Author: tourist_yp6g7u

Sorry Master Splinter. New York City’s first Anti-Rat Day of Action will be held this Saturday, Aug 12 in Harlem. The event takes place at 137th Street’s Elizabeth Langley Memorial Garden.

The event offers locals insight and strategies toward reducing rodent encounters by cutting the critters off from their food source. It is co-hosted by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and the BUFNY II/Harlem Street Tenants Association. 

“It’s still early, but these numbers show what we’re doing is working and that we are moving in the right direction,” said Mayor Adams. “Every food scrap that we keep out of the trash and every black bag that we keep off the street is a meal that we’re taking out of a hungry rodent’s stomach. 

“It takes all of us to win the war on rats, so I encourage New Yorkers to keep composting, keep putting your trash in containers, and I hope to see you out there at one of our ‘Anti-Rat Community Days of Action.’”

The city claims within the rat mitigation zones like Harlem’s, reported sightings have been reduced by 45%, as of late July. It also says total rat-related 311 calls are down by 20%, which was reiterated by rat czar Kathleen Corradi at a recent public safety briefing. 

“New York City Parks, New York City Schools and NYCHA are doubling down on rat reduction, utilizing seasonal staff and pest control teams to make sure our city’s properties are inhospitable to rats,” she said. “They’re removing harbourage, managing waste, and deploying extermination techniques to make sure we’re knocking down rat populations. Citywide, we’re cutting off rats from their food because we know, if you feed them, you breed them. 

“Through DSNY’s new curb set out times and rules around containerizations for food establishments, we’re systematically taking away rats’ access to fruit food on our curbs and making New York a cleaner city.”

Earlier this month, food-related businesses were restricted from dumping waste in black trash bags directly on the curb and are now mandated to place garbage in containers unless it’s collected by a loading dock, or if the contents are recyclables. Such black bags can leak and attract rats, says the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY). 

According to Corradi, rats communicate largely through pheromones. So spraying down a curb is the best bet to keep personal rodent sightings to Pixar movies. Corradi suggests using a mix of one part bleach and nine parts water.

As of press time, there have been 24 rat sightings reported to the city this month from Harlem’s five main zip codes. Half were seen in multi-family apartments. 

While uptown will be the first to host an anti-rat day, the city says each borough will receive one. Harlem is one of four neighborhoods picked for rat mitigation zones, with the others being Bronx Grand Concourse, Bed-Stuy/Bushwick, and East Village/Chinatown.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.

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Congratulations to Ciara and her husband Russell Wilson! The celebrity couple are expecting a new baby. The songstress recently announced that she is pregnant and are anticipating baby number 4 — her third child with the Denver Broncos quarterback. Yours truly thought Ciara looked pregnant at her party last week for her new Gap x LoveShackFancy campaign because the outfit she modeled was very baggy, as opposed to her usual skin-revealing attire. In a video on Instagram, Ciara dances by a pool, showing off a pretty big baby bump……

In celebration of this year’s 50th anniversary of Hip Hop, BET Her is premiering a new interview and performance series called BET Her Live! Hosted by Yo-Yo. The show premieres on August 11 and will feature four individual episodes showcasing Lil Mo, Da Brat, 702 and MC Lyte. BET Her Live! Hosted by Yo-Yo was taped in Las Vegas…… 

The 5th Dimension’s Grammy award-winning songstress, Florence LaRue, gives her insight on beauty, style, diet, fitness, attitude, and being able to age gracefully in her first book, “Grace in your Second Act,” with Jenny Paschall, published by WestBow Press. Says LaRue, “I want my readers to take away from my book that there is a significant difference in getting old and growing old!”……

Bernard Chiu and D-Nice celebrated former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on his new book, “Our Unfinished March,” along with Kem, whose new tome is called “Share My Life.” Kem gave a special performance. The event took place August 7 in The Edgartown Room at The Harborview Hotel on Martha’s Vineyard. ……

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Training camp is now roughly two weeks in for the Giants and Jets. However, the process of building a Super Bowl-caliber playoff contender began at the end of last season.

It is a perpetual endeavor, even for the Kansas City Chiefs, which has the best football player in the world in quarterback Patrick Mahomes and has played in three of the last four Super Bowls, winning two.

