Sherman A1
Sherman A1's JournalSt. Louis homeowners want to get rid of racial covenants. But in Missouri, it's complicated
Kalila Jackson has a big goal written on her vision board: End racially restrictive covenants.
The senior attorney at the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council wants to make sure homeowners don’t get the same shock she did reading a covenant for the first time.
“To see ‘no Negros,’ or ‘no Jewish people allowed,’ that does a certain violence to one’s spirit,” said Jackson, who is Black. “I knew I had to do something about it.”
The legal documents were widely used in St. Louis in the early- to mid-1900s to keep Black families out of white neighborhoods. St. Louis Public Radio reported Thursday that there are roughly 30,000 properties in the city with restrictive covenants tied to their deeds that specifically bar selling or renting to Black people, among other racial, ethnic and religious groups.
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/culture-history/2021-11-19/st-louis-homeowners-want-to-get-rid-of-racial-covenants-but-in-missouri-its-complicated
Missouri attorney general accused of malpractice for fighting Kevin Strickland's release
After 43 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit, Kevin Strickland was finally exonerated on Tuesday. But his hard-fought freedom came despite months of objections and delays from Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt.
Schmitt's handling of the case amounted to "prosecutorial malpractice," Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said on Wednesday.
“I'm hot about that because it's a misunderstanding of the very basics — prosecutor 101,” Baker told KCUR’s Up To Date.
Judge James Welsh exonerated and ordered Strickland, 62, released from the Western Missouri Correctional Center on Tuesday.
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/government-politics-issues/2021-11-26/missouri-attorney-general-accused-of-malpractice-for-fighting-kevin-stricklands-release
What to know about omicron, the new COVID variant
Updated November 26, 2021 at 6:22 PM ET
Updated 10:00 p.m. ET
The U.S. is putting travel restrictions in place in response to a new variant of the coronavirus circulating in southern Africa. The restrictions, which are set to take effect on Monday, are being implemented out of an abundance of caution, said a senior Biden administration official.
The World Health Organization announced Friday that it deems this strain, B.1.1.529, a variant of concern, and has named it omicron. It's the first new variant of concern since delta.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday night that no cases of omicron have been identified to date in the U.S., but that the agency has surveillance systems in place that and it expects the variant will be identified quickly if it emerges in the U.S.
Here's what we know so far about the new variant — and what we don't.
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/health-science-environment/2021-11-27/what-to-know-about-omicron-the-new-covid-variant
Missouri S&T will move forward on campus improvements
ROLLA — The University of Missouri Board of Curators has approved four campus improvement projects at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The upgrades and redesigns are part of an overall plan to enhance the campus that’s being funded by millions of dollars in private donations.
The most visible and public-facing of the four projects is the construction of two arrival plazas, at a total cost of $9.6 million, that will be gathering places for people visiting campus.
“It’s very important that we give the best first impression to prospective students and faculty members and other visitors,” said Fred Stone, director of design, construction and space management at S&T. “The goal is to create a campus that is really fitting of our academic reputation, and something that will ultimately attract people to the university.”
https://news.stlpublicradio.org/education/2021-11-27/missouri-s-t-will-move-forward-on-campus-improvements
Stores kick off Black Friday but pandemic woes linger
NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers are expected to usher in the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season Friday with bigger crowds than last year in a closer step toward normalcy. But the fallout from the pandemic continues to weigh on businesses and shoppers' minds.
Buoyed by solid hiring, healthy pay gains and substantial savings, customers are returning to stores and splurging on all types of items. But the spike has also resulted in limited selection across the board as suppliers and retailers have been caught flat-footed.
Shortages of shipping containers and truckers have delayed deliveries while inflation continues to creep. The combination of not finding the right item at the right price — in addition to a labor shortage that makes it more difficult for businesses to respond to customers — could make for a less festive mood.
At Macy's Herald Square store in Manhattan, shelves were stocked and shoppers were steadily streaming in at 6:30 am, a half hour after the doors opened.
https://krcgtv.com/news/nation-world/stores-kick-off-black-friday-but-pandemic-woes-linger-11-26-2021-164917664
T.X. school district used 'racial affinity groups' during 2019 diversity summit, per video
FORT WORTH (TND) — A school district in Texas is under fire for apparently dividing teachers and others by race during a 2019 summit on race and equity, according to a video posted to social media.
