violence.”

U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes said at the scene that he expects the incident will shake Annapolis “to its core.”

“I know how close the ties are that bind people down here,” he said.

Police were also at The Baltimore Sun newsroom in Baltimore. Police said there was no threat on the Sun, and that their presence was a precaution.

The Gazette is not the only business in the building where the shooting occurred. There are 30 tenants in the building, including five others on the first floor with The Capital. They include accountants, lawyers, financial and medical offices. The newspaper has been in the building since 2015, according to CoStar, a real estate information company. They have 5,000 square feet of offices.

Aaron Smith and Randall Fisher of the Fisher Law Office were on the fourth floor in the same building as the Gazette at the time of the shooting. They didn't hear or see anything and didn't know anything was going on until Smith received a text from a colleague saying there was an apparent shooting, he said.

They flipped a desk over in front of the door to the office and stayed there until SWAT officers arrived. They then walked out of the building with their hands on their heads, like everyone else in the building, Fisher said.

Bethany Clasing, who works in second floor of the building, said she heard a single gunshot and then heard the police yell, “Get down! Get down! Don't move!”

Clasing said she saw a sheriff’s deputy standing outside of their door, next to a man on the ground who was being patted down. The deputy told Clasing and other employees to stay inside, but "literally a second later, they told us to put our hands up and sprint” away from the building, she said. “That was the scariest part.”
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Read more: http://www.capitalgazette.com/bs-md-gazette-shooting-20180628-story.html

I Strongly Applaud My Auntie Max - Commentary by Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Commentary by Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson

At a press conference in March 2016, then GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump flatly said “it’s very appropriate” to beat protesters at his allies. This was not said in the heat of the moment. Trump has made a specialty of verbally pummeling anyone who has crossed him in the months since he incited to riot at his press conference.

In almost every case, there has been not a peep of protest from a GOP senator, congressperson, or state legislator, about it. Or for that matter not many Democrats have raised their voices in protest that Trump’s bully and brutish outbursts put people in physical danger. There was no avalanche of angry editorials from indignant, outraged newspapers, and commentators calling on Trump to resign, be censored, or apologize.

Now there’s Congresswoman Maxine Waters, my congresswoman, since I’m in her district, who simply calls on Trump’s opponents to confront Trump administration officials in public places over his bigoted, and destructive policies. The abuse heaped on her for this simple, lawful and age-old call for citizens who disagree with an administration to voice their dissent directly to those officials is puzzling. Waters did nothing wrong and certainly has no reason to take a word of her admonition to directly protest back. She certainly has nothing to apologize for.

But how to explain the torrent of abuse heaped on her? I’m not talking about abuse from Trump and the GOP that’s to be expected. But abuse from Democrats and almost all the mainstream media? There are two explanations, and both tell much about the dismal shape of politics and politicians and much of the big media.

The first is that Trump has done a masterful job in bullying, cowering, manipulating, and poisoning the political stream. It has got far too any Democrats running scared of doing and saying anything that can be construed as “going low” on Trump. Translated: that means wrapping their criticism and protests over his outrages in the softest of velvet gloves. The thinking being that Democrats can beat back the Trump onslaught by playing by the conventional rules of political engagement. The rules are that you engage in polite discourse on the issues, but refrain from anything that can be regarded as hitting back hard on the integrity of the fellow or lady on the other side. This gentleness has gotten the Democrats an almost unprecedented string of losses in elections in dozens of states in the past decade. It has made the Democrats a minority party in the Senate and the House. It paved the way for the Trump ascension and the toxic forces that he represents.

Trump well understands the raw power and emotionalism unleashed by ripping the wraps off political combat and talking tough and mean about Democrats and even wavering Republicans. It cowers the opposition and sends the message don’t even think about opening your mouth in criticism about me, because you will be called out by name, and it won’t be pretty. The GOP leaders got the message loud and clear and that’s why it’s now a Trump party.

The media long ago figured out that playing up every silly and even idiotic Trump tweet, utterance, and camping at his rallies to give wall to wall coverage of them was a goldmine in ratings. That meant more ad dollars. It’s been a nice little tag team. Trump will say something outrageous, or better yet, bad mouth an opponent, and the ratings numbers soar even higher. Trump knows that, media outlets know that, and that’s why it continues.

The second reason Maxine is such an inviting target for vitriol is she is an outspoken female, Black Democrat, who has made no bones that she wants Trump out of there and has been the one Democrat willing to say it the loudest without the requisite political niceties. This has made a lot of Democrats squirm and squeamish because she’s unwilling to play the polite parlor game of how GOP opponents must be kid glove dealt with.

The great fear is Water’s verbal aggression could throw a monkey wrench into the Dems chances to take back the House in November. Trump again caught the drift of this great fear when he lambasted Waters as the ‘unhinged” face of the Democrats. This plays well with his base, but it may play even better with Democrats who duck for cover from Waters.

Beating back the Trump evil will take a colossal effort at mobilizing, organizing, and engaging those disgusted with Trump and the GOP to get to the polls. But it doesn’t mean that you also can’t shout loud at Trump’s enablers to their face that his and his party’s policies have been a wreck and a ruin for the country. The right to say that openly and publicly is after all the American way. Maxine got it right by making that call. And I strongly applaud my Auntie Max for that.
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Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is the author of the forthcoming Why Black Lives Do Matter (Middle Passage Press). He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on Radio One. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and the Pacifica Network.

There Are Now Two Black Nominees (Georgia and Maryland) For Governor - Ben Jealous' primary win in Maryland moved America closer to having the first Black governor in years.

Ben Jealous on the campaign trail. (Photo by Baltimore Sun)

Story by News One
Written by Bruce C.T. Wright
Photo by Baltimore Sun

Ben Jealous’ Democratic primary victory in Maryland on Tuesday night meant there were now two African-American nominees for governor in the U.S. If elected, they would equal the same number of Black governors in what will soon be the nation’s 242-year history.
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Twitter: Ben Jealous for Governor (MD)
‏
Verified account

@BenJealous
We won. We won BIG!

As we say in the NAACP...Thank you to everyone who gave their time, their treasure or their talent!

Now... let’s go do it again!
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But there were still three more races to go with Black gubernatorial hopefuls, increasing the chances of both a Black governor being elected and possibly making this year one of the most noteworthy on record for African-Americans in politics. After all, there hasn’t been a Black governor in office since the fateful political year of 2016.

Tuesday’s win advanced Jealous, a former president of the NAACP, to a general election showdown with the incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. And if the past was any indication of the future, Jealous’ chances to become Maryland’s first Black governor were all but guaranteed: not one single governor in the state has been re-elected in 54 years.

Jealous joined Georgia’s Stacey Abrams as the lone two African-American nominees for governor. The duo could become a quintet if three more states vote for the Black candidates in their respective states. Abrams, the first Black woman to ever be nominated for governor, was polling lower than her general election opponent. But she pulled a come-from-behind victory last month, so why not again in November?

Florida voters could push Andrew Gillum through the Democratic primary there in August, and at least one poll has him leading the race. The first Black mayor of Tallahassee has said he’s in favor of bail reform, gun reform and full legalization of marijuana because of the racial disparity of arrests. The Sunshine State’s primary was scheduled for Aug. 28.

It was a bit of a different story in Michigan, though, as neither of the two Black gubernatorial candidates there even registered a blip on the most recent poll. Michigan’s primary was scheduled for Aug. 8.

Perhaps the longest shot of the rest of the Black candidates was Ohio’s Larry Ealy, a former exotic dancer. (Kanye shrug) Ohio goes to the primary polls on Aug. 28.

Illinois’ Tio Hardiman and Maryland’s Rushern Baker each lost their respective gubernatorial bids. Now former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the first Black person elected to that position, decided against running for a third term and left office in 2015.

