September 29, 2018

Meridian restaurant owners harbored, employed undocumented workers

Father and son restaurant owners Guo Guang Lin, 61, and Cheng Lin, 36, both of Meridian, have pleaded guilty in federal court to harboring undocumented workers at their China Buffet II and have agreed to forfeit and be fined almost $1 million.

The restaurant also pleaded guilty to the same charge and agreed to two years probation and an immigration compliance program, in addition to forfeiture and a $200,000 fine.

Guo Guang Lin and Cheng Lin — who admitted to similar charges in 2007 in New Orleans — will be sentenced Jan. 8 before U.S. District Court Senior Judge David M. Bramlette III.

The pleas were announced Tuesday by U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Jere T. Miles and U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Rafiq Ahmad.

Read more: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/09/27/meridian-restaurant-owners-employed-housed-undocumented-workers/1436701002/

September 29, 2018

Janet Reno's sister faces $4.4M civil judgment; activists rally to defend environmentalist's free-

Janet Reno's sister faces $4.4M civil judgment; activists rally to defend environmentalist's free-speech rights


STUART, Fla. — A coalition of powerful organizations as well as two former U.S. deputy attorneys general are rallying behind a 77-year-old environmental activist and sister of Janet Reno, the late Clinton administration attorney general, in her fight against a $4.4 million jury award that they say stifles her free-speech rights.

Maggy Hurchalla's case affects every person who wants to hold elected officials accountable, and the appeal of her civil liability is critically important, said President Barbara Petersen of the First Amendment Foundation. The coalition, which also includes the Sierra Club and American Civil Liberties Union, filed a brief Sept. 21 in the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach, Florida, supporting Hurchalla's right to criticize the government.

"If Maggy wins — and I think she will — people and companies … will think twice about threatening those of us who don't agree with them," Petersen said. "They need to know they can’t stop us simply through intimidation or the threat of a lawsuit.”

Her battle dates to 2013 when Lake Point Restoration, a company that put together a public-private rock-mining and water-treatment project near Lake Okeechobee, sued Hurchalla, a former Martin County commissioner who left office in the 1990s, for interfering with a contract it had with the county government. The company that Miami billionaire George Lindemann Jr. owns based its case largely on emails Hurchalla sent to elected officials in her fight against the project.

Read more: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/09/28/free-speech-fight-janet-reno-sister/1458611002/

September 29, 2018

Your child has type 1 diabetes, and the school won't enroll her

Reading and ’riting and ’rithmetic, counting carbs to the tune of a finger stick . . .

Or so the song might go for schoolchildren living with diabetes. But for some those “dear old Golden Rule days” seem long gone.

According to the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi, type 1 children already facing lifetimes of glucose testing, carbohydrate counting and insulin injections or pumps have been turned away from several of the state’s best known federally and privately funded schools and early-learning programs.

“When a family gets a diagnosis of type 1, finding a school that will take care of your child should not be the hardest thing you have to do, especially since that is where kids spend most of their time,” said Jameskia Lacey, a pharmacist whose daughter Taylar, 6, was diagnosed with type 1 in March.

Read more: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2018/09/28/mississippi-schools-reject-children-type-1-diabetes/1445801002/

September 29, 2018

LSU men's basketball player dies in early morning shooting

LSU men’s basketball player Wayde Sims was shot and killed early Friday morning in Baton Rouge.

Sims, a 6-6 junior forward who was 2014-15 Louisiana Gatorade player of the year at Baton Rouge’s University High, was shot at 12:25 a.m. after a fight ensued near a Subway about a block from Southern University’s A.W. Mumford Stadium.

A police spokesman said Sims was taken to a hospital where he died from a gunshot wound. No one has been arrested in the shooting.

“We are all devastated,” LSU coach Will Wade said in a statement. “We need your prayers for Wayde, for his family, for all of us. “We are heartbroken.”

Read more: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/2018/09/28/lsu-basketball-player-wayde-sims-killed/1454658002/

September 29, 2018

Mike Espy Pulls out of U.S. Senate Debate in Jackson, Citing 'Hypocrisy'

JACKSON—Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mike Espy has pulled out of an Oct. 4 debate in Jackson because the incumbent, Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, will not attend.

#“A debate where the person occupying the office is not present is unacceptable to us,” Espy campaign manager Oleta Fitzgerald wrote Friday in an email to the debate’s sponsors.

On Sept. 14, the Hyde-Smith campaign Communications Director Melissa Scallan told the Jackson Free Press the senator couldn’t come to either the Oct. 4 debate or one scheduled for Oct. 23 because of conflicts with her Senate schedule.

#"She has got to be in D.C. from Monday through Thursday, so she can't debate during that time," Scallan said, noting that Oct. 4 is on a Thursday while Oct. 23 is on a Tuesday. "She has said she would not skip a vote in order to campaign. So those two dates would not work for us."

Read more: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2018/sep/28/espy-pulls-out-us-senate-debate-citing-hypocrisy/

September 29, 2018

Mississippi Public Broadcasting Will Not Broadcast Planned U.S. Senate Debate in October

JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi Public Broadcasting will not broadcast on television or radio the planned U.S. Senate debate at Millsaps College set for 7 p.m. October 4.

“MPB’s goal was to broadcast a debate with all candidates present, enabling Mississippians to make informed decisions as Election Day nears,” said Ronnie Agnew, executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting. “However, with only two of the four candidates committed to attend, it has become clear to us that the debate, as planned, would not achieve our initial goals of providing civic engagement to our statewide audience where all candidate views would have been heard.”

MPB values giving Mississippians opportunities to hear from current and potential political leaders through our statewide television and radio networks, and we look forward to partnering with Millsaps College for future live debates that will help Mississippians make decisions at the ballot box.

http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/mississippi-public-broadcasting/mississippi-public-broadcasting-will-not-broadcast-planned-us-senate-debate-in-october/

September 29, 2018

Jimmy Kimmel on Kavanaugh Hearing

It was a very emotional day here in the United States as millions of Americans watched the much-anticipated testimonies of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the woman who accused him of sexual assault, Doctor Christine Blasey Ford. Jimmy goes through some of the most riveting moments of the day from Senator Feinstein, Senator Chuck Grassley, Brett Kavanaugh, Senator Lindsey Graham, and DJTJ - Donald J. Trump Jr.

September 29, 2018

Seth Meyers - Trump's Press Conference, Chocolate Chunkin' Pumpkin Cheesecake

Seth Meyers' monologue from Thursday, September 27.


Seth's Favorite Jokes of the Week: Trump Defends Brett Kavanaugh, Bill Cosby's Sentence

September 29, 2018

The Daily Show - Ted Cruz's Restaurant Ouster & Nelson Mandela's U.N. Statue

Protesters ruin Ted Cruz’s night out, Bill Cosby gets sent to jail, and the United Nations unveils a new Nelson Mandela statue.

September 29, 2018

The Daily Show - Republicans Need Jesus

Neal Brennan reminds Republicans that before they were making excuses for Brett Kavanaugh and Donald Trump, they were the party of godliness and morality.