2019-05-29

Robert Mueller spoke. And his message couldn’t have been clearer.


NYT’s Michael Schmidt, former Assistant Director at the FBI Frank Figliuzzi, former US Attorney Joyce Vance, MSNBC national affairs analyst John Heilemann, and AP’s Jonathan Lemire on Robert Mueller discussing the findings of the special counsel’s probe in his first public appearance since he started the investigation 2 years ago. (Credit: MSNBC)

93.9 fm WKYS Washington DC Launches New Morning Show "The Morning Hustle"




Lore’l, Angie Ange, and Jordan (formerly Shorty Da Prince) are WKYS Washington DC's New Morning Show

Story by 93.9 fm WKYS Washington DC

Radio One DC, an Urban One, Inc. company, is excited to announce its new morning show “The Morning Hustle” with Angie Ange, Jordan and Lore’l.

Angie Ange, proud Howard University Alum and pillar on 93.9 WKYS-FM will be joined by Jordan, and Lore’l. “When Jordan came to DC the first time, we immediately connected and have remained great friends. Lore’l is a big burst of energy and love. I’m looking forward to what we will bring to the mornings together“, says Angie.

“On Air” Jordan, formerly known as Shorty da Prince, is a familiar voice to Washington DC listeners as he was the host of the top rated WKYS night show from 2014 to 2017. Before taking a hiatus from radio, Jordan was a staple in the DC community and was known for hosting the hottest parties, uplifting the youth and creating platforms for local artists to be heard. Jordan commented, "It's a blessing for the people of DC to welcome me back with love and an honor to do mornings alongside a DMV Legend...Queen Angie Ange! Lore'l is a boss lady with personality and has a real story to tell, and DC loves the real.”

Brooklyn born, Lore’l is known for her beauty and boldness on Season 3 of VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop: New York”, as well as her podcasts “Bully and the Beast” and “Lip Service.” She is a recognizable force in the entertainment industry with a unique combination of hard-hitting humor and irresistible charm. Lore’l adds, “What an honor to be a part of something so game changing. The dynamic energy the three of us bring will truly be unmatched. Huge shout-out to Kashon Powell and Colby Colb for bringing a vision to life. Mark my words, this is just the beginning! Tune in and stay tuned!”

Jeff Wilson, Senior Regional Vice President adds, “We have combined three of the most lively and engaging people on the planet to wake-up one of the most vibrant districts in the universe!”

The Morning Hustle can be heard on 93.9 FM WKYS Monday through Friday from 6:00 am to 10:00 am.

Forgetting Why We Remember "Memorial Day" - discovered by African-American Soldiers shortly after the Civil War in 1865



Story by NY Times
Written by David W. Blight
Link: https://www.theroot.com/black-people-created-memorial-day-literally-1826334056

MOST Americans know that Memorial Day is about honoring the nation’s war dead. It is also a holiday devoted to department store sales, half-marathons, picnics, baseball and auto racing. But where did it begin, who created it, and why?

At the end of the Civil War, Americans faced a formidable challenge: how to memorialize 625,000 dead soldiers, Northern and Southern. As Walt Whitman mused, it was “the dead, the dead, the dead — our dead — or South or North, ours all” that preoccupied the country. After all, if the same number of Americans per capita had died in Vietnam as died in the Civil War, four million names would be on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, instead of 58,000.

Officially, in the North, Memorial Day emerged in 1868 when the Grand Army of the Republic, the Union veterans’ organization, called on communities to conduct grave-decorating ceremonies. On May 30, funereal events attracted thousands of people at hundreds of cemeteries in countless towns, cities and mere crossroads. By the 1870s, one could not live in an American town, North or South, and be unaware of the spring ritual.

But the practice of decorating graves — which gave rise to an alternative name, Decoration Day — didn’t start with the 1868 events, nor was it an exclusively Northern practice. In 1866 the Ladies’ Memorial Association of Columbus, Ga., chose April 26, the anniversary of Gen. Joseph Johnston’s final surrender to Gen. William T. Sherman, to commemorate fallen Confederate soldiers. Later, both May 10, the anniversary of Gen. Stonewall Jackson’s death, and June 3, the birthday of Jefferson Davis, were designated Confederate Memorial Day in different states.