Supreme Court upholds President Donald J. Trump's Travel Ban

Story by The Hill
Written by Lydia Wheeler
Video Link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/marker-shame-democratic-lawmakers-rip-supreme-courts-travel-ban-decision-172209635.html

The Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling on Tuesday upheld President Trump’s ban on nationals from five Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

In a majority opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court said the president has broad discretion under immigration law to suspend the entry of people into the United States.

“The president lawfully exercised that discretion based on his findings — following a worldwide, multi-agency review — that entry of the covered aliens would be detrimental to the national interest,” Roberts wrote in the opinion.

Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch joined Roberts in the majority, with liberal Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissenting.

The President immediately took to Twitter to announce the news.

“SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS TRUMP TRAVEL BAN. Wow!” he tweeted.

The decision is a significant victory for Trump, who issued the first travel ban — which detractors described as a Muslim ban — just seven days into his term.

It led to massive protests at airports across the country and mass confusion over who could be let into the United States.

A series of court battles followed as the administration issued revisals of its original proposals.

The latest policy, issued by presidential proclamation, limited travel into the United States by people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia and Yemen. Chad was also originally included, but the White House decided to drop it from the list in April.
The proclamation also banned immigrants from North Korea and individuals affiliated with certain government agencies in Venezuela, but those restrictions were not blocked by the courts.

The state of Hawaii, which led the challenge, argued Trump’s now-indefinite policy discriminates against immigrants based on their religion in violation of immigration law. Additionally, they argued the policy exceeds the president’s authority and is unconstitutional because it establishes a disfavored religion.

Hawaii pointed to statements Trump made on the campaign trail and since taking office to prove his animus toward Muslim people.

But the court said the challengers had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on their constitutional claim.

Sotomayor disagreed in a dissenting opinion, which Ginsburg joined.

She said that, based on the evidence, a reasonable observer would conclude that the proclamation was motivated by anti-Muslim animus.

“Ultimately, what began as a policy explicitly 'calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States' has since morphed into a ‘Proclamation’ putatively based on national-security concerns,” she said. “But this new window dressing cannot conceal an unassailable fact: the words of the President and his advisers create the strong perception that the Proclamation is contaminated by impermissible discriminatory animus against Islam and its followers.”

Roberts, however, said reviewing the proclamation and Trump’s comments under a “reasonable observer” standard is problematic.

He said the court instead has to apply a rational basis for review, which considers whether the entry policy is plausibly related to the government’s stated objective to protect the country and improve vetting processes.

“Because there is persuasive evidence that the entry suspension has a legitimate grounding in national security concerns, quite apart from any religious hostility, we must accept that independent justification,” he said.

The ban was drafted after the first order Trump issued was blocked by lower courts and his second ban expired before reaching the Supreme Court last term. That order banned people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan from coming to the United States for 90 days and banned all refugees for 120 days.

The Supreme Court gave Trump a partial win in January when it allowed the full ban to go into effect after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the president could only ban people if they lack a bona fide relationship to a person or entity in the United States.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), one of two Muslim members of Congress, tweeted that he was saddened by the decision.

"Today's decision undermines the core value of religious tolerance on which America was founded," he said in a statement. "I am deeply disappointed that this ruling gives legitimacy to discrimination and Islamophobia."

Civil rights advocates, meanwhile, excoriated the court.

“This ruling will go down in history as one of the Supreme Court’s great failures,” Omar Jadwat, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said in a statement.

“It repeats the mistakes of the Korematsu decision upholding Japanese-American imprisonment and swallows wholesale government lawyers’ flimsy national security excuse for the ban instead of taking seriously the president’s own explanation for his actions,” he said.
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Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/marker-shame-democratic-lawmakers-rip-supreme-courts-travel-ban-decision-172209635.html

Joe Jackson Breaks Silence After Terminal Cancer Revelation: 'The Sun Sets When The Time Comes'

Story by Entertainment tonight
Written by Elizabeth Staten

On Sunday, Joe Jackson posted a thoughtful reflection on life as he remains hospitalized with terminal cancer.

"I have seen more sunsets than I have left to see. The sun rises when the time comes and whether you like it or not the sun sets when the time comes," he wrote on Twitter, alongside a silhouetted photo of himself standing near the ocean during a sunset.

The note comes after the 89-year-old was hospitalized on Friday in Las Vegas, with terminal cancer, according to a Jackson family source. The source also revealed that Jackson had been battling the illness for some time, and doctors recently told members of the family that he has limited time to live because the cancer cannot be treated.

Jackson has faced other hospitalizations, including last year where rumors of his death swirled after he was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital due to a high fever that occurred during a routine checkup.

"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated," he wrote in a note, titled "I Am 100% Alive," on his website. "Please ignore all the stupid false rumors from people who seem to find humor in such topics."


Janet Jackson gave an emotional speech thanking her dad, who we're told is in the end stages of terminal cancer. Video by TMZ

His daughter, Janet Jackson, was in a similarly reflective mood on Saturday at the 2018 Radio Disney Music Awards, where she was honored with the Impact Award. During her speech, she thanked her fans for the honor and noted that her mother, Katherine Jackson, father Joe, and siblings--including the late Michael Jackson--made her who she is today.

“It’s beautiful, it’s humbling to be recognized as someone who's had a positive impact, but if I have been fortunate enough to impact others it's only because I, myself, have been greatly impacted by positive people in my life,” she said. “My mother nourished me with the most extravagant love imaginable, my father, my incredible father, drove me to be the best I can."

“My siblings set an incredibly high standard, a high bar for artistic excellence…Every day I am impacted by young people such as you who are demanding social change," she added. "Sometimes, having an impact can be a simple act, a smile, a handshake, or a hug...This means so much to me coming from all of you."

Meanwhile, Paris Jackson did not seem to approve of the message posted to her grandfather's Twitter. "This is a beautiful tweet. Though it upsets me to see whoever is in charge of this account taking advantage of it," Michael Jackson's 20-year-old daughter wrote in response. "My grandfather did not tweet this. I'm not sure if he’s ever used this account."

Read more:
http://www.tmz.com/2018/06/22/joe-jackson-hospitalized-terminal-cancer/
http://www.tmz.com/2018/02/11/joe-jackson-quincy-jones-michael-jackson-billy-jean-donna-summer/

Black Residents Flee Chicago As Experts Say Chances For Success Diminish - Longtime Black residents are leaving Chicago in droves, according to experts. Here's why...

Story by News One
Written by Nigel Roberts

The Windy City isn’t providing the opportunities longtime Black residents need to succeed, so they’re leaving in droves, according to experts.

New census data revealed that Cook County’s Black population has declined for a seventh consecutive year, the Chicago Sun Times reported. And the trend is accelerating. Between 2016 and 2017, African-American residents left the county at a higher rate than before.

“People associate with being successful and having a higher quality of life in areas that exist outside of Chicago. Whether that be in the suburbs or in other cities,” said Darnell Shields, executive director of community organization Austin Coming Together.
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Population Declines in Chicago: https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/cook-county-black-population-continues-to-decline-census-data/?utm_campaign=ChicagoSunTimes&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=1529554150
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Gentrification is one of the main forces behind the exodus. Cook County’s Black population diminished by 1.15 percent last year, representing a decline of more than 14,000 Black residents. Meanwhile, more than 16,000 new residents of diverse backgrounds have replaced them since 2010.

Finding affordable housing is a major challenge, according to a report from DePaul University’s Institute for Housing Studies. About 182,000 people who need low-cost housing are struggling to find a place to live in Cook County.

At the same time, Illinois has the highest Black unemployment rate in the nation. It has consistently been among the states with the highest Black unemployment rate for almost every quarter since 2016. Many employment experts blame the loss of job opportunities on the poor education system, which has long plagued Chicago public schools.

“The population loss story is largely about lower income and younger African-American families and their challenges to find affordable housing and connections to the job market,” Alden Loury, the director of research and evaluation at the Metropolitan Planning Council, summed up to the newspaper.

