April 2016 News Items

Below are news items from April 2016. For more current and breaking news items, see the main news page.

4-30-2016: Freddie Mac may need another taxpayer bailout next week

4-30-2016: Missouri Democrats see little progress on police oversight

4-30-2016: A hidden punishment for Missouri prison inmates of means: room and board

4-30-2016: Editorial: Essential information one legislator doesn't want you to know

4-29-2016: Missouri Looks to Join Constitutional Carry Club

4-29-2016: Missouri House Votes To Drop Permit Requirement For Concealed Guns

4-29-2016: Lawsuit: 2 Missouri School Officials Slammed Girl to Ground

4-29-2016: St. Louis alderwoman introduces ‘overdose prevention’ ordinance

4-29-2016: Missouri State Rep: Minorities Should "Reconsider Enrollment" at Mizzou

4-29-2016: Missouri to get $6.7 million for foreclosure help

4-29-2016: Judge orders house arrest for former Pine Lawn cop

4-28-2016: Research: 40 Percent of Former NFL Players Have Brain Damage

4-28-2016: Video of Neenah standoff shows police shooting hostage without warning

4-28-2016: Homeownership rate falls to third lowest on record

4-28-2016: Dallas police to use ‘sponge guns’ in latest move to prevent deadly cop shootings

4-28-2016: Wisconsin City to Fine Parents If Child Is a Bully

4-28-2016: FBI would gain new hacking power if search warrant rules change

4-28-2016: Teen birthrate hits all-time low, led by 50 percent decline among Hispanics and blacks

4-28-2016: Rival White Supremacist Groups Unite To Fight “Race War”

4-28-2016: Missouri's Public Counsel accuses Laclede of excess profits

4-28-2016: Feds want former Pine Lawn cop jailed for bail violations

4-28-2016: Firing was a warning to St. Louis city employees

4-28-2016: Report shows more Missourians experiencing hunger, biggest increase in country

4-27-2016: FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades

4-27-2016: Pay-to-Play Cop Bob Bates Found Guilty in Fatal Shooting of Black Man

4-27-2016: Neighborhood operation plans fight as St. Louis homeless situation nears crisis point

4-27-2016: Democrats launch filibuster as voter ID brought up again in Missouri Senate

4-27-2016: Baltimore police shoot 13-year-old with BB gun on anniversary of Freddie Gray riots

4-27-2016: Plan to scrub welfare rolls of ineligible recipients advanced by Missouri House

4-27-2016: 'Religious freedom' measure defeated in Missouri House committee

4-27-2016: Ex-House speaker sentenced to 15 months in prison; judge calls him 'serial child molester'

4-26-2016: Men win settlement after fight with Detroit police officers

4-26-2016: Minor Montana traffic accident heads to Supreme Court

4-26-2016: Burglar sues homeowner who shot him

4-26-2016: China Is Building a Robot Army of Model Workers

Editiorial note: 50% of all jobs in the US will be eliminated by robotics and computerization in less than 10 years according to report.

4-26-2016: Jobless benefit cuts weighed by Missouri high court — again

4-26-2016: NYPD Officer On Trial For Allegedly Stomping Man In Head During Arrest

4-26-2016: North Carolina deputies shoot and kill woman at home

4-26-2016: Court motion to recover millions of dollars from charter schools continues to spark anger

4-25-2016: Man Wrongly Convicted of Rape Freed From Prison After Nearly 25 Years Behind Bars

4-25-2016: Millennials reach a U.S. population milestone

4-25-2016: Selecting the Right Hospital Can Reduce Your Risk of Avoidable Death by 50%, According to Analysis of Newly Updated Hospital Safety Score Grades

Editorial note: Aren’t all hospitals safe? Sadly, no. The Hospital Safety Score grades hospitals on how safe they keep their patients from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections. One St. Louis Hospital received a "D" and several others "C". 

