At One South Jersey High School, Curriculum Goes High Tech With New Lab

At One South Jersey High School, Curriculum Goes High Tech With New Lab

A student cuts the ribbon on a new tech lab at Highland Regional
High School.
 
BLACKWOOD, N.J. (CBS) — The “classroom of the future” arrived today at one South Jersey high school, where officials and students cut the ribbon for a new, high-tech space at Highland Regional High School.

Highland already offers pretty sophisticated engineering and design classes, and now students have additional tools to create fully realized projects: a laser engraver, a 3D printer, and a computer-assisted cutting machine.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Lower Merion Police Accused Of Racial Profiling After Stopping And Questioning Snow Shovelers

Lower Merion Police Accused Of Racial Profiling After Stopping And Questioning Snow Shovelers

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Why were several snow shovelers in Montgomery County stopped?

Officials in Lower Merion are now investigating.

On Wednesday evening, Police Superintendent Mike McGrath stepped before cameras, saying that the stopping of the two snow shovelers yesterday and two others in the same neighborhood had nothing to do with racial profiling.

The two shovelers are African American, and the owner of the home who hired them, Deborah Saldana, had expressed concerns that police detaining them and telling them to sit for at least part of the time in the snow, in fact, was driven by their race.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Police: Suspect Arrested In Alleged Attack On Teen Girl On SEPTA Trolley

Police: Suspect Arrested In Alleged Attack On Teen Girl On SEPTA Trolley

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Police announced a suspect accused of attacking a 17-year-old girl on a SEPTA trolley has been arrested.

Authorities say 40-year-old Damon Oliver turned himself into police Wednesday morning.

Officials say around 7:47 a.m. on January 21, a teen girl was involved in a verbal altercation after she accidentally hit a man with her book bag while riding the Rt. 15 trolley.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Census: 1 in 5 children on food stamps

Census: 1 in 5 children on food stamps 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sixteen million children were on food stamps as of last year, the highest number since the nation's economy tumbled in 2008.

Numbers released by the Census Bureau Wednesday as part of its annual look at children and families show that one in five children were on food stamp assistance in 2014. The survey was taken last spring.

The number of people receiving food stamps - now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP - spiked through the recession and has stayed at a higher level since. In the 2007 Census survey, 9 million children received SNAP assistance.

Participation and spending appear to be going down, though. The Congressional Budget Office said this week that the government spent $76 billion on SNAP last year, down 8 percent from the year before. That was the first time spending went down since the beginning of the recession.

Around 46.5 million people received food stamps last year, according to the Agriculture Department, which oversees the aid, up from around 26 million in 2007. Participation is expected to decrease over the next 10 years, though higher food costs could keep spending up.

Half of the children receiving food stamps in the Census survey - 8 million - were living only with their mothers. Around 5 million children receiving food stamps lived with married parents.

The spike in food stamp spending has caught the attention of Congress, and House Republicans tried to cut the program by around $4 billion a year in 2013. In an eventual compromise, Congress agreed to cuts of around $800 million a year, policy that was signed into law by President Barack Obama early last year as part of a larger farm bill. Since then, many states have found ways to get around the cuts.

The SNAP program will still be under scrutiny in the new Republican Congress. The new chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Texas Rep. Mike Conaway, and the new chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, are both expected to take a look at food stamp spending in the coming year.

Billy Shore, the founder and CEO of Share Our Strength, a national anti-hunger group, said childhood hunger doesn't get enough attention. His group is pushing Congress to leave the food stamp program untouched and to find new ways to end childhood poverty.

"These kids are the most vulnerable and the least responsible for the situation in which they find themselves," he said.

Mom wants independent autopsy after police killed daughter

Mom wants independent autopsy after police killed daughter 

Laura Hernandez talks with reporters in her Thornton, Colo., home on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015, about the death of her 17-year-old daughter Jessica, who was killed after she allegedly hit and injured a Denver Police Department officer while driving a stolen vehicle early Monday in northeast Denver alleyway. Photographs of Jessica Hernandez stand on a table covered with bouquets of flowers and a display of candles at back in the family's home.

  

DENVER (AP) -- The mother of a 17-year-old girl who was shot and killed by Denver police said Wednesday that she wants a second, independent autopsy because she doesn't trust the official investigation into the death of her daughter.

The demand by Laura Sonya Rosales Hernandez came as the Denver Police Department and an independent city official who monitors the agency disclosed that separate investigations were underway into policies regarding officers shooting at moving vehicles.