Jay Stevens out as VP of Programming at Urban One

Jay Stevens photo

Story by Inside Radio

After nearly a dozen year as senior VP of Programming Content at Radio One, Jay Stevens will exit the company next month, according to numerous published reports.

Stevens oversees the programming content strategy for the 54 radio stations in Radio One’s 15 markets and Reach Media's nationally syndicated programming, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Not known for jumping from job to job, the respected programmer spent nearly 16 years as a VP of Programming for CBS Radio before joining Radio One in January 2007.

CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING: DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: BUILDING AN INNOVATIVE NATIONAL RESPONSE NETWORK IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES - U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico

For Immediate Release
Contacts: Mike McQuery (Rep. Plaskett)
June 13, 2018
202-225-1790
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CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING: DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: BUILDING AN INNOVATIVE NATIONAL RESPONSE NETWORK IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES - BUILDING A 21ST CENTURY HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PUERTO RICO, THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS, UNDERSERVED AND RURAL COMMUNITIES NATIONWIDE

WASHINGTON – The National HIT Collaborative for the Underserved, Inc. (NHIT®) along with Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, will be convening a Congressional Briefing titled: “Disaster Preparedness: Building An Innovative National Response Network in Underserved Communities - Building a 21st Century Health and Healthcare Infrastructure for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, underserved and rural communities nationwide.” The briefing will cover lessons learned from California, Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

WHAT: Disaster Preparedness Briefing

WHEN: Thursday June 21, 2018

TIME: 11am – 2pm

WHERE: 2253 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515

WHO: Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett, Congresswoman Doris Matsui, Congresswoman Jennifer Gonzalez-Colon and the National HIT Collaborative for the Underserved, Inc.

RSVP: Ariyana.Gore@mail.house.gov

7,000 Ghanaians To Be Deported From US

Video by Your Black World Jun 13, 2018


Video by CGTN's Africa Live from April 2017 - The United States says it will expel 7,000 Ghanaians this year for breaching terms of their visa agreement. The Ghanaians are said to have overstayed their permits and were currently at different stages of their deportation process. This comes hours after the United Kingdom blacklisted three serving legislators of Ghana's Parliament over visa fraud. The move is in line with promises by U.S. President Donald Trump that his government will deport illegal immigrants and immigrants with criminal records as part of his immigration laws to be rolled out.

7,000 Ghanaians to be deported from USA

Story by GhanaWeb.com
12 June 2018
Comments: https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=659603&comment=0#com

The United States ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson has disclosed that 7,000 Ghanaians are in the process of being deported from the United States of America (USA) for various immigration offences.

During an address (Video Above) at an Institute of Economic Affairs discussion on United States-Africa Relations Monday (June 11, 2018) in Accra, Ambassador Jackson stressed the need for all countries to control their borders.

He said: "First, we are talking about 7,000, not 60,000 Ghanaians who are in various stages of being deported from the United States and on that issue just as we have a responsibility to patrol our borders, countries around the world have a responsibility to issue travel documents to their citizens so that they can return to those countries". It will be recalled that on March 14, 2018, 86 Ghanaians were deported from the United States of America to Ghana.

They were reportedly arrested at different states for various immigration offences such abuse of the terms of their visas and engaging in illegal employment. The deportees, all males, came on a chartered flight.

1,968 Ghanaians deported in 2016.

Statistics from the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) revealed that a total of 1,968 Ghanaians who travelled to various countries around the world were either deported or refused entry to the country they were travelling to.

The breakdown of the figure shows that 1,245 Ghanaians were refused entry into various destinations abroad for failing to meet their respective entry conditions in 2016.



This means the refusal of entry into various destinations of Ghanaians shot up by 50.5% from the 827 figure recorded in 2015.

Reasons for refusal of entry include the traveller failing to provide clear information on where the individual is going, misbehaviour towards immigration officer, not having sufficient funds, information provided at entry point contradicts information provided on application form submitted to the embassy to get the visa, and possessing a fake visa.

It is explained that visa offers partial clearance and that immigration officers have the discretion to grant or deny travellers entry.

Five takeaways from Trump's summit with Kim Jong Un

Story by The Hill
Written by Rebecca Kheel

It was a moment that will surely live on in history books: President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shaking hands in front of a row of six U.S. and six North Korean flags.

The first ever summit between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader concluded Tuesday in Singapore with a joint declaration that was long on ambition but short on details.

In exchange for unspecified “security guarantees” from the United States, North Korea agreed to an “unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will now dig in with North Korean officials to hash out the details.

Here are five takeaways from a historic day.

The summit couldn't have gone better for KIM JONG UNim

Kim, who is accused of assassinating relatives and executing scores of his citizens, appeared to get his top outcome from the meeting: legitimacy on the international stage.

“This whole Singapore meeting, didn’t it look like a big coming out party for North Korea as the world’s newest nuclear weapons state?” Sue Mi Terry, senior fellow and Korea chair at the Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS), told reporters on a post-summit conference call.

Even before the summit, Kim was being treated more like a rock star than a dictator around Singapore, getting cheers as he toured the city-state.

The equal number of alternating flags for each country sent a message of parity between a global superpower and the world’s most reclusive state.

Better yet, from Kim’s perspective, was Trump calling him a “very talented man" and a “worthy negotiator.”

Kim did little of substance in response.

The joint declaration specifies no timeline for denuclearization nor it does have steps to verify disarmament. It also refers to denuclearization on the entire Korean peninsula — Pyongyang’s preferred phrasing — and does not include the words “verifiable” and “irreversible” despite months of U.S. statements.

Trump also agreed to something North Korea has sought for years: the suspension of joint U.S.-South Korean military drills.

Trump sticks it to the foreign policy establishment

Trump has never been shy about brushing up against foreign policy taboos and appears to have reveled in his unconventional approach to nuclear diplomacy.

On his way to Singapore, he rattled the foreign policy establishment by backing out of a signing a joint communiqué with the G-7 and calling Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “dishonest and weak.”

Asked at the end of his summit with Kim about praising an adversary after insulting an ally, Trump said the United States was being “taken advantage of” by “virtually every” other G-7 country.

Meanwhile, Trump racked up headlines about how historic it was for a sitting U.S. president to meet with a North Korean leader, and the summit was broadcast live across the globe.

Trump contends that he didn’t give Kim any concessions while winning the release in May of three American hostages.

“Sure, they got a meeting,” Trump said after the summit. “But only a person that dislikes Donald Trump would say that I’ve agreed to make a big commitment.”

Trump’s concession on war games shocks

Trump framed his surprise announcement that joint “war games” with South Korea would be halted while negotiations with Pyongyang continue as a cost-saving measure, but echoed Pyongyang’s criticism of the drills as “very provocative.”

The concession appeared to be significant, but there’s some confusion about what it means. Administration officials and Republican lawmakers argued Tuesday whether there is a difference between the large-scale war games Trump wants to end and small-scale day-to-day training.

The Pentagon insists Defense Secretary James Mattis was consulted, though the department issued no information Tuesday on whether any exercises will be halted or scaled back.

Regardless of how the announcement is implemented, neither South Korea nor Japan appear to have been consulted beforehand.

“My understanding is the South Koreans had very little, if any, forewarning of that, and so that naturally creates concerns on the part of both allies,” said Victor Cha, who was previously under consideration to be Trump’s ambassador to South Korea.

It wouldn’t be the first time the U.S. has canceled exercises during talks with Pyongyang. In 1994, the United States and South Korea cancelled their Team Spirit military exercises while hashing out the Agreed Framework.

But Michael Green, senior vice president for Asia and Japan chair at CSIS, said that move was “carefully coordinated” with allies.

“This came as a complete surprise to Japan and Korea and the Defense Department, and against a backdrop of the president of the United States saying that he wants to pull our troops out of Asia,” Green said.

