Daily Archives: May 7, 2021

ROCHESTER, Mich., May 6, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Metro-Detroit based Arterra Realty announces Cap Cash program allowing agents to receive their entire commission cap back.

Arterra Realty's annual commission cap is $20,000. Once their cap is reached, agents automatically earn 100% commission for the remainder of their anniversary period. This cap is strategically calculated to provide Arterra Advisors with access to top performing programs not included at most brokerages.

These programs include lead generation, personalized support and mentorship opportunities, revenue sharing, in-house marketing services, product-focused training, and more. In addition to complimentary listing signs and office access, Arterra could save agents over $4,500 annually in professional photography fees.

"We want to put more money into the hands of our agents, our Cash Cap program does just that." Vito Terracciano, CEO & Founder

After meeting the requirements for the Cap Cash program, agents then qualify to receive the $20,000 they have contributed toward their commission cap back in monthly payments.

"Not only do I have the opportunity to earn 100%, but I can get my cap refunded in cash. In addition to many other benefits, I am immediately making tens of thousands more at Arterra and don't have to wait to reap the benefits of hitting my cap. I like that I can get my cash back and invest in the stocks of my choice, rather than wait three years to see the benefits of one chosen for me." Haig, Industry All Star and Arterra Real Estate Advisor

Other Arterra compensation plans include revenue sharing paid out on a per-transaction basis, Founder's Pool program sharing 10% of annual corporate profits, $1,000 recruiting bonuses, commission loyalty offering up to 90/10 splits, and more.

Compensation and Culture Can Co-Exist. If you are looking to earn more money in your career with a culture that cares, Arterra may be the right fit for you.Apply online to schedule a meeting with the Arterra founders today.

SOURCE Arterra Realty

https://www.weare.arterrarealty.com

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Freedom To Invest In Your Future: Cap Cash Is King When It Comes To Real Estate Compensation - PRNewswire

The 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders reports that "journalism, the main vaccine against disinformation, is completely or partly blocked in 73% of the 180 countries ranked by the organization."

Thirty-two journalists around the globe were reportedly killed last year. Already this year, in Afghanistan in an episode enough to make one cry three young women employees of a local TV station in Jalalabad were gunned down by the local Islamic State affiliate. That was after a 26-year-old woman presenter at the same station named Malalai Maiwand was shot dead in December.

Can you imagine the courage it takes for young women (and men) to continue to work in journalism in Afghanistan, or civil war-torn Myanmar? Or Belarus? Or in many African nations? Or to keep trying to present real news in the handful of independent online or provincial outlets that still exist in Russia? (The many brave independent Chinese journalists who once functioned in print and online are almost completely silenced.)

Yet, today's main threat to press freedom in the United States is more insidious than grisly murders. And it undermines the very future of our democratic system.

I refer, of course, to the growth of an alternative media universe, amplified by President Donald Trump, that attracts a sizable portion of the American public into its own news silo and feeds them a constant and hypnotic "news" diet of outright lies.

This cuts to the heart of how we define press freedom.

We are not (yet) in a "1984" era, to cite the famous George Orwell novel about a totalitarian society whose members are taught that "freedom is slavery" and "ignorance is strength." The press is still free to report the facts, but an important segment of the media especially on TV, radio, and the internet have chosen to use that freedom to promote an endless stream of falsehoods about public health and political issues.

I needn't repeat here the history of how Roger Ailes and Fox News built a network that looked like (and in the past partly acted like) a news network. However, it soon devolved into a source of radical-right fantasies, from the birther lie about President Barack Obama's birthplace to COVID-19 denial to the continued promotion of the biggest lie of all, that the 2020 election was stolen.

In the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Fox backed off slightly, but small, propaganda-style networks like Newsmax and One America News rushed to capture Foxs defecting viewers. In a race to the bottom, Fox junked some news shows and has gone full bore with its opinion blast of untruths.

We are not talking here of serious debate about controversial questions whether about masking or climate change or critiques of President Joe Biden's policies. We are talking of lies that mislead much of the public.

We have Tucker Carlson telling viewers that Biden wants war with Russia. Or urging them to call the cops if they see a masked child and report "child abuse." Or John Roberts' false claim that Biden wants Americans to cut 90% of red meat from their diet. Along with the constant lies about massive 2020 election fraud that feed the GOP public's pressure for laws to suppress voting.

This constant litany of lies has serious consequences.

A September 2020 Gallup poll reported that only 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they have "a great deal" (9%) or "a fair amount" (31%) of trust and confidence in the media (newspapers, TV, and radio) to report the news "accurately, and fairly."

But the gap between the two political parties is stunning: 73% percent of Democrats reported a great or fair amount of trust while only 10% of Republicans did.