The Jets’ acquisition of Aaron Rodgers in April in a trade with the Green Bay Packers is viewed as being the team’s much-needed final piece to form a title contender. The Jets are a combined 11-23 over the past two seasons, finishing last in the AFC East both years. Their glaring weakness over the past two seasons after building a strong roster was at the quarterback position. 

Rodgers, a four-time NFL Most Valuable Player, the last awarded for his sterling 2021 campaign, brings leadership, a mastery of the game, and a steady hand at the game’s most consequential spot on the roster. He is an invaluable resource for second-year head coach Robert Saleh.

Thus far, Rodgers, who spent 18 seasons with the Packers and turns 40 in December, has been part coach, mentor, advocate and future Hall of Fame QB to the Jets. All facets of his vast experience are needed to fast-track the Jets toward achieving their larger goals.

A consequential long-term value Rodgers has brought to the Jets is being an exemplar for third-year quarterback Zach Wilson, the No. 2 overall draft pick by the Jets in 2021, who drew strong comparisons by many skill evaluators to Rodgers while playing at Brigham Young University. The 24-year-old Wilson has been the antithesis of an All-Pro in his brief NFL career.  

“I hope this time for him is like a deep inhale and exhale, and he can really take a breath and pause and deal with the disappointment of last year and the frustration, and then channel it,” Rodgers said of Wilson during the first week of training camp. “I feel like he has, just re-channel it as a positive and focus on the opportunity in front of him to learn with a guy who loves him and cares about him and wants him to be great and wants him to do incredible things every day and be better.”

Rodgers didn’t play in the Jets’ preseason opener last Thursday,  a 21-16 loss to the Browns in the league’s annual Hall of Fame game. He isn’t expected to play much, if at all, in their remaining three preseason games, including Saturday’s matchup versus the Carolina Panthers on the road.

The Giants ended their five-year playoff drought last season, going 9-7-1, securing a wildcard spot, and beating the Minnesota Vikings 31-24 in a wildcard matchup before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 38-7 in the divisional round.

Giants head coach Brian Daboll and his staff are scaffolding as they continue to construct the foundation for sustained success. They held joint practices this week with the Detroit Lions and will play them tomorrow in the first preseason games for both teams.

“I think it’s kind of the next step for training camp when you practice against another team,” said Daboll, according to Giants.com. “I think there is competitive juices; the coaches have it, the players have it, but we are going to try to practice the right way against a really good team. I think the program that the Lions have and what (head coach) Dan (Campbell) and (general manager) Brad (Holmes) have been able to do has really been outstanding, so it will be a good test for us.”

Giants tight end Darren Waller added that the practices versus the Lions have a distinctly different feel than going up against teammates.

“Just getting more acclimated to game-like situations and knowing that it’s a physical game at the end of the day,” said Waller. “It’s not always going to be 7-on-7 and people tagging off on you. It’s a good acclimation.”

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YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul (7-1, 5 KOs) defeated MMA legend Nate Diaz by a unanimous decision in their matchup on Saturday night held at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas. Paul dropped Diaz in the second round and dominated the fight in earning a 98-91, 97-92, and 98-91 victory.

“He’s real tough,” said the 26-year-old Paul, a native of Cleveland, afterward. “But tough in this sport doesn’t work.” Paul’s only defeat since embarking on a boxing career and making his debut on January 30, 2020, was against Tommy Fury three years later (January 27, 2023). The bout ended in a decision for Fury. Two judges scored it for Fury and one for Paul.  In upcoming fights, Emanuel Navarrete  (37-1, 31 KOs) will defend his WBO junior lightweight title against Oscar Valdez Valdez (31-1, 23 KOs) in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday night on ESPN. Navarrete hasn’t lost in over a decade, and Valdez, who defeated Adam Lopez in the co-main event on the Haney vs. Lomachenko fight card, suffered the only loss of his career to Shakur Stevenson in April of last year.
“What has been missing in my career is precisely a victory against someone like Valdez,” said Navarrete. “(Valdez) says he’s going to knock my head off, but let’s see whose head comes off first. Let’s see what Valdez has to offer, and let’s see how much he can endure and how much I can endure, too.”
Valdez assessed his opponent before the match.
“It’s one of the most important fights of my career because it means everything for me to come back and win that title,” he said. “We all know that Navarrete has an awkward style. We might not have the perfect sparring that can emulate his style. But we try to imitate him in the mitt work and strategy. He’s not your typical fighter that throws straight shots.”
Also on Saturday, Emmanuel Rodríguez (21-2, 13 KOs) will take on Melvin Lopez (29-1, 19 KOs) for the vacant IBF bantamweight at the Theater at MGM National Harbor in Maryland and on Showtime. Both fighters discussed the matchup at a recent press conference.
“I’m happy to have this chance to become a world champion again,” Rodriguez said. “We’re gonna go out there to win in spectacular fashion and my goal is to show that I’m the best fighter in the world at 118 pounds. My goal is to become undisputed at bantamweight.”
Lopez is eagerly looking forward to the opportunity.

