Here is a news article: DETROIT (AP) — A man who was punched in the head over the weekend while refereeing an adult-league soccer match in suburban Detroit died Tuesday, authorities and a longtime friend of the referee said.

 An undated photo provided by the Livonia Police Department is of Baseel Abdul-Amir Saad. Saad, a Detroit-area soccer player who police say critically injured a referee by punching him during a match... (Associated Press)

 John Bieniewicz, who was attacked Sunday at a park in Livonia, died at Detroit Receiving Hospital, said hospital spokesman Alton Gunn, Livonia police and the man's longtime friend, Jim Acho.

 Police Lt. Tom Goralski said a 36-year-old man punched Bieniewicz in the head after the referee indicated he planned to eject the man from the game. Baseel Abdul-Amir Saad of Dearborn was arraigned Monday on a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm. The Wayne County prosecutor's office said the charges would be reviewed and possibly amended when it had the necessary documentation.

 Bieniewicz, 44, was a dialysis technician at Mott Children's Hospital who lived in the Detroit suburb of Westland with his wife and two sons, said Acho, who was a classmate of Bieniewicz's at Catholic Central High School.

 "I speak for all his friends when I say we are devastated. Crushed. Just a senseless way for a great guy to go out," Acho said. "He deserved better."

 Bieniewicz, Acho said, was the only student-athlete in the class of 1988 to letter in both football and basketball at the ultra-competitive Detroit-area parochial school. Acho, who ran a basketball camp with Bieniewicz for four years after high school, said his 6-foot-5 friend would "wow the kids with dunks."

 But much to the surprise of his friends, Bieniewicz gravitated to soccer. He had been a well-respected referee for two decades.

 Another friend, Anthony Arrington, said he would often seek Bieniewicz's advice when coaching his sons' youth soccer teams.

 "We have a special bond," said Arrington, who added that Bieniewicz's passion for soccer spurred members of their group of friends to watch the World Cup in Brazil.

 "Just heartbroken. Just a good person, good family man," Arrington said.

 Bieniewicz was doing what he loved on Sunday when he was attacked, Acho said.

 Saad was not at Mies Park when police arrived, but surrendered Monday, Goralski said. At Saad's arraignment in Livonia District Court, bond was set at $500,000 and a probable-cause hearing was set for July 10.

 Saad's lawyer, Brian Berry, said his client was cooperating with police and was not guilty of the charge.

 "As the case progresses we expect to learn the cause of the referee's injuries," Berry said.

 Acho said a fund was being set up to help pay for his friend's funeral and burial expenses as well as his children's futures. Bieniewicz's organs were being donated, Acho said.

 Violence is not unheard of in soccer and other sports. The recorded telephone message at the National Association of Sports Officials in Racine, Wisconsin, says, "For NASO insurance or assault information, press 3."

 Barry Mano — the president and founder of NASO, which has 21,000 dues-paying members in sports ranging from football and soccer to rodeo and water polo — said his group spends 20 percent of its time on assault and liability-related issues, up from around 3 percent 20 years ago.

 "When we're unhappy with sports officials, irrespective if the calls are right or wrong, the idea that we believe that we can go smack somebody because we're unhappy is disturbing," he said.

 In April 2013, a 17-year-old player punched referee Ricardo Portillo after being called for a foul during a soccer game in Taylorsville, Utah, near Salt Lake City. Portillo, a father of three, died after a week in a coma. The teen pleaded guilty to a homicide charge.

 In Brazil last year, a 20-year-old referee was killed, dismembered and decapitated by spectators after he stabbed a player to death during an amateur soccer match. And a volunteer linesman was beaten to death following a 2012 youth amateur match outside Amsterdam. Six teenage players and the father of one of the boys were convicted of manslaughter.

 It's part of a worrying trend, Mano said.

 "We have trouble getting men and women and young people to come into refereeing. No duh. This is the reason why," he said. ||||| John Bieniewicz was a man who lived life to the fullest. He had a

 passion for his family, a passion for the kids at Mott Children's

 Hospital, and a passion for soccer. John died doing what he loved:

 officiating a soccer game. John was a licensed soccer referee at all

 levels, professional, collegiate, high school and children's leagues,

 was the president of the Metro Detroit Soccer Officials Organization,

 and would often referee 3 games on a Saturday. He also took a particular

 interest in all the children he worked with Monday thru Friday at the

 pediatric dialysis center at Mott, and reveled in their improvement and

 happiness. But most importantly, he was a devoted family man, a proud

 husband and father of two boys. The boys will miss his fatherly

 guidance and support but they will also miss his financial support, and

 we are here to help that in a small way. If you were touched by John, or

 merely share his love of soccer, we ask that in his name you donate to

 his children's futures. We thank you in advance, and wish you God's

 blessings. --The Friends of John Bieniewicz

 Share now to help this campaign Share Tweet 10k total shares total shares ||||| Soccer was a passion for 44-year-old John Bieniewicz, who lived and loved the game.

 The married father of two sons was refereeing a match on Sunday when authorities said a 36-year-old player punched him in the head, knocking him unconscious.

 Doctors declared Bieniewicz of Westland brain dead Tuesday, but he is being kept on a ventilator until his organs can be harvested and donated through Gift of Life, said James Acho, Bieniewicz’s friend of 30 years.

 Those who knew Bieniewicz, who worked as the lead medical assistant in the Pediatric Chronic Dialysis unit at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, described him as family man and a huge fan of the University of Michigan who was always in a good mood.

 “He’s a fantastic human being,” Acho said. “A guy who lives life to the fullest.”

 ■ Audio: Listen to the 911 call

 Witnesses told the Free Press that Bieniewicz was punched when he was about to eject a player, who had been complaining about a call made during the match in Livonia, resulting in a second violation to be issued against him. Several people playing on the opposing team of Bassel Abdul-Amir Saad, the man accused of throwing the punch, said Bieniewicz was looking down, trying to get a violation card when it happened.

 “John had no idea it was coming,” said Matt Tunstall, 41, of Ann Arbor, who said he was about 10-15 yards away, waiting to come into the game.

 He hit the ground at Mies Park, and stunned players ran onto field and noticed he wasn’t breathing.

 “He turned blue immediately,” said Daniel Winkler, 33, of Lathrup Village. “My wife called 911.”

 Witnesses said Bieniewicz did nothing to provoke the attack and officiated neutrally. They called what happened “outrageous” and “unfathomable.” The match was being played by men ages 30 and older.

 Saad fled, and some players got the license plate number and a description of the vehicle to give to police, players said.

 Meanwhile, Dr. Jamal Saleh, a player in the game, performed CPR on the victim until EMS arrived, he said in a comment on freep.com.

 “We are all shocked and deeply saddened by these events,” he wrote.

 'We must keep open minds'

 Saad of Dearborn was arraigned Monday on a felony charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and received a $500,000 cash/surety bond.

 “The charges will be reviewed and amended when appropriate confirmations are made and other necessary documentation is received,” said Maria Miller, a spokeswoman with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

 Saad’s attorney, Brian Berry, said his client cooperated with the police investigation and voluntarily turned himself in.

 “Our hearts are saddened to learn of the passing of John Bieniewicz. May God bless him and his family members as they deal with this loss,” Berry said in an e-mail to the Free Press.

 “Based on certain witness statements that have not yet been published, it is believed that the facts of this case have been mischaracterized,” the e-mail said. “Mr. Saad is presumed innocent unless and until a fact finder determines differently. As tragic as this event is, we must keep open minds and listen and wait for all the facts of this case to unfold.”

 A preliminary examination is set for July 10 in 16th District Court in Livonia, authorities said.

 Friends, others help

 Bieniewicz, who never regained consciousness after being hit, was licensed to referee professional, collegiate, high school and recreation league soccer and often worked up to three matches on a Saturday, friends said.

 A memorial site has been created at JohnBieniewiczMemorial.com, which links to a GoFundMe site established to help with funeral and burial expenses and to also help his children, ages 9 and 13, moving forward. As of this evening, more than $17,000 had been raised.

 “One senseless act in the blink of an eye has affected so many,” Acho said.

 Assault death wouldn't be first

 Bieniewicz was refereeing a match in the Michigan United Soccer League on Sunday between the Metro Rangers and the Bintjbeil Stars, players said. An official with the league did not return messages left Tuesday.

 While rare, it’s not the first time a referee has died after being assaulted. In 2013 in Utah, a 17-year-old was accused of punching Ricardo Portillo in the head because he didn’t like the referee’s call during a game. Portillo died, leaving behind three daughters, and the teen pleaded guilty to a charge of homicide by assault in juvenile court.

 Metro Detroit players, many who have been playing soccer for decades, say they’ve never seen anything close to what happened in Livonia on Sunday.

 “I’ve never ever, ever seen any act like this in any capacity,” said Tunstall, who has played the game for 36 years.

 He has seen some players get heated and come chest to chest with a referee or even poke one, or players grab each other when they are upset, but never punch a person.