We can surely attribute much of the latter figure to the misinformation promoted by Fox, its imitators, and talk radio. Misinformation on COVID-19 testing and treatments that helped doom hundreds of thousands of Americans. And mistrust of election results that undermines the country and helps our adversaries abroad.

That's why I believe it's necessary to start labeling false media propaganda as a direct threat to press freedom.

As Hannah Arendt, the great expert on totalitarian rule, said in 1974: "What makes it possible for a dictatorship to rule is that people are not informed. If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. With such a people you can then do what you please."

Twitter was correct to ban the former president.

Open debate should be welcomed by all sides (including Democratic progressives), but constant, overt lies undermine the republic. Those talking heads from Congress who promote the Big Election Lie should be reprimanded on talk shows when they do so.

To let those lies spread not only undermines press freedom but also promotes civil war.

Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. She can be contacted at trubin@phillynews.com.

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National View: Lies are undermining press freedom in the US - Duluth News Tribune

GLEN JEAN, WV (WVNS) Governor Justice along with others from the Summit Bechtel National Scout Reserve, the West Virginia DNR, and the Grand National Cross Country Racing Series announced a new event coming to the summit. The Adventure on Freedom Festival will include the West Virginia DNRs 2021 National Hunting and Fishing Days, GNCC racings amateur mountaineer race, and several other outdoor activities.

We want families, friends, supporters of the Summit to come out see the latest and greatest new gear, try the new shot guns, ride the new motorcycles, Director of Business Development Bill Garrett said.

Director of the WVDNR, Stephen McDaniel, said this festival will allow for racing fans to get the taste of hunting and fishing and vice versa.

Anytime that we can pair it with an event like GNCC there is going to be fans of GNCC that have really never had an opportunity to be exposed to hunting and fishing in West Virginia, McDaniel said. So there is just some wonderful synergy there that I think are going to make it a very successful event.

Everyone is excited for the potential boost an event this size will be to the economy of Southern West Virginia.

Its going to impact our communities, impact our hotels, our dining, Director of Visit Southern West Lisa Strader said. The ripple effect is going to be amazing, weve already seen a lot of success from the Spartan event that comes here.

The event is set for September 9-12, 2021. They will also end the weekend honoring the veterans in attendance on the weekend of the 20th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th.

Continued here:

Adventure on Freedom Festival coming to Fayette County - WVNS-TV

WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik is scheduled to meet on Monday with the House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative Republicans, as she looks to dismantle opposition to her becoming the next GOP conference chair.

Three congressional sources confirmed the meeting to the Times Union on Thursday. News of the gathering comes as a few Republicans have expressed reservations about the more moderate voting record of Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, as compared to that of incumbent GOP conference Chairwoman Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming.

But in addition to her policy views, Freedom Caucus members want the meeting to ensure they won't be ignored, a source familiar with the situation said. The far-right caucus has had fights with Cheney and has felt sidelined by GOP leadership at other times.

Cheney was not a good listener," said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "People just want to make sure Stefanik is a good listener.

CNN reported multiple members of the Freedom Caucus voiced deep reservations on a Wednesday night call about Stefanik as the consensus choice for Republican conference chair even as they conceded she has the votes to succeed Cheney. A House member on the call told CNN the Freedom Caucus has concerns about Stefanik's moderate voting record and her uneven stance on a wide range of issues the group prioritizes, including immigration and LGBTQ rights.

Another source described the Monday meeting to the Times Union as Stefanik's move to "reassure them of her conservative bona fides" and "shore up support."

Stefanik spoke on the podcast of former Trump ally Steve Bannon Thursday to spread a message of GOP unity as she seeks the role, which would catapult her to the number three House Republican position.

"This is also about being one team," Stefanik said. "And Im committed to being a voice and sending a clear message that we are one team, and that means working with the president and working with all of our excellent Republican members of Congress.

Drawing a contrast with Cheney, Stefanik said she would "run with support from the president [Trump] and his coalition of voters."

Cheney is in hot water with the caucus because of her outspoken criticism of Trump and her party's false claims that Trump's 2020 election loss stemmed from widespread fraud. Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and she voted in favor of certifying the 2020 election results.

"We Republicans need to stand for genuinely conservative principles, and steer away from the dangerous and anti-democratic Trump cult of personality," Cheney wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post Wednesday.

Stefanik voted in the opposite way on both matters and has advanced her own debunked claims about the election.

But while Stefanik is the pro-Trump candidate of the two, Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has the stronger conservative record.

A respected conservative group that focuses on taxing and spending issues called Club for Growth announced its opposition to Stefanik's candidacy on Wednesday. Stefanik voted against the 2017 Republican tax law because it enacted a cap on state and local tax deductions, she said at the time.

