Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the opening of the first Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary location in Schenectady. The first to open in the Capital Region. The opening of the store continues to advance New York State’s Seeding Opportunity Initiative and the State’s goals of equity in cannabis licensing, which prioritizes providing CAURD licenses to justice-involved…
ORLANDO, Fla. – Teens learned about the value of self-image along with showcasing what they’ve learned on the third day of the Disney Dreamers Academy on Saturday.
The theme for the day was “Confidence” focusing on the work they need to do to make their dreams come true.
Dreamers were taught about how to present themselves and make a good impression. The students learned about creating their personal brand and image via their attire from some of the fashion industry’s biggest names including stylist Misa Hylton and Jerome Lamar. Several Dreamers participated in a fashion show to showcase their new looks.
Cyril Josh Barker photos
Disney Dreamers participate in a fashion show Credit: Cyril Josh Barker photo
Students also got a chance to hear more inspiring words from Disney Dreamer Academy celebrity ambassador Halle Bailey and actress Marasai Martin during the “Good Neighbor” lunch.
Dreamers attended a panel discussion in the afternoon during the “Conversations With…” session that was moderated by WABC New York anchor Sade Bederinwa, who interviewed actress Dominique Thorn, film producer James Lopez and ballet dance Aesha Ash. Special guest for the day also included gospel singer Pastor Mike Jr., gospel group The Walls and Questlove
Sade Baderinwa Credit: Cyril Josh Barker photo
(L to R) Film producer James Lopez, actress Dominique Thorn, ballet dancer Aesha Ash and Sade Bederinwa Credit: Cyril Josh Barker photo
The Walls
Questlove
“When I was coming up, dreaming was like a four-letter word like it was silly or a waste of time,” said Questlove. “Hopefully we can have that generational curse of not listening to our heart and always hustling and always scheming and trying to survive and struggle and really take time out for ourselves to really decide what it is we want to do.”
In the evening the teens showcased what they learned during their “Deep Dive” sessions on Friday at the “Bee 100 Cafe for the Senses Showcase and Dinner.” Dreamers took the stage to explain what they learned to make their professional dreams come true. Students also performed poetry, acting and music.
Cyril Josh Barker photos
The Dreamers Academy comes to a close on Sunday with a commencement ceremony. The students will reflect on what they’ve learned over the weekend before bidding one final farewell and going home.
This is the 16th year of Disney Dreamers Academy, a four-day mentoring program designed to broaden career awareness and create opportunities for 100 Black high school students and teens from underrepresented communities across America each year.
ORLANDO, Fla. – Youth listened to inspirational speakers and got the chance to experience their future careers on the second day of the Disney Dreamers Academy on Friday at Walt Disney World.
The theme for the day was “Discover The Possibilities.” Along with hearing inspirational speeches, Dreamers participated in hands-on workshops in various career fields around Walt Disney World.
The Dreamers started their day hearing from several speakers including artist H.E.R, actress Marsai Martin, ESSENCE President and CEO Caroline Wanga, veterinarians Drs. Vernard L. Hodges and Terrence Ferguson of Nat Geo Wild’s Critter Fixers and the cast of Disney’s animated series The Proud Family.
Cyril Josh Barker photos
H.E.R., actress Marsai Martin and Princeton Parker
Dr. Vernard Hodge and Dr. Terrence Ferguson of “Critter Fixers: Country Vets
ESSENCE President and CEO Caroline Wanga
During an interview with the media, H.E.R. said it’s important that students nurture all of their interests.
“Some people say you have to focus on one thing but I think you have to take it day by day and figure out the bigger picture,” she said. “I knew in my spirit that I had to do this music thing 100 percent and put in the 10,000 hours. You have to get to know yourself and see what works for you.”
Disney Dreamers learn about careers Credit: Cyril Josh Barker photo
Disney Dreamer Toluwakitan Akinsola and Minnie Mouse Credit: Cyril Josh Barker photo
Afterward the students attend the “Career Academy Expose” session where they were separated based on their career interests to hear from and network with Disney cast members and other professionals about a vast array of career opportunities. The academies included business and service, entertainment and storytelling and science and technology.