 “At the end of the day, we have families, we have jobs, we really do it for the love of the game,” he said. “Every minute it just replays over in my head. It’s just a shock and just so disappointing and sad.” ||||| CHARGED. REPORTING FROM ROSEVILLE, I'M PRIYA MANN, LOCAL 4. Carmen: HE WAS A HUSBAND AND A FATHER, DOING WHAT HE LOVED, UNTIL AN ATTACK ON THE FIELD COST HIM HIS LIFE. Devin: JOHN BIENIEWICZ DIED AFTER BEING SUCKER PUNCHED BY A PLAYER DURING A GAME. WE'LL TALK TO DR. McGEORGE HOW ONE PUNCH CAN BE SO DEADLY. Carmen: BUT FIRST, LET'S GO TO ROGER WEBER WITH HOW HIS FELLOW REFEREES AND COMMUNITY ARE REMEMBERING HIM TONIGHT. Roger: JOHN BIENIEWICZ WAS GREATLY RESPECTED IN THE SOCCER COMMUNITY. FELLOW REFEREES ARE TAKING THIS SENSELESS TRAGEDY VERY HARD. JOHN BIENIEWICZ MADE A STRONG POSITIVE IMPRESSION IN THE SOCCER COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY AT HIGH VELOCITY SPORTS IN CANTON AND REFEREED HERE DURING THE WINTER MONTHS DURING THE LAST 8 YEARS. HE WOULD COME TOERL TALK SOCCER. Roger: HE WOULD REFEREE UP TO FIVE GAMES A DAY, WHICH IS LIKE RUNNING A MARATHON. HE WAS ASSIGNED TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL GAMES AND HE SOMETIMES REFEREED WITH HIM. JOHN HAD GREAT CHARACTER AND HE WAS A PHENOMENAL REFEREE, AN EXCELLENT REFEREE. Roger: ON SUNDAY, HE WAS ABOUT TO PULL A RED CARD FROM HIS POCKET, EJECTING A PLAYER, WHO THEN SUCKER PUNCHED HIM. THE HUSBAND AND FATHER OF TWO DIED TODAY. POLICE HAVE CHARGED 36-YEAR-OLD BASEEL SAAD. AND IT'S REALLY, REALLY HARD BECAUSE NOT ONLY DID I LOSE A GREAT REFEREE, BUT I LOST A GREAT FRIEND. Roger: 10,000 TO 15,000 PEOPLE REFEREE SOCCER GAMES IN MICHIGAN AND HE HOPES THAT PEOPLE WILL REMEMBER THEY'RE DOING A DIFFICULT JOB AS BEST THEY CAN. THEY HAVE TO UNDERSTAND, IT'S JUST A GAME! IT'S JUST A GAME! IT'S REALLY NOT NECESSARY TO DISAGREE WITH THE REFEREE. TAKE THE CALL ON MOVE ON. Roger: ASSAULT CHARGES AGAINST THE DEFENDANT ARE GOING TO BE UPGRADED NOW THAT JOHN HAS DIED. A MEMORIAL FUND HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED TO HELP HIS FAMILY. YOU CAN GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT ON CLICKONDETROIT.COM. REPORTING LIVE FROM LIVONIA, ROGER WEBER, LOCAL 4. Devin: I KNOW A LOT OF REFEREES WORRY ABOUT THIS THING HAPPENING. HOW DO YOU PREVENT IT? Roger: SOME SUGGEST TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR PLAYERS WHO WOULD PHYSICALLY OR VERBALLY ABUSE REFEREES, BUT IN THIS CASE, NO ONE SAW THIS KIND OF PUNCH COMING. BUT THEY DON'T WANT FANS AND PLAYERS TO FORGET ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO JOHN. THEY HOPE THEY WILL RECALL THIS AND JUST HOLD THEIR TEMPER. REMEMBER, IT'S A GAME AND SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT FUN AND FITNESS. Carmen: AND OFTENTIMES, IT HAPPENS SO QUICKLY, NOT A WHOLE LOT OF TIME THERE. THIS TRAGEDY HAS LEFT MANY WONDERING HOW IT'S POSSIBLE TO DIE FROM A SINGLE BLOW TO THE HEAD. DR. FRANK McGEORGE JOINS US TO EXPLAIN. IT CAN HAPPEN AS WE SAW. Dr. McGeorge: IT CAN HAPPEN. IT'S NOT COMMON FOR PEOPLE TO DIE FROM A SINGLE BLOW TO THE HEAD, BUT IT DOES HAPPEN. IT'S MORE LIKELY IN CIRCUMSTANCES LIKE THIS WHERE SOMEONE IS CAUGHT OFF GUARD BECAUSE THERE'S NO OPPORTUNITY TO REDUCE THE FORCE OF THE BLOW BY SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AND TURNING YOUR HEAD OR TENSING YOUR NECK MUSCLES, LIKE IN A CAR ACCIDENT. IF YOUR HEAD IS STRUCK AND THERE'S NO MUSCLE CONTROL, IT MOVES MUCH FASTER. THE BRAIN ACTUALLY HAS THE CONSISTENCY OF LIKE FIRM JELL-O. SO WHEN YOU'RE HIT, IT'S LIKE SHAKING JELL-O IN A JAR AND CAUSES SMALL TEARS IN THE BRAIN FROM THE RAPID DECELEBRATION AND ACCELERATION. IF THE PLEADING IS SEVERE, IT CAUSES DEATH QUICKLY. EVEN WHEN THERE'S NO BLEEDING, THE SWELLING OF THE BRAIN FROM THE GENERAL DAMAGE INCREASES THE PRESSURE IN THE SKULL WHICH CUTS OFF THE BLOOD FLOW. EVEN WITHOUT BREAKING THE SKULL, THE FORCE CAN KILL SOMEONE. AND THAT'S WHY THINGS LIKE THE KNOCKOUT GAME AND THINGS LIKE THAT ARE SO DANGEROUS. AND IT'S BEING CAUGHT OFF GUARD. Devin: THIS HAS HAPPENED -- IT HAPPENED LAST YEAR IN UTAH, A REFEREE DIED FROM BEING HIT. Dr. McGeorge: I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS ABOUT SOCCER. IT HAPPENED LAST YEAR IN A SOCCER GAME AND HAPPENED IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SPORTS. IT'S NOT COMMON. PEOPLE GET HIT ALL THE TIME IN FIGHTS, BUT THERE SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING ABOUT GETTING CAUGHT OFF GUARD BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO OPPORTUNITY TO PROTECT YOURSELF. Carmen: AND NOBODY WANTS TO GET A CARD. |||||
A summary of this is?

– Amid World Cup fever, a soccer-related tragedy out of Michigan, where a referee died this morning after being punched by a player on Sunday. The Detroit Free Press reports that responding authorities found John Bieniewicz, 44, on the ground and unconscious. Witnesses say Bieniewicz stopped the adult soccer game in Livonia in order to eject Bassel Abdul-Amir Saad, who had gotten his second violation. "The ref did nothing to provoke this attack," says one player. Another tells WDIV that Bieniewicz never saw the punch coming: "He went into his pockets to pull out his red card, he had his head down, and as he came up the guy punched him, hit him kind of in the neck and chin area and then the jaw." Saad allegedly fled the scene, but was yesterday arraigned on a felony charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder; in light of Bieniewicz's death, a rep for the county prosecutor says "the charges will be reviewed and amended when appropriate confirmations are made." A longtime friend describes the married father of two as a true lover of the sport; his qualifications allowed him to referee professional, collegiate, high school, and rec league soccer. He often worked up to three games on a weekend day, and was what the AP describes as a "well-respected" ref for two decades. A GoFundMe account has been set up to support his boys.


Article:
Story highlights Voters in Colorado resoundingly supported taxing marijuana on Tuesday

 Voters in 6 states will consider 31 ballot measures Tuesday

 Voters in 11 Colorado counties are considering the question of secession

 New Jersey voters are being asked to raise their state's minimum wage to $8.25 per hour

 Last year, voters in Colorado approved legalizing recreational marijuana, and on Tuesday night, they resoundingly supported taxing it.

 With nearly all votes counted, 65% supported the new tax, while 35% opposed it. The measure would impose a special 15% excise tax on marijuana to help fund school construction, along with a 10% sales tax to bolster marijuana-related law enforcement efforts.

 The passage was widely expected, despite opponents arguing it's unfair to single out marijuana for higher taxation than products such as beer.

 Strong support for the measure is pegged largely to the money it is expected to bring in. The nonpartisan Colorado Legislative Council projects that the measure will generate nearly $70 million in additional state tax revenue next year.

 There were 30 other measures on the ballot in six states Tuesday, all of which were too early to call for CNN. Here are highlights from a few:

 Colorado: secession

 Voters in 11 counties in northern Colorado are being asked if they want to secede from the state. Ten counties in conservative, rural northeastern Colorado would theoretically form a 51st state known as North Colorado. Moffat County, located in the northwest corner of the state, would become a panhandle for neighboring Wyoming.

