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Supreme Court won’t hear challenge to Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era ban on voting after some felonies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:10:40 GMT

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS (Associated Press)JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday that it will not stop Mississippi from removing voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies — a practice that originated in the Jim Crow era with the intent of stopping Black men from influencing elections.The court declined to reconsider a 2022 decision by the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that said Mississippi had remedied the discriminatory intent of the original provisions in the state constitution by altering the list of disenfranchising crimes.In a dissent Friday, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the authors of the Mississippi Constitution in 1890 made clear that they intended to exclude Black people by removing voting rights for felony convictions in crimes they thought Black people were more likely to commit, including forgery, arson and bigamy. The list of disenfranchising crimes was “adopted for an illicit discriminatory ...

Nets dumping sharpshooter Joe Harris’ $20M salary in trade with Pistons

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:10:40 GMT

The Joe Harris era in Brooklyn is coming to an end.The Nets are dumping the sharpshooter’s $20 million salary in a deal with the Detroit Pistons just hours ahead of the NBA’s Friday 6 p.m. free agency kickoff. To sweeten the deal, the Nets added a 2027 second-round pick via Dallas and a 2029 second-rounder from Milwaukee.The Nets did not receive a player back in the deal but they will receive a $19.9 million trade exception that they can use to acquire a player without sending any outgoing salary.Instead, the front office made a business decision, opting to shed the final year of the four-year, $75 million contract Harris signed in 2020.The deal marks the end of a tenure for a player the organization had labeled a posterchild of its player development program. Harris evolved from a spot-up shooter into a more well-rounded basketball player during his seven-year tenure in Brooklyn.He averaged 11.6 points and shot the three at a 44% clip during his Nets career.Harris reign...

Massive ESPN layoffs include Jeff Van Gundy, Suzy Kolber, Keyshawn Johnson and Jalen Rose

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:10:40 GMT

ESPN was expected to lay off 20 people on Friday, including household names like former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, boxing expert Max Kellerman, NFL sideline reporter Suzy Kolber and NBA star Jalen Rose — on his 50th birthday.Kolber confirmed she’s one of the on-air personalities The Hollywood Reporter said was on the chopping block. “Today I join the many hard-working colleagues who have been laid off,” she tweeted Friday. “Heartbreaking – but 27 years at ESPN was a good run.”Kolber expressed gratitude for the decades she spent with the cable sports channel and said she was “especially proud” to have accomplished that as a woman largely covering men’s sports.Former Jets receiver Keyshawn Johnson was also reportedly handed his pink slip Friday.“Given the current environment, ESPN has determined it necessary to identify some additional cost savings in the area of public-facing commentator salaries, and that process ha...

Nothing else sounds like vintage brass: These musicians are avid collectors of age-old instruments

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:10:40 GMT

Hannah Edgar | Chicago TribuneFew contest that a centuries-old violin will be more coveted than its newer counterparts, assuming it was well-made to begin with. That’s how luthiers like Stradivari and Guarneri have become household names, regardless of whether you know the difference between Prokofiev and Smirnoff.But old brass instruments of comparable pedigrees don’t enjoy such hagiographies, outside a niche set of brass enthusiasts. Their repair needs can be esoteric, their intonation spotty, the necessary breath support challenging. That’s assuming such instruments have been maintained enough over the years to remain usable and are not dented, oxidized messes.Even so, a select few brass players swear by century-old instruments, especially by German makers. And the most spirited acolytes of those instruments on this side of the Atlantic are right here, in the Chicago Symphony’s brass section.Principal trombone Jay Friedman, who has collected vintage instruments since his student ...

Biden to announce new actions on student loans after Supreme Court ruling

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:10:40 GMT

(The Hill) – President Biden on Friday will announce new actions to protect student loan borrowers following the Supreme Court ruling that struck down his student debt relief plan, according to a source within the White House.“I believe that the Court’s decision to strike down our student debt relief plan is wrong,” Biden said in a statement. “But I will stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hard-working middle-class families. My Administration will continue to work to bring the promise of higher education to every American.”Soon after the Supreme Court ruling, a source within the White House told The Hill that they “prepared for this scenario.”“The president will have more to say today,” the source said. “The president will make clear he’s not done fighting yet and will announce new actions to protect student loan borrowers.” Supreme Court blocks student loan forgiveness: What should borrowers do now? The president will also make “crystal clear” to student loan ...