At the “Be 100 Empowerment Lunch” radio personality, music executive and pop culture expert Mike Muse discussed his personal journey and offered inspiring words. Later In the afternoon the Dreamers participated in “Deep Dives” Dreamers were given a more personalized experience in small groups based on their career interests.
Mike Muse
Tavis Sanders, 15, is attending Dreamers Academy from Philadelphia and wants to be an aeroacoustic engineer and photographer. A high school freshman, he wants to attend Howard University.
“It’s been really fun having a chance to meet all of these people and meet so many great mentors and discover your passion,” said Dreamer Travis Sanders from Philadelphia. “I want to give the kids maybe a new career path they might want to follow.”
On Saturday, the Dreamers are participating in a session where they will learn about creating their personal brand and image via their attire from some of the fashion industry’s biggest names.
Tavis Sanders Credit: Cyril Josh Barker photo
A collection of celebrities and other accomplished professionals will also share personal lessons about achieving their dreams. Speakers include, Dominique Thorne, film producer James
Lopez, ballet dancer Aesha Ash, music producer Larrance Dopson, music composer and director Rickey Minor, fashion designer Sergio Hudson, gospel singer Pastor Mike Jr. and musical group The Walls
Dreamers will showcase what they learned and created during their “Deep Dives” and the “Be 100 Café for the Senses Showcase and Dinner.”
This is the 16th year of Disney Dreamers Academy, a four-day mentoring program designed to broaden career awareness and create opportunities for 100 Black high school students and teens from underrepresented communities across America each year.
In the world of HWM, New York’s Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) celebrated the opening of two highly anticipated exhibitions for Spring. Surfacing a little-known chapter in design history, Generation Paper: A Fashion Phenom of the 1960s (on view through August 27) showcases dozens of rare paper garments and accessories. Combining bold graphic design with the era’s space-age…
With a number of Starbucks in Harlem, and as American foodies become more dependent on drive-thru service. Fast-food operators are starting to grasp that efficiency is number one on a customer’s pecking order. A major part of that efficiency is how quickly the restaurant gets the customer in and out of its drive-thru lanes – a…
Grammy-nominated singer Halle Bailey, who will play the lead role of Ariel in the upcoming live-action remake of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” left two aspiring teen filmmakers speechless when she surprised them Friday during Disney Dreamers Academy at Walt Disney World Resort with a personal invitation to join her on the red carpet at the movie’s world premiere in Hollywood.
Dylan Jones of Atlanta and Madison Henderson of Los Angeles were in the middle of a movie production training session Friday morning during Disney Dreamers Academy when Bailey, the program’s celebrity ambassador, made a surprise appearance and delivered the personal invitation to come to Hollywood. For the students it was a truly magical dream come true moment.
The movie’s world premiere takes place just before the film officially hits theaters nationwide on May 26.
Bailey is one of several Hollywood stars participating in the annual mentoring program by Walt Disney World Resort that brings 100 students from around the country for an immersive career-inspiring weekend. Some of the other celebrities include R&B singing sensation H.E.R., plus actors Marsai Martin (ABC show “black-ish”), and Jalyn Hall (feature film “Till’’).
This is the 16th year of Disney Dreamers Academy, a four-day mentoring program designed to broaden career awareness and create opportunities for 100 Black high school students and teens from underrepresented communities across America each year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Only 10% of U.S. adults say they have high confidence in the nation’s banks and other financial institutions, a new poll finds. That’s down from the 22% who said they had high confidence in 2020.
Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank this month, the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also finds that a majority say the government is not doing enough to regulate the industry.