 JUST WATCHED Colorado conservatives want to secede Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Colorado conservatives want to secede 02:44

 The plan has no chance of becoming reality. Among other things, it would also require statewide and congressional approval. But approval or even a close vote at the county level would send a loud message of growing grassroots conservative anger toward a more liberal Denver-based Democratic establishment that has taken up controversial measures related to gun control, gay rights and green energy.

 With more than 50,000 votes counted in Weld County, the most populated county of those trying to secede, 58% of votes were against secession and 42% were in favor of it. CNN, however, does not yet have a projection on this measure.

 Similar secession measures have been floated in a number of other states in recent years in a reflection of the country's growing ideological and partisan divide.

 Washington: Labeling genetically modified food

 Voters in Washington state are considering a hotly contested initiative that would require labeling all foods containing genetically modified ingredients. The measure pits local consumer advocates, who argue that the measure is needed for consumers to make better informed choices, against large agribusinesses such as Monsanto, which argue that such a law would spook potential customers and unfairly imply that such products are unsafe.

 Washington is the second state to consider such a ballot measure. A similar proposal was narrowly rejected by California voters last year.

 With more than 800,000 votes counted, 53% of Washington State voters opposed the labeling, while 47% supported it. It is still, however, too early for CNN to call this race.

 According to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, 95 bills relating to the issue have been introduced in various legislatures so far this year -- a reflection of growing public interest in the controversy surrounding genetically modified foods.

 Other noteworthy measures

 Voters in New Jersey are considering whether to amend their constitution to raise the state minimum wage from the federal level of $7.25 to $8.25 per hour. Future annual increases would be tied to changes in the cost of living. Eighteen states have a minimum wage that exceeds the federal requirement, according to the NCSL.

 New York voters are being asked to revise their constitution to allow the legislature in Albany to authorize seven casinos, with the goal of generating new revenue for public schools and potentially cutting property taxes. ||||| A A

 SEATTLE - Initiative 522 would change the law only in Washington state, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the lists of campaign donors.

 Of the $22 million raised to oppose the proposal to label genetically engineered food, exactly $550 has come from individuals and companies based in Washington, according to the Public Disclosure Commission.

 The initiative’s proponents, although more locally funded, have received $5.8 million of their $8.4 million from outside Washington.

 “This is really out-of-state interests fighting over how to influence law in our state,” said Matt Barreto, a political science professor at the University of Washington.

 It’s a phenomenon that has rarely been seen here on such a large scale. But in this unusual year, with several nationally watched issues on the ballot and few big-ticket campaigns in other states, the influx of outside cash is arising in different ways, including in local races dominated by out-of-city or out-of-county funding.

 Political insiders and experts said the pattern could threaten the core promise of the initiative process and representative democracy itself - that citizens get to decide the laws that govern them and politicians who represent them.

 Consider:

 In SeaTac, population 26,909, the groups supporting and opposing a $15 local minimum wage have spent nearly $2 million, with large contributions from out-of-state groups and very little from city residents.

 On the Kitsap Peninsula, a state Senate campaign has drawn the attention of a California billionaire.

 And in Whatcom County, state and national environmentalists have contributed about $300,000 to County Council races and been answered by more than half that from international-coal corporations.

 “It’s something that’s happening more and more all around the country,” said former state Sen. Debbie Regala, a Tacoma Democrat known for how little she spent in a 2008 campaign. “And it’s a sad commentary on our political system, but it’s a reality.”

 National experts said outside spending is indeed on the rise nationwide. They and locals offered varying explanations.

 Sarah Bryner, research director at the national Center for Responsive Politics, said the 24 states with initiative processes are increasingly being used as testing grounds for issues that could be implemented around the country.

 “Certain states can be leaders on certain issues, and if you are a person who’s passionate about an issue, you may see it as being in your interest to support early adapters with the hope that it may trickle down to your own state or other states,” she said.

 Western Washington University Professor Todd Donovan agreed that national actors are using the statewide genetically modified food-labeling debate and the SeaTac minimum-wage proposition “as sort of a platform to get greater visibility for their issue.”

 “And then there’s the Tom Steyer guy,” said Donovan, referring to the billionaire businessman who has contributed to a special state Senate election and four Whatcom County Council races through his NextGen Climate Action Committee.

 A Steyer spokesman did not return a telephone message.

 The GMO and minimum-wage ballot measures could have major economic ramifications for companies.

 They are also seen as part of national movements.

 Initiative 522 is a replay of a $53 million battle that took place in California last year, where a pro-labeling campaign lost.

 This year, the biggest “no” donor has been the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based food-industry group that revealed its donors after state Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued last month. It has put in $11 million.

 Monsanto, a St. Louis-based biotech company, has given more than $5 million.

 The $22 million total to combat Initiative 522 is the most ever raised for one side of an initiative election.

 Dana Bieber, a No on 522 spokeswoman, said “The funders of our campaign are supporting their customers, who are all in the state of Washington.”

 She said the main concern for voters is not campaign funders but how the proposal would affect them.

 But Elizabeth Larter, a spokeswoman for the other side, said the lack of in-state donors shows that the “no” side doesn’t have in-state support. |||||Summary:

– Could "North Colorado" soon become the 51st state? Voters in 11 northern Colorado counties will get to weigh in tomorrow on whether or not they'd like to secede from the state, CNN reports. Ten of the conservative-leaning counties would become North Colorado, while the other would become a panhandle for Wyoming. Of course, CNN thinks there's zero chance this actually happens, because the entire state and congress would have to vote to approve the move. But it still stands as one of the more intriguing ballot measures up for vote tomorrow. Others include: Colorado is also voting on whether or not to impose a 15% excise tax on now-legal marijuana sales, which would go to fund school construction, and an additional 10% sales tax to fund marijuana enforcement laws. Washington state has a measure that would require special labeling for genetically-modified food—a proposal that met with ardent opposition and eventual defeat in California last year. Sure enough, out-of-state opponents have poured money into this race as well, the Seattle Times reports; of the whopping $22 million raised in opposition, $550 has come from Washingtonians. New Jersey will consider a constitutional amendment to raise the state's minimum wage to $8.25 an hour. New Yorkers are considering whether or not to allow the construction of seven casinos, with the proceeds going towards education and/or cutting property taxes. New Jersey is also considering a gambling bill of sorts, the Star-Ledger reports, allowing veterans' groups to raise money via Bingo games, raffles, and similar games.


Article:

Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| President Donald Trump said the truth would only come out if lawmakers get access to documents they have been thwarted from obtaining. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Trump responds to new FBI informant reports

 President Donald Trump on Saturday appeared to respond to new reports that an FBI informant had reached out to multiple campaign aides during the 2016 presidential campaign.

 "If the FBI or DOJ was infiltrating a campaign for the benefit of another campaign, that is a really big deal," the president wrote on Twitter.

 Story Continued Below

 On Friday night, The New York Times reported that an unnamed FBI informant talked to two campaign advisers who allegedly had suspicious contacts with individuals linked to Russia. The Times did not name the informant but described the person as an "American academic who teaches in Britain" and who made contact with Trump foreign policy advisers George Papadopoulos and Carter Page.

 The alleged informant's name has been published by conservative media outlets and circulated widely on Twitter.

 Earlier Friday, apparently responding to previous conservative media reports, Trump had tweeted: "Reports are there was indeed at least one FBI representative implanted, for political purposes, into my campaign for president. It took place very early on, and long before the phony Russia Hoax became a 'hot' Fake News story. If true - all time biggest political scandal!"

 The most reliable politics newsletter. Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

 Trump's Saturday response shifted from alleging an FBI source was "implanted" into the campaign to suggesting the campaign was "infiltrated." He maintained any such FBI action was politically motivated. There's no indication that was the case.

 Papadopoulos' April 2016 conversation with an Australian diplomat indicating the Russians had so-called dirt on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton reportedly started the FBI investigation that has led to special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into whether Trump campaign officials colluded with the Russian government during a Kremlin campaign to meddle in the 2016 election.

 Trump added that the truth about the alleged FBI informant could only come out with "the release or review of documents that the House Intelligence Committee (also, Senate Judiciary) is asking for."

 Congressional Republicans have engaged in an intense fight with the Justice Department over access to highly sensitive and classified information about the investigation into the Trump campaign, and the identity of the FBI's informant, and have routinely expressed frustration with DOJ's refusals to grant access to the documents.

 House Freedom Caucus co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said Friday that if the reports about an informant are true, "that is as wrong as it gets." |||||
What is a summary?