Memorial Days were initially occasions of sacred bereavement, and from the war’s end to the early 20th century they helped forge national reconciliation around soldierly sacrifice, regardless of cause. In North and South, orators and participants frequently called Memorial Day an “American All Saints Day,” likening it to the European Catholic tradition of whole towns marching to churchyards to honor dead loved ones.

But the ritual quickly became the tool of partisan memory as well, at least through the violent Reconstruction years. In the South, Memorial Day was a means of confronting the Confederacy’s defeat but without repudiating its cause. Some Southern orators stressed Christian notions of noble sacrifice. Others, however, used the ritual for Confederate vindication and renewed assertions of white supremacy. Blacks had a place in this Confederate narrative, but only as time-warped loyal slaves who were supposed to remain frozen in the past.

The Lost Cause tradition thrived in Confederate Memorial Day rhetoric; the Southern dead were honored as the true “patriots,” defenders of their homeland, sovereign rights, a natural racial order and a “cause” that had been overwhelmed by “numbers and resources” but never defeated on battlefields.

Yankee Memorial Day orations often righteously claimed the high ground of blood sacrifice to save the Union and destroy slavery. It was not uncommon for a speaker to honor the fallen of both sides, but still lay the war guilt on the “rebel dead.” Many a lonely widow or mother at these observances painfully endured expressions of joyous death on the altars of national survival.

Some events even stressed the Union dead as the source of a new egalitarian America, and a civic rather than a racial or ethnic definition of citizenship. In Wilmington, Del., in 1869, Memorial Day included a procession of Methodists, Baptists, Unitarians and Catholics; white Grand Army of the Republic posts in parade with a black post; and the “Mount Vernon Cornet Band (colored)” keeping step with the “Irish Nationalists with the harp and the sunburst flag of Erin.”

But for the earliest and most remarkable Memorial Day, we must return to where the war began. By the spring of 1865, after a long siege and prolonged bombardment, the beautiful port city of Charleston, S.C., lay in ruin and occupied by Union troops. Among the first soldiers to enter and march up Meeting Street singing liberation songs was the 21st United States Colored Infantry; their commander accepted the city’s official surrender.

Whites had largely abandoned the city, but thousands of blacks, mostly former slaves, had remained, and they conducted a series of commemorations to declare their sense of the meaning of the war.

The largest of these events, forgotten until I had some extraordinary luck in an archive at Harvard, took place on May 1, 1865. During the final year of the war, the Confederates had converted the city’s Washington Race Course and Jockey Club into an outdoor prison. Union captives were kept in horrible conditions in the interior of the track; at least 257 died of disease and were hastily buried in a mass grave behind the grandstand.

After the Confederate evacuation of Charleston black workmen went to the site, reburied the Union dead properly, and built a high fence around the cemetery. They whitewashed the fence and built an archway over an entrance on which they inscribed the words, “Martyrs of the Race Course.”

The symbolic power of this Low Country planter aristocracy’s bastion was not lost on the freedpeople, who then, in cooperation with white missionaries and teachers, staged a parade of 10,000 on the track. A New York Tribune correspondent witnessed the event, describing “a procession of friends and mourners as South Carolina and the United States never saw before.”

The procession was led by 3,000 black schoolchildren carrying armloads of roses and singing the Union marching song “John Brown’s Body.” Several hundred black women followed with baskets of flowers, wreaths and crosses. Then came black men marching in cadence, followed by contingents of Union infantrymen. Within the cemetery enclosure a black children’s choir sang “We’ll Rally Around the Flag,” the “Star-Spangled Banner” and spirituals before a series of black ministers read from the Bible.

After the dedication the crowd dispersed into the infield and did what many of us do on Memorial Day: enjoyed picnics, listened to speeches and watched soldiers drill. Among the full brigade of Union infantrymen participating were the famous 54th Massachusetts and the 34th and 104th United States Colored Troops, who performed a special double-columned march around the gravesite.

The war was over, and Memorial Day had been founded by African-Americans in a ritual of remembrance and consecration. The war, they had boldly announced, had been about the triumph of their emancipation over a slaveholders’ republic. They were themselves the true patriots.

