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Congressmember Bobby Scott and other Members Reintroduce Bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to Protect Pregnant Workers From Workplace Discrimination
Daily BriefsHealthNationalNewsPolitical

Congressmember Bobby Scott and other Members Reintroduce Bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to Protect Pregnant Workers From Workplace Discrimination

Sentinel News WireMay 15, 2019

WASHINGTON, DC – Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), John Katko (R-NY), Lucy McBath (D-GA), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), and Bobby Scott (D-VA) reintroduced the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, legislation that would protect pregnant workers from workplace discrimination. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would address legal ambiguities and help ensure that pregnant women are treated fairly on the job. The legislation, which is closely modeled after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), would require employers to make reasonable accommodations—such as a minor job modification—that would allow pregnant workers to continue working and prevent them from being forced out on leave or out of their jobs. The bill also

Congresswoman Waters Leads Delegation to Haiti; Finds Both Inspiration and Evidence of Violence
Daily BriefsInternationalPolitical

Congresswoman Waters Leads Delegation to Haiti; Finds Both Inspiration and Evidence of Violence

Sentinel News WireMay 15, 2019

WASHINGTON –Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) led a delegation to Haiti, which included actor, director and activist Danny Glover; journalist Margaret Prescod of Sojourner Truth Radio in Los Angeles; civil rights lawyer Walter Riley; Haitian diaspora leader Pierre Labossiere; and human rights lawyer Brian Concannon of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti.  Congresswoman Waters and her delegation traveled to Haiti to visit the University of the Aristide Foundation (UNIFA) and was inspired by students of the university, which was founded by the Aristide Foundation. “Seeing 2,000 students preparing to serve Haiti by studying to be the doctors, nurses, and

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton Introduces Bill to Require Federal Agencies to Report on Advertising with Minority and Women-owned Media
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Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton Introduces Bill to Require Federal Agencies to Report on Advertising with Minority and Women-owned Media

Sentinel News WireMay 15, 2019

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During National Small Business Week, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) t introduced a bill that requires federal agencies to include in their annual budget justifications the amount they spent on advertising contracts with small disadvantaged businesses and businesses owned by women and minorities in the previous fiscal year, as well as projections of their spending for the upcoming fiscal year.  Norton and Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) also sent letters to all 12 House appropriations subcommittees requesting that they direct each agency under their jurisdiction to include this information in their fiscal year 2021 budget justifications.  The report

ALERT: More Abortion Bans Advancing in South, Midwest
Daily BriefsNationalPolitical

ALERT: More Abortion Bans Advancing in South, Midwest

Associated Press -RUSS BYNUMMay 14, 2019

If a new Mississippi law survives a court challenge, it will be nearly impossible for most pregnant women to get an abortion there. Or, potentially, in neighboring Louisiana. Or Alabama. Or Georgia. The Louisiana legislature is halfway toward passing a law — like the ones enacted in Mississippi and Georgia — that will ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, about six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women know they’re pregnant. Alabama is on the cusp of approving an even more restrictive bill. State governments are on a course to virtually eliminate abortion access in large chunks of the Deep South and Midwest.

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Daily BriefsNationalPolitical

Alabama Senate Passes Near-Total Ban on Abortion

Associated Press - KIM CHANDLERMay 14, 2019

Courtesy photo MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s Senate passed a near-total ban on abortion Tuesday, sending what would be the nation’s most stringent abortion law to the state’s Republican governor. The Republican-dominated Senate voted 25-6 for the bill that would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by up to 99 years or life in prison for the abortion provider. The only exception would be when the woman’s health is at serious risk. Senators rejected an attempt to add an exception for rape and incest. The amendment was voted down 21-11, with four Republicans joining

For Kamala Harris, Memories of a Warrior Mother Guide her Campaign
Daily BriefsFamilyNews

For Kamala Harris, Memories of a Warrior Mother Guide her Campaign

Associated Press - MATT SEDENSKYMay 12, 2019

NEW YORK (AP) — Speaking from the Senate floor for the first time, Kamala Harris expressed gratitude for a woman on whose shoulders she said she stood. In her autobiography, Harris interspersed the well-worn details of her resume with an extended ode to the one she calls “the reason for everything.” And taking the stage to announce her presidential candidacy , she framed it as a race grounded in the compassion and values of the person she credits for her fighting spirit. Though a decade has passed since Shyamala Gopalan died, she remains a force in her daughter’s life and her White House bid. Again and again in