– President Trump took another leap into uncharted territory Sunday with a demand for the Justice Department to investigate whether the FBI infiltrated his 2016 campaign. Trump tweeted that he would officially demand Monday that the department "look into whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated or surveilled the Trump Campaign for Political Purposes - and if any such demands or requests were made by people within the Obama Administration!" In what the Washington Post describes as an effort to avoid a bigger showdown, the Justice Department bowed to the pressure late Sunday, saying its inspector general would investigate whether political motivations had tainted the investigation of alleged Russian links to Trump's campaign, which is now being led by special counsel Robert Mueller. "If anyone did infiltrate or surveil participants in a presidential campaign for inappropriate purposes, we need to know about it and take appropriate action," said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Trump's tweet followed reports that an FBI informant had talked to Trump campaign advisers with alleged links to Russia, which the president called a "really big deal" in a tweet Saturday, Politico reports. Analysts described his demand for an investigation of the investigation as unprecedented. "I can't think of a prior example of a sitting president ordering the Justice Department to conduct an investigation like this one," University of Texas School of Law professor Stephen Vladeck tells the New York Times. "That's little more than a transparent effort to undermine an ongoing investigation."


News article:

Tweet with a location

 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow. ||||| FILE- In this Oct. 11, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Oval Office of the White House. When Trump visits Canada this week there's... (Associated Press)

 FILE- In this Oct. 11, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Oval Office of the White House. When Trump visits Canada this week there's speculation he could walk out of meetings with allies furious over his belligerent trade policies.... (Associated Press)

 QUEBEC CITY (AP) — President Donald Trump is cutting short his first presidential trip to Canada this weekend, as trade and foreign policy disputes appear set to mar his planned summit with the leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies.

 The U.S. president's reception in the picturesque town of La Malbaie along the St. Lawrence River is set to be a far cry from when Ronald Reagan visited Quebec three decades ago, when he was so friendly with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney they sang a song together.

 Quarrelling with Trump over his protectionist tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, decision to exit the Iran nuclear accord, and retreat from global efforts to combat climate change, erstwhile American allies are turning the summit into something of an intervention, challenging the norm-breaking U.S. president in the most direct terms to date.

 The summit threatens to mark the outer limit of international patience for the avowed nationalistic Trump, as leaders who had sought to cajole and "bromance" the president are embracing more hard-nosed tactics.

 Before shortening his planned participation on the eve of his departure, Trump found himself publicly feuding with summit host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and with French President Emmanuel Macron — two leaders who previously banked on flattery to win concessions with the American.

 Trudeau has grown increasingly direct with his fury with Trump for imposing the tariffs on Canada's metals industries — and for justifying the protectionist move by calling those imports a threat to U.S. national security.

 Under Trump, the United States has abandoned its traditional role in the G-7. American presidents from Reagan to Barack Obama pressed for freer global trade. And they championed a trading system that required countries to follow World Trade Organization rules.

 Trump's policies, by contrast, are unapologetically protectionist and confrontational. To hear the president, poorly conceived trade deals and unfair practices by America's trading partners have widened America's trade deficit with the rest of the world — $566 billion last year — and contributed to a loss of millions of factory jobs.

 Nelson Wiseman, a professor at the University of Toronto, said he can't recall relations between U.S. and Canada being worse. He said the G-7 meeting will appear to be six lined up against one. Indeed, on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested in a tweet that Trump might not sign the final summit statement on G-7 priorities.

 "The American president may not mind being isolated," Macron tweeted, "but neither do we mind signing a 6-country agreement if need be. Because these 6 countries represent values, they represent an economic market which has the weight of history behind it and which is now a true international force."

 Trump offered his own digs the evening before his departure.

 "Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out," he tweeted, adding, "Look forward to seeing them tomorrow."

 Later, Trump tweeted, "Take down your tariffs & barriers or we will more than match you!"

 White House officials said Trump in recent days had bristled at attending the summit, where he is set to be challenged face-to-face on his policy decisions. Among allies, there was even been speculation that Trump might walk out of the meetings — or even decide not to show up. Late Thursday, the White House announced he would be leaving the summit Saturday morning, after a session on women's empowerment but well before it wraps up.

 "The President will travel directly to Singapore from Canada in anticipation of his upcoming meeting with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un Tuesday," press secretary Sarah Sanders said. "G7 Sherpa and Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs Everett Eissenstat will represent the United States for the remaining G7 sessions."

 Trudeau has charged that he found the tariffs "insulting" and said such tactics are hardly how two close allies and trading partners that fought side-by-side in World War II, Korea and Afghanistan should treat one another. The Trump administration has also clashed with Canada over his insistence that the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement involving the United States, Canada and Mexico be written to better serve the U.S.

 The prime minister had at first refrained from criticizing Trump, apparently in the hope that he could forge a personal relationship that might help preserve the landmark free trade deal, a forerunner of which Reagan and Mulroney negotiated. Those two leaders became fast friends and famously sang "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" together in Quebec City in 1985.

 Trudeau's courting of Trump appeared to work for a time. The president had initially exempted Canada from the steel and aluminum tariffs in March. But Trudeau became exasperated and took a shot after Trump let the exemption expire last week.

 "We'll continue to make arguments based on logic and common sense," he said, "and hope that eventually they will prevail against an administration that doesn't always align itself around those principles."

 The prime minister had hoped to visit Washington last week to complete what he thought would be the final stages of the NAFTA renegotiation. But Vice President Mike Pence called and demanded he agree to "sunset clause" that would end NAFTA unless the three countries agreed to extend it every five years.

 Trudeau refused, and he canceled the proposed visit. NAFTA talks stalled. Since then, Trump has sounded hostile at times toward Canada.

 Given the conflicts between Washington and its allies, the most likely outcome of the G-7 talks, said William Reinsch, a trade analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies is "polite acrimony."

 The United States has experienced tense relations with its allies before — over the Vietnam War, for example, over Reagan's decision to deploy Pershing II missiles in Europe and over President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq. But Trump's moves — the tariffs and his decisions to pull out of the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal, among other actions — have taken the hostility to heights.

 "This is the first time the U.S. government is seen as truly acting in bad faith, in treating allies as a threat, in treating trade as negative and fundamentally undermining the system that it built," said Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "This U.S. administration feels unbound by previous U.S. commitments in a way that no other administration has ever felt."

 "Prime ministers are people, and he's insulted them," Reinsch said. "They're just not going to easily roll over when he punches them in the nose like that."

 Canada and other U.S. allies are retaliating with tariffs on U.S. exports. Canada is waiting until the end of the month to apply them with the hope the Trump administration will reconsider. The Canadian tariffs would apply to goods ranging from yogurt to whiskey.

 Trump has also mused about wanting to split up NAFTA and negotiating separate trade deals with Canada and Mexico in what Ujczo sees as a divide-and-conquer strategy.

 Robert Bothwell, a professor at the University of Toronto, said Trump's actions appear intended to break Canada at the negotiating table.

 "They are relying on the overwhelming strength of the U.S. to compel a much weaker neighbor to give in to whatever they demand," Bothwell said. "That brings in the real possibility of lasting damage to Canadian American relations."

 Bothwell expects this to be Trump's only visit to Canada. He even wonders if it could be the last G-7 meeting for the president.

 "We've not had an American president or administration like this in the post-war period," said Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat. "I am worried because it is destructive to the rules-based international system that the Americans have been the guardian of."

 ___

 Wiseman reported from Washington. AP Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger in Washington contributed to this report. ||||| President Donald Trump will depart Canada straight for Singapore, the site of his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. | Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images Trump to depart G-7 summit early

 President Donald Trump continued to criticize Canada early Friday morning after the White House announced he will leave the G-7 summit before its conclusion following a day of back-and-forth with fellow world leaders that foreshadowed confrontations during the meeting of the world's largest advanced economies.

 Trump will be depart the summit in Quebec at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and head directly to Singapore, the site of his June 12 meeting with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. The G-7 summit is scheduled to wrap up later on Saturday.

 Story Continued Below

 Before the Thursday night announcement, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada both promised to confront Trump over his recent decision to impose tariffs on U.S. allies.

 Trump, in response, laid into the two leaders on Thursday evening and Friday morning over those plans.

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 “Please tell Prime Minister Trudeau and President Macron that they are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow.”

 On Friday a little after 6 a.m., he tweeted, “Canada charges the U.S. a 270% tariff on Dairy Products! They didn’t tell you that, did they? Not fair to our farmers!” and “Looking forward to straightening out unfair Trade Deals with the G-7 countries. If it doesn’t happen, we come out even better!”

 By pulling out early, Trump will skip sessions focused on climate change, the oceans and clean energy. He will also miss the traditional group-photo opportunity among fellow heads of state. The president may also miss the opportunity to host a summit-ending news conference, something world leaders traditionally do. The leader of the host nation, in this case Trudeau, also takes questions and gives closing remarks. Trump chose not to hold a news conference last year, becoming the only G-7 leader not to do so before leaving Italy, according to The Hill. He opted instead for a speech at a nearby naval air station.

 The summit traditionally concludes with a joint statement spelling out the areas of agreement on the wide range of policy issues discussed. But before Trump's announcement, Macron urged the other five nations to hold strong and not let potential U.S. opposition water down their communiqué.

 The 2017 statement, for example was notable for its explicit mention that the U.S. did not share its allies‘ support of the Paris Climate Accord. Less than a week later, Trump announced in the White House Rose Garden that the U.S. would be exiting the climate agreement.