The Monday shooting of Jessica Hernandez was the fourth time in seven months that a Denver officer fired at a vehicle after perceiving it as a threat.

Police have said two officers fired after Hernandez drove a stolen car into one of them. A passenger in the car disputed that account, saying police opened fire before the vehicle struck the officer. Police said none of the five people in the car was armed.

"I want another autopsy on my daughter so we can know how much damage they did," Hernandez said, speaking in Spanish inside the trailer home where her daughter lived with five siblings. "I want to know, how did this happen? I want to know everything."

The U.S. Supreme Court has held that officers may not use deadly force to stop a fleeing suspect unless the person is believed to pose significant physical harm. Still, policies vary among agencies, and some departments have banned or discouraged the practice.

The Albuquerque Police Department, for example, ordered officers in June to stop shooting at moving vehicles after a Justice Department report found a pattern of excessive force.

The Cleveland Police Department changed its policy before federal investigators concluded its officers too often used unnecessary force.

In Denver, the Police Department and Independent Monitor Nicholas Mitchell are both looking at how national standards compare to Denver's policy, which allows officers to fire at moving cars if they have no other reasonable way to prevent death or serious injury.

Denver's policy urges officers to try to move out of the way rather than fire. "An officer threatened by an oncoming vehicle shall, if feasible, move out of the way rather than discharging a firearm," it says.

The reviews will look at several cases in which Denver officers fired at cars they considered to be deadly weapons. Those cases include the fatal shooting of Ryan Ronquillo, 21, who officers said tried to hit them with his car outside a funeral home in July.

Prosecutors have declined to file charges in that case.

Experts say shooting and disabling a driver can send a car out of control.

"If you were to shoot at the driver you would have an unguided missile, basically," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, which suggests departments forbid officers from shooting at moving vehicles unless there's another deadly threat involved, such as a weapon.

Police officials identified the officers in the shooting of Hernandez as Daniel Greene, a 16-year-veteran, and Gabriel Jordan, a 9-year-veteran.

Jordan suffered a fractured leg, department spokesman Sonny Jackson said, declining to comment further about details of the case.

Hernandez's mother said her daughter made a mistake by "grabbing" a car that did not belong to her but didn't deserve to pay with her life.

"How much do they need to investigate?" she asked. "It's all done. They did it. They killed her. All I want is justice."

A passenger in the car, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of safety concerns, said Hernandez lost control of the vehicle because she was unconscious after being shot.

Prosecutors promised a thorough probe of the shooting as a small group of angry protesters demanded swift answers and called for a special prosecutor to investigate the death.

The shooting occurred amid a national debate about police use of force fueled by racially charged episodes in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City.

Investigators in the Denver case will be relying on witnesses and police accounts because the department has only just started to buy body cameras for its officers, and those involved were not yet outfitted. Denver doesn't use in-car dashboard cameras, either, which experts consider a best practice for accountability but can be costly for larger departments.

The shooting happened after police determined a suspicious vehicle in an alley had been stolen, Chief Robert White said. The two officers opened fire after Hernandez drove into one of them as they approached the car on foot, police said.

The passenger said officers came up to the car from behind and fired four times into the driver's side window as they stood on the side of the car, narrowly missing others inside.

Witnesses said officers with their guns drawn then pulled people out of the car, including Hernandez, who they handcuffed and searched. Her mother criticized the way police handled her after she was shot.

"They dragged her on the floor and threw her down like a piece of garbage," she said.

Both officers involved in the shooting have been placed on routine administrative leave pending the investigation.

Black History 2015: Religions And Slave Trade Killings In The 1800’s - Part 1 of 9

Black History 2015: Religions And Slave Trade Killings In The 1800’s - Part 1 of 9 by Van Stone frontpagenews1@yahoo.com

Would the slave trade have been outlawed before 1880 in North America if it had not been for what is known as the Haitian Revolution?  Would the escaped slave Frederick Douglass, eventually assumed by his contemporaries the most highly regarded of the Black male abolitionists living in North America, have been in the publishing business before 1846 if there were no Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society?

Historical facts show that the church (religion) played an extremely dominate role in supporting the governmental authority to engage slave trading in Haiti, as well as in North and South of North America – enslaving and killing both black and white American adults and children.

  

Speaking of the great Frederick Douglass, he was a religion-believing Black man who dreamed of a Kingdom of God coming to earth one day just like so many churches and non-church attendees do. Douglass had the best opportunity to expose how many religions supported slave trading.  The things that Douglass saw and reported resulted in a very low amount of devout Christians caring if blacks or whites were traded to be worked to the death.