"Elise Stefanik is NOT a good spokesperson for the House Republican Conference," the group tweeted. "She is a liberal with a 35% CFGF lifetime rating, 4th worst in the House GOP. House Republicans should find a conservative to lead messaging and win back the House Majority."

The conservative group Heritage Action scored her at 56 percent in their last rating, while it rated Cheney at a score of 82. Heritage Action did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Perhaps a nod to these issues, Stefanik sent out a fundraising email to her supporters Thursday night that repeatedly used the word "conservative" and was signed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

"As a conservative governor, I am proud to support leaders in Congress who stand up for their principles and our conservative movement," Reynolds said. "She is one of those leaders who will never back down and I believe she is the future of our Republican party and the conservative movement."

Multiple congressional aides told the Times Union that their boss's choice for GOP conference chair will not be about Stefanik's voting record, as much as her ability to fundraise, form a coalition and stay on message.

Stefanik has received the backing of the top two House Republican leaders and Trump. Six other House Republicans sent public statements of support for Stefanik to the Times Union.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who also voted to impeach Trump, is standing by Cheney.

"She stands for truth-telling and integrity, and she isnt afraid to stand for what matters. On Nov. 3 ... Joe Biden was elected president of the United States. On Jan. 6 ... our democracy was attacked by an angry mob who had been fed lies and conspiracies about a stolen election," Kinzinger's spokeswomanMaura Gillespie said. "These are the facts and its important that leaders take responsibility in sharing that truth."

Stefanik is widely believed to have enough support to secure the role of GOP conference chair in a vote that could come as soon as next week.

Cheney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Stefanik will meet with House Freedom Caucus to smooth concerns in her campaign for conference chair - Times Union

Almost a year later, Columbus police still wont identify the officer who pepper-sprayed Ohio State University journalists. Reporters say they mostly work without incident but face an increase in online threats.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism in partnership with the nonprofit Matter News. Please join Eye on Ohios free mailing list and follow Matter News as this helps them provide more public service reporting.

Who is thepersonpictured above?

Nearly a year after Columbus police officers pepper-sprayedjournalists covering protests against police brutality, the Columbus Division of Police still has not named the officer shouting I dont care! and turning eyes into agony, as those reporters shouted, We are members of the news media! and held up their badges.

A police spokesman said the incident is still under investigation but, contrary to previous precedent, declined to name the officer involved. In public records requests, police said no officer on that crowded street had body camera video of the incident, and no officer has faced discipline, though the inquiry is still ongoing.

Sixty-five pages of police reports, obtained through a public records request, detail a wildly violent scene that night. But that version of events directly conflicts with the memory and video of the pepper-sprayed reporters.

Please excuse my language, but the reports about Lane and High [streets] were some of the biggest b------t Ive ever read. No commands were given before the first officer started spraying the intersection upon immediate arrival. Certainly no concrete or rocks were thrown, said Max Garrison, reporter for Ohio State University's student newspaper, TheLantern.

Ill add to [Lantern reporter MaeveWalshs] comment about the exclusion of our being pepper-sprayed from the report, they also excluded the physical contact they made with me immediately before the spraying commenced.

Since the event, no other journalist in Columbus has faced police violence. Was the pepper spray an isolated incident or evidence that officers act above the law?

The U.S. Freedom Press Tracker logged 11incidents against reporters in Ohio in 2020, the most since 2017. (Note: the database is partially funded by the Committee to Protect Journalists whose grant helped to fund this joint journalism project.)

Eye on Ohio and Matter News surveyed dozens of reporters around Ohio about press freedom in the state. Most said they enjoyed a high degree of latitude, though they faced increased vitriol online. Two said they had been in a violent incident in the past year.

Another reporter, who declined to be identified for fear of reprisals, hadn't slept in her apartment for half of the previous month, for her own safety. She began receiving threats after she published a series of articles covering the plight of local residents who complained about the efficacy of their local government to stop the abusive and threatening tactics of a local developer who lashed out at the community after a failed land deal.

The Lantern pepper spray incident was part of a series of police complaints following Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. The City of Columbus set up an external website to track citizen complaints, and spent about $600,000 to hire a special prosecutor and a law firm to investigate.

Through a public records request, Eye on Ohio/Matter News received thousands of documents, pictures and video that prosecutors reviewed to analyze abuse of power complaints. Those records are available here:

So far, just one case has resulted in police discipline. Several investigations are still ongoing.

A federal judge in aFriday ruling said city police ran "amok" during lastsummer's protests, wielding pepper spray, tear gas and wooden bullets, NBC News reported.

The judge's preliminary injunction keeps police from using force against non-violent protestors. The judge also stated officers must recognize those displaying credentials identifying them as members of the media, as medical respondersor as legal observers, and allow them to record the protestsor assist injured people.