VIDEO: Moon jellyfish swarm spotted near Coronado Cays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:10:40 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A glowing swarm of sea creatures was spotted in a waterway near Coronado Cays this week and the electrifying moment was caught on camera.The video seen above was captured on Sunday, June 25 by local photographer Vishwas Lokesh, who confirmed these jellyfish were also seen gliding through these same salty waters on Thursday. Sea lion dances with bait ball near La Jolla shores Aside from their translucent qualities, another unique characteristic about this species of jellyfish is the appearance of four horseshoe-shaped patterns that appear on the top of their bodies, according to American Oceans. Some have compared it to a four-leaf clover.These moon-shaped sea creatures usually live close to the shore or in harbor areas where the ocean water is typically warmer, which is exactly what Coronado Cays offers. American Oceans say they oftentimes travel in groups by "happenstance." Moon jellyfish were spotted near Coronado Kays in June 2023. (Photo: Vishwas Lokesh)Lokesh s...

Unionized Starbucks in Encinitas joins Pride Month strikes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:10:40 GMT

ENCINTIAS, Calif. -- Workers at the recently-unionized Starbucks in Encinitas went on strike Friday, joining protests at stores across the country calling for the coffee company to better support LGBTQ+ employees.The walkout is first action at the store -- located right off the Interstate 5 near Leucadia Boulevard -- after employees voted to form a union last month. The store was the first in San Diego County to join nationwide collective bargaining efforts at the coffee chain. Another location in Hillcrest has since followed suit, filing initial unionization paperwork with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Protesters check out all LGBTQ+ books at Rancho Penasquitos library Striking workers at the Encinitas store citied reported incidents at other stores where Starbucks employees claim gender-affirming care benefits were threatened or that they were not permitted to decorate for Pride Month as part of the rationale for Friday's protest. In a statement earlier in June, Sta...

Ex-Louisiana officer convicted in recorded beating, kicking of non-violent loitering suspect in 2019

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:10:40 GMT

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A former police officer in Louisiana has been convicted on federal charges for using what prosecutors said was potentially deadly force against a non-violent suspect in August 2019.Former Shreveport officer Dylan Hudson was convicted Thursday on a charge of depriving a man of his rights by using force during an arrest. KTBS-TV reports it was the second trial for Hudson, following a December trial in which the jury couldn’t agree on a verdict.Federal prosecutors said Hudson was among officers responding to a loitering complaint. “The conduct described during the trial and played for the jury on video from police dashboard cameras included several applications of potentially deadly force,” the U.S. Justice Department said in a Friday news release. “The defendant struck the suspect in the head with a loaded pistol, tased him at the base of the skull, and kicked him in the face.”Hudson is to be sentenced in October. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison,...

Ex-Ohio GOP chair, lobbyist Matt Borges shows remorse, gets 5 years for role in $60M bribery scheme

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:10:40 GMT

CINCINNATI (AP) — Ohio lobbyist Matt Borges was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for his part in the largest corruption scandal in Ohio history. He avoided the much harsher sentence received a day earlier by former House Speaker Larry Householder, the scheme’s mastermind, by accepting responsibility and apologizing before the judge.“Nothing makes it feel more stark than knowing I could have walked away from this at the very beginning,” the 51-year-old Borges, a former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, told U.S. District Judge Timothy Black.Black nonetheless rebuked Borges for his role in preventing Ohioans the chance to repeal a tainted nuclear plant bailout bill.“Larry Householder was a crook and you knew it. ‘ An unholy alliance ‘ is what you called it,” Black said.“You didn’t care that you were aiding an Ohio House speaker to undermine the very foundation of our democracy,” he told Borges. “You just saw everyone else getting fat and r...

North Carolina megachurch exits Southern Baptist Convention after expulsions over women pastors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:10:40 GMT

Less than a month after finalizing the ouster of one of its largest churches for having women pastors, the Southern Baptist Convention has lost another of its biggest congregations.Elevation Church — a North Carolina-based megachurch that draws thousands of worshippers to its multiple campuses and has wielded a strong influence on contemporary Christian worship music — sent notice to the SBC on June 26 that it was withdrawing its affiliation.Elevation’s letter didn’t state a reason. Elevation Pastor Steven Furtick’s wife, Holly Furtick, preaches at Elevation to men and women, and has links to her sermons on her website.The Baptist Faith and Message — the denomination’s statement of faith — says the office of pastor is limited to qualified men. Influential Southern Baptist leaders have said that preaching is inextricably linked to the role of pastor.Earlier in June, the SBC representatives overwhelmingly voted at their annual meeting to affirm the expulsion of Saddl...