CHINA IS HAPPY

Outside of Pyongyang, there’s another capital that will pleased at joint U.S.-South Korean military drills stopping: Beijing.

China had been a main proponent of the so-called “freeze-for-freeze” where the United States would halt military drills in exchange for an end to North Korean nuclear and missile tests.

Trump also said that while the withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Korea was not on the table Tuesday, at “some point” he wants to “get our soldiers out.” China has long wanted a withdrawal of U.S. forces from the peninsula.

“When Trump said I want to get our soldiers out, I am sure that that is music to China’s ears,” said Bonnie Glaser, senior adviser for Asia at CSIS.

Trump also appeared to implicitly endorse China’s reported loosening of sanctions enforcement since the talks with North Korean began.

At the top of his press conference, Trump thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping, “who has really closed up that border, maybe a little bit less so over the last couple of months, but that’s okay.” Trump added later that the opening of the Chinese-North Korean border “is what it is.”

Later Tuesday, China raised the possibility of sanctions relief for North Korea.

“The relevant Security Council resolutions stipulate that we shall adjust sanction measures as may be needed in light of [North Korea’s] compliance, including suspending or lifting relevant sanction measures,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters.

Peace lives to see another day

Despite all the consternation over concessions, tensions that pushed the United States and North Korea to the brink of war last year were nowhere to be found Tuesday.

Indeed, even some who were disappointed in a lack of specifics from the joint statement said Trump had to be commended for pursuing diplomacy.

“On the positive side of the summit, one, we are now on a path to diplomacy rather than military confrontation and easing of tension in the Korean peninsula because of this historic summit,” former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson said on a conference call with reporters. “Another positive would be the fact that there’s a process started, a process of continued negotiations.”

Cha similarly said the bar for peace was cleared, even if that’s a low bar.

“If the bar for success in this summit is war or peace, it’s a pretty low bar,” he said. “We got peace. So in that sense, we’re certainly in a better place than we were six months ago when there was a lot of talk about preventive military attacks and armed conflict.”

Where diplomacy goes from here is unclear. Pompeo is set to lead the U.S. side of negotiations, but North Korea did not name a specific negotiator in the joint statement.

Trump said he’d be willing to go to Pyongyang “at the appropriate time” and that Kim accepted his invitation to visit the White House “a little bit further down the road.”

Chatter in foreign policy circles suggests Kim could speak at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September. From there, it’s just a short flight to Washington.

Senator Kamala Harris Plans to Intro Anti-Lynching Legislation

Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA)

Story by TheBeatDC.com

Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) was a guest on Joe Madison’s SiriusXM radio show on Thursday and said she was looking into introducing a national anti-lynching law at the federal level. More than 200 attempts have been made to pass an anti-lynching law in Congress that would allow federal prosecution of perpetrators and hold local officials accountable if they did not act to protect the victims. With Southern Senators armed with the filibuster, historically, Congress never acted.

Finally, in 2005, a Senate resolution was passed that expressed regret for the failure. Yet to this day, lynching is still not a federal offense. “This is part of the dark, awful history of this country and we cannot forget that history lest we repeat it,” Harris said. “Over 4 thousand Black people and even some white sympathizers were lynched up until 1981. So this is not just a problem of the 1800’s.”

Madison also played a soundbite for Harris from fellow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) who was asked about the legislation. “Honestly I haven't thought about it. I thought that was done back during LBJ or some period like that,” McConnell said. “But if we need one at the federal level, I certainly would support it.” The National Memorial for Peace and Justice opened in Montgomery, AL in May, demanding a reckoning with one of this nation’s most repressed atrocities.

Hear the interview with Kamala Harris: https://soundcloud.com/siriusxm-news-issues/sen-kamala-harris-federal-anti-lynching-law-wjoe-madison

Sirius XM Strikes $150 Million Settlement With SoundExchange.

Story by Inside Radio

Sirius XM Radio has agreed to make a one-time $150 million payment to settle a lawsuit brought by SoundExchange nearly five years ago, alleging the satellite radio service underpaid royalties under its license covering the Jan. 1, 2007 through Dec. 31, 2012 period. The agreement was announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It revealed the deal also resolves “all outstanding claims” including all of SoundExchange’s ongoing audits of Sirius XM’s web radio service.

Most significantly the settlement closes the books on a suit brought by SoundExchange in Aug. 2013 in U.S. District Court in Washington. In the complaint, the non-profit rights management organization alleged Sirius XM underpaid royalties by improperly reducing its gross revenue subject to royalties by deducting revenue attributed to music recorded prior to Feb. 1972. SoundExchange also alleged that Sirius XM’s “Premier” package revenue wasn’t “separately charged” as required by Copyright Royalty Board regulations. Sound Exchange, which collects and distributes royalties for artists and the sound recording copyright owners, had sought between $50,000 and $100,000 in addition to interest, late fees, and attorney costs from the company.

Sirius XM has insisted through the years that it properly applied the gross revenue exclusions allowed by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). In 2014, a federal court agreed that the CRB’s guidelines were ambiguous and while it didn’t go along with the company’s request to dismiss the complaint, it did agree to put the suit on hold in order to give the CRB an opportunity to interpret its regulations. It took three years, but last September the CRB sided with Sirius XM and said the satellite radio service had correctly interpreted the revenue exclusions.

The CRB’s decision bounced the standoff back to federal court where last December SoundExchange added to its legal filing, alleging Sirius XM excluded late fees received from subscribers from the calculation of gross revenues. It also contended that the company systematically underpaid royalties for its internet radio service.

But Sirius XM said it only excluded songs from its royalty calculations that it wasn’t able to identify. How much that meant it was due to pay wasn’t entirely clear however. The company told shareholders in a recent regulatory filing that it suspected that it underpaid for that streaming music use by more than 10% of what it believed SoundExchange was owed. The company had said an exact total wouldn’t be known until an audit of its internet radio service had been completed. The just-announced $150 million settlement not only means the legal costs will stop piling up, but the company no longer will have an uncertainty hanging over it.

The company had no comment on the settlement. But in recent months it has been pushing back against the idea that it is resisting paying artists for pre-72 recordings. CEO Jim Meyer wrote in a recent op-end that the company has already paid more than $235 million for that music, while at the same time it has also opted to settle lawsuits tied to state copyright law violations.

Music use is also getting more expensive for Sirius XM. The Copyright Royalty Board hiked the rate covering the performance of sound recordings delivered over satellite by 41% for the period covering Jan. 1, 2018 through Dec. 31, 2022. That meant Sirius XM will pay a royalty of 15.5% of gross revenues, up from 11.0% under the previous agreement, according to a filing with the SEC last December. While that’s a big jump, SoundExchange had been seeking an even bigger amount.

Top Democrats Respond to Supreme Court Decision in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute

For Immediate Release
June 11, 2018

Contacts:
Aryele Bradford (Oversight) 202-226-5181
Peter Whippy (Administration) 202-225-2061
Daniel Jacobs (Sarbanes/Democracy Reform Task Force) 202-225-4016
Shadawn Reddick-Smith (House Judiciary) 202- 225-6906
Daniel Schwarz (House Judiciary) 202-225-5635

Top Democrats Respond to Supreme Court Decision in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute

Washington, D.C. (June 11, 2018)— In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute, Reps. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Robert A. Brady (D-PA), Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, and John Sarbanes (D-MD), Chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force, released the following statement:

Today’s Supreme Court decision in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute threatens the right to vote for millions of Americans. The decision wrongly interprets the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and disregards Congress’s intent in passing this law – to make voter registration easier, to increase participation in elections, and to end the harmful practice of state voter roll purges that targeted voters of color.

Justice Sotomayor put it best in her powerful dissent, writing that the majority’s decision “entirely ignores the history of voter suppression against which the NVRA was enacted and upholds a program that appears to further the very disenfranchisement of minority and low-income voters that Congress set out to eradicate.”