Ex-Fugees Rapper Charged in Campaign Finance Case
Daily BriefsNews (Entertainment)

Ex-Fugees Rapper Charged in Campaign Finance Case

Sentinel News WireMay 10, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the founding members of the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees has been charged in a campaign finance conspiracy that took place during the 2012 U.S. presidential election, the Justice Department said Friday. A four-count indictment accuses Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of conspiring with fugitive Malaysian financer Jho Low to make and conceal foreign campaign contributions. He is alleged to have used straw donors to give campaign contributions to a presidential candidate, who is identified in the indictment only as Candidate A. “Mr. Michel is extremely disappointed that so many years after the fact the government would

UPDATE: Chris Darden Files a Motion to Withdraw from People v. Holder, Eric Holder is Accused of Killing Nipsey Hussle
Daily BriefsLocal

UPDATE: Chris Darden Files a Motion to Withdraw from People v. Holder, Eric Holder is Accused of Killing Nipsey Hussle

Sentinel News WireMay 10, 2019

Courtesy photo Chris Darden, the attorney representing the man accused of gunning down Nipsey Hussle said Friday he is withdrawing from the case, citing personal reasons. Chris Darden, a former prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial, announced the decision in a Facebook post: “You guys have been awfully good to me and my family. Thank you. I am on my way to appear for the last time in People v. Holder. I filed a Motion to Withdraw from the case. I thought I should tell you, my friends, first & before anyone else. As for my reasons for withdrawing I

CNN to Make Documentary on Civil Rights Icon John Lewis
Daily BriefsNationalPolitical

CNN to Make Documentary on Civil Rights Icon John Lewis

Sentinel News WireMay 8, 2019

NEW YORK (AP) — CNN Films is developing a documentary on civil rights icon and Georgia congressman John Robert Lewis. The network announced Wednesday that “Gideon’s Army” director Dawn Porter is helming the project. She began shooting the 79-year-old Lewis last year ahead of the midterm elections. The film will be primarily a cinema verite documentary following Lewis from the election through the congressional battles of 2019. In a statement, Porter said the need has never been greater for “the type of moral and compassionate leadership that he embodies.” Recent CNN Films releases include “RBG,” ″Three Identical Strangers” and “Apollo

UPDATE: R. Kelly Goes to Court, Judge Not Buying It, Judgment Withdrawn after R. Kelly’s Lawyers Say He Can’t Read
Daily BriefsNews (Entertainment)

UPDATE: R. Kelly Goes to Court, Judge Not Buying It, Judgment Withdrawn after R. Kelly’s Lawyers Say He Can’t Read

Sentinel News WireMay 8, 2019

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge who ordered a default judgment against R. Kelly after the singer failed to respond to a lawsuit filed by one of his alleged victims now says the suit can proceed. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Cook County Judge Moira Johnson on Wednesday reinstated the lawsuit after Kelly’s attorneys said the singer never responded to it because he’s illiterate and couldn’t read the documents when he was served with them. The lawsuit was filed by a woman identified as “H.W.,” who is one of the four women that Kelly is charged in a criminal case with

BREAKING NEWS: The Pressure Mounts – New York Senate OKs Giving US House Trump State Tax Return
Daily BriefsPolitical

BREAKING NEWS: The Pressure Mounts – New York Senate OKs Giving US House Trump State Tax Return

Associated Press -CHRIS CAROLAMay 8, 2019

Courtesy Photo ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s Democrat-controlled Senate approved a bill easily Wednesday that would allow three congressional committees to get access to President Donald Trump’s state tax returns, giving Democrats a potential end-run around the administration’s refusal to disclose the president’s federal returns. The bill, which now goes to the Democrat-led state Assembly, doesn’t target Trump by name, but would authorize state tax officials to release returns filed by seven different types of state and federal officeholders if requested by the leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee or the Joint Committee