news
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Minn. Officials Revoke ‘FMUSLMS’ Vanity License Plate
A vanity license in Minnesota has been confiscated and officials are apologizing after the plate, which read, “FMUSLMS,” caused an uproar, Reuters reports. Officials said Wednesday that approval procedures for the vanity plates are under review. The contention started after a St. Cloud-area resident uploaded a photo of the offensive license plate on social media. …
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NYC Teen Drowned in Hotel Pool While Doing Missionary Work in Tanzania
A Bronx, N.Y., teen died last Friday in a hotel pool while doing missionary work in Tanzania, WABC reports. Laniece Moore, a 15-year-old student at Thurgood Marshall Academy in Harlem, was part of a group helping to rebuild a Tanzanian school before she drowned in the hotel pool. According to the news station, the girl’s…
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Obama Details Qualities He’s Looking for in Supreme Court Justice
President Barack Obama has taken to SCOTUSblog to describe the qualities he will be looking for in his nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. In the blog post titled “A Responsibility I Take Seriously,” Obama noted that this particular duty is one that he intends to fulfill in the weeks ahead,…
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Kenyan MP Urges Women to Deny Husbands Sex Until They Register to Vote in 2017 Elections
One Kenyan member of Parliament is encouraging women to withhold sex from their husbands in an odd bid to encourage the men to register to vote in the 2017 general elections, Newsweek reports. Esther Murugi, the M.P. for Nyeri Town, is also encouraging women not to cook for their husbands, and even encouraged pastors not…
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NY Woman Who Served 10 Years in Prison After Cop Falsified Confession is Exonerated
On November 18, 1991, 71-year-old Michael Shaw was assaulted and robbed. He would succumb to his injuries on n April 21, 1992. In 1992, now retired NYPD Detective Louis Scarcella questioned Vanessa Gathers. Gathers told police she had nothing to do with the crime. Five years later, Scarcella questioned Gathers again and coerced her into…
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Del. Cop Who Was Acquitted of Kicking Black Man in the Face Resigns
A Delaware police officer who was captured on police dash cam kicking a black man in the face as he bent to the ground has resigned. Police Cpl. Thomas Webster IV, who was acquitted in the 2013 assault, has made his resignation effective immediately. Officials describe Webster’s resignation as a “negotiated separation,” the Associated Press…
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Hospital That Dispatched Paramedics and Treated Eric Garner to Pay Family $1,000,000
The medical center that dispatched paramedics and ultimately treated Eric Garner after his fatal encounter with New York City police officers has agreed to pay $1 million to his family, the Associated Press reports. According to the newswire, the settlement with Richmond University Medical Center in New York City’s borough of Staten Island is confidential and…
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Police: No Evidence of Hazing in Buffalo State Student’s Death
A published report released Tuesday, citing unnamed police sources, says that there is no evidence of hazing in the death last week of a student at Buffalo State College in New York, according to the Buffalo News. The sources, at the Buffalo Police Department, cited preliminary autopsy findings. The lawyer for the young man’s family,…
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Half of Black Gay or Bisexual Men Will Be Infected With HIV: New Study
In truly sobering news, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that 1 of every 2 African-American gay or bisexual men will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetimes if current trends continue, according to Stat. Using death data from 2009 to 2013, CDC researchers estimated a person’s lifetime risk of HIV diagnosis…
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Mich. YMCA Cancels Kids’ Underground Railroad Activity After Parent Upset by ‘Racially Insensitive Experience’
A Michigan YMCA has canceled its long-running Underground Railroad activity, deemed appropriate for students in fifth grade and up, after complaints from a black parent, who said that her child was “very disturbed” by the activity, the Washington Post reports. Students and teachers at the YMCA Storer Camps are meant to role-play as slaves in…