The underwhelming assessment of America’s banks and bank regulation comes after a series of shocks brought back disturbing memories of the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
Silicon Valley Bank, the nation’s 16th-biggest, failed March 10 after making risky bets in the bond market. Two days later, regulators closed New York-based Signature Bank, which had gotten involved in cryptocurrencies. Across the Atlantic Ocean, long-troubled Credit Suisse was acquired by rival UBS on Sunday in a shotgun marriage designed to restore confidence in global financial institutions.
In the United States, the tumult has raised questions among policymakers about 2018 legislation that rolled back strict regulations put in place after the financial crisis.
The poll suggests the U.S. public shares that concern: 56% say the government isn’t doing enough to regulate banks and other financial institutions, while 27% say it’s doing the right amount and 15% say it’s regulating too much. The worry about under-regulation is bipartisan: 63% of Democrats say current bank regulation is insufficient, as do 51% of Republicans.
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Philip Metscher, 53, a stay-at-home father of seven in Sacramento, California, said he has little faith in bankers or the government agencies that are supposed to regulate them.
“It’s like they have free rein to do whatever they want with money,’’ said Metscher, a Republican.
The poll finds that in addition to the 10% of Americans saying that they have high confidence in the nation’s banking institutions, 57% do have some confidence; 31% have hardly any.
Though confidence in banks and financial institutions has decreased even since the last time that question was asked on an AP-NORC poll in 2020, low confidence among Americans in their public institutions is nothing new — the General Social Survey, which has tracked trends in public opinion for decades, shows that confidence in institutions ranging from the financial industry to organized religion and from the news media to Congress has declined substantially since the 1970s. The new poll shows few Americans have high confidence in any branch of the U.S. government.
There’s been little change in the already glum assessment of the U.S. economy since a month ago, before the recent banking system turmoil, the poll shows. Only a quarter say national economic conditions are good; three quarters call them poor.
But 43% of Democrats call the economy good, versus just 7% of Republicans.
About half of U.S. adults describe their personal financial situations as good, a drop from last year when about 6 in 10 said that. About 6 in 10 Democrats and about half of Republicans give positive assessments of their current finances.
With a Democrat in the White House, Republicans are more likely than Democrats (36% versus 15%) to say their finances will get worse over the next year; 38% of Democrats say they expect their finances to improve, versus 22% of Republicans.
Overall, about half of U.S. adults expect U.S. economic conditions to deteriorate over the next year. Again, there’s a political divide: About three-quarters of Republicans but only a third of Democrats expect the national economy to worsen.
American households have been hit hard by inflation, which began to pick up in the spring of 2021. Adjusted for inflation, U.S. hourly wages have fallen for 23 straight months compared to a year earlier.
“You never know what’s going on. It’s paycheck to paycheck,’’ said Metscher in Sacramento. “I’m looking at food prices, gas prices. It reminds me of being a kid growing up’’ during the high-inflation 1970s.
Tyronda Springer, 28, a mother of two in Banks, Alabama, who works in a warehouse loading trucks, is struggling with the cost of living.
“I get paid every two weeks,’’ she said. “One of my checks goes straight to daycare. The rest is what I have to use to pay the bills. It’s just ridiculous.’’ But Springer, a Democrat, blames businesses, not President Joe Biden or the government, for ratcheting prices higher. “The government can only do so much,’’ she said.
In response to surging consumer prices, the Federal Reserve has raised its benchmark interest rate nine times over the past year, including by a quarter-point on Wednesday. But the rate hikes are putting a strain on banks. In fact, Silicon Valley Bank ran into trouble as higher rates pushed down the value of its investments in bonds.
“It’s a financial house of cards,’’ said Bryan Martin, 49, of Westfield, New York, who works at a sewage treatment plant.
“The Fed is stuck,’’ said Martin, who does not identify with either political party but leans Republican. The central bank has to raise interest rates to fight inflation, but higher rates are hurting the financial system. “These banks,’’ he said, “are starting to fail.’’
Darlene Brady, 72, a retired nurse’s aide in Butler, Pennsylvania, has limited confidence in banks. Still, Brady, a Democrat, is not worried about her own bank savings, thanks to federal deposit insurance that covers up to $250,000.