“I’m very excited that the time is almost here to fight for a world title,” Lopez said. “We’ve had a great training camp and everyone has sacrificed and worked hard so that we’re at our best on August 12.”
On another card this Saturday, in London, United Kingdom, former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua takes on Robert Helenius, who is a replacement for Dillian Whyte, who tested positive for an illegal performance-enhancing substance. 

Joshua suffered the first loss of his career to a replacement fighter, Andy Ruiz, at Madison Square Garden in June 2019. Meanwhile, Helenius suffered a first-round knockout to Deontay Wilder at Barclays Center in October 2022.

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Birmingham, AL — On July 3, Major League Baseball unveiled the official logo and name for the first MLB game at the oldest professional baseball park in the United States: MLB at Rickwood Field: A Tribute to The Negro Leagues.

Rickwood Field was built in 1910 and is known for being a historic park that housed famous Negro League players, and the big show is finally coming to Birmingham, Alabama. 

On June 20, 2024, the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants will play a game at the illustrious field.

“We can’t wait to welcome the Cardinals, the Giants, as well as the entire world to Birmingham,” Mayor Randall Woodfin said during the historic announcement.

The Major League game will be preceded by a Minor League game between the Birmingham Barons and the Montgomery Biscuits, scheduled for June 18, 2024. Renovations will begin on October 23 to prepare the stadium relic for an unforgettable week. 

“This is a seminal moment in Negro Leagues and Black baseball history to have Major League baseball come to Birmingham to Rickwood Field where so much baseball history was made,” Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick said. 

“When we literally throw this back in time, this is going to be a watershed moment for Negro Leagues history.”

The Barons played in the Southern Association until 1961. The stadium also served as the home of the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro Leagues between 1924 and 1960.

“We are proud to bring Major League Baseball to historic Rickwood Field in 2024,” said Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. in a statement. “This opportunity to pay tribute to the Negro Leagues as the Giants and Cardinals play a regular season game at this iconic location is a great honor. The legacy of the Negro Leagues and its greatest living player, Willie Mays, is one of excellence and perseverance.” 

Mays patrolled center field for the Barons at just 17 years old before making his debut in the Majors at 20 on May 25, 1951 with the New York Giants. He went on to become one of the best all-around players in the Majors. He won 12 Gold Glove Awards, hit 660 home runs, is a member of the 3,000-hit club and won four stolen base titles. Mays missed two full seasons during the prime of his career while serving in the military. 

The unveiling was a spectacle with history buffs, former players and MLBbros such as MVP Ryan Howard, Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia, All-Star Randy Winn, current MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds, who emceed the event, and Ron “Papa Jack” Jackson in attendance for the news. The former athletes took time to speak on the meaningfulness of the game.

“The Negro Leagues was so important to the history of this ballgame,” Winn said. We have to focus on the history of this game. This game was built on the backs of the people that played this game before us. … I didn’t play one out, one pitch here in the Negro Leagues, but that’s my beginning.”

The stands are expected to be brimming with passionate Black and brown fans. However, as the historic event unfolds, there remains a concern over the lack of representation of MLBbros on the playing field, which could cast a shadow over the festivities. 

Both the Giants and the Cardinals currently house just one MLBbro each, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Jordan Walker, respectively.

To truly capture the essence of this experience, it is crucial for these teams to make strides toward adding more African-American players to their rosters. 

