July 23, 2015

'Roots' remake, set to begin New Orleans filming in mid-August, issues casting call for extras

New Orleans-area filming on a "Roots" remake, slated to air on three A&E networks in 2016, is expected to begin in mid-August. An open call for background actors was issued Tuesday (July 21) by Caballero Casting. The project, to be simulcast on History, A&E and Lifetime, was announced in April.

The four-night, eight-hour project will film here through December. Filming will also take place in Africa, an A&E spokesman said Wednesday.

Laurence Fishburne will portray Alex Haley in the "Roots" remake, based on Haley's novel "Roots: The Saga of an American Family" as well as new historical scholarship, according to A&E's initial announcement of the project.

The original 12-hour 1977 miniseries, starring LeVar Burton as the slave Kunta Kinte, was a cultural landmark and ratings powerhouse. Burton is a co-executive producer of the new project.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/tv/index.ssf/2015/07/roots_remake_new_orleans_filmi.html#incart_2box_nola_river_orleans_news

Cross-posted in the Louisiana Group and Movies Group.

July 23, 2015

'Roots' remake, set to begin New Orleans filming in mid-August, issues casting call for extras

New Orleans-area filming on a "Roots" remake, slated to air on three A&E networks in 2016, is expected to begin in mid-August. An open call for background actors was issued Tuesday (July 21) by Caballero Casting. The project, to be simulcast on History, A&E and Lifetime, was announced in April.

The four-night, eight-hour project will film here through December. Filming will also take place in Africa, an A&E spokesman said Wednesday.

Laurence Fishburne will portray Alex Haley in the "Roots" remake, based on Haley's novel "Roots: The Saga of an American Family" as well as new historical scholarship, according to A&E's initial announcement of the project.

The original 12-hour 1977 miniseries, starring LeVar Burton as the slave Kunta Kinte, was a cultural landmark and ratings powerhouse. Burton is a co-executive producer of the new project.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/tv/index.ssf/2015/07/roots_remake_new_orleans_filmi.html#incart_2box_nola_river_orleans_news

Cross-posted in the African American Group and Movies Group.

July 23, 2015

Jindal: Obama should call a spade a spade on radical Islam

Democratic President Barack Obama should, for once, “lead from behind” and follow the example of British Prime Minster David Cameron in “calling a spade a spade” by explicitly identifying radical Islam as the enemy of the United States, Gov. Bobby Jindal says in an opinion piece published by Conservative Review.

Obama’s failure to invoke the phrase endangers U.S. security, Jindal wrote. Obama has said he avoids associating jihadist terrorists with Islam because he doesn’t want to confer religious legitimacy on them.

The charge is nothing new for Jindal. Nor is his call in the piece for the nation to close its borders to would-be immigrants who refuse to embrace American values.

Conservative Review is a right-leaning media outlet that tabulates ideological scorecards on members of Congress and presidential candidates — including Jindal, who is seeking the 2016 Republican nomination to the White House.

http://blogs.theadvocate.com/politicsblog/2015/07/22/jindal-obama-should-call-a-spade-a-spade-on-radical-islam/

[font color=330099]For a Rhodes scholar Piyush is showing that he must be deaf to the racial overtones of that phrase. His Hindu background might also factor into his anti-Muslim sentiment.[/font]

July 23, 2015

Alabama workers say Baton Rouge-based Turner Industries fired them over Confederate flags on vehicle

Two Alabama men claim they were fired from Turner Industries this week for refusing to remove the Confederate battle flag from their vehicles, according to Alabama television station WHNT News 19.

Turner, which has corporate headquarters in Baton Rouge, is one of the nation’s largest construction management companies.

Phillip Sims told the TV station he doesn’t normally drive to work with the flag on his truck, but he was running late on Monday, and didn’t take the time to remove it. That’s when a a supervisor at the Decatur, Ala., plant told him to remove the flag or be fired. He said he refused to remove it, on principle, and was fired.

A second employee who asked not to be identified told the station the same thing happened to him.

Read more: http://theadvocate.com/news/12980787-123/alabama-workers-say-turner-industries (Baton Rouge Advocate)

[font color=330099]They were warned, they stood up on principle, they were fired. They should know that their freedom of speech does not mean that there aren't free from the consequences of that speech.

Sims has contacted the ACLU to see if they would take up his case.[/font]

July 23, 2015

State auditor accuses tax department of obstructing investigation

ALBUQUERQUE — State Auditor Tim Keller on Wednesday publicly accused employees of the state Taxation and Revenue Department of obstructing an investigation of alleged malfeasance by their Cabinet secretary, Demesia Padilla.

Soon afterward, a spokesman for Padilla repeated a line from the governor’s administration, calling Keller’s accusation “a media stunt.” Padilla’s spokesman said Keller had ready access to people and documents but declined to interview “those at the center of this issue.”