At a time when the President makes repeated unsubstantiated claims about widespread voter fraud and his Administration works to disenfranchise voters of color by adding a dangerous citizenship question to the 2020 Census, today’s decision should serve as a wake-up call to all Americans that the right to vote remains fragile and under threat.

Congress must take action and pass legislation to bolster voting rights, including strengthening the Voting Rights Act, enacting nationwide automatic voter registration, and expanding early and absentee voting. We must protect this foundational right of our democracy.

Bourdain Suicide, is not just a "White Thing"

Story by Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson

The tragic suicides of renowned food master Anthony Bourdain and fashion designer Kate Spade garnered reams of press and public attention. But what has gotten almost no attention was a study by the AMA a few months before their deaths that revealed two things. One is that for the first time the suicide rate among young black males surpassed that of whites of any age group. The other was it exploded a widely propagated myth that blacks do not kill themselves in anywhere near the numbers that whites do.

As with Bourdain and Spade, the reasons given for the surge in suicides across gender and ethnic groups are depression, drugs, trauma, alienation, social discontent, and general life dissatisfaction. But there is one more cause that marks the surge in black suicides as far different than that of whites: racism. The deep sense of hopelessness and alienation that stems from chronic neglect, denial of opportunities, poverty, and the sense of dead end life existence are powerful disincentives for living for many young blacks.

The tragic irony is that a major reason the rise in black suicides has gotten so little attention is not solely due to racism and the devaluation of black life. It’s the very myth that suicide is solely “a white thing.” This has been the subject of riffs from some comedians most notably Dick Gregory who once quipped that while whites jump out of windows in tall buildings blacks jump up from basements.

Even during the decades when it was a virtual article of belief that blacks didn’t kill themselves, there was enough anecdotal evidence that suicide was a much wider occurrence among blacks than was commonly thought. Yet, there were no studies that honed-in on the incidence of black suicides, let alone the causes. The focus in black deaths was almost exclusively on the disproportionate number of homicides among blacks, especially young black males. Death by violence from other blacks, not death by their own hand, accounted for the higher mortality rate and risk factor among blacks. This blind spot prevented health professionals and policy makers from devising initiatives and allocating resources for tackling the suicide problem among blacks.

The issue, though, did not totally go unnoticed. In April 2015, Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cellars urged then President Obama to create a task force to examine the rise in black suicides and to develop preventative measures. The timing couldn’t have been worse. The murders by Dylann Roof of blacks at a Charleston, South Carolina church assured that the issue of black suicides would get little press attention. In the next year the rash of high profile police shootings of unarmed young black males and the continuing murder carnage in Chicago dominated the headlines.

This reinforced the public and media view that the violent deaths of blacks, especially black males, were solely from murder or the police. However, the number of black suicides continued its deadly march upwards. Another study found that the victims of suicides among blacks were getting younger and younger and had dipped to those between age 5 and 11. Even this didn’t sound the alarm bells. Public attention had now shifted to the sharp rise in suicides among young whites in rural areas. This was tied into the Opioid addiction crisis and the flight of industry and job loss. The suicide of comedian Robin Williams and a few other white notables further captivated the press and public fascination. This also reinforced the notion that suicide was almost the sole province of whites, rich and poor, and celebrities.

Then there are the grim numbers. Suicides have been on the rise across the board for the past two decades. In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, counted more than 45,000 persons that killed themselves. The CDC noted that in a significant number of these cases there was job loss or severe financial hardship. However, that did not explain why so many young black males who weren’t in the job market committed suicide. The road to an answer again and again led back to their deep sense of marginalization that young blacks internalized at earlier and earlier ages. The absence of an early warning system to recognize the trouble signs in schools and among health professionals in poor inner-city communities insured that more young persons who suffered emotional crisis’s would not get the help they desperately needed. The cutbacks in funding and expansion of mental health treatment programs and crisis prevention hotline services further worsened the problem.

The suicides of Bourdain and Spade touched thousands of their ardent fans and peers in the media and the business world. It sparked renewed public attention and concern about the suicide plague. This is a good thing. Unfortunately, that same attention and concern remains totally absent for those who aren’t rich, famous and white and who are also just as likely if not more so, to kill themselves

Trump Considers Pardoning Muhammad Ali, Whose Conviction Was ALREADY OVERTURNED

American heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali walks through the streets of New York with members of the Black Panther Party in 1970. David Fenton / Getty Images

President Trump said he was “doing recommendations on Muhammad Ali.” In 1971, the Supreme Court overturned Ali’s draft evasion conviction, and he was pardoned by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 as part of a blanket amnesty.

Story by NY Times
Written by Linda Qiu

WHAT WAS SAID

“There will be more pardons. … In fact, we’re doing, right now, recommendations on — you know, frankly, we’re doing recommendations on Muhammad Ali.”

— Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters on Friday.

THE FACTS

This requires context.

Muhammad Ali, the boxing great who died in 2016, was convicted of draft evasion in 1967. The Supreme Court overturned Ali’s conviction in 1971.
Ali had twice failed Army aptitude tests during the Vietnam War. But he was deemed eligible for military service in 1966, after the Selective Service lowered its qualifications. Ali refused to be drafted and applied to be classified as a conscientious objector, citing his religious beliefs.

“I ain’t got nothing against them Vietcong,” he told reporters.

He was stripped of his heavyweight championship titles and boxing licenses, and convicted of draft evasion. He appealed.

The case made its way up to the Supreme Court, which ruled in Ali’s favor in an 8-to-0 vote on June 29, 1971. In its decision, the court called the Justice Department “simply wrong as a matter of law” to not consider Ali’s argument that he was a conscientious objector based on his religious beliefs and sincerely held views.

With that, Ali’s conviction was void.

In 1977, Ali received a “full, complete and unconditional pardon” under President Jimmy Carter’s blanket amnesty for most who violated draft laws.

In theory, Mr. Trump could again pardon Ali’s draft evasion conviction, but the boxer’s family or his lawyer could reject it.

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“We appreciate President Trump’s sentiment, but a pardon is unnecessary,” Ron Tweel, a lawyer for Ali’s estate and family, said in a statement on Friday.

Ali was also charged in 1967 with traffic violations — making an improper left turn and driving without a license — but Mr. Trump can pardon only federal crimes.

In his comments on Friday, Mr. Trump said he was looking at a list of what he described as 3,000 names of people who could be pardoned because “some folks that have sentences that aren’t fair.”

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Jeffrey Couch, a law professor at American University and the author of a book on presidential pardons, questioned why Mr. Trump was undertaking the legal project now.

“One way to interpret this is that he’s using clemency to brand the Department of Justice as ‘unfair,’ much like he has the media with ‘fake news,’” Mr. Couch said.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized the Justice Department’s special counsel investigation into his presidential campaign’s ties with Russia and whether he tried to obstruct justice.
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Source: Supreme Court, New York Times, Justice Department, interviews with Ron Tweel, Jeffrey Couch

How Much Synergy In Radio-TV Combos? For Entravision – A Lot.

Story by Inside Radio

How much of an upside is there in owning radio and TV stations in the same market? Broadcasters from two very different companies offered opposing views on the topic Thursday at the Gabelli 10th Annual Movie & Broadcasting Conference at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in New York City.

Radio delivered plenty of lift to the E.W. Scripps Co.’s TV stations after it backed into the radio business via its acquisition of Journal Communications three years ago. But with just 34 radio stations nationally, Scripps discovered it didn’t have the scale to compete in the consolidated radio business, president of Local Media Brian Lawlor said.

But for Entravision Communications, which owns 55 TV stations and 49 radio stations and a growing digital division, radio is a core asset that it has no intention of selling. For starters, radio is integrated into all of Entravision’s TV operations, executive VP, treasurer & CFO Chris Young told the Gabelli audience. The company’s sales force sells both radio and TV.