 “Maybe the American president doesn’t care about being isolated today, but we don’t mind being six, if needs be,” Macron said, part of his plea to confront Trump head-on.

 Trump later upped the ante, accusing Trudeau of being “so indignant” on the topic. The U.S. and its allies have been at loggerheads in recent days as the EU, Canada and Mexico continue to bristle over the president’s decision to levy 10 percent tariffs on aluminum imports and 25 percent tariffs on steel imports from the two countries and Europe. The move, which reportedly came with little warning, has also caused Republicans on Capitol Hill to consider reining in Trump’s trade powers.

 Suggesting that the world powers could continue on without the U.S. is a stark departure from the chummy relationship Macron and Trump had during the French president’s state visit to Washington in April.

 For his part, Trudeau continued to call the tariffs “ridiculous.” Last week, he repeatedly invoked the fact that Canadians fought alongside U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in characterizing Trump’s decision as a slap in the face.

 The thought of allies ganging up on him has reportedly left Trump uneasy about attending the summit. But for now, Trudeau says that he expects his American counterpart to show up.

 “We know that President Trump likes to be unpredictable," the Canadian leader said on Thursday, "but everything suggests that he will be there for the G7 summit, including his tweets this morning."

 CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly described the format for the closing news conference of the G-7. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada is set to give his own, and other leaders traditionally follow suit. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– The traditional end-of-summit group photo at this year's G7 gathering will not include President Trump. The White House says Trump will leave the Quebec summit on Saturday morning and travel directly to Singapore, where he is due to meet Kim Jong Un June 12, Politico reports. The summit is scheduled to conclude hours after Trump's departure and he will miss sessions on issues including climate change and the oceans. The president will travel to the Quebec resort of La Malbaie Friday, the AP reports. His first trip to Canada as president comes as disputes with both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and France's President Emmanuel Macron are heating up. Both leaders have said they will confront Trump at the summit over new tariffs imposed on US allies in the name of "national security." Trudeau and Macron "are charging the U.S. massive tariffs and create non-monetary barriers. The EU trade surplus with the U.S. is $151 Billion, and Canada keeps our farmers and others out. Look forward to seeing them tomorrow," Trump tweeted Thursday. In another tweet, he said Trudeau "is being so indignant, bringing up the relationship that the U.S. and Canada had over the many years and all sorts of other things...but he doesn’t bring up the fact that they charge us up to 300% on dairy — hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!" A third tweet warned the EU and Canada to "Take down your tariffs & barriers or we will more than match you!" Earlier Thursday, Macron said that the other six countries may end up signing an agreement that doesn't include the US. (Trump reportedly brought up a War of 1812 incident when discussing new tariffs on Canadian steel.)


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– Julius Rosenwald is well known as the 20th-century American businessman who co-founded what we now call Sears. But a new documentary by Aviva Kempner explores Rosenwald's lesser-known role as a Jewish philanthropist who brought education to thousands of African-American children at a time when most had no schools to attend, reports the Root. "It's a wonderful story of cooperation between this philanthropist who did not have to care about black people, but who did, and who expended his considerable wealth in ensuring that they got their fair shake in America," civil rights leader Julian Bond explains in Rosenwald, out next month. It tells of Rosenwald's rise from the son of a peddler to a clothing manufacturing apprentice to CEO of the largest US retailer, Sears, Roebuck & Co., in 1908, reports the Times of Israel. It was around that time he began to see similarities between the treatment of blacks in America and pogroms against European Jews. When his rabbi became an NAACP leader, Rosenwald sponsored meetings. Soon after, he donated $25,000 to Alabama's Tuskegee University, led by Booker T. Washington, whose writings on racial equality and education had piqued his interest. Washington suggested the money go toward building six schools for black children, but Rosenwald contributed just a third of the funds and pushed the black and white communities to raise the rest. He went on to give $62 million to various causes, including the Rosenwald Fund, which created 5,300 schools in the South, attended by prominent African-Americans like Maya Angelou, George Wolfe, and Eugene Robinson. It "was the single-most important funding agency for African-American culture in the 20th century," poet Rita Dove says. More than 80 years after his death, Rosenwald still inspires. "Not all of us can be Julius Rosenwald," says Kempner, but "we can all do something."

"This is the first serious biography of the exuberant man who transformed the Sears, Roebuck company into the country’s most important retailer. He was also one of the early 20th century’s notable philanthropists.... The richness of primary evidence continually delights." —Judith Sealander, author of Private Wealth and Public Life

 "[No] mere philanthropist [but a] subtle, stinging critic of our racial democracy." —W. E. B. DuBois on Julius Rosenwald

 In this richly revealing biography of a major, but little-known, American businessman and philanthropist, Peter Ascoli brings to life a portrait of Julius Rosenwald, the man and his work. The son of first-generation German Jewish immigrants, Julius Rosenwald, known to his friends as "JR," apprenticed for his uncles, who were major clothing manufacturers in New York City. It would be as a men’s clothing salesperson that JR would make his fateful encounter with Sears, Roebuck and Company, which he eventually fashioned into the greatest mail order firm in the world. He also founded Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. And in the American South Rosenwald helped support the building of the more than 5,300 schools that bore his name. Yet the charitable fund he created during World War I went out of existence in 1948 at his expressed wish. Ascoli provides a fascinating account of Rosenwald’s meteoric rise in American business, but he also portrays a man devoted to family and with a desire to help his community that led to a lifelong devotion to philanthropy. He tells about Rosenwald’s important philanthropic activities, especially those connected with the Rosenwald schools and Booker T. Washington, and later through the Rosenwald Fund.

 Ascoli’s account of Rosenwald is an inspiring story of hard work and success, and of giving back to the nation in which he prospered. ||||| PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — Alex Bethea, the son of cotton and tobacco farm workers, was in sixth grade in 1965 when his family moved from Dillon, South Carolina, to the tiny town of Fairmont, North Carolina, where he attended a school called Rosenwald.

 But it wasn’t until this week, 50 years later, that Bethea learned that his school was named for Julius Rosenwald, the Jewish philanthropist who is the subject of a new documentary by Aviva Kempner. The film tells the little-known story of Rosenwald’s contribution to African-American culture and education.

 The revelation came at a July 14 session at the national convention of the NAACP, which drew several thousand delegates to Philadelphia. Bethea was one of some 70 people who attended a screening of the film, “Rosenwald.”

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 “Julius Rosenwald had a great impact on my life, and I didn’t even know it,” said Bethea, now a vice principal at an elementary school in New Jersey. “This helps me put the pieces of the puzzle of my life together.”

 The philanthropy Rosenwald invested in African-American causes in the early 1900s changed the course of education for thousands of children in the rural South and helped foster the careers of prominent artists, including writer Langston Hughes, opera singer Marion Anderson and painter Jacob Lawrence.

 Rosenwald, who made his fortune at the helm of Sears, Roebuck and Co., also provided seed money to build YMCAs for blacks in cities around the country. In addition, he developed a huge apartment complex in Chicago to help improve the living conditions for the masses who had migrated from the Jim Crow South.

 “It’s a wonderful story of cooperation between this philanthropist who did not have to care about black people, but who did, and who expended his considerable wealth in ensuring that they got their fair shake in America,” Julian Bond, the renowned civil rights leader, says in the documentary.

 Kempner told JTA that her new film on Rosenwald “celebrates the affinity between African-Americans and Jews” that started long before the civil rights movement and speaks to the powerful Jewish tradition of tikkun olam, or repairing the world.

 Kempner joined Bond and Rabbi David Saperstein, the former head of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center who now serves as U.S. ambassador at large for International Religious Freedom, for a discussion after the screening at the NAACP conference. It was while attending a public program 12 years ago on Martha’s Vineyard at which Bond and Saperstein discussed black-Jewish relations that Kempner first learned of Rosenwald’s work with African-Americans.

 She calls this film the last of a trilogy documenting the lives of “under-known Jewish heroes.” The first two were about baseball legend Hank Greenberg and radio and TV personality Gertrude Berg.

 Interspersing archival footage with interviews with prominent African-Americans like Maya Angelou and U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), both of whom attended Rosenwald schools, the documentary tracks the ascent of Rosenwald, the son of German immigrants who rose to become one of the most powerful businessmen and philanthropists in early 20th-century America.

 His father, Sam, who came to America in 1851, began, like so many Jewish immigrants of his time, as a peddler. He eventually settled in Springfield, Illinois, where Julius grew up across the street from Abraham Lincoln’s home.

 In 1878, his parents sent the 16-year-old Julius to New York to apprentice with his uncles in the men’s clothing manufacturing business. He returned to Illinois to start his own manufacturing company, and through some business and family connections ultimately partnered with Richard Sears, one of the founders of Sears, Roebuck and Co. After Rosenwald took over the company in 1908, it became the largest retailer in the country.