“I’m way below that,’’ she said. ___
The poll of 1,081 adults was conducted Mar. 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.
NEW YORK (AP) — A powdery substance was found Friday with a threatening letter in a mailroom at the offices of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the latest security scare as the prosecutor weighs a potential historic indictment of former President Donald Trump, authorities said.
New York City police and environmental protection officials isolated and removed the suspicious letter, and testing “determined there was no dangerous substance,” Bragg spokesperson Danielle Filson said. The substance was sent to a city lab for further examination, police said.
“Alvin, I am going to kill you,” the letter said, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation and did so on condition of anonymity.
The discovery, in the same building where a grand jury is expected to resume work Monday, came amid increasingly hostile rhetoric from Trump, a Republican who is holding the first rally of his 2024 presidential campaign Saturday in Waco, Texas.
Hours earlier, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that any criminal charge against him could lead to “potential death & destruction.”
Trump also posted a photo of himself holding a baseball bat next to a picture of Bragg, a Democrat. On Thursday, Trump referred to Bragg, Manhattan’s first Black district attorney, as an “animal.”
The building where the letter was found wasn’t evacuated and business mostly went on as usual, with prosecutors coming and going and bicycle delivery workers dropping off lunch orders. The building houses various government offices, including the city’s marriage bureau.
Security has been heavy around the court buildings and district attorney’s office in recent days as the grand jury investigates hush money paid on Trump’s behalf during his 2016 campaign.
Additional police officers are on patrol, metal barricades have been installed along the sidewalks and bomb sniffing dogs have been making regular sweeps of the buildings, which have also faced unfounded bomb threats in recent days.
A New York State court spokesman said, “Due to the nature of increased interest in proceedings in New York City Courthouses, we have increased security, both inside and on the perimeter, and officers have been reminded to remain vigilant and maintain situational awareness.”
In a memo to staff Friday, Bragg said the office has also been receiving offensive and threatening phone calls and emails. He thanked his staff of nearly 1,600 people for persevering in the face of “additional press attention and security around our office“ and said their safety remains the top priority.
“We will continue to apply the law evenly and fairly, which is what each of you does every single day,” Bragg wrote.
Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for New York Mayor Eric Adams, released a statement Friday night saying: “While we cannot comment on the specifics of any ongoing investigation, no public official should ever be subject to threats for doing his or her job. I’m confident that every elected official in the City, including Manhattan DA Bragg, will continue to do their work undeterred, and anyone found to be engaging in illegal conduct will be brought to justice.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton said he will hold a prayer vigil for Bragg’s safety Saturday in Harlem. He and other Black leaders have condemned Trump’s rhetoric about Bragg and billionaire George Soros, who backed a group that supported Bragg’s campaign, as “not a dog-whistle but a bullhorn of incendiary and anti-semitic bile.”
The grand jury, convened by Bragg in January, has been investigating Trump’s involvement in a $130,000 payment made in 2016 to porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump years earlier. Trump has denied the claim.
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Associated Press writer Bobby Caina Calvan contributed to this report.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Four of five former Memphis police officers charged in the killing of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who was handcuffed, brutally beaten and ignored by first responders for crucial minutes despite being barely conscious, can no longer work as law enforcement in Tennessee.
The Peace Officer Standards & Training Commission, or P.O.S.T., voted Friday to decertify Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin and Justin Smith. The state panel also approved the decision by Desmond Mills to surrender his certification.
The former officers have 30 days to appeal.
The beating of the 29-year-old Black man happened during a late-night traffic stop Jan. 7. The commission subsequently released documents showing that Haley dragged Nichols from his vehicle and never explained why he was stopped, and that he also took photos of Nichols slumped against the car after he was pummeled by officers and sent the pictures to colleagues.
Nichols died at a hospital Jan. 10.