Weve seen troubling attacks on press freedom in Ohio, especially in the wake of the protests over the killing of George Floyd, and to a lesser extent, the COVID-19 pandemic: journalists being arrested and attacked, or being subpoenaed for their footage, or threatened with litigation over their coverage, said Andrew Geronimo, director of the First Amendment Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

I think its a critical matter of public concern that we have some transparency and accountability into exercises of governmental power, and the best way to do that is by protecting from government interference the gathering and publishing of information on newsworthy topics.

In addition to the officer who pepper-sprayed reporters, Special Prosecutor Kathleen Garber said her investigation needs to identify several officers who might be responsible for criminal misconduct. She originally filed subpoenas to compel their supervisors to name them, which she later withdrew. She also filed Garrity notifications to compel them to answer questions. The police union balked, saying the order would violate officers and supervisors constitutional rights.

By mutual agreement, an arbitrator will now decide whether the officers will have to follow the citys order to provide information relative to the possible criminal activity of other officers. Both the city and the officers attorneys decided this was the proper venue for these issues to be argued, said Department of Public Safety Assistant Director Glenn McEntyre.

As of press time, no arbitration date had been set.

Near the end of April, researchers at Ohio State University released the findings of an eight-month study they began after the protests in Columbus erupted last summer, including a list of recommendations for the city based on the results. The study evaluated how Columbus officials managed the protests from May 28 through July 19, 2020 and found that the city was unprepared for and lacked coordination around how to handle the type and size of protests that occurred.

Although the study references reporting done by the three Lantern reporters, it does not reference the pepper-spraying they experienced nor does it list any recommendations related to press freedom in Columbus.

On Saturday, June 2, 2020, three reporters stood at the intersection of North High Street and Lane Avenue in downtown Columbus, on behalf of Ohio States student newspaper,The Lantern: Sarah Szilagy, a junior campus editor, Maxwell Garrison, a junior assistant campus editor, and Maeve Walsh, the special projects editor.

They were dressed appropriately just in case they were inadvertently caught up in the moment: despite the heat, they had long sleeves to protect against pepper spray and underneath their clothes they had the number of their school adviser and the number for the student press center written on their arms.

They did not imagine, however, that they would end up as targets.

They were really peaceful. There was no violence or anything, and there was no police presence at that point. We were monitoring social media and saw that the police chief was downtown marching with them 20 or 30 minutes earlier,"saidGarrison, who's studying journalism and public policy at OSU."We followed them all the way through the campus area up North High Street. Again, no police presence or anything. They got to the corner of Lane Avenue and North High Street and stopped and congregated for a few moments in that area.

And pretty much as soon as everybody was back there, all the sudden a bunch of police cruisers came out of nowhere from the south of High Street and stopped behind a group of cars. Officers came out in SWAT gear and worked their way up through the group of cars and approached the intersection."

Garrison continued: "Once the police were visible, a lot of protesters dispersed. Before they even got to the intersection, a few police officers were already spraying pepper spray without anything being thrown at them ahead of time, or any previous aggression towardthem, or even yelling everybody get out of the intersection.

"At that point all the protesters around us were gone, and it was just the three of us standing up on a raised part, he explained.

The group said other officers throughout the day had left them alone when they pointed to their PRESS labels. But this was different.

I was wearing glasses but they were so close and it was such a strong spray that I remember feeling it enter my eye, saidSzilagy, a journalism major at OSU. And they kept following us, so we couldnt even stop to flush out our eyes.

They said a spokesperson later came by the school and said that perhaps the officer didnt know reporters were not required to follow the curfew, which the Lantern reporters said conflicted with their experience with other officers who knew they could be out later on different occasions.

At the time, body-worn cameras were not required for officers wearing riot gear, because standard riot gear doesnt have mounts for cameras. On Sept. 23, 2020, officers changed their policy to wear a traffic vest over the gear, which can accommodate a body-worn camera.

The three students said that no officials have followed up with them on the status of the investigation since initial conversations regarding the incident. Walsh, the former special projects editor, has already graduated from OSU. Many of these investigations can take months to complete, and since neither the city nor the police department have been able to identify the officers involved, the investigation could take even longer.

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Does freedom of the press always extend to police coverage? - Mahoning Matters

The "Atlas of Civil Society" report is full of examples of restricted freedoms: overcrowded prisons in the Philippines, arrested journalists in Zimbabwe, threatened human rights defenders in Mexico. For the fourth time, the organizations Bread for the World and Civicuspublished a comprehensive report on the situation of civil society organizations and their members in almost 200 countries.

"2019 was a year of protests," said Dagmar Pruin, chairperson of Bread for the World."Worldwide, people took to the streets. And this mobilization continued in 2020, for example in the US, or in Belarus."

There were also protests in connection with the pandemic, for example by people calling for more financial assistance and less corruption.