The Spanish language market Entravision operates in is far less competitive than the English language market. Pointing to Denver as an example, Young said the promotional benefits for an English language radio-TV combo “are a lot less interesting” than a Spanish language operator owning a dominant FM and a dominant television station. “That’s one reason why they’re a much more integral part of our operation than what you see from the multi-platform operators of TV and radio in English,” Young said.

Of the 17 markets where Entravision owns radio stations, 11 are combo markets with TV and six are radio standalones.

Young also provided some color on the radio division's second quarter pacings, which look much better than during the company’s first quarter earnings call. Back then, Q2 was pacing down by 6%. Now it’s up 1%. “It’s made some nice inroads as far as revenue is concerned as we get deeper into the quarter so were very pleased about that,” Young said. Entravision also cut radio costs by about $8 million, which should help grow cash flow and earnings.

Among the company’s radio growth drivers are programming changes Entravision made at its Los Angeles stations, along with revenue “kicking in” from political advertisers and for the World Cup. Entravision booked $9.3 million in political in the 2014 mid-term elections, which “should serve as a benchmark for what we do this year,” Young said. Univision has historically secured TV rights for the World Cup and that’s been good for Entravision, which has a lot of Univision TV affiliates. But this year’s World Cup went to Telemundo, while Entravision won the radio rights. “That will pull ad dollars from all Spanish language media operations, TV and radio,” Young predicted. “It’s helping our radio [division]. But that’s going to be an issue for the entire year as folks reallocate their budget spends on World Cup.”

Young also mentioned some headwinds the company is facing in its markets along the U.S.-Mexico border like El Paso, San Diego, and the Texas markets of Laredo, Brownsville, and McAllen. “There is a lot of economic activity that comes from the Mexican side of the border into the U.S.,” Young said. “That’s all but dried up,” he said due to the Trump Administration’s immigration stance. “That’s an issue for us but there’s not a lot we can do about it.”

NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens declines the H.O.F. Enshrinement Ceremony

Story by NFL.com
Written by NFL Writer Nick Shook

Former All-Pro wide receiver Terrell Owens has publicly declined his invitation to attend the Aug. 4 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony in Canton, Ohio. Owens made the announcement Thursday via an official statement.

"I am so grateful for all of the support my family, friends, and certainly my fans, have shown me throughout my entire career in the National Football League. When it was announced that I was going to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the response received from my fans was overwhelming, and I am truly humbled. I am honored to be included among this group of fellow inducted individuals.

"While I am incredibly appreciative of this opportunity, I have made the decision to publicly decline my invitation to attend the induction ceremony in Canton. I have already shared this information with the Hall. After visiting Canton earlier this year, I came to the realization that I wish to celebrate what will be one of the most memorable days of my life, elsewhere. At a later date, I will announce where and when I will celebrate my induction.

"I would also like to thank the San Francisco 49ers, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys, the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals for the time I was granted with each organization. I am thankful for the relationships forged and the lessons learned while part of each team.

"I wish to congratulate all past, current and future inductees. It is quite an honor to be part of such elite company. This honor is something that I will cherish forever."

Owens played 15 seasons in the NFL with the aforementioned teams, recording 1,078 catches for 15,934 yards and 153 touchdowns in 219 games played. Owens spent his final NFL season with the Bengals before exiting the league after the 2010 campaign. He was selected for induction in his third year of eligibility.

The decision to decline the invitation and not attend his own induction ceremony is unprecedented.

"We are disappointed by will respect Terrell's decision not to participate in the Enshrinement," Pro Football Hall of Fame President and CEO David Baker said in a statement. "While unprecedented, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the nearly 5,000 volunteers and the entire community are committed to celebrating the excellence of the Class of 2018 that will kick off the NFL's 99th season.

"As we do not want to detract from this great honor being enjoyed by the seven other members of the Class of 2018 (Bobby Beathard, Robert Brazile, Brian Dawkins, Jerry Kramer, Ray Lewis, Randy Moss and Brian Urlacher), their family, friends, and fans; the Pro Football Hall of Fame will have no further comment on the decision made by Terrell Owens."

NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick's legal team expected to seek subpoenas for President Donald Trump, and Vice-President Mike Pence

Jan. 1, 2017, file photo shows former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick speaking at a news conference. (AP)

Story by Yahoo Sports
Written by NFL columnist Charles Robinson

After months of circling President Donald Trump during NFL depositions and discovery, Colin Kaepernick’s lawyers are expected to force Trump directly into the ongoing legal battle between the quarterback and league.

Kaepernick’s legal team is expected to seek federal subpoenas in the coming weeks to compel testimony from Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other officials familiar with the president’s agenda on protesting NFL players, sources with knowledge of the quarterback’s collusion case against the NFL told Yahoo Sports.

The aim will be a dive into the administration’s political involvement with the NFL during Kaepernick’s free agency and the league’s handling of player protests, sources said. This after recent disclosures that multiple owners had direct talks with Trump about players kneeling during the national anthem. The content of those conversations between Trump and owners – as well as any forms of pressure directed at the league by the administration – are expected to shape the requests to force the testimony of Trump, Pence and other affiliated officials, sources said.

What has to happen for Trump to be subpoenaed?
Due to the nature of the rules in collective bargaining grievances, reeling in sworn testimony from the political sector will create at least one additional hurdle for Kaepernick’s camp. The quarterback’s legal team first must notify the system arbitrator of the need for targeted depositions beyond the boundaries of the agreement between the NFL and the player’s union. That would entail presenting a detailed argument to the system arbitrator overseeing the grievance, spelling out the relevance and impact that testimony from Trump or others could have on the grievance. If the arbitrator rules the testimony would be justifiable, that would open the door for Kaepernick’s attorneys to seek the subpoenas in a district court under the Federal Arbitration Act.

That’s also where the process would get more complicated and contentious.

Should the system arbitrator and a federal judge find there is a basis to force Trump or others to sit for depositions, it would raise an argument over whether the president can actually be compelled by the courts to sit for a deposition. Trump could choose to ignore the order or simply decline, leaving it up to the justice system to enforce the subpoena.

Whether that would ever happen is a significant matter of debate.


President Donald Trump has continued to criticize the NFL and its players over past protests. (AP)

Trump’s lawyers already fighting subpoenas in Mueller case

Multiple media outlets have reported Trump’s lawyers have already argued to special counsel Robert Mueller that the president couldn’t be compelled to comply with a criminal subpoena in the Russian collusion probe. It stands to reason if Trump would refuse to sit for a deposition in an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, he’s also likely to refuse to comply with a subpoena from a district court stemming from Kaepernick’s arbitration case.

Complicating matters further? Even if Trump was attracted to lock horns more directly with Kaepernick, doing so in a deposition could potentially expose the president legally if it is found he somehow bore responsibility for NFL owners refusing to offer Kaepernick a job.

Still, there is also a flip side for Trump, whose head-on verbal barrage against the NFL over protesting players has been a red-meat issue politically, stoking his base and creating a staple talking point he has continually revisited. In theory, taking part in the Kaepernick case would give him the opportunity to air his thoughts about the quarterback face-to-face in a deposition – much the same way multiple NFL owners have done in the process. It would also offer Trump fertile material for his steady diet of social media and “Fox & Friends” appearances, which can’t be discounted.

How will Kaepernick’s team build an argument to subpoena Trump?
But long before that quandary comes to fruition, Kaepernick’s attorneys will be tasked with illustrating a connection between the quarterback’s unemployment and Trump’s pressure on the NFL regarding protests during the national anthem.

With that in mind, multiple incidents could factor prominently into the request for subpoenas. Among a few (but not all) that could ultimately be referenced by Kaepernick’s attorneys:

• In August 2016, as a Republican presidential candidate, Trump went on Seattle radio station KIRO and remarked of Kaepernick protesting during the national anthem: “I think it’s personally not a good thing, I think it’s a terrible thing. And, you know, maybe he should find a country that works better for him.”

