A rising tide of protests for racial justice helped draw attention to Juneteenth as a major milestone in U.S. history. Photo: Corbis via Getty Images Acting with unexpected speed, Congress has passed a bill to make Juneteenth (June 19), the date associated with the end of slavery, a federal holiday. The Senate approved the measure Wednesday afternoon and it overwhelmingly passed the House the same night. The legislation heads to President Biden next, who will sign it into law. The breakthrough occurred earlier this week when everyone seemed to expect that Republican Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson would object to a unanimous consent motion to enact a bill making the change, as he did last year (complaining of the cost of a new federal holiday). But he didn’t, as the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported : “While it still seems strange that having taxpayers provide federal employees paid time off is now required to celebrate the end of slavery, it is clear that there is no … [Read more...]
South Carolina Inmate’s Electric Chair Execution Is Halted—Until a Firing Squad Is Available
Two days before South Carolina death row inmate Brad Sigmon was due to be put to death in the state’s 109-year-old electric chair, he won a rare reprieve from the state’s Supreme Court. Fellow prisoner Freddie Owens, who was set to be put to death a week later, was also spared at least temporarily as the court ruled Wednesday that the electrocution deaths would violate the “statutory right of inmates to elect the manner of their execution .” But just as quickly as the court handed down the ruling vacating the upcoming executions until another method can be offered, the South Carolina Department of Corrections vowed to waste no time in “moving ahead” with a firing squad. “We will notify the court when a firing squad becomes an option for executions,” the department said in a statement. The dizzying news came after 63-year-old Sigmon was said to be “terrified” ahead of an execution scheduled for Friday that he fought desperately to stop, according to Alli Sullivan of the … [Read more...]
Florida teen charged with negligence after 6-year-old dies accidentally shooting himself
Florida police say that a 14-year-old has been charged with culpable negligence after a 6-year-old accidentally shot himself with a handgun in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said officers on Tuesday evening found a young boy with a "gunshot wound in the facial area" who was pronounced dead on the scene. "A firearm had been left in a location in which the child was able to access. It appears at this time that after retrieving it, the child ultimately shot himself while handling the loaded firearm," the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office wrote. Police said an investigation showed the gun "had last been in the possession of a 14-year-old juvenile earlier in the day" and said the minor was subsequently detained, interviewed and later charged with culpable negligence. NBC News is not naming the boy who is charged because he is a minor. NBC affiliate WTLV reported that the deceased 6-year-old's parents are currently incarcerated. One of the child's family … [Read more...]
Alaska searchers look for hiker who reported being charged by bears
Search teams Wednesday were looking for a missing Alaska hiker who had reported being charged by bears, state troopers said. Fina Kiefer, 55, of Palmer, was hiking alone on the Pioneer Ridge Trail in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, northeast of Anchorage, on Tuesday when she contacted her husband and said she needed help after being charged by multiple bears, Alaska State Troopers said. No evidence of her had been found by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, troopers said in an updated statement . Troopers were notified around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday that the hiker needed help. "Shortly after requesting assistance, the hiker stopped responding to phone calls and text messages," the troopers statement said. Kiefer used bear spray she had with her, the agency said. Search and rescue teams and search dogs continued to search from the ground Wednesday, and the Alaska National Guard has been doing searches from the air, troopers said. The search Wednesday ended because of … [Read more...]
Fashion retailer Zara condemns anti-Palestinian comments made by designer
Fashion retailer Zara on Tuesday condemned anti-Palestinian comments made by one of its senior designers after the remarks spurred calls for a boycott of the Spanish apparel line on social media. Vanessa Perilman, Zara's head designer for its women's department, got into an online argument with model Qaher Harhash, who is Palestinian, over his advocacy for the people in Gaza. “Maybe if your people were educated then they wouldn't blow up the hospitals and schools that Israel helped to pay for in Gaza,” Perilman wrote to Harhash on Instagram over direct message on June 9. "The people in my industry know the truth about Israel and palestine and I will NEVER stop defending Israel and people like you come and go in the end,” Perilman wrote. "Israelis don't teach children to hate nor throw stones at soldiers as your people do." In an interview from Berlin on Wednesday, Harhash said he was initially stunned that someone with so much influence in fashion like Perilman would … [Read more...]
Utah teen with Down syndrome devastated to be left out of cheer team photo
A Utah woman is speaking out after her sister was left out of her middle school cheerleading team's yearbook photos. Eighth-grader Morgyn Arnold, who has Down syndrome, came home from the last day of school feeling deflated and full of questions about why she wasn't in the photo of the Shoreline Junior High school's cheerleading team, older sister Jordyn Poll said. Morgyn, 14, was officially the team manager, but attended practices, learned routines and cheered alongside her other teammates at every home game, her sister said. The Shoreline Junior High cheerleading team sat for two photos for the yearbook: One included Morgyn, in the middle in a purple tee and a big grin; she was not in the other. Morgyn was devastated when she learned that the yearbook included the photo that she wasn't in and that that version had been used in several other school and promotional materials, her sister said. "Everyone knows how it feels to be excluded," Jordyn Poll said. "It's never a … [Read more...]
