Man pleads guilty to 1995 killing
A Washington man has pled guilty to the fatal shooting of another man in 1995. Thirty-five-year-old Maurice Fair plead guilty on Wednesday to voluntary manslaughter while armed in the death of 18-year-old James Belton. Sentencing is scheduled for July 16th and calls for a 10-year sentence.
Belton was shot twice in the head in his northwest apartment. Prosecutors claim Fair went to Belton’s apartment to smoke marijuana but became fearful that Belton would hurt him.
Fair was hospitalized in 2004 for [...]
D.C. Council to decriminalize pot possession.
Two D.C. Councilmemebers plan to introduce legislation that would decriminalize marijuana possession to small amounts. The proposal, introduced by Tommy Wells and Marion Barry, would have to be approved by the mayor and Council Chairman along with Congress. The bill is scheduled to be introduced by this summer.
Those favoring decriminalization are pushing for voters to decide on the issue, but Barry thinks the Council should take the lead. More than a dozen states have eliminated jail time for possessing small [...]
IRS chief ousted
Former Internal Revenue Service commissioner Steven Miller is telling Congress that the agency made errors in targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. Miller states however, that the results were not due to partisan views.
Miller was prepared to tell the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday that the screening system set up by the agency was only used to handle cases of groups wanting tax-exempt status. No political or partisan viewpoint was taken into consideration.
The IRS has since then [...]
Obama sustains effort on military sex abuse
According to president Barack Obama, U.S. military leaders are ashamed of their failure to end sexual abuse in the armed services. Obama has pledged to leave “no stone unturned” in the effort to end the abuse.
Obama has asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey to lead the process of eliminating the problem. Obama wants Hagel and Dempsey to discuss reports showing that over 26,000 military members may have been assaulted last year.
Army Chief [...]
Bomb kills 28 at Sunni mosque
As worshippers left Friday prayer, a bomb hit a Sunni mosque in central Iraq killing 28 people. The bombing occurred after two days of attacks in Baqouba, many of which are in Shiite districts. Overall, the attacks have left over 50 dead.
Attacks on Sunni mosques have become more frequent however, and some are fearful that that the country is returning to more sectarian violence.
Later on Friday, seven were killed and 11 were wounded after a bomb blast occurred outside [...]
Officials stand by child’s pastry gun suspension
A second-grader will not be getting his record cleared after being suspended from school for crafting a gun out of a pastry and aiming it at other students.
Anne Arundel school officials offered to change the suspension reasoning to “general disruption” and remove any reference to the gun, but so far, no such changes have been made.
The boy’s parents plan to appeal the decision to the school’s superintendent.
Hotel owner settles for $10.9M lawsuit
The owner of a hotel in Norfolk, VA will pay nearly $11 million to settle a lawsuit concerning a child’s fall from a walkway. Chelsye Clayton’s lawsuit against Pride Group Inc. originally sought $50,000.
Clayton’s son fell through an opening in a railway on the second floor of the company’s Ramada Hotel. The boy suffered permanent brain injuries. $4 million of the $10.9 million settlement will be used to pay off attorney fees and unpaid medical bills. The rest of [...]
D.C. considers gun owners to have insurance
The D.C. Council is considering requiring gun owners to purchase liability insurance before they become licensed to own a gun. The bill would require that gun owners uphold at least a $250,000 policy, which would cover acts of neglect and intentional acts not undertaken in self-defense.
Although many states have considered similar legislation, none have passed the law. The Council will hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the insurance requirement. The bill was introduced by Councilmember Mary Cheh.
Rock the Bells welcomes virtual Eazy E and Ol’ Dirty Bastard
Rock the Bells announced on Wednesday that Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Eazy E will take the stage during their 10 year anniversary festival. ODB will perform alongside former group Wu-Tang-Clan and Eazy E will accompany Bone Thugz-N-Harmony.
The artists will appear as virtual images, similar to that of the Tupac Shakur performance last year at Coachella, which inspired the revival of the ODB and Eazy E performances.
Rock the Bells has four shows scheduled to go on tour this fall [...]
Beyoncé speaks about Cuba trip
After Jay-z’s comments about the couple’s controversial anniversary trip to Cuba, Beyoncé has spoken up about the vacation that turned into political turmoil. Beyoncé described the trip as beautiful, where she met incredible children. “I visited some incredible entrepreneurs. And it was really educational for me. I learned so much about so many people and the country.”
Lately, Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue, has been receiving the majority of the spotlight, as she has been accompanying mom in Paris while mom performs [...]
Dr. Dre and Iovine donate over $70M for USC center
Hip-hop legend Dr. Dre, and music entrepreneur Jimmy Iovine have donated a combined $70 million to create a new institute at the University of Southern California.
The donation will be used to construct the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation. The program will provide a 4-year undergraduate program for students interested in fields spanning from marketing to computer science to visual arts. The program will include one-on-one mentoring from professional faculty and [...]
Firefighters reassigned after Facebook post
Five D.C. firefighters have been placed on desk duty after making a Facebook post that criticized the D.C. police.
The post includes a picture taken by a firefighter of a D.C. police officer giving the firefighter a traffic ticket. Commentary on the picture included, “This is why we should be careful and take our time getting to incident scenes.”
Police officials believe the post was made in regard to a case in March where a police officer waited 20 minutes [...]