The auditor’s investigation of Padilla began with an anonymous tip on the agency’s fraud hotline in February. This led Keller’s office to investigate an allegation that Padilla used her position as a Cabinet secretary to pressure employees and obtain preferential treatment for a taxpayer who was a former client of Padilla’s. She operated an accounting firm in Albuquerque before taking the helm of the Taxation and Revenue Department in 2011.

Keller’s office hired McHard Accounting Consulting LLC to investigate the complaint against Padilla. That contract, issued April 24 and amended in late May, was for up to $12,300.

Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/state-auditor-accuses-tax-department-of-obstructing-investigation/article_ad6851f6-5c61-5752-be72-fee47b35017d.html

July 23, 2015

Santa Fe judge lets $165 million verdict against FedEx stand

SANTA FE – The FedEx shipping company’s motion for a new trial in a wrongful death suit that resulted in the New Mexico’s largest-ever jury award was rejected here Wednesday by a Santa Fe judge, who also declined to reduce the jury’s $165 million judgment.

A corporate spokesman for FedEx said later that the company, which was sued over a southern New Mexico crash involving a FedEx truck in which a mother and daughter were killed in 2011, will take the case to the state Court of Appeals.

“We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by this tragic accident,” said FedEx’s Perry Colosimo. “With regard to the judge’s ruling on post-trial motions, we respectfully disagree and will appeal.”

Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, a plaintiffs’ lawyer in the case, tweeted after state District Judge Francis Mathew affirmed the verdicts, saying the judge had denied motions intended “to avoid (the) good judgement of jurors.” Cervantes said later that the case “remains a sad story” for the family of crash victims Marialy Morga, 22, and her daughter Ylairam, age 4, of El Paso. A large contingent of relatives were in the courtroom Wednesday, and “they appreciated the judge’s affirmation of the hard work done by the jury in January,” said Cervantes.

Read more: http://www.abqjournal.com/616667/news/santa-fe-judge-lets-165-million-verdict-against-fedex-stand.html

July 23, 2015

$10M gift to expand Baylor’s communication sciences and disorders program

A $10 million alumni gift will double research and clinical faculty in Baylor University’s communication sciences and disorders department and expand critical speech-language pathology and deaf support services available to residents throughout Central Texas.

The gift also is expected to boost scholarly work and research completed by the department, broadening its reputation as a leading producer of speech-language clinicians. Baylor plans to double its master’s student capacity from 50 to 100 students with the additional funding support.

The gift’s donors wish to remain anonymous, the university said.

“It’s definitely transformative in that we are going to have more money for an increase in research faculty as well as clinical faculty,” said Michaela Ritter, interim department chair and associate professor of communication sciences and disorders.

Read more: http://www.wacotrib.com/news/higher_education/m-gift-to-expand-baylor-s-communication-sciences-and-disorders/article_152dd3ae-0709-5b94-9c6f-5a2e88cd1eb2.html

July 23, 2015

560-pound man biking across US to lose weight

Photo Credit: Marcia Pobzeznik

TIVERTON, R.I. (AP) — A 560-pound man biking across the United States to lose weight hit a snag in Rhode Island.

The Newport Daily News reports a bent rim on Eric Hites' bicycle has kept him in Tiverton since late last week, 90 miles from where his ride began in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Newport Bicycle is outfitting Hites with a new bike that can withstand his weight.

In two weeks on the road, the 40-year-old says he's lost 60 pounds.

Read more: http://www.gosanangelo.com/lifestyle/health-and-fitness/560-pound-man-biking-across-us-to-lose-weight

July 23, 2015

Argentina revokes arrest warrant for Justin Bieber

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A court in Argentina has revoked an arrest warrant that was issued for Justin Bieber for an alleged attack on a photographer in Buenos Aires in 2013, but the charges against him still stand, a court official said Wednesday.

The decision was confirmed by a court official familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide such information.

Judge Alberto Julio Banos had earlier ordered the "immediate detention" of Bieber and two of his bodyguards in connection with the alleged attack.

Although the international arrest order initially issued by Interpol in April has now been lifted, the charges against him have not been dropped and the court is still expected to set a date for questioning in the case, the court source said.

Read more: http://www.gosanangelo.com/entertainment/celebrity/argentina-revokes-arrest-warrant-for-justin-bieber

[font color=330099]Note that this thread is not in the Musicians Group.[/font]

July 23, 2015

Ocelot group forms to help conserve endangered cat

RAYMONDVILLE — Ocelots are endangered. And those that are left are in danger on the highways and roads in the area.

An ocelot’s recent death along State Highway 186 has helped lead Willacy County leaders to team up to protect the endangered species across one of its last ranges in the United States.

Willacy County commissioners today are expected to form a group to “increase the conservation, recovery and management of the ocelot,” the meeting’s agenda states.

“As stewards of the environment, we have a responsibility to protect and help (the ocelot) recover … by conservation strategies and practical management,” said Sally Velasquez, the county’s consultant in Austin.

Read more and see more photos: http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/ocelot-group-forms-to-help-conserve-endangered-cat/article_87636010-30c9-11e5-ab65-63a82bf49e8e.html?mode=story (McAllen Monitor)