Douglass understood that the Kingdom of God couldn’t come quickly enough to prevent any church or state in our America from disrupting freedom.  All of this disruption of freedom for trade slavery was done for the purpose of protecting and serving American land ownership.  And most churches and their members during the introduction of the slave trade in our country, the North or the South, made the conscious decision to never have tired of selling men, women, and even children. They bought and sold children who were both black and white to slave holders.

“I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs,” said the male hero, Frederick Douglass. Though a believer, he strongly criticized religious hypocrisy.

It’s very important for students to get accurate information about religion and the slave trade killings because for a very long period, American Jews, Christians, and Muslims, amongst other faith organizations, found themselves deeply divided on the issue. Who may be a freethinker?    

But what about the female heroes who were the underground railroad conductors during the 1800’s such as Harriet Tubman, who made dozens of trips into the South from the North, carrying a gun with her?  Tubman disregarded the religious view of black slavery and made contact with slaves who wanted to flee slavery.  The facts are that religion made it just as equally a struggle for any black person who was a slave to think that Tubman was correct. 

According to most churches in the Americas, including South America, Black people who were dominated, beginning in Africa, were not meant to be a part of the Kingdom of God on earth Douglass was taught about.

Why did majority religion in America decide that Black was not meant to be a part of God’s Kingdom you may wonder?  One reason is that 15-30% of Africans imported as slaves were Muslim. All were converted to Christianity. Therefore, controlling Black slaves mentality was crucial. Slaves had to be reminded that there was no place of freedom for them, or being a freethinker, even with God.        

How many female heroes later understood that Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954, would become the most famous school desegregation case in American educational history? 

Slave holders of the past paid money for white children who were also sold off as black children, if the white children could be disguised successfully enough to the point that a white victim wasn’t able to prove that he or she was not a black person. No race of people, for example, Jewish, Irish, German, was deprived of their fair education during the early 1950’s in such a way as Blacks were. To be continued…

Children Make Most Of Day Off After Snow Closes Schools

Children Make Most Of Day Off After Snow Closes Schools

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Whether it was indoors or outside, many children in the region were enjoying their day off from school due to the threat of snow.

A snow-covered hill along Kelly Drive was a hot spot form many kids.

I was really bummed out when I found out the snow storm was a bust,” said 11-year-old Amelia Cucchiara. “But there is still good sledding, kind of.”

 Seven-year-old Cooper Loubier was having a friendly sledding competition with his little brother Emmett.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Sources: Probe Into On-Duty Sex In Philadelphia Fire Department

Sources: Probe Into On-Duty Sex In Philadelphia Fire Department

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Sources tell CBS 3 allegations of sexual activity on-duty involving as many as a dozen male members of the Philadelphia Fire Department have been investigated by the Office of the Philadelphia Inspector General.

The sources reveal top Fire Department officials are now considering possible disciplinary action against some or all of the members, after receiving the Inspector General’s final report.

Among the allegations under investigation, a female member found engaging in sexual activity with two male members inside a vehicle and, sources confirm, sexual activity among the female member and male members at several firehouses around the city.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Mormon leaders call for measures protecting gay rights

Mormon leaders call for measures protecting gay rights  

FILE - In this April 5, 2014 file photo, people walk past the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City. On Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, Mormon leaders made a national appeal for what they called a "balanced approach" in the clash between gay rights and religious freedom, promising to support some housing and job protections for gays if they back some exemptions for religious objectors to same-sex marriage

 

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Mormon church announced a campaign Tuesday for new laws that protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination while somehow also protecting people who assert their religious beliefs.

"We must find ways to show respect for others whose beliefs, values and behaviors differ from ours while never being forced to deny or abandon our own beliefs, values and behaviors in the process," a church elder, Jeffrey R. Holland, said in announcing the church's position.

Mormon leaders did not explain just how it would draw lines between gay rights and religious freedoms, and it's unclear how much common ground the church will gain with this campaign. The church insists it is making no changes in doctrine, and still believes that sex is against the law of God unless it's within a marriage between a man and a woman.

But the new approach could profoundly change political calculations in the Mormon strongholds of Utah, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona, where the church and its members play a large civic role.

In Utah, where most state lawmakers are Mormon, the announcement was cheered after years of failed efforts to pass anti-discrimination measures.

"What the LDS church did today was historic," said Democratic state Sen. Jim Dabakis, who was raised Mormon and is openly gay. "This was a bold, strong, principled statement ... today we are seeing the fruits of civility and respect."