4-25-2016: Officers' union complains that despite raises in 2015, St. Louis County police pay lags

4-25-2016: This city embedded traffic lights in the sidewalks so that smartphone users don’t have to look up

4-25-2016: Man Sentenced To Die After ‘Expert’ Testified That Black People Are Dangerous

4-25-2016: St. Louis County NAACP seeking independent probe of April 5 election irregularities

4-25-2016: Cleveland PD union rep says Tamir Rice settlement money should be used for gun education

4-25-2016: Cleveland settles lawsuit over Tamir Rice shooting for $6M

4-25-2016: White House launches $100M competition to expand tuition-free community college

4-24-2016: Documents reveal troubling details about long-term solitary confinement

Editorial note: Possible research material for those considering civil suits for solitary confinement.

4-24-2016: Drone With Night Vision Tracks Down Poachers at Sea

Editorial note: Instead of hotspot policing, maybe STLPD or even citizens should use drones to help fight crime. Maybe this topic should be discussed at the next neighborhood watch meeting.

4-24-2016: Obama to Black Lives Matter: ‘Yelling’ is not enough to achieve progress

4-24-2016: Residents of Colorado town baffled after entire police force suddenly quits

4-24-2016: Hackers attack KKK and briefly bring down main website

4-24-2016: Monsanto ready to make deal on Ameren-backed legislation

Editorial note: Monsanto appears to be willing to rate increases for everyone else in exchange for a special electric rate for large power users. Increasingly household seem the be the only ones that will be impacted by high rate while subsidizing corporations. Scroll down to March 8th Ameren headline and editorial notes concerning rate increases.

4-24-2016: St. Louis police officer accidentally shoots self in leg

4-23-2016: Pervasiveness of gun violence in U.S. revealed by ShotSpotter, a system that listens for gunfire

4-23-2016: Senator continues calling attention to radioactive waste in St. Louis area landfill

4-23-2016: NGA head will take site report error into account before final decision

4-23-2016: St. Louis region isn't immune to rising suicide rate

4-22-2016: AT&T offering $5 internet to low-income families

4-22-2016: Schools are helping police spy on kids’ social media activity

4-22-2016: St. Louis on track for high 2016 homicide rate

4-22-2016: Droids, not drones, are the future of e-commerce deliveries

Editiorial note: 50% of all jobs in the US will be eliminated by automation according to studies.

4-22-2016: NGA head will take site report error into account before final decision

4-21-2016: Medical marijuana plan for Missouri goes up in smoke

4-21-2016: Former Missouri sheriff begins serving prison sentence

4-20-2016: Accused pimp calls federal case ‘unfair,’ citing billionaire's lenient deal

Editorial note: This is not the best example, but I use news items to discover how others in similar situations were treated and argue that harsher treatment in my case is unfair and unequal treatment. 

4-20-2016: Hate red light cameras? Missouri voters may get chance to ban them

4-20-2016: New Orleans Police Officers Plead Guilty in Shooting of Civilians

Editorial note: Two groups of families and friends, all of them black, were crossing the Danziger bridge in search of food and relatives when police officers rushed to the scene in a Budget rental truck. The officers, responding to a distress call, opened fire with shotguns and AK-47s, sending those on the bridge, all of whom were unarmed, diving and running for cover.

4-20-2016: Judge hugs defendant she recognized as middle school classmate

4-20-2016: NYPD detectives charged with assaulting mailman

4-20-2016: Judge allows lawyers in Michael Brown Jr. wrongful-death suit to obtain witnesses' names

4-20-2016: Harriet Tubman will go on the $20 bill

4-20-2016: Teen shot by St. Louis police was 15-year-old student at alternative school

Editorial note: I am losing faith in police officers telling the truth, especially when kids are shot in the back while supposedly pointing a gun and there's no body cam footage. See related page, Why white cops kill black men boys.

