October 8, 2015

A Dilapidated Bank Turned Stunning Cultural Center Opens in Chicago’s South Side (bought for $1)

Theaster Gates is an artist, urban planner, and professor and director at the University of Chicago’s Arts and Public Life who believes in a culturally driven approach to urban redevelopment. Gates’ Rebuild Foundation has transformed vacant houses and former housing projects into cultural and arts spaces on Chicago’s South Side. His latest and most ambitious project opened to the public on Saturday as part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial.

The Stony Island Arts Bank is a gorgeously renovated 17,000-square-foot former bank at 68th Street and Stony Island Avenue on Chicago’s South Side that has been transformed into a contemporary art gallery, media archive, library, and community center that will host exhibitions and artist and scholar residencies.
In a press release, Gates described the project as “an institution of and for the South Side,” “a repository for African American culture and history, a laboratory for the next generation of black artists,” and “a space for neighborhood residents to preserve, access, reimagine and share their heritage, as well as a destination for artists, scholars, curators, and collectors to research and engage with South Side history.”



http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_eye/2015/10/06/stony_island_arts_bank_is_theaster_gates_and_rebuild_foundation_s_stunning.html

October 8, 2015

Dashcam Refutes Cop’s Story of 'Fearing for His Life,' Shows Him Taser Man for Parking Ticket

Kansas City, MO — After getting arrested and tased over a simple parking ticket, a store clerk has filed a lawsuit against the officer who used excessive force against him. Although the officer claimed that the clerk stood in a threatening position before he was forced to deploy his Taser, recently released dashcam video revealed that the officer lied and had no reason to lawfully detain the clerk.


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But Secor’s dash cam video revealed that the officer provided false information in his report. During the moments before Secor fired his Taser, Words remained calm with his empty hands exposed and not standing in a threatening position. He simply wanted to know why Secor was arresting him over a parking ticket.

Secor also wrote in his report that Words was listed as a known gang member after running his license plate. But federal records and state records in Kansas, Missouri, and Michigan reveal that Words is not a gang member and has no history of violent crime.

Charged with failing to comply with an officer and resisting arrest, Words only pleaded guilty to parking illegally. He paid a $50 fine. Words also filed a lawsuit against the Kansas City Police Department and Officer Secor for unnecessary and excessive use of force over a mere parking ticket.

The video below highlights two key points: the power of a cop’s word against yours and the power video has to expose lies.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/dashcam-refutes-cops-story-fearing-his-life-shows-him-taser-man-parking-ticket

October 8, 2015

Alabama deputy who held baby after car crash: 'I did nothing heroic'

Jefferson County sheriff's Deputy Ric Lindley loves kids.

His kids. His grandkids. Other people's kids. All kids, really. That was abundantly clear when a picture surfaced of him holding a baby girl following a traffic crash on Interstate 20 near Leeds on Tuesday morning.

Much to his surprise, that photo captured hearts nationwide and, within hours, was been shared thousands of times on social media, and made its way all the way to Hawaii. The photo reached nearly 561,000 people on the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Facebook page alone, not counting Twitter.

The 60-year-old former U.S. Army Green Beret doesn't mind the attention, he just doesn't really understand it. "I did nothing heroic,'' Lindley said. "All I did was hold a baby."

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2015/10/alabama_deputy_who_held_baby_a.html

October 7, 2015

Recess Apparently Requires Consultants Now

Source: Daily caller



Recess Apparently Requires Consultants Now

At first glance, recess appears to be the simplest component of the school day. After all, it’s just a period of unstructured playtime for rambunctious children. But now, two elementary schools in Edina, Minn., have annoyed some parents by spending $30,000 on a “recess consultant” to help them with the activity.


The consultants from Playworks were brought in to help the schools navigate the “politics of the playground,” according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The company seeks to improve the quality of recess and make it more inclusive by adding more structure and encouraging positive behaviors. For example, according to the Star-Tribune, game participants are trained to avoid “You’re out!” in favor of “Nice try” or “Good job.”

The structured activities, ranging from soccer to jumping rope, are intended to make sure all students are able to participate while avoiding bullying and other hazards.

It may all seem a bit silly, but several school employees say it’s paid off with fewer trips to the principal or school nurse.



Read more: http://www.wkkj.com/articles/national-news-104668/recess-apparently-requires-consultants-now-14008024/#ixzz3nq4uDGXg

Read more: http://www.wkkj.com/articles/national-news-104668/recess-apparently-requires-consultants-now-14008024/

October 7, 2015

Cosmopolitan’ calls the Kardashians, not the Obamas, ‘America’s First Family,’

Last night, Cosmopolitan unveiled their November issue with the Kadarshian-Jenner women calling them, “America’s First Family”, and many were not pleased.
To some on social media, the cover, which features sisters Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner and mom Kris Jenner, and not the Obamas, was a disrespectful act towards the real First Family.