The gay-rights group Equality Utah also applauded, saying LGBT rights can co-exist with freedoms of religious individuals.

But national advocates on both sides were dismissive.

The Rev. Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention called the Mormon leaders "well-intentioned, but naive" about animosity toward religious exemptions. And Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, called it "deeply flawed." The First Amendment's protection of religious freedom "does not give any of us the right to harm others, and that's what it sounds like the proposal from the Mormon church would do - it would allow a doctor to refuse to care for a lesbian because of his religious beliefs, for example," said James Esseks, who directs the LGBT project of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The campaign is the latest example of a shift in tone on gay rights by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which counts 15 million members worldwide. They have moved away from harsh rhetoric and are preaching compassion and acceptance of gays and lesbians now that gay marriage is legal in Washington D.C. and 36 states including Utah.

"Accommodating the rights of all people - including their religious rights - requires wisdom and judgment, compassion and fairness," said Holland, who appeared at a rare news conference with two other apostles from the church's governing Quorum of the Twelve.

"Politically, it certainly requires dedication to the highest level of statesmanship. Nothing is achieved if either side resorts to bullying, political point scoring or accusations of bigotry."

The Mormon church will back laws that protect "vital religious freedoms for individuals, families, churches and other faith groups while also protecting the rights of our LGBT citizens in such areas as housing, employment and public accommodation in hotels, restaurants and transportation," said Dallin H. Oaks, another apostle.

Mormon leaders still want to hire and fire workers based on their religious beliefs as well as behavior standards known as honor codes, which require gays and lesbians to remain celibate or marry someone of the opposite sex. The church also wants legal protections for religious objectors who work in government and health care, such as a physician who refuses to perform an abortion, or provide artificial insemination for a lesbian couple.

"It is one of today's great ironies that some people who have fought so hard for LGBT rights now try to deny the rights of others to disagree with their public policy proposals," Oaks said.

Accommodations for religious objectors have factored into every state legislative debate over gay rights. But rights advocates have gained leverage as support for same-sex marriage grows. In some states, such as Arizona, even business leaders are on their side, saying broad religious exemptions hurt a state's image.

But religious conservatives also mobilized after the U.S. Supreme Court set a broad expansion of gay marriage in motion last year, pressing states to allow some groups, companies and people to refuse some benefits or service for gay spouses. And gay rights groups seeking job and housing protections have faced an uphill battle in the more politically and religiously conservative states.

Much has changed since Mormons led a fight against same-sex unions in California.

Given the "current contentious atmosphere that exists among people of different views on these subjects," Oaks said, "we wish to promote a more Christian, a more civil and considerate tone."

Charges Filed Against Parents Of Infant Attacked By Ferrets In Delaware County

Charges Filed Against Parents Of Infant Attacked By Ferrets In Delaware County

  

Darby Borough home where police say a one-year-old was attacked
by a ferret.

DARBY, Pa. (CBS) -- According to the Office of the District Attorney, charges have been filed against the parents of a one-month-old baby girl who was severely injured in a ferret attack in Delaware County.

Last week police said a trio of ferrets chewed off the nose, top lip and part of the cheek of the baby’s face in Darby, Pa.

The district attorney’s office says the parents have been charged with five counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Hundreds Jump Into Ice Cold Delaware River For Charity

Hundreds Jump Into Ice Cold Delaware River For Charity

 

 

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — More than five-hundred brave souls stripped down and jumped into the frigid Delaware River Saturday afternoon — and they did so for charity.

The polar plungers at Neshaminy State Park in Bensalem were freezin’ for a reason.

“Oh I’m a savage! That felt dangerous,” said Steve Henry, “That was scary!”
Henry said there is nothing to prepare you for the feeling.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Monday’s MLK Day March Through Center City Puts Next Generation of Leaders in Spotlight

Monday’s MLK Day March Through Center City Puts Next Generation of Leaders in Spotlight

Some of the leaders who helped lead Monday’s “MLK DARE” march
include (left to right), Rev. Greg Holston, POWER; Paul Winston Cange,
PURP; Raphael Curtis, Fight for 15 (min.wage); Leslie MacFadyen,
Ferguson Response Network; Diane Isser, 15 Now; Tamara Anderson,
Caucus for Working Educators; Bishop Dwayne Royster, POWER;
and Rev. Mark Tyler, POWER. All of these leaders are featured on the
podcast.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The “Reclaim MLK Day” march on Monday drew more than 7,000 people for a day of activism and protest in the streets of center city Philadelphia.  It was one of the largest Rev. Martin Luther King holiday demonstrations Philadelphia has seen in years.