4-20-2016: St. Louis Public Schools says it's owed $42 million from charter schools

4-19-2016: Fracking Exec Reportedly Admits Targeting the Poor, Because They Don’t Have ‘The Money To Fight’

4-19-2016: Under threat of veto, school funding revamp approved

4-19-2016: When should St. Louis schools return to elected control? A state board weighs in

4-19-2016: Federal judge approves agreement between Ferguson, Justice Department

4-19-2016: Cops Taunted Black Veteran as He Died

4-19-2016: Early Warning Signs of Recession Flash Faintly in U.S. Jobs Data

4-19-2016: No prison time for NYPD officer in stairwell shooting case

4-19-2016: Criminal charges coming Wednesday in Flint water crisis

4-19-2016: St. Louis plans 24-hour homeless shelter north of downtown

4-19-2016: St. Louis Public Schools to ban suspensions for youngest students

4-19-2016: St. Louis County elections debacle spawns a suspension and an offer to resign

4-19-2016: UnitedHealth to drop individual health plans in Missouri

4-19-2016: Missouri education officials replace Common Core standards

4-19-2016: Report suggests Heyward was greeted by racial taunts at Busch

4-19-2016: Missouri lost $50 million because lawmakers didn't act on tobacco lawsuit

4-18-2016: Baltimore police investigating arrest after video lands online

4-18-2016: Parents complain about handcuffing of elementary students

Editorial note: Parents said at least five students, ages 6 to 10, were handcuffed and arrested at Hobgood Elementary School because they did not stop a fight.

4-18-2016: Challenge to Google Books Is Declined by Supreme Court

4-18-2016: St. Louis police turn over report on police shooting of Mansur Ball-Bey to prosecutor

Editorial note: See related post, "18 Year Old Shot in Back by Police"

4-18-2016: 'Saturday Night Live' heroin sketch sparks outrage

4-18-2016: Student’s racist video spreads online, draws concern at elite private school

4-18-2016: Player Calling Obama a "Watermelon Eating Baboon" Triggers Investigation into Saint Louis University Baseball Team

4-18-2016: St. Louis police sergeant indicted by feds for stealing from black officers association

4-18-2016: Decoding discrimination in America’s temp industry

4-18-2016: "Blackmail": Obama under pressure to declassify secret 9/11 report

4-18-2016: Total U.S. energy production increases for sixth consecutive year

4-18-2016: One St. Louis liquor store, and the unapologetic liquor commissioner

4-17-2016: Pay For Illinois Officeholders to Be Delayed

4-17-2016: Super-gonorrhoea's spread 'causing huge concern'

4-17-2016: Obama immigration action goes before Supreme Court

4-17-2016: CEOs turn activists when social issues affect the bottom line

Editorial note: The United Nations and at least 117 individual countries have condemned police brutality since the Ferguson Protest. With the exception of Centene Corp, I can't think of any corporations that have made any meaningful statement or effort geared to obvious civil rights violations and the killing by police of unarmed people. I support the LGBT community's right to live as they choose and pursue their happiness. However, I am surprised at the number of corporations who have been so quick to speak up for LGBT when they remained silent about civil rights violations that involved the deaths of people rather than just their right to consume products and services. 

4-16-2016: Glowing reviews for St. Louis NGA site

4-16-2016: Citywide Wi-Fi soon could be coming to Kansas City

4-16-2016: Rule Targets Prosecutors Who Don't Reveal Innocence Evidence

4-16-2016: Along for the Ride: MoDOT looks to keep federal money it had shared with cities, urban areas

4-16-2016: Man who shot Md. firefighters released from police custody, no charges filed

4-16-2016: Feds balk at allowing sex offender-dentist to work at family practice in St. Peters

4-15-2016: Messenger: Attacking heroin epidemic requires several fronts

4-15-2016: Muslim woman kicked off plane as flight attendant said she 'did not feel comfortable' with the passenger

4-15-20106: Why Colorado may require eighth graders who were caught sexting to register as sex offenders

4-15-2016: ‘Stop arresting our children,’ Terry parents tell school officials

Editorial note: See related "School to Prison Pipeline".