Early police accounts minimized the violence of the traffic stop — accounts since disproven by witness statements and police and surveillance video — and their specialized unit was disbanded. Two Memphis Fire Department emergency medical workers and a lieutenant were also fired.
The five former police officers charged with second-degree murder have all pleaded not guilty.
The Memphis Police Department requested the decertification of seven of the former Memphis officers involved, including one who retired before he could be fired.
None of the fired officers or their attorneys attended their hearings before the commission on Thursday or its vote on Friday.
Mills’ attorney said his client had been wrongly indicted and was “focusing on his freedom.”
“It’s a waste of time,” attorney Blake Ballin said of the decertification attempt. “It is meaningless to him at this stage in his life.”
An attorney for Haley declined to comment on the decertification vote. Attorneys for Martin and Smith did not immediately respond to phone messages seeking comment.
In a letter included in the file seeking his decertification, Smith defended his conduct, stating that Nichols was “violent and would not comply.”
The fifth former officer charged, Tadarrius Bean, has not yet had his decertification hearing before the commission. Neither have two former officers who were not charged: Preston Hemphill, who was terminated after firing a stun gun at Nichols during the traffic stop; and Dewayne Smith, the supervising lieutenant who arrived on scene after the beating, who retired instead of being fired.
A seventh police employee who was fired has not been publicly named.
During Nichols’ funeral, Vice President Kamala Harris urged lawmakers to approve the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a broad package of reforms that includes a national registry for police officers disciplined for misconduct, a ban on no-knock warrants and other measures.
Associated Press reporter Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, contributed to this report.
For more on the killing of Tyre Nichols: https://apnews.com/hub/tyre-nichols
Former President Donald Trump has ramped up the rhetoric and the threats as potential criminal charges loom in New York, Georgia, and Washington.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform and posted a photo of him swinging a bat to the head of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
He also threatened that his anticipated arrest would lead to “death and destruction.” “What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country? Why & who would do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath that truly hates the USA!” Trump wrote.
Then in all capital letters, Trump continued his tirade:
“EVERYBODY KNOWS I’M 100% INNOCENT, INCLUDING BRAGG, BUT HE DOESN’T CARE. HE IS JUST CARRYING OUT THE PLANS OF THE RADICAL LEFT LUNATICS. OUR COUNTRY IS BEING DESTROYED, AS THEY TELL US TO BE PEACEFUL!”
A week before, Trump predicted that authorities from New York would arrest him, however, that never happened.
Bragg’s office said Trump simply misled the public about an imminent arrest.
“We will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process, nor will we let baseless accusations deter us from fairly applying the law,” Bragg said through a spokesperson.
Bragg, 49, maintained that no one is above the law, and everyone receives equal treatment.
“In every prosecution, we follow the law without fear or favor to uncover the truth,” his statement continued. “Our skilled, honest, and dedicated lawyers remain hard at work.”
Trump’s social media attack on Bragg could reveal the frustrations and even the concern he might possess over all of the legal problems he currently faces.
Bragg’s case, in which the former President allegedly paid hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and committed campaign finance crimes, is just the tip of the iceberg for the bombastic Trump.
Most legal experts believe Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis might have a more serious case.
A special grand jury disbanded in January after reportedly recommending charges that include obstruction, bribery, and interfering with a presidential election.
Additionally, a Special Counsel’s investigation into Trump allegedly mishandling classified documents at his Florida home has amped up with a federal judge ordering the former President’s lawyer to testify.
Finally, the Congressional committee that investigated the January 6 insurrection has recommended serious charges against Trump to the U.S. Department of Justice. Those charges could include treason.
“It would be a travesty of justice,” Mississippi Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson said if Trump isn’t prosecuted by federal authorities for his role in the insurrection.
“Nobody is above the law, not even the President of the United States,” said Thompson, who chaired the commission. “What we saw after interviewing more than 1,000 people – the majority of who identify with the Republican Party – we are convinced that whatever happened, happened because of one person. So, we are clear in our recommendation.”