Despite the size and some newspaper coverage of the event, its memory was suppressed by white Charlestonians in favor of their own version of the day. From 1876 on, after white Democrats took back control of South Carolina politics and the Lost Cause defined public memory and race relations, the day’s racecourse origin vanished.

Indeed, 51 years later, the president of the Ladies’ Memorial Association of Charleston received an inquiry from a United Daughters of the Confederacy official in New Orleans asking if it was true that blacks had engaged in such a burial rite in 1865; the story had apparently migrated westward in community memory. Mrs. S. C. Beckwith, leader of the association, responded tersely, “I regret that I was unable to gather any official information in answer to this.”

Beckwith may or may not have known about the 1865 event; her own “official” story had become quite different and had no place for the former slaves’ march on their masters’ racecourse. In the struggle over memory and meaning in any society, some stories just get lost while others attain mainstream recognition.

AS we mark the Civil War’s sesquicentennial, we might reflect on Frederick Douglass’s words in an 1878 Memorial Day speech in New York City, in which he unwittingly gave voice to the forgotten Charleston marchers.

He said the war was not a struggle of mere “sectional character,” but a “war of ideas, a battle of principles.” It was “a war between the old and the new, slavery and freedom, barbarism and civilization ... and in dead earnest for something beyond the battlefield.” With or against Douglass, we still debate the “something” that the Civil War dead represent.

The old racetrack is gone, but an oval roadway survives on the site in Hampton Park, named for Wade Hampton, former Confederate general and the governor of South Carolina after the end of Reconstruction. The old gravesite of the Martyrs of the Race Course is gone too; they were reinterred in the 1880s at a national cemetery in Beaufort, S.C.

But the event is no longer forgotten. Last year I had the great honor of helping a coalition of Charlestonians, including the mayor, Joseph P. Riley, dedicate a marker to this first Memorial Day by a reflecting pool in Hampton Park.

By their labor, their words, their songs and their solemn parade on their former owners’ racecourse, black Charlestonians created for themselves, and for us, the Independence Day of a Second American Revolution.

David W. Blight, a professor of history and the director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition at Yale, is the author of the forthcoming “American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era.”
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Read more: https://www.theroot.com/black-people-created-memorial-day-literally-1826334056

2019-05-28

Majority Whip James E. Clyburn Applauds Smithsonian Appointment for Lonnie Bunch, who successfully built the National Museum of African American History and Culture



WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn today issued the following statement on the appointment of Lonnie Bunch, III as the Secretary of the Smithsonian:

“I am pleased by today’s historic announcement that Lonnie Bunch has been named the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian and the first African American to serve in this position.

“Mr. Bunch’s four decades of museum experience and his tremendous success in building the National Museum of African American History and Culture from the ground up make him the right person to lead our nation’s extraordinary federally-supported consortium of museums, research centers, and a zoo. The Smithsonian Institution’s diverse holdings and rich treasures reflect the greatness of America, and I can think of no one better to serve at its helm.

“Mr. Bunch has demonstrated his ability to build and steward collections, fundraise to support the preservation of these remarkable artifacts, and to tell the story of our country’s artistic and human experiences.

“I congratulate him on this appointment and commit to supporting the important work he is undertaking with this endeavor.”

Media Ownership Rule Changes Are Again Heading For June Courtroom Fight.

Story by Inside Radio

Even as the Federal Communications Commission moves forward with a fresh quadrennial review, the court battle over earlier media ownership decisions is also advancing. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia has scheduled oral arguments in the challenge brought by coalition of public interest groups, led by Prometheus Radio Project and Free Press, for June 11 at 1pm.

The public interest groups have asked a federal appeals court to review a Nov. 2017 decision by the Commission in favor of repealing the 42 year-old newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban as well as the radio-television cross-ownership ban. The FCC order also delivered a number of ownership rule changes to the television industry, including eliminating the so-called eight voices test and overturning a decision to make TV joint sales agreements attributable toward local ownership caps. Unhappy with the steps taken, the groups filed suit in March 2018 challenging the decisions. In their petition, the public interest groups said the agency failed to “consider the impact of its decisions on ownership diversity” contending its moves were “not supported as a matter of fact or law.”