4-14-2016: One Texas judge is responsible for most of the student debt-related arrests in America

4-14-2016: St. Louis has the highest level of identity theft in the United States

4-14-2016: Commonly used heartburn drugs may lead to kidney damage: study

Editorial note: African Americans suffer from kidney failure at a significantly higher rate than Caucasians – more than 3 times higher. African Americans constitute more than 35% of all patients in the U.S. receiving dialysis for kidney failure, but only represent 13.2% of the overall U.S. population. See the "Top Ten Drugs That Cause Kidney Damage".

4-14-2016: Inmates officially barred from using social media in Texas prisons

4-14-2016: Poll: Americans prefer low prices to items "Made in the USA"

Editorial note: The vast majority of Americans say they prefer lower prices instead of paying a premium for items labeled "Made in the USA," even if it means those cheaper items are made abroad, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll.

4-14-2016: N.Y. officer loses bid for new trial in shooting of unarmed black man

4-14-2016: Cops accused of robbing dealers, selling their drugs in new federal charges

4-14-2016: Lawmaker Hastert urged life sentences for repeat child molesters

Note: See editorial note from 4-8-2016

4-14-2016: Microsoft sues U.S. government over data requests

4-14-2016: Court rules warrantless collection of cellphone location data constitutional

4-14-2016: Over 1,000 Leaders Worldwide Call for End to "Disastrous" Drug War

4-13-2016: IRS Commissioner: Flat Tax Would Be Simpler, Save Agency a Lot of Money

4-13-2016: California School District Arming Teachers

4-13-2016: China Says "No Dollars" for the New Yuan

4-13-2016: Court: Glenn Ford not entitled to state compensation

Editorial note: Glenn Ford, who spent nearly 30 years on Louisiana's Death Row for a murder he did not commit, is not entitled to receive wrongful-conviction reimbursement from the state, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

4-13-2016: 'The system is rigged': widespread dissatisfaction among US voters

4-13-2016: Report: Chicago police have 'no regard' for minority lives

4-13-2016: GAO: Most U.S. corporations paid nothing in federal income taxes between 2006-2012

4-13-2016: Eisenhower briefly closed, 2 arrested during protest of police shooting of boy, 16

Editorial note: A vigil for a 16-year-old boy killed by Chicago police turned into a protest Tuesday night that resulted in two arrests and the brief closing of the Eisenhower Expressway.

4-13-2016: Peabody, world's top private coal miner, files for bankruptcy

Editorial note: Expect to see more company bankruptcies. Those bankruptcies will impact pension plans which are already decreasing for millions in a few months. For addition information see, "Fact Sheet: Your Employer's Bankruptcy – How Will It Affect Your Employee Benefits?" and Real and Apparent Conflicts between ERISA and the Bankruptcy Code"

4-13-2016: St. Louis County gets $2.25 million to reduce jail population

4-12-2016: ACLU plans to challenge OKC's anti-panhandling ordinance

4-12-2016: Drones add eyes in the sky for Harvey County law enforcement

4-12-2016: St. Louis Murder Rate On Pace With Last Year

4-12-2016: Charge admission to St. Louis Zoo instead of raising taxes, St. Charles County official suggests

4-11-2016: Couple facing jail time over library fees for one book that was returned late and one that was lost

4-11-2016: Municipal court changes poised to move forward in Missouri Legislature

4-11-2016: Democrats stall voter ID bill in the Missouri Senate again, vote delayed once more

4-11-2016: Missouri removing box on convictions from job applications

4-11-2016: School officer fired after video showed him body-slamming a 12-year-old girl

4-11-2016: Minorities say Denver job tests discriminated; seek $18 million

Editorial note: The city admits that the test discriminated in eight of 21 job classifications, so the federal trial that began Monday mostly revolves around the dollar amount of damages claimed by more than 900 Black and Hispanic plaintiffs. See the video by Dr. Umar Johnson on our home page that explains how test are used to exclude.