“You are asked to racially identify,” a summit official instructed attendees during the Fort Worth Independent School District’s (FWISD) 2019 Racial Equity Summit, according to the video shot by then-student Carlos Turcios. “We call them racial affinity groups, you’re going to go into sessions with everyone who identified with your race,” the official continued.
The needs per group is very different, and this is our opportunity to learn what it is that you feel like you need in order to lean into this work,” said the official speaking in the video at FWISD’s summit. “Because one of the things that we’ve been talking about in equity and excellence is finding out what each group needs in order to move this conversation forward.”
While some believe there is evidence showing “racial affinity groups” improve diversity, critics argue that is untrue. The American Enterprise Institute’s Director of Education Policy and Studies Rick Hess pointed out there is little research backing up the benefits of racial affinity groups.
https://krcgtv.com/news/nation-world/tx-school-district-used-racial-affinity-groups-during-2019-diversity-summit-per-video-fort-worth-southlake-critical-race-theory
Hundreds of FedEx packages found dumped in an Alabama ravine
BLOUNT COUNTY, Ala. (WKRC) — As many as 400 FedEx packages were found tossed into an Alabama ravine, according to the Blount County Sheriff.
The sheriff didn't believe they had been there longer than a day or two before they were discovered on Wednesday.
At the first report, FedEx sent one truck down to recover the packages. The company then had to send multiple trucks and drivers from all over the south.
By midday on Thanksgiving, they had all the packages loaded into trucks from the ravine.
https://krcgtv.com/news/nation-world/hundreds-of-fedex-packages-found-dumped-in-an-alabama-ravine-cincinnati-ohio-
Ghislaine Maxwell's brother says US prosecutors seeking to 'break' her
The brother of a British socialite charged with helping Jeffrey Epstein exploit underage girls says her prosecution is "the most over-hyped trial of the century," designed to break a woman targeted by authorities desperate to blame someone for the late financier's crimes.
Ghislaine Maxwell continues to have the backing of her family, and a family member will be in court at all times to show support, Ian Maxwell said in an interview ahead of the trial, which is set to begin Monday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
This is "the most over-hyped trial of the century without a doubt," Ian Maxwell told the Associated Press. "This is designed to break her; I can't see any other way to read it. And she will not be broken because she believes completely in her innocence and she is going to give the best account she can.''
Prosecutors allege Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, groomed girls as young as 14 to have sex with Epstein and lied about her knowledge of his crimes when she testified in an earlier case. She has been in custody for almost 17 months, after Judge Alison J. Nathan repeatedly denied requests for bail.
https://krcgtv.com/news/nation-world/ghislaine-maxwells-brother-says-us-prosecutors-seeking-to-break-her
Donations pour in to help man wrongfully convicted in 1979
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Donations are pouring in to help a man who was freed from a Missouri prison after a judge found that he was wrongfully convicted in 1979 in a triple killing.
The GoFundMe fundraiser to benefit Kevin Strickland had surpassed its $430,000 goal by Wednesday afternoon, and donations kept coming.
Many of the donors expressed outrage that the 62-year-old wouldn’t receive compensation from Missouri. The state only allows wrongful imprisonment payments to people exonerated through DNA evidence, so Strickland doesn’t qualify.
Strickland has always maintained that he was home watching television and had nothing to do with the killings, which happened when he was 18 years old.
https://krcgtv.com/news/local/donations-pour-in-to-help-man-wrongfully-convicted-in-1979
WHO: Vaccine hesitancy persists among Africa health workers
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Africa is seeing a rise in deliveries of vaccine doses to the continent, but only one in four of its health workers has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the World Health Organization regional office said on Thursday.
The most common reasons for the low vaccination rate among health workers on the continent of about 1.3 billion people include vaccine hesitancy and the unavailability of vaccine services, especially in rural areas, Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Africa director, told an online press briefing.
It's a striking contrast to the more developed countries where more than 80% of health and care workers in 22 mostly high-income countries have been fully vaccinated, according to a recent WHO study.
The low vaccination rate among health workers in Africa “puts at risk not only their own health and well-being but also that of the patients that they look after,” Moeti warned, calling on African countries to “urgently speed up the rollout of vaccines to those on the frontlines.”
https://krcgtv.com/news/nation-world/who-vaccine-hesitancy-persists-among-africa-health-workers
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