Top 5 Live –WURD Tuesday February 19
1. SRC votes to approve 5 new charter school applications
The Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted Wednesday night to approve five new charter schools from among 39 applications. The approved schools were offered three-year charters and have until May 31 to agree to terms with the SRC.
Absent new state or local funding, the district faces an $80 million deficit in the fiscal year beginning July 1. Gov. Wolf and five of the six Democratic mayoral candidates called for a moratorium on new charters until the district solved its financial crisis.
2. Nicki Minaj roadie stabbed to death in Philadelphia
De’Von Pickett – a road manager for rapper Nicki Minaj – was in Philadelphia to start rehearsals for her forthcoming tour. By the next morning, he was dead.
On Tuesday evening, Pickett and four friends went to Che Bar and Grill on Stenton and Johnson. They knew the bartender there, a law enforcement source said.
3. D.A. seeks to overturn Wolf’s death-penalty moratorium
Suggesting that Gov. Wolf is acting like a tyrant, District Attorney Seth Williams petitioned the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to overturn the governor’s newly imposed moratorium on the death penalty.
“Our constitution does not allow the governor to satisfy his own personal opinions by halting a capital murderer’s sentence that was authorized by state statute, imposed by a unanimous Philadelphia jury, and upheld by state and federal courts,” Williams said in announcing his petition.
4. Justice Dept. could sue Ferguson for racial discrimination
The Justice Department is preparing to sue the Ferguson, Missouri, police department over racially discriminatory tactics, if the police department does not agree to make changes on its own, sources tell CNN.
Attorney General Eric Holder said this week he expects to announce the results of the department’s investigation of the shooting death of Michael Brown by former officer Darren Wilson and a broader probe of the Ferguson Police Department before he leaves office in the coming weeks.
5. Police dept. clears cops in Brandon Tate-Brown death
Two Philadelphia police officers involved in December’s shooting death of 26-year-old Brandon Tate Brown have been cleared by the department of wrongdoing and returned to street duty.
The case remains under review by the District Attorney’s Office.
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Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning columnist. He is the creator and editor of Solomonjones.com and morning host on 900 am WURD radio. Click here to learn more about Solomon