4-11-2016: Jury acquits two officers in 2013 beating of man who ran stop sign

4-11-2016: Sheriff Asks Judge to Dismiss $23M Verdict in Man's Shooting

Editorial note: Attorneys for a Florida sheriff' office asked a federal judge on Monday to dismiss a $23 million jury award to Dontrell Stephens, a black man who was unarmed when he was shot and paralyzed by Adam Lin, a deputy, saying race played a "subtle" role in the award. After watching the dash cam video it's hard to understand why this cop wasn't charged criminally. Lin was cleared to work four days later, and state investigators found the shooting was justified.

4-11-2016: White high school teacher arrested in Texas after alleged attack on black student caught on video

4-11-2016: A super rat, the size of a small child, has been captured in the UK

Editorial note: One theory is warmer temparatures are allowing new super breed of rats to emerge, hopefully the St. Louis Health Department is ahead of the curve if this is true.

4-11-2016: Synthetic opiate makers stay step ahead of US drug laws as overdose cases rise

4-10-2016: Officer kills developmentally disabled woman who refused to drop hatchet in Walmart

4-10-2016: Racial Disparity Study Found Problems in St. Louis, City Contends Progress is Being Made

4-10-2016: Lead levels in water raise alarm in Missouri towns

4-10-2016: Water systems across country repeatedly exceed federal lead standards

Editorial note: An Associated Press investigation of Environmental Protection Agency records has found nearly 1,400 water systems providing tap water to nearly 4 million Americans exceeded the acceptable lead level at least once between 2013 and 2015.

4-9-2016: 190 people in this Indiana town were diagnosed with HIV

Editorial note: Austin, IN, a town of 4,000 has had an outbreak of 190 cases of HIV since February 2015 linked to intravenous drug use.

4-8-2016: Nobody likes being around poor people: Casino CEO

Editorial note: Steve Wynn stated, "Rich people only like being around rich people," … "Nobody likes being around poor people, especially poor people." Without the poor as a source of employees, Wynn Casinos wouldn't exist. The only thing poor people can truly count on from others is explotation. Learn the law, your rights under the law and how to assert those rights to prevent exploitation and improve your financial position.

4-8-2016: Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert abused four teenagers, prosecutors say

Editorial note: In court filings, prosecutors alleged Dennis Hastert sexually abused, at least, four boys when he worked as a wrestling coach at a high school in Illinois and recommended that a federal judge sentence Hastert up to six months in prison. I'm curious to see if the same type of intense public outcry against Bill Cosby will be made toward Dennis Hastert concerning the sexual abuse of teenage boys and such a short prison recommendation. His actions were a betrayal of public trust to both the school district and the American public.

4-8-2016: Girl, 16, shot in suspected drug deal on Eureka shopping center lot, police say

Editorial note: White communities are beginning to experience the early effects of increasing drug use. 90% of heroin users are white. We are all connected. It’s just a matter of time before the injustices people remain silent about, visits them.  As we have mentioned before, crime will continue to rise and spill over into communities that had previously been considered immune or safe.

4-8-2016: Wells Fargo admits deception in $1.2 billion mortgage accord

4-8-2016: Zoo backers pushing sales tax idea in Legislature

4-8-2016: St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay announces he will not run again next year

4-8-2016: Former Texas officer who fatally shot unarmed woman found not guilty

Editorial note: Yvette Smith, a 47-year-old mother, was shot twice without warning by an AR-15 assault rifle by Daniel Willis, a white police officer, as she opened the front door of her home.  See the article, "Texas police caught in an enormous lie about their murder of unarmed mother Yvette Smith"

4-8-2016: Off-duty St. Louis officer investigated for DWI after crashing into parked fire department SUV