"But in response to this, the governments in many countries didn't fight the causes of the protests, but the protesters," Pruin said.

The picture for 2020 is bleak. According to the report, 88% of the world's population lives in restricted, oppressedor closed societies. The remaining are classified as impaired or open societies.

Germany counts as open because civil society organizations suffer no restrictions, and information is easily accessible. Only 42 of the 196 examined countries are considered open. And that does not include all 27 EU member countries.

According to the report, the pandemic served simultaneously as a catalyst and a magnifying glass.

"What we can see is that the pandemic has basically exposedthe weaknesses found in some systems and regimes," says Silke Pfeiffer, head of the human rights and peace department at Bread for the World."And in many places, there has been a tendency to counter problems revealed by the pandemic with excessive authority which terrified the citizens."

For example, 100,000 people were arrested in the Philippinesfor allegedly not adhering to corona rules, 17,000 were arbitrarily detained in quarantine centers in El Salvador, including a human rights activist who was held in detention for three weeks before even being tested for COVID-19.

An increase in police violence is also a big problem. Lockdown measures, according to the "Atlas of Civil Society," were implemented with a heavy hand in some countries.

A survey of almost 400 journalists showed that people in 59 countries experienced police violence in relation to the coronavirus. In Colombia, almost 50 non-governmental organizations published a joint statement complaining about violence by the police, which has become increasingly militarized.

In many countries, measures to curb the pandemic have also been abused to undermine democracy and put human rights activists and journalists under pressure.

In Mexico, human rights defender Clemencia Salas Salazar has long been under police protection, under the guard of two police units. In March 2020, her protection was reduced to a single police officer, on the grounds that the rest were needed to fight the pandemic. The non-governmental organization Amnesty Internationalwas one of several groups that pointed out that this was insufficient. In June her protection was stepped up again.

Pandemic regulations in several countries also put journalists under pressure. In the Philippines, the broadcasting license of the largest news broadcaster, ABS-CBN, was not renewed. The station had repeatedly criticized President Rodrigo Duterte's government.

"This means that an important source that could have provided the public with objective and critical information was missing during the pandemic," says the "Atlas of Civil Society."

In other countries, laws have been passed under the guise of fighting pandemics that undermined or brought democratic processes to a halt. In Cambodia, a country that officially did not have a single corona death in 2020, parliament passed "a vaguely worded law that gives the government the authority to declare a state of emergency."

The "Atlas of Civil Society" doesn't give much cause for hope of improvement.

"In 2020 the situation worsened exceptionally," said Pruin. There was, however, one more positive development: many civil society organizations have been able to close the gaps that their governments failed to fill, and have dealt with the corona crisis creatively.

One example of this was in Brazil. The organization Assesoria e Servicios a Projetos em Agricultura Alternativa(ASPTA) bought food from small farmers who could no longer sell their products due to closed markets and transport routes. The organization then distributed the food to day laborers who had lost their livelihood during the quarantine.

This article has been translated from German.

Excerpt from:

COVID leads to erosion of fundamental rights and freedom - DW (English)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Walking through the hallways of Covenant Living of the Great Lakes, Rev. Dick Gleason clutches a large black portfolio. Inside are blown-up pictures that tell the story of the ride hes been on for the last 60 years.

Oh, let me show you something, Gleason says as he pulls something from the portfolio. These are the Freedom Riders. If you notice that most of the men have ties and this is all chronological and Im up here. The 7th bus, 57th person to be on the freedom ride.

Gleason, like the other 327 pictured, is holding a mugshot placard. His reads, Police Dept. Jackson Miss, 20934, 6-2-61. The picture shows a young man in a suit and tie with no smile. It is only a snapshot of the work Gleason has done.

I was in solitary confinement, bad experience, Gleason said. Fined $200. Came back to Chicago and I was met at the airport by the police. A mob in Chicago was after me and a detail was put on me for two weeks.

Gleason grew up in a small town in Ohio near the Michigan border. He was bullied and tormented and never felt like he belonged, until a minister pulled him aside one day.

He said, Richard, look up and look at me, look me in the eye. He said, I know you had a tough time, but I want you to know that God loves you and he has a plan for your life,' Gleason remembers. If you dream big enough and work hard enough, you can do anything you want to do.'

Gleason turned his life to God and asked that he be strong enough to serve. He was ordained a minister at 24 and moved to Chicago, a culture shock for the small-town boy, to work in their segregated communities.

Never saw the cab before, much less a subway, Gleason said, laughing. I didnt know anything about a race. Just didnt know anything about urban life.

He went to work in the countrys largest public housing project and immediately learned that life was different in the big city. He was jumped and sent to the hospital, and the church he worked for pulled the plug on his program because it wasnt safe for him.