According to USA Today, the magazine emailed in a statement, “We are teasing!” Spokeswoman Lauren Demitry also wrote, “”They are a huge cultural phenomenon. What we do know is there is nothing like the cover of a magazine to provoke a national conversation.”

Yet, this was was not the first time the magazine was criticized for its disrespect of Black people. In April, the magazine’s “Beauty Trends That Need to Die in 2015” only showcased Black women for out going fashion trends, but captioned “R.I.P”, while their white counterparts were labeled, “Hello, Gorgeous”.


http://atlantablackstar.com/2015/10/05/cosmopolitan-calls-kardashians-not-obamas-americas-first-family/

October 6, 2015

A mother paraded son thru Wal-Mart in women's underpants,boots and tutu as punishment

A mother is under investigation by the Department of Social Services after writing “BAD” on her son’s head, dressing him in women’s clothes and parading him around the Walmart as a form of punishment, according to Rock Hill Police.

Officers were called to the Dave Lyle Boulevard store about 8:30 p.m. Sunday. The boy was dressed in a tutu, women’s boots, a women’s undergarment and a T-shirt with permanent marker writing underneath. The boy’s head was shaved “in an unusual manner, bald on top with a patch of wig on the front of his head” and the word “BAD” written in marker on the back of his head, the report states.

The mother said she was “punishing her son for fighting and making homophobic remarks in school,” the report states. She added that he has been having behavioral issues, and “corporal punishment has been ineffective, so she was attempting to embarrass” her son as punishment.

Officers told the woman this was not an acceptable form of punishment and contacted a DSS case worker. The case was forwarded to DSS.

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/crime/article37817859.html#storylink=cpy

October 6, 2015

Farmworkers find a bumper crop of squalor in Coachella Valley trailer parks

Farmworkers find a bumper crop of squalor in Coachella Valley trailer parks


THERMAL, Calif. — When five farmworker families pooled their money to build the Don Jose Mobile Home Park on a plot of dusty land here, they knew little about building permits.

So they jury-rigged almost everything: Electricity was tapped from a post meant to power one well, the dirt road was covered in rugs to keep down the choking dust.


Twenty years later, some things have improved. But the park is still without permits. Its 55 residents live in aging trailers and cope with prolonged power outages. Their dirt road turns to pools of mud when it rains.

But its manicured lawns, whitewashed iron gate and carefully tended rose bushes signal that despite its flaws, it is home.

This part of the Coachella Valley, with its abundant agricultural fields, is dotted with unpermitted mobile home parks, housing thousands of farmworkers in dozens of tiny neighborhoods that were never designed to be permanent.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-farmworker-trailers-20151006-story.html

October 6, 2015

Cop uncurled a 125 lb python from reptile store owners body

Collins said the victim appears to be doing okay at the hospital and is even talking.

The call came around 11 a.m. and Lt. Gregory Ripberger and Sgt. Daron Armberg were at the store within minutes, Collins said.

"It was only by the grace of God that one of the officers knew how to deal with snakes," Collins said.

Ripberger grabbed the snake by the head and worked to uncurl it off the man's body. Collins and other officers pulled Wilkens by his legs to free him.

The snake had begun to coil around Ripberger's arm before the officers were able to return it to its enclosure.

"It was a horrific event," Collins said.

Collins said the man was feeding the snake when it latched onto his arm.
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/10/05/animal-store-owner-crushed-python/73396696/

October 6, 2015

Rise in overcrowded housing, overcrowded = More than one person per room

EXCLUSIVE: Rise in overcrowded NYC apartments shows need for more housing, says Controller Scott Stringer


Perhaps most alarmingly, the number of studio apartments citywide with three or more residents has jumped 365% from 3,614 in 2005 to an amazing 24,557 in 2013.

The borough with the most overcrowded studios got way worse, with a 443% increase — that’s 12,615 additional studio apartments considered overcrowded in 2013.

All told New York City's overcrowding is now nearly triple the national average, with nearly one in 10 units — 8.8% — of rentals and homes deemed overcrowded in 2013.

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Stringer said the growing trend toward cramped living makes for unhealthy conditions by exacerbating asthma, creates dangerous illegal apartments, and sometimes forces families into homeless shelters.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/exclusive-surge-number-overcrowded-nyc-apartments-article-1.2385078

October 6, 2015

Mighty 20-pound French bulldog scares off three bears from Monrovia home

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-french-bulldog-3-bears-20151005-story.html

Video footage shows the tiny dog chasing after the bears as they scurry around the property on Highland Place. One of the frightened bears quickly hops over a fence after being confronted by the small, black dog.


“She wasn’t having it,” her owner, David Hernandez, told KCBS-TV. “You are not coming into her property.”

The petite pooch’s bark was furious and frightening enough to scare off the bears.

According to Hernandez, bears are frequent visitors. It has gotten so bad that Hernandez installed security cameras and had to cover his daughter’s window with wooden boards to prevent the bears from sliding it open and entering, he told KCBS-TV.