That could prove to be significant, because it can be framed as the “clock-starting” moment when Trump’s interference in Kaepernick’s livelihood first began, then extended and became amplified into the presidency.

• In March 2017, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft joined Trump on a flight aboard Air Force One in which the two men engaged in conversation. The next day, at a speaking event in Kentucky, Trump bragged that NFL owners weren’t signing Kaepernick because they were afraid of him.

“Your San Francisco quarterback, I’m sure nobody ever heard of him,” the president said. “… There was an article today that was reported that NFL owners don’t want to pick him up because they don’t want to get a nasty tweet from Donald Trump. Do you believe that? I just saw that. I just saw that.”

In a later deposition in the Kaepernick case, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross testified Kraft told NFL owners he had spoken to Trump about players kneeling during the anthem. It wasn’t clear if that conversation occurred on the Air Force One flight or a different date.

• In September 2017, Trump spoke directly to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who later revealed during his deposition in the Kaepernick collusion case that the president told him, “Tell everybody [in the NFL], you can’t win this one. This one lifts me,” and that the player-kneeling issue was a “very winning, strong issue for me [politically].”

• Also in September 2017, Trump blasted NFL players during a speech in Alabama, taking direct aim at the jobs of kneeling players.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!’ ” Trump said.

• In October 2017, Trump again spoke directly about Kaepernick, and again suggested NFL retribution against the quarterback for his kneeling during the anthem.

“I watched Colin Kaepernick [in 2016], and I thought it was terrible, and then it got bigger and bigger and started mushrooming, and frankly the NFL should have suspended him for one game, and he would have never done it again,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “They could have then suspended him for two games, and they could have suspended him if he did it a third time, for the season, and you would never have had a problem. But I will tell you, you cannot disrespect our country, our flag, our anthem. You cannot do that.”

• Also in October 2017, Trump admitted to orchestrating a walkout of an NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts, in which Pence attended the game briefly and then left when players knelt during the national anthem.

• In late October 2017, a handful of NFL owners met with a select group of players during the league’s New York meetings. In a confidential meeting that was secretly taped and then leaked to the New York Times, Kraft can be heard referring to kneeling as the elephant in the room.

“The problem we have is, we have a president who will use that as fodder to do his mission that I don’t feel is in the best interests of America,” Kraft said, according to the Times. “It’s divisive and it’s horrible.”

The Times also quoted other owners at the meeting talking specifically about Trump’s impact. They included Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeff Lurie, who reportedly said, “We’ve got to be careful not to be baited by Trump or whomever else,” and Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula, who reportedly worried that, “All Donald needs to do is to start to do this again. We need some kind of immediate plan because of what’s going on in society. All of us now, we need to put a Band-Aid on what’s going on in the country.”

• In March 2018, Ross told the New York Daily News that Trump had influenced him to reverse his support of players who chose to kneel during the anthem. It was the first time that an owner said publicly that Trump had influenced their stance on the issue.

“I think initially I totally supported the players in what they were doing, because it’s America – people should be able to really speak about their choices and show them [in] doing that,” Ross said. “But I think when you change the message, about, is it support of our country or the military, it’s a different message. When that message changed, and everybody was interpreting it as that was the reason, then I was against the kneeling. …[Trump’s] message became what kneeling was all about. From that standpoint, that’s the way the public is interpreting it. So I think that’s really incumbent upon us to adopt that, because that’s how I think the country is now interpreting the kneeling issue.”

• In May 2018, after the NFL passed a rule prohibiting kneeling during the national anthem – but allowing players to remain in the locker room during the ceremony if they wish – some owners admitted that Trump had impacted the league’s motivation for creating a rule. The day after the NFL passed the rule, Trump once again revisited his remarks about players’ job statuses or whether they should be in the country if they didn’t stand for the anthem.

“You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn’t be playing – you shouldn’t be there,” Trump told “Fox & Friends.” “Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country.”

That is only a handful of some of the incidents reflecting Trump potentially influencing NFL owners on either Kaepernick or kneeling players. It doesn’t account for all of his statements or address the multitude of tweets he has sent about the issue – nor other private conversations that have reportedly occurred inside the NFL about his impact.

It remains to be seen whether the totality of those incidents will be enough to convince the system arbitrator in Kaepernick’s case or a federal judge to conclude that forcing depositions of Trump, Pence or others is necessary. But that appears to be the next avenue of pursuit for Kaepernick’s legal team, in a case that has only seemed to gain more traction with each passing month.

NFL's San Francisco 49ers legend Dwight Clark, 61, dies of ALS

Dwight Clark, who provided the defining moment for the San Francisco 49ers franchise more than three decades ago, died Monday at his home in Montana. He was 61.

Story by NBC Sports BayArea
Written by Matt Maiocco

Dwight Clark, who provided the defining moment for the San Francisco 49ers franchise more than three decades ago, died Monday at his home in Montana. He was 61.

Clark's wife, Kelly, posted the news of her husband's death on social media:

"I'm heartbroken to tell you that today I lost my best friend and husband. He passed peacefully surrounded by many of the people he loved most. I am thankful for all of Dwight's friends, teammates and 49ers fans who have sent their love during his battle with ALS."

Former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo issued a statement:

"My heart is broken. Today, I lost my little brother and one of my best friends. I cannot put into words how special Dwight was to me and to everyone his life touched. He was an amazing husband, father, grandfather, brother and a great friend and teammate. He showed tremendous courage and dignity in his battle with ALS and we hope there will soon be a cure for this horrendous disease. I will always remember Dwight the way he was – larger than life, handsome, charismatic and the only one who could pull off wearing a fur coat at our Super Bowl parade. He was responsible for one of the most iconic plays in NFL history that began our run of Super Bowl championships, but to me, he will always be an extension of my family. I love him and will miss him terribly. Our hearts and prayers are with his wife Kelly, his children and the entire Clark family."

Clark battled amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, since first experiencing symptoms in September 2015. Clark personally informed many friends and close associates of his diagnosis long before he made a public announcement of his condition on March 19, 2017.

"While I'm still trying to wrap my head around the challenge I will face with this disease over the coming years, the only thing I know is that I'm going to fight like hell and live every day to the fullest," Clark wrote in a statement at the time.

Clark lived up to his promise. He enjoyed the company of numerous friends while he lost significant weight and his physical condition worsened. He reconnected with dozens of former teammates and coaches and managed to keep a positive attitude as he bravely fought the disease, for which there is no known cure.

In October, more than 35 members of the 49ers' first Super Bowl championship team convened at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara for Dwight Clark Day. Clark addressed the fans at halftime of a 49ers game against the Dallas Cowboys.

It was his play – simply known as "The Catch" -- against the Cowboys in January 1982 that became the springboard for the 49ers' dominance of the decade. Clark made a leaping grab of a Joe Montana pass in the closing minute of the NFC Championship game to propel the 49ers to their first Super Bowl.

Clark was the guest of honor for regular Tuesday lunches in Capitola before he moved with Kelly to Whitefish, Montana, in March. Despite enduring increased difficulty with his speech and confined mostly to a wheelchair, Clark managed to keep the moods upbeat as he continued to entertain his many visitors with stories and anecdotes.

"It's fun for him," Joe Montana said in October on the 49ers Insider Podcast. "At one point, he was telling his wife, Kelly, ‘This is what it's all about. This is what I want and what I miss, seeing the guys.' He surely appreciates it."

DeBartolo hosted a two-day gathering for Clark in April with nearly 30 friends and former teammates and colleagues traveling to Montana from all parts of the country.

"It's always good to see those guys because we've been through so much," Clark told NBC Sports Bay Area after the gathering. "We had a lot of laughs and told a bunch of lies about how good we were. I had a good time. It was a small enough group that I got to visit with everybody over the two days."