The Commission disputes that however, saying in court briefs that the groups too narrowly focused their appeal on female and minority ownership data collections. The FCC says it used its “reasonable judgment” that supported making rule changes that would have “no material impact” on minority and female ownership.

The FCC laid out its case for why media ownership rule revisions should be upheld by the court in a brief filed with a federal appeals court in March. The FCC noted the Third Circuit had earlier recognized that keeping outdated rules in place might prevent broadcasters from forming “profitable combinations” and that might result in a “significant expense” for those companies. The FCC told the court it also took steps to ensure the changes it adopted didn’t adversely impact competition, localism or diversity in broadcasting.

The scope of the legal fight expanded in October 2018 to also include the new radio incubator program. The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) and National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) appealed the incubator rules adopted. MMTC and NABOB have asked the court to review the mechanism dictating how established broadcasters can use the waivers they receive as a reward for participating in the incubator program. The two organizations say the market comparability standard adopted by the FCC is “arbitrary and capricious” and the decision was “an abuse of discretion” not supported by the law.

As part of the program adopted by the Commission, the incubator program will pair existing radio station owners with new entrants or small and struggling broadcasters. As an incentive to get established broadcasters to take part in the program and potentially help a new competitor get on their feet, the FCC would give the established company a waiver to the local radio ownership limits, including the AM/FM subcap restrictions. Broadcasters will be able to use the waiver in the market where the incubator relationship is located, or in a comparably sized metro area.

The FCC has told the court that it has been using the same tiers since the 1996 Telecom Act was adopted, and MMTC and NABOB should have anticipated that the FCC might resort to familiar tiers. And while the two groups have said the new incubator program won’t do enough to bolster minority and female ownership levels, the FCC has argued that isn’t accurate. It has also pushed back against attempts to get it to use a system that was more conscious of race and gender. The FCC said that would be “legally unsustainable” in the wake of earlier Supreme Court decisions.

Senior FCC officials have told Inside Radio the Commission is unlikely to take any votes on the latest quadrennial review until the appeals court rules on the challenges going to court next month. Officials say the goal would be for the Commission to use the next court decision to help guide the latest quadrennial proposals. The hope is that would help the FCC when it inevitably ends up back in court defending what are sure to be future legal challenges to the next round of decision-making.

2019-05-20

Former United States' National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers President Magic Johnson's Exit Made One Thing Clear: The Los Angeles Lakers Have Serious Trust Issues




Story by Bleacher Report
Written by Eric Pincus
Video by ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Frank Vogel sat next to Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka with a smile. When he spoke, briefly, Vogel insisted the perception of the team from outside is very different from what he's experienced on the inside.

Lakers fans better hope he's right.

L.A. as a franchise has taken a beating of late. Beyond another non-playoff season, Earvin "Magic" Johnson shocked the organization by stepping down from his role as president of basketball operations on the final day of the season, in part because he was tired of the "backstabbing" behind the scenes.

On Monday, clearly timed to overshadow Vogel's introductory press conference, Johnson unloaded on the Lakers on ESPN's First Take, claiming Pelinka was the one who betrayed him by talking behind his back, complaining how rarely Johnson made it into the office.

As Vogel sat patiently, Pelinka fielded question after question on Johnson and the Lakers' new power structure, taking the high road in praising Johnson. Any rift is based on "a misperception ... things that aren't true."

Whatever the truth may be, Pelinka wasn't the main reason why Johnson left.

"The straw that broke the camel's back was I wanted to fire Luke Walton, and we had ... three meetings," Johnson said. ... "We went back and forth like that, and then she [owner Jeanie Buss] brought [Lakers chief operating officer] Tim Harris into the meeting."

Jeanie Buss hired Johnson to own the team's basketball decisions, and now, she had seemingly taken that power away, turning instead to a committee that included Linda Rambis (the team's director of special projects) and her husband Kurt Rambis (hired in September as senior basketball adviser).

That was a sign to Johnson that his time with the Lakers was done, but what led to the fracture between Buss and her longtime friend and colleague?

According to someone familiar with the situation, the disconnect stems back to the trade deadline. Johnson apparently offered the New Orleans Pelicans more in a trade for All-Star forward Anthony Davis (notably Lonzo Ball) than had been communicated with Buss.

As Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reported, the Lakers had agreed to send "their entire young core of [Ball], Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac to the Pelicans, as well as veteran guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope."

Buss later called the notion the team would give up that much in a trade "fake news," and Johnson on Monday blamed former Pelicans general manager Dell Demps for leaking the names.

"Let's just do it in private. Well, Dell didn't do that, so that's how it got out," Johnson said.

Some believe that Johnson, the only Lakers representative aware of what was offered to New Orleans, was in part responsible for some of the leaks. That's a mystery, but it may have contributed to Buss' reevaluation of her circle of trust, with Johnson needing damage control.

Instead, he decided to move on.

"[Buss] is going to eliminate the [president of basketball operations] position, because it was created entirely for Magic, and no one can really replace what he does," Pelinka said.

Technically, that's accurate. Johnson's predecessor, Jim Buss (still a part owner), carried the title executive vice president of basketball operations. He oversaw then-general manager Mitch Kupchak and made the team's final basketball decisions.

When Jeanie Buss relieved her brother of his duties in February 2017, she gave Johnson that power.

"The way it was structured when Magic was here, he had final basketball authority," Pelinka said. "That's the way Jeanie wanted it structured."

Even as late as April 3, Buss said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin, "In terms of basketball decisions, I will always defer to Magic."

But that's not how Johnson perceived his position, at least toward the end.

"I said it's time for me to go," Johnson said. "I don't have the power that I thought I had to make the decisions."

Now Pelinka cites Buss as the final decider on all basketball matters—on his recommendation, of course—after he consults with his staff. But beyond that, Buss is relying on her advisers.

"Linda Rambis is an incredibly trusted colleague and partner for all the employees with the Lakers," Pelinka said. "She's been here for decades. She has wisdom in how this business works, how this town operates, and the relationship capital and experience and knowledge base that she brings to the table is incredibly helpful to all of us."

In thanking the Lakers, Vogel specifically name-dropped Kurt Rambis, who stood in the back of the conference but didn't speak to the media.

"He was a valuable resource in choosing Frank to be our next head coach, but his position hasn't changed," Pelinka said.

More than once, Pelinka said the team's structure was "very clear," but even after the conference, it may seem a bit vague on exactly where Kurt and Linda Rambis fit into the puzzle, not to mention Harris.

Johnson doesn't like the new order; that much was clear Monday.

"Jeanie's gotta stop that. You gotta stop people from having those voices," Johnson said.

Vogel, who should have been the headliner of the day, said it well:

"We need to build togetherness with our organization. I don't just mean with the 15 to 17 guys that are going to be uniform. I'm talking about organizational togetherness—starting with ownership to the front office to the coaching staff to the players to the trainers to the business side. We are all going to be pulling in the same direction."

Whether his sentiment holds true is uncertain, but Vogel should be safe for the next three seasons, given his fresh new contract. He said he's excited to have Jason Kidd on his staff.

Kidd doesn't have the best reputation in the league—previously chasing the Milwaukee Bucks' job when Larry Drew still held the position—but even if it all goes south for Vogel, the checks will still clear.

The Lakers have not looked stable over the past month, but they finally have a head coach and somewhat, kinda-sorta, clear power structure. Vogel may be the exact right fit and may thrive as head coach, but a lot of that will be determined this summer.

Armed with LeBron James, several promising prospects, the No. 4 pick in June's NBA draft and enough cap room to sign a maximum-salaried star like Kawhi Leonard or Kyrie Irving, the Lakers may kill it. And if they stick the landing, the ends justify the means, and Johnson's words will be remembered as nothing more than sour grapes.

Or maybe the drama scares away the league's best players and the Lakers continue to flounder. The answers are coming quickly. The draft is a month away (June 20), and the crucial free-agent period begins in July.

Ford to cut 7,000 jobs by August, including 900 this week

Story by CNBC

Ford Motor(F) said Monday that it is laying off about 7,000 managers and other salaried employees, about 10% of its white collar workforce across the globe, as part of a restructuring plan designed to save the No. 2 automaker $600 million annually.

The cuts, some of which were previously announced by Ford, will be completed by August, Ford CEO Jim Hackett said in an email to employees Monday. Most of the reductions are overseas with roughly 2,300 of the job cuts coming from the United States. A company spokesman said 1,500 of the 2,300 U.S. job cuts were voluntary buyouts from last year.