And the organizers of that march are not the names usually associated with traditional civic leadership in Philadelphia.

When it comes to civil rights and politics in Philadelphia, you’re probably used to hearing from groups like the Philadelphia NAACP, the Black Clergy, or activist politicians.  But the “Reclaim MLK Day March and Rally” on Monday revealed a new leadership guard that’s growing in power.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Thousands March Through Central Philadelphia For Justice, Jobs, and Fairness

Thousands March Through Central Philadelphia For Justice, Jobs, and Fairness

Marchers rally in front of School District of Philadelphia headquarters, on North Broad Street.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Thousands of people gathered today on North Broad Street on Martin Luther King Day, for a march and rally to address a variety of social concerns in Philadelphia and beyond.

The event was organized by a coalition that calls itself MLK Day of Action, Resistance, and Empowerment (“MLK DARE”).  Starting at Philadelphia school district headquarters at Broad and Spring Garden Streets, the group held the afternoon march down Broad Street, then east on Market Street to Independence Hall, for a 3:30pm rally there.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

On MLK Day, Penn Protesters March Against Racial & Social Injustice

On MLK Day, Penn Protesters March Against Racial & Social Injustice

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – “Momma, black bodies are dead in the streets.”

That’s what protesters were singing as they made their way on Locust Walk at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dozens of students gathered, calling this a movement to reclaim Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a day for peaceful protest.

“If you want to talk about the Civil Rights Movement, if you want to talk about the work that has been done, we have to realize the work that still needs to be done,” said Mariam Harris.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Positively Philadelphia: A Job Bank For Arts Professionals

Positively Philadelphia: A Job Bank For Arts Professionals

John McInerney of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance,
photographed at the Waterfront Winterfest, on Penn’s Landing.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — If you’re looking for a job, here’s a reminder about an online site you might not know about.

“It’s an online job bank, and it’s the largest job bank in the region for arts jobs in the community,” says John McInerney, vice-president of marketing for the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (top photo). 

“Fifteen thousand people check the site up to ten times every month.”

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Local Business Leaders Covering Cost Of Tickets For Thousands Of School Kids To See “Selma”

Local Business Leaders Covering Cost Of Tickets For Thousands Of School Kids To See “Selma”

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Local business leaders are busy asking for private donations so they can send students to see the movie “Selma” for free.

Out just one week, “Selma” is already making a name for itself. It’s the story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his persistent fight for equality.

Business leaders in Philadelphia began raising money last week, after business leaders in New York took their campaign to social media. The hashtag #SelmaForStudents continues to gain popularity by the hour.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Attorney General Holder Comes To Philadelphia To Get Law Enforcement And Community Members Talking

Attorney General Holder Comes To Philadelphia To Get Law Enforcement And Community Members Talking

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Attorney General Eric Holder was in Philadelphia Thursday afternoon to hold another in his series of meetings aimed at building trust between community residents and the police.

After introductions by the Attorney General and other local officials, reporters were escorted from the room so that community leaders and activists, members of the clergy, police officers, crime victims and young people could talk frankly.

High School Senior David Johnson says he was honored to participate.

“Members of the law and normal citizens sat at the same table and discussed problems that affect both of us .and everybody listened to everybody kind of gained a level of foundation of understanding of what was going on with the other party.”

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

EXCLUSIVE: Former Boyfriend Of Missing New Jersey Woman Speaks To Eyewitness News

EXCLUSIVE: Former Boyfriend Of Missing New Jersey Woman Speaks To Eyewitness News

MT. LAUREL, NJ (CBS) — As detectives continue to search for Erica Crippen’s body, her former boyfriend and the father of her daughter spoke exclusively to Eyewitness News about the case.

Hamin Baker says he met Crippen when the two were in high school. He says they dated for almost a decade. The two have a seven-year-old named Amirra. She lived with Erica and Kyle Crosby, but is now living with Baker.

Baker tells Eyewitness News he took Amirra the moment he found out Erica was missing. Her husband, Kyle Crosby, is charged with her murder. Police have not found her body.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Philadelphia Orchestra Opens Its Arms To Musicians Of All Skill Levels

Philadelphia Orchestra Opens Its Arms To Musicians Of All Skill Levels

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Amateur and professional flute musicians
played side by side at Verizon Hall for the Philadelphia Orchestra’s annual  
Play In.

More than 100 flute players young and old took to the stage to perform various pieces of music.
“To play with a lot of people it’s a great experience,” said Makeda Wubayeh.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/