4-8-2016: Body cams capture girl's violent takedown by deputy

4-7-2016: Highway 61 enforcement push nets 95 tickets, including 82 for speeding

4-7-2016: Caller who reported man with gun at Wal-Mart may be charged

4-7-2016: Obama defends choice of white male jurist for Supreme Court

4-7-2016:  State trooper fired for proselytizing on-duty

4-7-2016: Judge rules the cross on LA County's seal is unconstitutional

4-7-2016: Off-duty St. Louis officer investigated for DWI after crashing into parked fire department SUV

4-7-2016: Reforming the broken municipal court system

4-6-2016: Video shows student being body-slammed by school police officer

Editorial note: A San Antonio Independent School District Police Officer, Joshua Kehm, is seen in this video body slamming a 12-year-old middle school girl on concrete,  which appears to have knocked her out unconscious for a brief moment.

4-6-2016: Charges dropped against man accused of pointing gun at officer with child in car

4-6-2016: Charges dropped against man accused of pointing gun at officer with child in car

 

4-6-2016: NBA’s Thabo Sefolosha Sues NYPD Officers for Alleged Police Brutality

4-6-2016: Hundreds of requests to unlock phones flood FBI

4-6-2016: Municipal reform stopped by courts

4-6-2016: Negotiators back 6-month lobbying ban for Missouri lawmakers

4-6-2016: Senate gives green light for gas tax hike

4-6-2016: Former St. Louis health inspector gets probation for taking bribe

4-6-2016: Former St. Louis cop to plead guilty to charge related to attack on handcuffed suspect

Editorial note: See related story about St. Louis prosecutor who was involved in this incident.

4-6-2016: Missouri sheriff arrested on felony weapons charge

4-6-2016: Missouri Senate won't try to kill St. Louis, KC earnings tax

4-6-2016: Another scrambled election has Missouri and St. Louis County officials searching for answers

4-6-2016: St. Louis County suffers ballot problems, voting confusion

4-5-2016: Tennessee legislature passes bill to make Bible official state book

Editorial note: This is most likely unconstitutional because to state is in effect endorsing one religious belief over others. A federal court has ruled the Los Angeles County seal unconstitutional because of a small cross.

4-5-2016: Surprising Number of Americans Affected by Police Taking Their Property

4-5-2016: Parents: We sought help for daughter, but officers shot her

4-5-2016: Driver overdoses on heroin behind wheel in St. Ann, strikes couple pushing stroller, police say

Editorial note: See related post, "A Dose of Heroin Reality".

4-5-2016: Release: State of Missouri advances efforts to increase diversity, inclusivity in state government contracting

4-5-2016: Earnings tax, bond issue overwhelmingly pass in St. Louis

4-5-2016: Missouri Court of Appeals Rules Voters Can’t Intervene in Stadium Issue

4-5-2016: Missouri Supreme Court suspends lawyer and part-time prosecutor

4-5-2016: Missouri Supreme Court rules for suits against gun dealers

4-5-2016: Some St. Louis County polling places ordered to stay open until 9 p.m.

4-5-2016: Appeals court disqualifies St. Louis County prosecutor from murder trial

4-5-2016: $2 million pledged in St. Louis area for new program to help ex-offenders

4-5-2016: Beyoncé on 'Formation' backlash: 'I am against police brutality'

Editorial note: Scroll down to 2-9-2016 to see Beyonce's Super Bowl performance and her Formation Video.

4-5-2016: Spike Lee's MU doc premieres at Missouri Theatre on Wednesday

4-5-2016: Speaker warns of unrecognized biases during University of Missouri lecture

4-5-2016: Mother of woman killed in Velda City police pursuit says its time to reconsider

4-5-2016: Former U.S. tax judge charged with cheating on her tax return

4-4-2016: Chicago may pay $4.9M to family of man who died in custody

4-4-2016: As the poor die earlier, Social Security isn't paying off

4-4-2016: Treasury Dept. tries again to stop companies from giving up U.S. citizenship for lower taxes

4-4-2016: Chief of Private Raleigh Police Agency Indicted on 13 Felony Count

4-4-2016: Feds can apply convicted judge’s pension to his $2.9M restitution, court rules

4-4-2016: Blacks hit hard by Iowa's mandatory prison sentences

4-4-2016: Justice Department in civil rights probe of Arizona election

4-4-2016: State Auditor Examines $8.8 Billion Of Federal Spending In Missouri

4-4-2016: After teen posts $250,000, judge ponders lower bail for other defendants in West County home invasion

4-3-2016: An Indiana Pastor Made His Congregation Unwitting Drug Mules in a Synthetic Pot Ring

Editorial notePastor who made 100 tons of drugs pleads guilty.