I lived on the street for a year, Gleason said, saying he would stay warm in businesses nearby. And I got to know those kids. And behind that, Im the baddest or Im the coolest or whatever, I saw that little boy that was just struggling to be somebody.

Its that feeling that resonated and motivated Gleason to do better.

When I see the homeless person on the street, I can identify, Gleason said. I can feel. I can walk into a jail cell and communicate, I can identify.

In May of 1961, Gleason was watching the news and saw what was unfolding in the South. Freedom Riders, a mix of black and white activists, boarded an interstate bus to protest segregation on the transit platform and in the terminals. The Supreme Court had outlawed segregated bussing and facilities with two decisions, Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960), that werent being enforced in the South.

The first freedom ride left Washington D.C on May 4 of 1961, headed for New Orleans. They were met by angry mobs of white segregationists. Gleason remembers the images he saw in newspapers and on television of the buses being surrounded by people or cars and the riders inside being dragged out and beaten. It was then he felt the calling in his heart to join the ride.

I was living in a system that was racist, Gleason said of the Chicago housing project. And I didnt know anybody there. I wasnt part of any group. I dont know how to put it, I wasnt political in any sense of the word, but I saw what was happening in Chicago and I decided I was ready. I came across the scripture and Isaiah 1:17, learn to do right, seek justice and defend the oppressed. And boy I got on a bus and went to Dr. Kings office in Atlanta, Georgia, and joined six others and became a freedom rider.

He remembers the day in June his bus left Montgomery, Alabama. They were told not to draw attention to themselves, to not pool together on the bus. But one of the freedom riders spilled the beans and asked a white woman if a black rider could share her seat. Mayhem broke out.

Most [of] the violence went towards us who were white males, feeling that we were traitors to our race, Gleason said. It was two hours before we got to the Selma Bus Station and Sheriff Jim Clark, the most notorious of all sheriffs, the one responsible for the problems of Bloody Sunday in Selma where they used cattle prods and dogs, he came on the bus and drug off this freedom rider. Andwe had five more hours to go before we got to Jackson, Mississippi, terrified.

Not thinking he would survive the trip, Gleason was determined to reach the Colored Only waiting room no matter what. He did, and he was arrested.

After he went home to Chicago and the police detail and threats to his life died down, Gleason was disfellowshipped from his church, labeled a communist, he says, for riding, and he lost everything. But through that loss, he maintained a heart of justice and Christ.

He started his own Christ-centered ministry, The Southside Christian Center Youth Program, a seven days a week spiritual, recreational and educational program for young brothers and sisters of gang-related teens.

Over the next two decades, that ministry would flourish. Its choir would tour the country and sing for people like Martin Luther King Jr. They bought a 260-acre farm in Buchannan, Michigan, and started the New Hope Camp for those same teens.

Its not God bless America for me. Its God loves the children of the world, Gleason said. I see things in a broader perspective.

As his ministry grew, it went hand in hand with his push for social justice. He walked with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, was at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for his I Have a Dream speech, and was behind the civil rights leaders mule-drawn coffin at his private funeral in Atlanta. He still wears a pin that reads, Keep the Dream alive.

We have come a long way. I think Dr. King would say, weve come a long way, Gleason said. But boy, were missing the boat. Were missing the boat. Isaiah 1:17 is learn to do right. Seek justice, defend the oppressed. Our pastors arent doing that. Four hundred years they havent done that.

Thats his call to action now, continuing the journey he started 60 years ago, to the church, to its leaders, and to himself: the ride continues.

Im on the bus. Im doing good trouble, Gleason said, using the words of someone he marched with, John Lewis.Yes indeed, I believe in good trouble.

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On Your Corner: Continuing the Freedom Ride, 60 years later - WOODTV.com

Americas Freedom Festival in Provo is a go this year, according to the festival organizers.

Much of the annual summer festival, including the Stadium of Fire show at Brigham Young Universitys LaVell Edwards Stadium, was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings.

But with those restrictions ending and vaccination numbers increasing, Jim Evans, executive director of Americas Freedom Festival, said he is confident that the majority of events will take place this year.

Im here to tell you we are having the festival this year and many things are being prepared and planned right now, Evans said during a Utah County Commission meeting on Wednesday.

Evans, who said he was at the meeting representing the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of volunteers who help pull this festival off every year (and) the 500,000-plus people who participate in the festival, told the commissioners that most of the regular Freedom Festival events will take place as usual.

Those events include the Balloon Fest, Patriotic Service, Freedom Run, Colonial Heritage Festival, childrens parade and all the different things that (residents are) used to and (have) loved to participate in every year, Evans said.

The festival also will include a Utah Valley National Day of Prayer celebration on Thursday, beginning with a morning event at Mount Timpanogos Park in Orem and ending with an evening event at the Provo Community Church.