This round of layoffs won't impact Ford's hourly factory workers. The company had roughly 199,000 employees across the world at the end of last year, about 3,000 less than the previous year, according to a securities filing.

Hackett said approximately 20% of upper-level manager jobs will also be eliminated as the company moves to reduce bureaucracy.

The job cuts include voluntary buyouts and involuntary layoffs. About 900 of the 7,000 job cuts are expected to happen this week, 500 of which will be in the U.S. The remaining 300 U.S. layoffs will be complete by the end of August. The Michigan-based automaker said its restructuring in North America is almost complete and that it will continue its organizational redesign in Europe, China, South America and other international markets until the end of August.

"To succeed in our competitive industry, and position Ford to win in a fast-changing future, we must reduce bureaucracy, empower managers, speed decision making, focus on the most valuable work, and cut costs," Hackett said in the letter.

The company had previously announced it planned to cut its European workforce, saying in January that it planned to eliminate thousands of jobs in Europe as it faced pressure to restructure its European operations. A company spokesman said Monday that there is overlap between the job cuts announced Monday and the various restructuring announcements the company has made in the past, though he would not specify how many job cuts overlapped.
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Read Hackett's letter to Ford(F) employees here: https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/editorialfiles/2019/05/20/FordLetter.pdf

2019-05-14

Steve Harvey’s Daytime TV Talk Show Coming To An End.

Story by Inside Radio

Radio and TV personality Steve Harvey taped the final episode of his daytime TV talk show, “Steve,” last week in Los Angeles. New episodes of the program will air through June with reruns continuing through September. “Steve” is being replaced on the NBC daytime lineup by “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” which will launch this Fall.

“The Steve Harvey Show” debuted on NBC in 2012, when the host was based in Chicago. It was co-produced by Endemol Shine North America and NBCUniversal and distributed by NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution, Variety reports. In 2016, Harvey inked a deal with IMG Original Content to produce the daytime talk show, which was re-named “Steve.” The new show coincided with Harvey moving his base of operations from Chicago to Los Angeles. Harvey’s Premiere Networks-syndicated radio program, which was based in Atlanta, also moved to Los Angeles at the time.

Variety speculates that the demise of Harvey’s TV program could be a casualty of IMG taking over the show from NBCUniversal two years ago. Harvey remains visible on TV, continuing to host “Family Feud" and “Celebrity Family Feud."

2019-05-09

Report: Tyronn Lue insulted by Lakers trying to tie his contract length to LeBron James’


Ty Lue and LeBron James.

Story by NBC Sports
Written by Dan Feldman

The Lakers pushed away Tyronn Lue by offering him just a three-year contract and trying to foist Jason Kidd onto his coaching staff. Maybe Lue would have accepted Kidd if Lue got more-favorable contract terms.

But the Lakers apparently really grated him with their proposed contract, because it would’ve expired in 2022 – the same year LeBron James‘ contract ends.

Coaching LeBron is a particular challenge. With the Cavaliers, Lue proved he was up to it.

I get that Lue wants to be known as more than just LeBron’s coach. His won-loss record is impressive, and that usually opens doors, no matter the roster used to attain that record.

But let’s be real, even without LeBron pushing them, the Lakers were interested in Lue due in large part to his LeBron connection.

And that’s totally fine! LeBron is worth building around. If anything, the Lakers haven’t shown enough urgency to maximize LeBron’s remaining prime years. Hiring a coach who works well with him would have been a step in the right direction.

Teams often give coaches long contracts knowing there’s at least a decent chance the coach won’t finish it. It’s the cost of doing business.

But the Lakers wouldn’t satiate Lue, so now they’re still searching for a new coach.

