Author: Kailyn Hayes, DI

Kailyn Hayes was a Digital Intern for Urban Newsroom and Black News Alerts.

The parents of a seventh-grade student, who was beaten up in a locker room at Blake Academy in Lakeland, Fl. on Sept. 10 while other students filmed the beating, are demanding that a teacher who was present during the altercation be fired. What We Know: The mother of the child who was attacked, Lauren Springfield, said she was unaware of the full extent of what happened until her neighbor shared videos of it with her. The video showing three white students punching and kicking her son, who is black, paints a different story than what the school nurse told her.…

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Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has put a hopefully temporary nighttime ban on smartphone-based electric scooter rentals following four deaths. What We Know: After 4 scooter related deaths Mayor Bottoms put in a nighttime ban effective 9 p.m. August 9th. The “No Ride Zone” is in effect from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. every night until further notice.  Companies are required to disable the scooters, though if you are already riding one at 9 pm the scooter will not automatically stop. The city received backlash from activists who had protested on Atlanta’s streets after a man riding a scooter was run…

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Georgia’s new hemp law is forcing Gwinnett County to walk away from hundreds of misdemeanor marijuana cases. What We Know: Gwinnett County Solicitor Brian Whiteside sent a memo to the county’s judges on Wednesday saying marijuana cases won’t be prosecuted in his office until lawmakers make changes to the recently enacted Hemp Farming Act. Prosecutors claim they don’t have the technology to tell the difference between illegal marijuana and legal hemp. “I think ethically and morally we can’t go forward,” Whiteside said. Whiteside said that any case filed since the Georgia hemp law went into effect May 10 won’t be…

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Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, a frequent target of President Donald Trump’s wrath, sued the FBI and the Justice Department on Thursday over his termination. What We Know: The lawsuit, the second this week from an ex-FBI official challenging the reasons of his termination, says the firing was part of Trump’s plan to rid the bureau of leaders he believed were disloyal to him. The stated reason for the firing was that McCabe had misled investigators over his involvement in a news media leak, but McCabe says the real reason was “his refusal to pledge allegiance to a single…

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Two bodies found in Canada are two teen suspects wanted for multiple murders, officials said at a press conference on Wednesday. What We Know: Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, were wanted in Canada for second-degree murder in connection with three murders in British Columbia. Police have been searching for McLeod and Schmegelsky over the past two weeks. “At 10am this morning, Manitoba RCMP officers located the bodies of two males, believed to be the BC suspects, near the shoreline of the Nelson River (approx 8km from the burnt vehicle),” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement…

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Congressman John Ratcliffe said Friday that he was withdrawing his name from the Director of National Intelligence consideration. What We Know: President Trump tweeted on Sunday that he had chosen Ratcliffe to take over the job from former DNI Dan Coats, who will leave office on Aug. 15. This announcement ended speculation that Coats would resign or be fired from this role. Coats’ public statements for the intelligence community often were contrary to Trump’s policy outcomes, which occasionally upset Trump. Ratcliffe’s decision comes after he faced scrutiny over his qualifications for the role. Democrats and some Republicans raised questions about…

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Karlie Redd has signed a $300,000 deal with Doc Johnson to produce a sex toy line based on her body parts. What We Know: Redd will be joining her Love & Hip Hop franchise co-star Safaree Samuels in the sex toy industry. The same company partnered up with Samuels who received a million-dollar deal for his own male sex toy line. TMZ reported that the experts at the company recently made molds of Redd’s lady parts, which will be turned into toys called “strokers.” The “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta” star worked with the company in the past by marketing some…

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Cyntoia Brown will be released from prison after spending more than half of her life behind bars. What We Know: She will be released to parole supervision on August 7, according to former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, who granted her clemency earlier in the year. Additionally, she will stay on parole for 10 years. Brown was only 16 in 2004 when she was arrested and charged for the murder of 43-year-old Johnny Allen, a man who paid to have sex with her. Brown was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison. The 31-year-old used her time in…

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A 65-year-old woman refused to sign an $80 ticket for a broken tail light before driving away and resisting arrest, according to body camera footage released by Oklahoma authorities. What We Know: In the 58-minute video, a Cashion, Oklahoma, police officer is seen asking a woman to sign an $80 ticket for a broken taillight after she informed him that she had been driving her truck in that condition for six months. The woman identified during the video as Debra Hamil can be seen getting shot with a stun gun by police after she refused to sign the ticket, drove…

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Housing and Urban Development Secretary (HUD) Ben Carson and his staffers were kicked out of a church in Baltimore on Wednesday after he attempted to hold a press conference to defend President Donald Trump’s remarks about the city and promote the president’s administration. What We Know: Carson’s staff arrived at a vacant lot owned by the Morning Star Baptist Church of Christ in Baltimore on Wednesday, where they planned to hold a press conference after Trump’s controversial tweets about Democratic Congressman Elijah Cummings and his hometown district of Baltimore. While Carson and his employees were preparing, church member Gregory Evans…

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