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It should have happened before the trade deadline.

The Chicago White Sox should have traded shortstop Tim Anderson somewhere, anywhere, before it got to this.

The former batting champion was ejected, and will serve a lengthy suspension, for his role in an on-field fight this past Saturday between the White Sox and Cleveland Guardians that lasted roughly 15 minutes.

Tim Anderson was angry. After verbally getting into it with Gabriel Arias earlier in the game, he was late with his tag on Jose Ramirez as he legged out a RBI double in the sixth inning. 

Ramirez said Anderson put the tag on harder than necessary and it escalated from there.

TA getting leveled by Ramirez was symbolic of how the last couple of seasons have gone in the Windy City.

Since his top-10 finish in the MVP voting following the 2020 season, he’s struggled to stay healthy, and in turn, productive. As of Sunday morning, Tim Anderson had appeared in 338 of a possible 496 games (.681) for Chicago.

His batting average has dropped each year since he posted a career-best .339 average in 2019 to .244 this season. Anderson has only batted below .250 once before, back in 2018. 

He has just one home run and only 14 extra base hits in more than 350 at-bats. For comparison, he had 22 in 2020 while playing in 49 games with 208 ABs during that Covid-shortened campaign. 

With Anderson on the field, the White Sox were a contender, with back-to-back playoff appearances and an AL Central title in 2021. Now the franchise has plummeted to fourth place, falling 14 games out of first place. 

Now, we have the sight of Anderson falling to the dirt after taking one right on the chin. 

It can’t be fixed on the South Side.

The fan base has no confidence in the ownership or the direction of the team. Next year, the team will likely have its fifth manager in five seasons. Executive Vice President Ken Williams’ job could also be on the line. 

The White Sox are short on talent and time. 

It’s beyond the expiration date of this relationship. One of the game’s top young talents and brightest personalities has transformed into a sullen and angry underperformer. That’s not good for Tim Anderson or Major League Baseball.

This offseason, either the White Sox or Anderson, or perhaps both, will have to accept that the opportunity for a peak return has passed. Hopefully, there will be an acceptable team and city that allows Tim Anderson to return to form.

Not Too Late For Tim To Regain Old Form

A Tim Anderson that isn’t hitting or dynamic on the basepaths is just another ballplayer. His glove has been adequate, but his value at the plate is what made him unique.  At age 30, it’s not too late for Anderson to put together some quality seasons that will once again place him on the short list of those who cause sleepless nights for opposing pitchers. 

It is, however, too late for that rebirth to happen with the White Sox. 

Saturday night was proof positive.

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Nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) went on an unfair labor practices strike on Friday, Aug. 4 — and have remained on the picket lines as their representatives from United Steelworkers (USW) Local 4-200 contend that management is refusing to negotiate on key issues.

USW LOCAL 4-200 represents over 1,700 nurses at RWJUH in New Brunswick. Their demands are for the hospital to set safer staffing ratios on floors, increase salaries, and freeze workers’ insurance premiums.

“Our members remain deeply committed to our patients,” Local 4-200 President Judy Danella said in a statement. “However, we must address urgent concerns, like staffing. We need enough nurses on each shift, on each floor, so we can devote more time to each patient and keep ourselves safe on the job.”

Nurses complain that they are often working understaffed and that, on average, they find themselves taking care of six patients per shift in a hospital that prides itself on being able to treat the state’s sickest patients.

This is the first time USW LOCAL 4-200 nurses have gone out on strike since 2006. The union began negotiations with hospital management for a new contract in April. After their contract expired on June 30, it was extended through July 21. But since then, the standstill in negotiations led to a July 24 notification that workers were ready to strike.

RWJUH is one of the 12 hospitals that make up RWJBarnabas Health, New Jersey’s largest healthcare provider. The Associated Press noted that the hospital has contracted with an outside firm to have replacement nursing staff cover the assignments of striking nurses while labor protests continue.

The hospital also acknowledged on Aug. 8 that it had enlisted the aid of 1,000 nurses from across the country to cover for its striking employees: “Simply put, if we do not have enough nurses, we cannot deliver the complex, high acuity care that our institution is known for. We cannot save lives,” said Dr. Anthony Altobelli III, the associate chief medical officer, in a video statement.