 Outside his business life, Rosenwald was heavily influenced by his rabbi, Emil Hirsch, the spiritual leader of the Chicago Sinai Congregation, and he became a major benefactor of Jewish causes.

 The film’s historians document the parallels Rosenwald drew at the time between the pogroms against European Jews and violent attacks on blacks in America

 The film’s historians document the parallels Rosenwald drew at the time between the pogroms against European Jews and violent attacks on blacks in America. He was particularly moved by the race riots in 1908 in Springfield, which are said to have sparked the founding of the NAACP. Hirsch was one of the original leaders of the NAACP, and Rosenwald sponsored its first meetings at his temple.

 He was also influenced by the writings of Booker T. Washington, a prominent black leader at the time, and became a funder of Washington’s Tuskegee University in Alabama.

 When Rosenwald gave a $25,000 gift to Tuskegee, Washington suggested taking a few thousand dollars to build six schools for young children. Until then, most black children didn’t attend school, but instead spent their time working in the fields alongside their parents. The few schools that did exist were primitive shacks staffed mostly by untrained teachers.

 Rather than donating all the money for the schools, Rosenwald gave one-third of the funds needed and challenged the local black community to raise another third and the local white community to contribute the rest. In the end, some 5,300 schools were built with seed money from the Rosenwald Fund.

 The Rosenwald Fund ‘was the single-most important funding agency for African- American culture in the 20th century’

 The fund soon switched focus and began supporting promising black artists, helping catapult dozens onto the national stage.

 The Rosenwald Fund “was the single-most important funding agency for African- American culture in the 20th century,” poet Rita Dove says in the film.

 Kempner calls Rosenwald one of the greatest examplars of American Jewish philanthropy and says she hopes her film – whose official opening in theaters is scheduled for mid-August — will motivate others to continue that tradition.

 “Not all of us can be Julius Rosenwald,” she said, noting that he gave away a total of $62 million in his lifetime, but “we can all do something.” ||||| Screenshot from the Rosenwald documentary Julius Rosenwald stands with black American students who attended one of over 5,000 schools he built for African-American students in the 20th century.

 In the trailer for the documentary Rosenwald, civil rights activist and U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) describes the type of school he went to as a child.

 "It was a little school a short distance from my home—walking distance. Beautiful little building. It was a Rosenwald school. It was the only school we had," Lewis said.

 A Rosenwald school—named after Julius Rosenwald, a 20th-century Jewish philanthropist who made his fortune by co-founding the department store we refer to today as Sears.

 The trailer, released exclusively by The Root, describes how Rosenwald was a relentless businessman but was also deeply inspired by the works and racial-equality teachings of Booker T. Washington. Or, more specifically, Washington's emphasis on what a solid education could do for the racially disadvantaged in America. So much so that Rosenwald teamed up with Washington, and together they hatched a plan to build over 5,000 schools for black students in the Jim Crow South.

 It was a pretty important endeavor, since segregation prohibited blacks from attending the all-white schools in many Southern states.

 The late poet Maya Angelou appears in the documentary, which is slated to be released in New York Aug. 14, and the rest of the nation throughout the fall. Angelou spoke about one of the schools she attended as a child, a school that was also built by Rosenwald.

 "I thought my school was grand. It was the Lafayette County Training School," Angelou said.

 Civil rights and education-reform activist Julian Bonds is also a product of a Rosenwald school. He explained the significance of a Jewish man in the middle of the 20th century committing himself so vehemently to the idea that black American children must be educated.

 "It's a wonderful story of cooperation between this philanthropist, who did not have to care about black people but who did, and who expended his considerable wealth in ensuring that they got their fair shake in America," Bonds said. |||||


SOMERSWORTH, N.H. (AP) — A high school senior says the private Christian school in New Hampshire that he attended since kindergarten told him he was no longer welcome because of his gender identity and suggested he get counseling.

 Stiles Zuschlag, of Lebanon, Maine, told Seacoast Media Group (http://bit.ly/2xPYU2b ) he had excelled academically and in sports and had many friends at Tri-City Christian Academy in Somersworth when he made it known in 2015 that he was transgender.

 He was on track to be valedictorian at the school this year, he said, before he and his mother met with the school administrator in August to talk about Zuschlag's transition from female to male.

 Zuschlag said the administrator, Paul Edgar, told him that he was no longer welcome at the school, that he was "going down the wrong path" and he should confess his sins and stop testosterone treatments. The teenager said he was told that he could not return to the school campus but could consider options, such as homeschooling and Christian counseling.

 He decided then to transfer to Noble High School in North Berwick, Maine, where he said he now feels accepted.

 He was nominated for "Prince of Homecoming" at his new school. And while he misses his old school, he is hopeful he can be who he is at Noble.

 "It's a big loss, I mean they lost a big student," he said. But "I'll just bring my excellence here then. I'll just excel here."

 Edgar declined to speak about the former student, citing privacy issues.

 "To protect the privacy of our families, TCCA admissions decisions and any reasons for these various decisions, are not considered matters for public disclosure," Edgar said.

 Lori Kincaid, a spokeswoman for the New Hampshire Department of Education, said Tri-City Christian Academy doesn't receive federal funds through the state office.

 New Hampshire education attorney Andru Volinsky told Seacoast religious schools can legally ask a student to leave regardless of whether the school receives federal funding. ||||| SOMERSWORTH — A top student on track to be valedictorian at Tri-City Christian Academy in Somersworth said he was told he was no longer welcome at the school he had attended since kindergarten because he is transgender.

 Stiles Zuschlag, of Lebanon, Maine, who was known as Alija before his transition, claims he was told during the final week of August that he could not return to the campus of the private school on West High Street. Zuschlag said he and his mother had a meeting with Paul Edgar, administrator of Tri-City Christian Academy, to talk about Zuschlag's transition from female to male. During the meeting, Zuschlag sought confirmation the school was aware he was transgender and that it would not be a problem for him to be educated at the school for his senior year.

 Zuschlag, who started to go by the male name Stiles Maverick Zuschlag when he transitioned to male in 2015, knew the school was aware of his gender change, but wanted to be clear that he was no longer going to be identified as Alija.

 Zuschlag said during the meeting with Edgar, the administrator told him he was no longer welcome at the school because he was transgender and planned to continue that journey. According to Zuschlag, Edgar told him he was “going down the wrong path,” and that he should confess his sins, renounce that he was a male and stop testosterone treatments. It was suggested he take Christian counseling.

 Zuschlag claims he was told homeschooling was an option, but attending TCCA was not, and his dream of being valedictorian was crushed. “I had a 3.89 GPA,” he said, “and was planning on being the valedictorian.”

 Not only would Zuschlag be denied valedictorian honors, he was banned from the school, he said. TCCA's administration would no longer allow him to physically attend the private, religious institution. He said he was told he could not be on the campus.

 Edgar declined to speak about Zuschlag's case citing privacy issues. “To protect the privacy of our families, TCCA admissions decisions and any reasons for these various decisions, are not considered matters for public disclosure. Therefore, we have no comment. Thank you.”

 Lori Kincade, public information officer with the N.H. Department of Education, said TCCA receives no federal funds through the state office. It is not known if TCCA receives federal funding through other means.

 Kincade declined to shed light on whether the receipt of federal funds requires private schools to adhere to non-discriminatory policies. Kincade declined to speak to Seacoast Sunday on the matter. "The NH DOE is not in the position to provide legal advice," she wrote in an email Friday.

 New Hampshire District 2 Executive Councilor and top New Hampshire education attorney Andru Volinsky on Friday said religious schools such as TCCA can legally ask a student to leave regardless of whether it receives federal money.

 "In this day and age, the rights of a religious school are paramount to the rights of a student who goes there because the student always has the remedy of going to another school," Volinsky said.

 He called the DOE's lack of response to questions about the matter "troubling."

 "These are the kind of general statements that the Department of Education should be able to distribute in a timely fashion," he said. "As an executive councilor, I am troubled that you couldn't get a reasonable response in a timely fashion. The department should know the legal parameters with respect to their private schools."

 Volinsky called the facts of Zuschlag's case "heart-breaking." He and other experts he talked to about the story said Zuschlag's only option was to leave the school.

 Starting over

 When it became apparent TCCA was not an option for his senior year, Zuschlag applied to Noble High School in North Berwick, Maine. During the initial interview, he told the interviewer at Noble that he was a transgender male and the school's response made him comfortable right away. He was promptly asked which pronoun would he like to be called, which gender bathroom preferred and which locker room he wanted to used.

 Zuschlag said he misses the school he attended all his life, but is happy at Noble. “They care,” he said.

 Zuschlag is finally comfortable with himself. For so many years, when he was living as Alija, it didn't feel right. “I never felt comfortable as a girl,” he said. “I never wore dresses and always admired men and wanted to be like them,” he said, recalling he even went to one school event in full tuxedo.

 Zuschlag was born in 2000 and given the name Alija. He said he had a very standard youth. As a young girl, Zuschlag was marked by friends and family as a tomboy.