Said DeBartolo, "It really was a tough weekend, but it was great for Dwight. It was great for the players who were there. It was like the old days. Everybody just had a great time. Dwight fit right in to everything. He was happy."

On May 21, a smaller group, which included former teammates Ronnie Lott and Keena Turner, visited with Clark at his home. The group sat in a semi-circle around Clark's bed and read letters from fans. Clark and those who visited him that day were moved to tears of laughter from some of the letters and tears of emotion from others.


Dwight Clark, who provided the defining moment for the San Francisco 49ers franchise more than three decades ago, died Monday at his home in Montana. He was 61.

Clark was born Jan. 8, 1957, in Kinston, North Carolina. He graduated from Garinger High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, before attending Clemson University. He is survived by his wife of seven years, Kelly (Radzikowski), and three children from a previous marriage: daughter Casey and sons Riley and Mac.

Clark's rise from an unheralded college player to a legend of an NFL franchise required an almost-unbelievable series of good fortune and seized opportunities. He was not expected to be drafted or even get an invitation to any NFL training camps after a college career at Clemson that produced just 33 receptions for 571 yards and three touchdowns in 34 games.

His roommate was Clemson quarterback Steve Fuller. Then-49ers coach Bill Walsh was in South Carolina to scout Fuller. Clark was heading out the door to play golf when he picked up the ringing phone. Walsh was on the other end. Walsh asked if Clark was a wide receiver. Then, he asked if Clark would come to the workout to catch passes from Fuller.

Clark dropped his clubs to attend the workout. That was the only thing he dropped that day. Clark caught everything in sight, and Walsh felt as if he discovered a gem.

"Dwight looked good to me," Walsh told NFL Films in the ‘80s. "And as the draft progressed, many of our scouts said, ‘Coach, you can get him on the free-agent market a month from now. And, I said, ‘No, that man is going to be here. You watch.' "

Walsh did not want to take any chances with Clark. The 49ers selected him with the first pick of the 10th round. Now, the NFL draft consists of just seven rounds. Clark said he never unpacked his bags during his first training camp, as he was certain he would be cut. But unbeknownst to Clark, Walsh considered his skills as a wide receiver to be a perfect fit for his offensive system.

"Right from the beginning, you knew that he was just somebody you wanted on your team," DeBartolo said in a film that was shown at the gathering in Montana in April. "We wanted good athletes, but we wanted players who were good people."

Clark spent his entire nine-year career with the 49ers (1979 to '87). He was selected to the Pro Bowl twice in his career. Clark still ranks third in franchise history with 6,750 receiving yards; fourth with 506 receptions; and seventh with 48 touchdown catches. The 49ers retired his No. 87 in 1988.

Clark won two Super Bowl rings as a player. He later served as a team executive, earning three more Super Bowl rings, before leaving the 49ers to join Carmen Policy with the expansion Cleveland Browns in 1999.

When his disease became more difficult with which to cope, Clark appreciated more than ever the magnitude of the family-like culture DeBartolo built with the 49ers. DeBartolo and many of Clark's former teammates and coaches rushed to his side for support while he battled ALS.

DeBartolo sent Clark to Japan last year to bring back a three-month supply of the drug Radicava before it became available in the United States. In clinical trials, some ALS patients showed significantly less decline in physical function after taking the drug.

"I got lucky to get drafted by the 49ers," Clark said last month.

And the 49ers were lucky to end up with Clark, too.

He had it all – good looks, charm and the ability to rise to unimaginable heights to author the play that set the organization's dynasty of the 1980s into motion. The late Freddie Solomon gave Clark the nickname of "Hercules" to fit his larger-than life persona.

In the early 1970s, the Cowboys ousted the 49ers from the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. Dallas' dominance over the 49ers was at the forefront of everyone's mind as the Cowboys held a 27-21 lead over the 49ers in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship game at Candlestick Park in the playoffs following the 1981 regular season.

The 49ers took over at their own 10-yard line with 4 minutes, 54 seconds remaining. Led by Walsh's play-calling and Montana's pinpoint passes, the 49ers strung together six first downs to drive to the Dallas 6-yard line.

On a third-and-3 play, Montana looked for Solomon on the right side on a play called, "Spring Right Option." After Solomon slipped, Montana was forced to look for other options. Montana glided to his right, pump-faked, back-pedaled and threw a pass high toward the back of the end zone – in a spot where only Clark could reach it.

Clark rose above Dallas cornerback Everson Walls, stretching his 6-foot-4 frame to the fullest and made a fingertip catch. After coming down in the end zone with both feet in bounds, Clark spiked the football as the ground shook in celebration never before seen on San Francisco soil.

"It's a mad house at Candlestick," said CBS-TV broadcaster Vin Scully, aptly describing the wild scene.

Said Montana, "We'd never thrown the ball to Dwight on that play, at all. But it was crazy because Bill Walsh made us practice that part of the play back in training camp. And we both thought he was crazy."

The 49ers' defense held on for the 28-27 victory, and Clark's place in franchise history as a beloved figure was forever set.

Two weeks later, Clark's recovery of an onside kick as part of the 49ers' hands team, secured the organization's first Super Bowl title with a 26-21 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI in Pontiac, Michigan.

Three years later, Clark had six catches for 77 yards in the 49ers' 38-16 victory over the Miami Dolphins at Stanford Stadium in Super Bowl XIX in January 1985.

Upon his announcement of his ALS diagnosis, Clark said he believed the head injuries he sustained during his football career caused the disease. But he never expressed any regrets, nor did he have any misgivings about the sport that brought him fame and made him a Bay Area icon.

"The fans around the Bay Area are awesome, the way they pass these 49ers stories down," Clark said in February. "It's fun to have the little kids come up and ask me about ‘The Catch' and they weren't even close to being born."

In the 36 years since Clark made "The Catch," he ran into countless people who claimed they were among the 60,525 fans at Candlestick Park that day. Clark routinely lit up when fans recounted their memories upon meeting him.

It did not matter how many times Clark had heard the stories, he was always genuinely excited to listen a different version from a unique perspective. Hearing memories about "The Catch" never got old to him.

"Would that ever get old to you?" Clark said. "That was just a moment in time that keeps hanging on. Hopefully, long after I'm gone 49ers fans will still enjoy that play and that year and that team that started it all off."

BREAKING NEWS - Cumulus Is Officially Out of Bankruptcy

Story by Radio Ink

Cumulus Media has announced that the company has successfully completed its financial restructuring and emerged from Chapter 11, having reduced its debt by more than $1 billion.

CEO Mary Berner said, "Over the last two years, we have been relentlessly focused on our plans to turn the company around, and the completion of our financial restructuring process is a monumental step forward on our turnaround path. We emerge today as a stronger and more competitive company, with the financial foundation that we need to move forward decisively with the initiatives that will produce the greatest benefits for the company. With this financial restructuring now behind us, we are excited about what we will be able to accomplish with all of our resources and energy fully focused on our operating business.”

Pursuant to the restructuring, the company reduced its total debt balance from $2.34 billion to $1.30 billion, consisting entirely of a term loan bearing interest at LIBOR plus 450 basis points and due May 15, 2022. Also, pursuant to the terms of the financial restructuring, the company’s previously outstanding equity was cancelled and certain former stakeholders are being issued 11,052,211 shares of the Company’s Class A common stock, 5,218,209 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock and warrants to purchase 3,729,589 shares of common stock in exchange for their prior claims.

Except with regard to voting and conversion rights, shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock are identical in all respects. Generally, the holders of shares of Class B common stock are not entitled to vote on any matters, although such shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock, subject to FCC rules and regulations and the company’s governance documents. Cumulus has applied to have its Class A common stock listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol CMLS and, until such time, expects that such shares will be quoted on the OTC Pink Sheets under the symbol CMIA.