4-3-2016: Mississippi's Confederate Heritage Month proclamation prompts outcry

Editorial note: Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant quietly declared April "Confederate Heritage Month" in his state. The proclamation states April was chosen because it was the month “in which the Confederate States began and ended a four-year struggle,” and also designates the state’s Confederate Memorial Day at April 25th.

4-3-2016: Mississippi interracial couple evicted from RV park

Editorial note: A Mississippi RV park owner admits evicting an interracial couple in late February because of the color of the husband's skin.

4-3-2016: Dallas anti-Muslim protest features masks and lots of guns

Editorial note: Holding an armed anti-Muslim protest outside of a mosque is a form of intimidation and terrorism, not much different from a cross burning, and should not have been allowed. It’s not peaceful protest if you bring guns!

4-3-2016: Texas teacher calls 12-year-old Muslim pupil a 'terrorist' 

4-2-2016: Crime Spike in St. Louis Traced to Cheap Heroin and Mexican Cartels

Editorial note: White people in large numbers are not driving into black neighborhoods to purchase heroin, as this article suggest. According to the National Institutes on Drug Abuse, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Department of Health and Human Services, whites are equally or more likely to use drugs than blacks, despite common misperceptions to the contrary. According to the Justice Department, drug users tend to buy from same-race dealers. So the nearly three-quarters of users who are white, mainly rely on white dope dealers, not black or brown dealers of popular imagery. The “War on Drugs” was simply another aspect of institutionalized racism: now that heroin addiction is raging through white middle-class families, the nation’s appetite for tough-on-crime tactics has decreased. The same is true of guns: when a white person carries a gun they’re a patriot; when a black person does it they’re a criminal thug. Because it’s not about the gun, it’s about the person carrying it. This article and others like it serve only to perpetuate the black drug dealer stereotype and remove blame and responsibility from white drug dealers and users. White people are more likely to deal drugs, but black people are more likely to get arrested for it.

4-1-2016: How Habitat for Humanity Went to Brooklyn and Poor Families Lost Their Homes

4-1-2016: Legal drone shot down in Edmond neighborhood

Editorial note: Drones will certainly be the cause of many future lawsuits. An Oklahoma construction company was legally using a drone to inspect gutters when the drone was shot down by a neighbor who believed the drone was spying at their home.

4-1-2016: Justice Department Restarts Program That Allows Cops To Seize Assets From The Poor

4-1-2016: In fatal shootings by police, 1 in 5 officers’ names go undisclosed

4-1-2016: Surveillance cameras missed police shooting in St. Louis, official says

4-1-2016: Five San Francisco officers found exchanging racist, homophobic texts

Editorial note: The recent scandal was brought to light after several killings of black unarmed people by the police since mid-2014.

4-1-2016: Cop accidentally shoots undercover white colleague NINE times after confusing him with the black suspects

4-1-2016: Missouri appeals court removes jail debt for disabled grandmother

4-1-2016: St. Louis County lawyer admits smuggling heroin into jail

Editorial note: Why is the plea in this case sealed? What's being hidden?

4-1-2016: Utility bill advances in Missouri Senate

Editorial note: Scroll down to March 8th Ameren headline and editorial notes concerning rate increases.

4-1-2016: Killing of Navajo woman by cop sparks outcry

Editorial note: An Arizona police officer's fatal shooting of a woman suspected of shoplifting a case of beer has sparked outrage.

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