 “I was about 10 years old when I started realizing that I felt like a boy, I never felt as if I was a female," he said. "I hung out with the boys and wore male attire, and even acted like a boy."

 By the time Zuschlag was 13 or 14 in eighth and ninth grade, he started dressing like a girl and trying to act like one. “I didn't understand why I didn't fit in," he said. "Why was I abnormal and no one understood me?” Zuschlag recalls feeling lost and confused and clearly didn't understand how to be what was defined as a female.

 Zuschlag's mother, Mara Stupelis, observed the confusion her child was going through and gradually understood. “There was no shock effect,” Stupelis said. “It is a little bit confusing to discuss; it was a process.”

 It was about that time when Zuschlag started researching online about different sexual orientations and discovered transgender. “Suddenly a light bulb went on in my head; I was a boy trapped in a girl's body.”

 That was in 2015 and Stupelis knew her daughter was becoming a boy. Summer came and he had chosen Stiles as his new name. Because of her relationship with her child, “It was not unusual for me. She acknowledges being taken back a bit, but, her "mother's instinct was to support and love this child,” she said.

 Becoming Stiles was so liberating for Zuschlag. He said he was “finally able to be myself, cut my hair and just go for it.”

 Although his change of appearance was important for his own self identity, it was less jarring for those around him. “There wasn't much to change. Everyone had been accustomed to my masculine tendencies, so my coming out wasn't much of a surprise. It was more of a ‘Finally, I was waiting for you to come out,'” Zuschlag said.

 In August 2016, with the advice and care of a physician specializing in transgender medicine, Stiles started taking the male hormone testosterone. “It was the best day of my life,” he said. "I won't be mis-gendered anymore.” Zuschlag said he was happy he would finally be properly identified and not be called a girl any more.

 His mother was a great support then and now. “She had been used to my male tendencies throughout my whole life," he said. "I really had been the boy of the family growing up."

 His mother knew that the transition was going to happen sooner or later, she said. For Stupelis, the past year or so has been a time of change and a time for both to experience the variety of people's reactions, some positive, some not so positive from some Christians.

 Zuschlag's younger sister, Hope, 12, was sympathetic to her brother's transition. The big adjustment was calling him Stiles, after having a sister all her life. Hope was fine with it, saying Stiles fit easily into the male role.

 Stupelis said her journey as her son transitions is much the same as any parent's journey as they see their child growing to adulthood. There is a strong urge to keep him safe. “Stiles is still transitioning into a compassionate, empathetic, supportive, creative and hard working adult. That's my reaction today, to protect the precious.”

 As with many transgender teens, Zuschlag's transition didn't come easy. Most of Zuschlag's classmates had been with "Alija" from the beginning of their school years at TCCA. Zuschlag said they had sensed a difference and eventually he told them about the plan to transition to male. Most agreed to call Zuschlag by his new name and accepted him.

 Although challenges were to come, they did not dissuade Zuschlag. “It was obvious to me that God wants me to do this,” he said.

 Zuschlag was bullied in school and on social media by several fellow students quoting biblical references “which were wrong,” said Zuschlag, who said he was known as the best biblical scholar at TCCA, as well as the highest ranking student scholastically.

 Zuschlag is now happily settled at Noble High School and is working on finding his way in the world. He wants to become a model or stage performer. He doesn't know if it is possible to be the valedictorian at Noble since he is a transfer student and only has one year there to show his academic prowess. He said he will continue to work hard at school and see what happens.

 Noble, as a public school, accepts all students regardless of religion, race and sexual orientation. Several local communities, including Dover, recently passed transgender policies to protect students in the schools. Most of those local policies are close to Dover's policy with the stated purpose of providing a safe and supportive environment for all students that is free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and intimidation.

 The policy at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, a private, Catholic School in Dover, is less clear. In response to an inquiry from Seacoast Media Group about the school's transgender policy, Principal Kevin Collins issued this statement: “St. Thomas Aquinas High School does not have a specific policy with respect to transgender students. However, in all of its policies and procedures, the school is guided by the light of the gospel and our Catholic faith, which teaches us that all people are to be treated with dignity and respect.”

 For Zuschlag, dignity, respect and acceptance is what he wants as he goes through his senior year. He recently felt a measure of acceptance when he was nominated for "Prince of Homecoming" at Noble.

 He still feels stung about TCCA's decision to ban him, he said, but he's hopeful of living his life without hiding who he is at Noble. "It's a big loss, I mean they lost a big student; I mean, whatever, I'll just bring my excellence here then. I'll just excel here." |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– A high school senior says the private Christian school in New Hampshire that he'd attended since kindergarten told him he was no longer welcome because of his gender identity and suggested he get counseling, the AP reports. Stiles Zuschlag, of Lebanon, Maine, tells Seacoast Media Group he'd excelled academically and in sports and had many friends at Tri-City Christian Academy in Somersworth when he made it known in 2015 that he was transgender. He was on track to be valedictorian at the school this year, he says, before he and his mother met with the school administrator in August to talk about his transition from female to male. Zuschlag says the administrator, Paul Edgar, told him he was no longer welcome at the school, that he was "going down the wrong path," and that he should confess his sins and stop testosterone treatments. The teen says he was told he couldn't return to the school campus but could consider options like homeschooling and Christian counseling. Zuschlag decided then to transfer to Noble High School in North Berwick, Maine, where he says he now feels accepted. He was nominated for "Prince of Homecoming" at his new school, and while he misses his old school, he's hopeful he can be who he is at Noble. "It's a big loss, I mean they lost a big student," he says. "[But] I'll just bring my excellence here. ... I'll just excel here." Edgar declined to speak about the ex-student, citing privacy issues. A spokeswoman for the New Hampshire Department of Education says Tri-City Christian Academy doesn't receive federal funds through the state office. A New Hampshire education attorney says religious schools can legally ask a student to leave regardless of whether the school receives federal funding.


Here is a news article: The Detroit teen was detained by police Monday. (Photo: File photo)

 A Detroit teen was stopped during an alleged robbery at a Chase bank on the west side Monday after a quick-thinking teller locked him between a set of automatic doors until police came.

 Detroit Police Officer Dan Donakowski said the 15-year-old boy walked into the bank located in the 15000 block of West 7 Mile around 2 p.m. and demanded money.

 Donakowski said the teen gave the teller a note and threatened to use a bomb if she didn't fork over the cash.

 "The teller complied, gave him some money and as he attempted to leave, the teller hit the button for the doors that automatically lock and the suspect was trapped inside," Donakowski said.

 The teen was detained by police and transported to a juvenile facility, he said. It's unclear if the teen had a weapon, Donakowski said, adding that he believed the teen only had a note in his possession.

 Contact Katrease Stafford: kstafford@freepress.com or 313-223-4759.

 Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/1R9sfsD ||||| DETROIT, MI -- The teen bank robber almost made it, until he realized he was a sitting duck.

 Police say a 16-year-old, of Detroit, entered Chase Bank located on Seven Mile on Detroit's east side about 2:30 p.m. Monday.

 He walked up to the counter and told the teller he was strapped with a bomb and to give him all the money, Detroit Police Officer Jennifer Moreno said.

 The teller did. The teen set off for the doorway, likely exhilarated by the scent of escaping with his new wealth.

 He opened the first set of doors into the causeway. The sidewalk was only steps away. He made it to the outermost set of doors, inches from the outside world.

 He'd make it no further. After realizing they wouldn't budge, he tried to retreat through the door he'd just passed. They wouldn't budge either.

 The teller engaged what is called a "man-trap," basically a security system that locks would-be intruders between the two sets of doors leading outside where they remain caged until police can arrive and take them safely into custody, which Detroit police soon did.

 Often the glass is also bulletproof.

 It's not clear if the teen will face charges as a juvenile or in the adult court system. |||||
A summary of this is?

– A teenage would-be bank robber in Detroit found himself imprisoned—and presumably regretting one or two life choices—within seconds of being handed money at a bank on Monday, police say. A police spokesman tells the Detroit Free Press that the 15-year-old gave a teller a note claiming he had a bomb and demanding money. As he left with the cash, the teller hit a button that trapped the youth between two sets of doors. The security system, known as a "man-trap," keeps intruders caged until police arrive, MLive reports. Police say the teen, who didn't have any explosives on him, was taken to a juvenile detention facility. (A man who stole a restaurant's tip jar ended up losing money.)


Article:

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 *Sigh*

 Here we go, again. We’re quite familiar with the work of the Tom Hanks-sired struggle rapper Chester Hanks, aka Chet Haze. His several attempts of making his hip-hop career happen have mostly been met with laughs, harmless ones at that. But now we meet Chet at the crossroads of desperation and tastelessness. In photo captions on his Instagram over the past couple of days, the white rapper is throwing around the n-word in several posts.