There will be some differences this year, Evans acknowledged. The Hope of America Event, which typically takes place at the BYU Marriott Center where we have thousands and thousands of 5th graders come every year to sing all the patriotic songs about our country and freedoms we enjoy, will instead be held at Rock Canyon Park in Provo.

While there wont be a carnival as part of this years Freedom Festival, Evans noted that there will be a three-day event in downtown Provo featuring various food vendors and live entertainment.

Evans didnt say on Wednesday who would be performing at this years Stadium of Fire, which, in the past, has had headliners ranging from The Beach Boys to Miley Cyrus. He said organizers expect to announce the performers sometime next week.

I dont want to announce that today, but were finalizing the contracts and there will be some talent that all of you know and love, he said.

The Utah County Commission voted unanimously to approve an agreement between Utah County and Americas Freedom Festival that includes $22,400 in in-kind contributions, including use of the county grounds, county attorney fees and fees for grounds crews, electricians, custodial services and electricity.

Evans, who noted that the contract is similar to those of previous years, thanked the three commissioners for their support and said we look forward to being back this year with our Americas Freedom Festival here.

Commissioner Bill Lee called the festival wonderful, adding I think everyones anxious to get out and celebrate.

We are, Evans said. People are calling, theyre anxious, and were grateful for your support.

Connor Richards covers government, the environment and south Utah County for the Daily Herald. He can be reached at crichards@heraldextra.com and 801-344-2599.

Continued here:

Freedom Festival Organizers say most events will happen this summer - Daily Herald

Who is this person?

Nearly a year after Columbus police officers pepper sprayed journalists covering protests against police brutality, The Columbus Division Police still have not named the officer shouting I dont care! and turning eyes into agony, as those reporters shouted, We are members of the news media! and held up their badges.

A police spokesman said the incident is still under investigation but, contrary to previous precedent, declined to name the officer involved. In public records requests, Police said no officer on that crowded street had body cam video of the incident, and no officer has faced discipline, though the inquiry is still ongoing.

Sixty-five pages of police reports, obtained through a public records request, detail a wildly violent scene that night. But that version of events directly conflicts with the memory and video of the pepper sprayed reporters.

Please excuse my language, but the reports about Lane and High [streets] were some of the biggest bt Ive ever read. No commands were given before the first officer started spraying the intersection upon immediate arrival. Certainly no concrete or rocks were thrown, said Lantern Reporter Max Garrison. Ill add to [Lantern reporter] Maeves comment about the exclusion of our being pepper sprayed from the report, they also excluded the physical contact they made with me immediately before the spraying commenced.

Since the event, no other journalist in Columbus has faced police violence. Was the pepper spray an isolated incident or evidence that officers act above the law?

The U.S. Freedom Press Tracker logged eleven incidents against reporters in Ohio in 2020, the most since 2017. (Note: the database is partially funded by the Committee to Protect Journalists whose grant helped to fund this joint journalism project.)

Eye on Ohio and Matter News surveyed dozens of reporters around Ohio about press freedom in the state. Most said they enjoyed a high degree of latitude, though they faced increased vitriol online. Two said they had been in a violent incident in the past year.

Another reporter, who declined to be identified for fear of reprisals, hadn't slept in her apartment for half of the previous month, for her own safety. She began receiving threats after she published a series of articles covering the plight of local residents who complained about the efficacy of their local government to stop the abusive and threatening tactics of a local developer who lashed out at the community after a failed land deal.

The Lantern pepper spray incident was part of a series of police complaints following Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. The City of Columbus set up an external website to track citizen complaints, and spent about $600,000 to hire a special prosecutor and a law firm to investigate.

Through a public records request, Eye on Ohio/Matter News received thousands of documents, pictures and video that prosecutors reviewed to analyze abuse of power complaints. Those records are available here:

Sidebar- FOIA Extra: Special Investigations Records Released

So far, just one case has resulted in police discipline. Several investigations are still ongoing.

Weve seen troubling attacks on press freedom in Ohio, especially in the wake of the protests over the killing of George Floyd, and to a lesser extent, the Covid-19 pandemic: journalists being arrested and attacked, or being subpoenaed for their footage, or threatened with litigation over their coverage, said Andrew Geronimo, Director of the First Amendment Clinic at Case Western Reserve University. I think its a critical matter of public concern that we have some transparency and accountability into exercises of governmental power, and the best way to do that is by protecting from government interference the gathering and publishing of information on newsworthy topics.

In addition to the officer who pepper sprayed reporters, Special Prosecutor Kathleen Garber said her investigation needs to identify several officers who might be responsible for criminal misconduct. She originally filed subpoenas to compel their supervisors to name them, which she later withdrew. She also filed Garrity notifications to compel them to answer questions. The police union balked, saying the order would violate officers and supervisors Constitutional Rights.