URBAN ONE, INC. REPORTS FIRST QUARTER RESULTS

NEWS RELEASE

May 9, 2019
Contact: Peter D. Thompson, EVP and CFO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (301) 429-4638

Washington, DC

URBAN ONE, INC. REPORTS FIRST QUARTER RESULTS

Washington, DC: - Urban One, Inc. (NASDAQ: UONEK and UONE) today reported its results for the quarter ended March 31,
2019. Net revenue was approximately $98.4 million, a decrease of 1.2% from the same period in 2018. Broadcast and digital
operating income1 was approximately $34.5 million, an increase of 6.1% from the same period in 2018. The Company reported
operating income of approximately $16.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to approximately $7.3 million
for the same period in 2018. Net loss was approximately $6.7 million or $0.15 per share (basic) compared to net loss of approximately
$22.6 million or $0.48 per share (basic) for the same period in 2018. Adjusted EBITDA2 was approximately $29.0 million for the
three months ended March 31, 2019, compared to approximately $28.5 million for the same period in 2018.

Alfred C. Liggins, III, Urban One’s CEO and President stated, “While our Radio division finished the quarter a little softer than
expected, the Q2 pacings show a strong rebound, with April up mid-teens and Q2 overall pacing up high single-digits. TV One
advertising revenues performed nicely, with ratings remaining relatively stable, and subscriber churn was largely offset by contractual
rate increases. Our digital segment was impacted by the timing of a tent-pole event, which caused some revenue to spill over into Q2,
however the reorganization of expenses that occurred at the end of 2018 meant that the division delivered a much improved EBITDA
performance. Our investment in MGM National Harbor continues to perform well, with first quarter net gaming revenues up by 5.6%
year over year. We remain focused on deleveraging, and during the first quarter we reduced indebtedness by $21.8 million.”

2019-05-01

The Federal Reserve holds rate steady, says inflation is 'running below' its target

Story by Yahoo Finance
Written by Brian Cheung

The Federal Reserve announced May 1 that it is holding the benchmark interest rate steady at a target range of 2.25% to 2.5%, noting that inflation is “running below” its stated target of 2%.

In a technical change, the Fed also reduced the interest it pays on excess reserves parked at the central bank as part of an effort to stop effective interest rates from breaking outside of its current target range.

The Fed’s decision not to change rates affirmed the March meeting’s economic projections signaling no rate changes for the rest of 2019. In that meeting, the Fed said low measures of inflation, concern over global growth, and tightening financial conditions warranted pausing on interest rate hikes while policymakers reassess the data.

The decision also comes as President Donald Trump calls for the Fed to cut rates by as much as 100 basis points.

Economy ‘rose at a solid rate’

The central bank’s statement walked back its March view that the economy had “slowed” from the end of last 2018, noting that recent developments show that economic activity “rose at a solid rate.”

An impressive GDP print released Friday showed the U.S. economy expanding by 3.2% in the first quarter.

The Fed, however, said household spending and business fixed investment “slowed” in the first quarter.

New numbers released Wednesday morning revealed the ISM manufacturing index dipping to a two-year low and construction spending falling amid lower home building.

Inflation remains the Fed’s most challenging puzzle, as strong GDP growth appears out of alignment with price increases. The most recent reading of personal consumption expenditures showed inflation of only 1.5% for March. When stripping out energy and food prices — which the Fed has said is its preferred measure — “core” personal consumption expenditures grew 1.6%, raising an existential question of whether or not the Fed has lost its credibility in getting inflation to its 2% target.

In projections released in its last meeting in March, the median expectation for core PCE for 2019, 2020 and 2021 was 2%.

On employment, the committee repeated its March language describing the labor market as “strong” with job gains remaining “solid.” An estimate-beating jobs report for March appeared to compensate for a weak February.

The decision not to raise rates comes a day after President Donald Trump took to Twitter to urge the Fed to cut rates by 1%, claiming that the economy would go “up like a rocket” if the central bank stopped unwinding its balance sheet in a process called “quantitative tightening.”

The decision to hold rates steady was unanimously agreed upon by the members of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Interest on excess reserves

The Fed also decided to tweak a key lever to its control over interest rates: interest on excess reserves.

As a method of controlling the money supply, the Fed incentivizes banks to park money at the central bank by paying interest on those reserves. The interest rate is within the bounds of the target set in its FOMC meetings, and sets a standard for the interest rate that financial institutions ultimately use to lend out to consumers and businesses in the economy.

The Late Bob Slade speaks about his Broadcast Career - RIP my friend


The Late Bob Slade, legendary News and Talk Show Host from New York City. Listen to him discuss his illustrious Broadcast Career. Rest in Peace my Friend.


Bob Slade