 2 types of people in this world: those who know exactly what it is they want and are doing everything they can to get it; and those who just wander aimlessly through life because they are scared to death of failure. I've lost a lot of so called friends cuz they turned out to be the second kind. Fuck yall hating ass niggaz I'll never stop chasing my dream ☝🏻☝🏻☝🏻#OneLifeOneGodOneLove A photo posted by 🌴LA / WORLD WIDE 🌍 (@chethanx) on May 31, 2015 at 10:54am PDT

 Check out the song me and my nigga @chillthatdude just dropped on my Soundcloud #Juice LINK IN MY BIO #GoListen!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 A photo posted by 🌴LA / WORLD WIDE 🌍 (@chethanx) on May 30, 2015 at 6:26pm PDT

 The initial reaction to this from most of you will probably be: “This dude’s a clown. He doesn’t even deserve the attention.” And yes, that is partially true. He’s mostly a joke of a rapper and his clueless use of the word dovetails right with a sense of entitlement. But as a black person who is met with white people using the n-word on a regular basis, whether it be online or even in person, this sadly is not entirely foreign. Sure, there are white rappers who navigate this space well, like Yelawolf, who gave a great explanation of why he would never use the word, versus other artists like V-Nasty, who unabashedly said it, Eminem, who said it very early on before he was famous, or even Madonna as recently as last year.

 Regardless, these are public figures — they have accountability. This goes just beyond music. For every one of the famous people who have used it, there are hundreds on Twitter and thousands in private who use it and don’t care about the consequences. I’ve met this kind of casual racism in the safest-seeming, innocuous ways — like going to Starbucks, walking into my apartment building, or even browsing on dating sites. And I know I’m not alone.

 The point is, white people using the n-word is one of those things like wearing blackface. It’s acknowledged that’s it’s a bad thing, but people of color are also asked by those who minimize its offensiveness to “get over it,” or they’re deemed “too sensitive.” Maybe it isn’t entirely understood that most people of color are confronted with some sort of racism on a daily basis, but “it” would be something we wouldn’t have to “get over,” if “it” didn’t exist in the first place.

 Tom Hanks is just too nice for all of this.

 (Via Instagram) ||||| Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. ||||| If you're not familiar with Chet Haze, consider yourself lucky.

 The terminally causasian, private school-educated son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson is like Iggy Azalea without the talent. Just pretend for a second that Iggy Azalea has talent so that the analogy makes sense, okay?

 Anyway, Chet is a plain white rapper, but the Iggy similarities don't end there.

 The former Chester Hanks not only talks the hip hop talk, he walks the walk in the most cringe-worthy fashion imaginable.

 Like Iggy, he's appropriated the culture with an affected "ghetto" accent and smackable attempts at "swag." Like Iggy, "huge embarrassment" is probably the best description for Chester.

 Of course, even Iggy-Igs draws the line at the use of a certain racial slur commonly found in lyrics written by rappers who didn't wear blazers to grade school. Chet Haze, on the other hand, crossed that line over the weekend:

 Next to the above photo of himself in London (So hood!), Chet wrote, "F-ck yall hating ass n--gaz I'll never stop chasing my dreams!"

 Sadly, it looks as though this is becoming a habit for the young Mr. Hanks, as just two days earlier, he posted a photo of the rapper Juice, whom he referred to as "my n--ga" in the caption.

 For the record, Hanks completed rehab last year, so his latest social media posts were presumably written while 100% sober. ||||| ... Good morning bae 🙇🏼 A photo posted by 🌴LA / WORLD WIDE 🌍 (@chethanx) on May 24, 2015 at 6:14am PDT

 2 types of people in this world: those who know exactly what it is they want and are doing everything they can to get it; and those who just wander aimlessly through life because they are scared to death of failure. I've lost a lot of so called friends cuz they turned out to be the second kind. Fuck yall hating ass niggaz I'll never stop chasing my dream ☝ #OneLifeOneGodOneLove

 The world is full of mysteries. Why does evil exist? How did we evolve consciousness? How did Chester M. Hanks, better known by his rap name Chet Haze, emerge from the loins of Tom Hanks? Keeping up with Chet Haze's fascinating life as "an up and coming MC... Born and raised on the West Side of the Westside's main city LA," is exhausting, requiring perhaps more attention than can be devoted by any one human, no matter how little they sleep or how much energy they have devoted to uncovering the secrets of the Haze, from his terrible music videos to his feud with Howard Stern , an equally immature but far more successful man over twice his age.One of the more perplexing areas of Haze Studies is the question of why, exactly, he thinks he is capable of wantonly using racial slurs on social media (especially as an extremely wealthy, privileged white man). Thankfully Gawker pulled this gem of a recent Instagram caption Truly, it is remarkable that Chet Haze has been given the great gift of ignorance, that he may say the things we all cannot, the things we recognize are horrifically inappropriate and insensitive. Thank God for Chet Haze, the man unbound by the restrictions of needing a job or for anyone to like him or basic human sensitivity. Thank God for Chet Haze, the problem child to end all problem children, and the greatest motivator of Colin Hanks' career anyone could imagine. Maybe he's just acting out for attention from his dad and from us -- but giving it to him just feels too good. ||||| [There was a video here]

 Early Tuesday morning, Chester Hanks, the son of beloved white millionaire Tom Hanks, posted an Instagram video to explain that “hip-hop isn’t about race” and it’s actually extremely fresh that he says “nigga.”

 By his own admission, however, Chet knows most of you won’t “get” it, so he accompanied his video with a 280-word screed about how “fuck[ing one’s] hating ass niggaz” is actually an inalienable right protected by the Constitution:

 If I say the word nigga I say it amongst people I love and who love me. If I say “fuck yall hatin ass niggaz” it’s because that’s really how I felt at the time. And I don’t accept society getting to decide what ANYBODY can or can’t say. That’s something we call FREE SPEECH. Now I understand the older generation who grew up in the Jim Crowe era might have strong feelings against this. And that’s understandable... But what I’m saying is this is 2015... And even tho we are still far from where we need to be and black people are still being literally KILLED by a RACIST and fucked up system... We have also reached a point where the word can no longer have a negative connotation if we so choose. And who is to say only black people can use it? The way I see it, it’s a word that unifies the culture of HIP-HOP across ALL RACES, which is actually kind of a beautiful thing. It’s a word that can be used out of camaraderie and love, not just exclusively for black people. What’s the point in putting all these built up “rules” about it. It’s time to let go. You can hate me or love me for it, but can’t nobody tell me what I can or can’t say. It’s got nothing to do with trying to be a thug. It’s about the culture of the music. And that’s all I have to say about that (no pun intended) lol. It’s all love. Some people will get it, some people won’t. Either way, Ima keep living my life however the fuck I want. ALL LOVE.

 So really, Hanks’ use of the N-word comes from a place of love. If only you “hating ass niggaz” could see that. ||||| Chester “Chet Haze” Hanks, caucasian son of beloved caucasian Hollywood A-lister Tom Hanks, took to Instagram this weekend to vociferously share his feelings on Hating Ass Niggaz.

 Yesterday, next to a photo of himself in London, Chet Haze wrote:

 2 types of people in this world: those who know exactly what it is they want and are doing everything they can to get it; and those who just wander aimlessly through life because they are scared to death of failure. I’ve lost a lot of so called friends cuz they turned out to be the second kind. Fuck yall hating ass niggaz I’ll never stop chasing my dream ☝ #OneLifeOneGodOneLove

 And next to a photo of himself and a friend two days ago, he wrote:

 Check out the song me and my nigga @chillthatdude just dropped on my Soundcloud #Juice LINK IN MY BIO #GoListen!!!

 Tom Hanks most recently starred in the Walt Disney film “Saving Mr. Banks.” Chet Hanks most recently starred in an Instagram video of himself enjoying the first class seating on an international New Zealand Air flight.

 [Photo via Instagram] |||||
What is a summary?

– Over the weekend, Tom Hanks' son used the n-word. Twice. Today he helpfully explained why no one should be upset about that. Gawker, not surprisingly, was quick to report both incidents (and to point out that Chester Hanks, or "Chet Haze," as the self-styled rapper goes by, is in fact white). The rundown: On Sunday, Chet posted a photo of himself to Instagram with a caption that said, among other things, "Fuck yall hating ass [n-word] I'll never stop chasing my dream." The day prior to that, he had posted a photo of himself and a friend—or, as he called it, "me and my [n-word]." Controversy ensued. (Sample headlines: "We Need to Talk About Chet," "Chet Haze, Pretend Rapper, Is Now Spouting the N-Word on Instagram," and "Chet Haze Drops N-Bombs on Instagram, Continues to Suck.") This morning, Haze posted another photo of himself to Instagram along with his explanation. It starts: "If I say the word [n-word] I say it amongst people I love and who love me." He goes on to explain the Constitution: "I don't accept society getting to decide what ANYBODY can or can't say. That's something we call FREE SPEECH." The history lesson continues: "Now I understand the older generation who grew up in the Jim Crowe era might have strong feelings against this." But, as he explains, it's 2015 now and the n-word is "a word that unifies the culture of HIP-HOP across ALL RACES, which is actually kind of a beautiful thing."