By mutual agreement, an arbitrator will now decide whether the officers will have to follow the Citys order to provide information relative to the possible criminal activity of other officers. Both the City and the officers attorneys decided this was the proper venue for these issues to be argued, said Department of Public Safety Assistant Director Glenn McEntyre.

As of press time, no arbitration date had been set.

Sidebar: A lot of Shut your Mouth: Looking at Online Harassment of Journalists on Twitter

Near the end of April, researchers at Ohio State University released the findings of an eight-month study they began after the protests in Columbus erupted last summer, including a list of recommendations for the city based on the results. The study evaluated how Columbus officials managed the protests from May 28 through July 19, 2020 and found that the City was unprepared for and lacked coordination around how to handle the type and size of protests that occurred.

Although the study references reporting done by the three Lantern reporters, it does not reference the pepper spraying they experienced nor does it list any recommendations related to press freedom in Columbus.

Sunshine and Lanterns; the best disinfectant

They were dressed appropriately just in case they were inadvertently caught up in the moment: despite the heat, they had long sleeves to protect against pepper spray and underneath their clothes they had the number of their school advisor and the number for the student press center written on their arms.

They did not imagine, however, that they would end up as targets.

They were really peaceful. There was no violence or anything, and there was no police presence at that point. We were monitoring social media and saw that the Police Chief was downtown marching with them 20 or 30 minutes earlier. We followed them all the way through the campus area up North High Street. Again no police presence or anything. They got to the corner of Lane Avenue and North High Street and stopped and congregated for a few moments in that area, said Max Garrison, a Junior in Journalism and Public Policy at the Ohio State University.

And pretty much as soon as everybody was back there, all the sudden a bunch of police cruisers came out of nowhere from the South of High Street and stopped behind a group of cars. Officers came out in SWAT gear and worked their way up through the group of cars and approached the intersection.

Once the police were visible, a lot of protesters dispersed. Before they even got to the intersection, a few police officers were already spraying pepper spray without anything being thrown at them ahead of time, or any previous aggression towards them, or even yelling everybody get out of the intersection.

At that point all the protesters around us were gone, and it was just the three of us standing up on a raised part, Garrison explained.

The group said other officers throughout the day had left them alone when they pointed to their PRESS labels. But this was different.

I was wearing glasses but they were so close and it was such a strong spray that I remember feeling it enter my eye, said Sarah Szilagy, a Junior Journalism major and campus editor of the paper. And they kept following us, so we couldnt even stop to flush out our eyes.

They said a spokesperson later came by the school and said that perhaps the officer didnt know reporters were not required to follow the curfew, which the Lantern reporters said conflicted with their experience with other officers who knew they could be out later on different occasions.

At the time, body-worn cameras were not required for officers wearing riot gear, because standard riot gear doesnt have mounts for cameras. On Sept. 23, 2020, officers changed their policy to wear a traffic vest over the gear, which can accomodate a body-worn camera.

The three students said that no officials have followed up with them on the status of the investigation since initial conversations regarding the incident. Walsh, the former special projects editor, has already graduated from OSU. Many of these investigations can take months to complete, and since neither the city nor the police department have been able to identify the officers involved, the investigation could take even longer.

Read the original post:

Does Freedom of the Press Extend to Covering Police in Ohio? - Cleveland Scene

The Republican National Committee slammed Facebook as "an extension of the lefts woke mob" after the company's oversight board upheld a ban on President Trump.

"Weve known for multiple cycles that Facebook, Twitter and Big Tech have become an extension of the lefts woke mob. The First Amendment and our freedom of speech is a right granted to all Americans from the Constitution, not from Facebooks Oversight Board," RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement to Fox News.

"If Big Tech can ban a former President, whats to stop them from silencing the American people next?" she added.

Facebooks Oversight Board upheld a ban on the former president instituted after the Jan.6 Capitol riot but said it was "not appropriate" for Facebook to impose the "indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension."

The board gave Facebook six months to review the "arbitrary" indefinite ban, saying in a tweet that the company "violated its own rules."

"Facebook cannot make up the rules as it goes, and anyone concerned about its power should be concerned about allowing this," the board said in a statement. "Having clear rules that apply to all users and Facebook is essential for ensuring the company treats users fairly."

Facebook, responding to the board's decision Wednesday, said it believes its move to ban Trump in January was "necessary and right," and are "pleased the board has recognized that the unprecedented circumstances justified the exceptional measure we took."

Facebook said it will "now consider the board's decision and determine an action that is clear and proportionate."

"In the meantime, Mr. Trump's accounts remain suspended," Facebook said.

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

View post:

Freedom of speech is from the Constitution not 'Facebook's Oversight Board,' RNC says of Trump ban - Fox News