RWJUH remains open and continues to accept patients during the nursing strike.

Hospital spokesperson Wendy Gottsegen said in a statement: “Even after we extended a new offer on Wednesday that would have further addressed their staffing concerns, it was met with silence. We are awaiting a response from the union and are questioning why we are in this position instead of at the table, negotiating.”

USW LOCAL 4-200, though, said it wants to continue bargaining but wants its main concerns to be dealt with in a fair manner.

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Former President Donald Trump once famously said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and go unpunished.

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose voters,” he boasted during a 2016 rally in Iowa.

Seven years, two impeachments later, a civil sexual assault conviction, three indictments, and a fourth coming soon —Trump just may have been right.

The GOP’s 2024 presidential frontrunner currently faces a staggering 78 felony charges spanning three criminal cases, many of which carry the potential for significant prison time.

Having faced judges in Florida, New York, and Washington, Trump hasn’t been required to take the standard mugshot, be perp walked, or even post bail or bond.

For example, he faces 34 criminal charges in New York where the average cash bail amount for a felony is approximately $39,000 per offense, or, in his case, a total of $1.36 million.

Typically, federal bail for felonies could run as much as $200,000 per felony, according to the Bail Agents Network.

That means that an individual seeking bail on 44 felony charges could have to ante up as much as $8.8 million to remain free pending trial.

Meanwhile, if Trump is convicted on all 78 counts, assuming he receives the maximum statutory penalties, he could receive an astonishing 641 years in prison.

But there remains the Fifth Avenue question.

Could a judge legally sentence the former president to a prison cell?

A major obstacle could be a law that guarantees lifetime Secret Service protection to all ex-presidents.

President Obama signed an updated version of that law in 2012, granting protection to minor children until the age of 16 and spouses unless and until they remarry.

The law could mean that Trump may have some say in his incarceration and the safety measures taken during any potential prison sentence.

Since 1965, lifetime protection has been afforded to former presidents, except for Richard Nixon, who waived it 11 years after his resignation.

Chuck Rosenberg, a former top federal prosecutor, and counsel to then-FBI Director James B. Comey, offered his insights.

“Any federal district judge ought to understand it raises enormous and unprecedented logistical issues,” Rosenberg told the Washington Post.

He said probation, fines, community service, and home confinement are all alternatives.
According to Rosenberg, the possibility of Trump serving prison time is “theoretically, yes and practically, no.”

On the Secret Service’s role, experts and commentators have varying opinions.
Mike Lawlor, an associate professor at the University of New Haven, suggested that Trump would likely have “one or two secret service details sitting outside his cell with the correctional officers” if he were to serve prison time.

Michele Deitch, an expert on prison oversight at the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, told Business Insider that a former president would “have a target on his back” and be closely monitored by the Secret Service.

Ronald Kessler, an author specializing in the Secret Service, provided further insights into the potential security arrangements.

He estimated that Trump’s current Secret Security detail could consist of up to 30 officers, with 10 to 12 agents on duty at any time.

Kessler dismissed the notion of just two agents posted at a prison, deeming it “crazy” given the dangerous environment. “Just think it through,” he told freelance journalist Dave Roos.

“What would just two agents do in such a dangerous environment?”

However, Kessler emphasized that if Trump were imprisoned, he would receive no other special treatment and would not be granted access to privileges like a telephone.

“[The prison] would have to serve him meals in his cell,” Kessler said. “It would just be pure protection.”

The prospects of Trump’s potential prison sentence and the accompanying Secret Service protection have raised complex questions that prosecutors may not consider.

Still, the charges the twice-impeached and thrice-indicted ex-president faces come with the possibility of serious prison time.

If Trump is remanded to prison, he “certainly would not be part of the general population,” retired FBI special agent Ken Gray told Business Insider.

“You could almost put him in a separate little hut.”

Finally, in an interview on MSNBC, Former Attorney General Eric Holder said the Secret Service could punt its responsibilities of protecting Trump to the Bureau of Prisons.

“If they were called upon to imprison a former president, I think they could come up with a way to do it,” Holder said.

“There is a way in which the Justice Department, the Bureau of Prisons could actually do it,” he insisted.

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