Top 5 Live-WURD Monday June 15
1. Ten million gallons flood West Philly after water main rupture
The first time Fallon Postell remembers water cascading down the 5100 block of Wyalusing Avenue in West Philadelphia was 1994. She was 11 and, still clad in her flannel pajamas, she followed her mother out to dry land.
In 2008, it took city Fire Department boats to rescue her and her family from their flooded block.
On Sunday, Postell, now 32, awoke to find yet another deluge headed toward her door.
“All I could think was ‘Oh no, not again,” she said.
An early morning water-main break sent at least 10 million gallons gushing down the block, buckling pavement and damaging about 40 homes and more than a dozen vehicles.
Water Department officials said the 36-inch cast iron transmission main burst under the 500 block of North 52d Street just before 4:30 a.m. and quickly turned roads for several blocks into rivers.
2. Prosecutors get Tamir Rice investigation
The Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department released an investigation report in the Cleveland police shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice that reveals new detail about the shooting.
Officer Timothy Loehmann shot and killed Rice on November 22. A citizen had called the 911 center to report a “guy with a pistol,” but the responding officers weren’t told the caller said the gun might be “fake” and the guy might be a juvenile. Rice actually had a pellet gun.
Will the officer and his partner be charged? On Thursday a judge said he thought there was probable cause, but his opinion is not binding. A grand jury will study this investigation report and decide whether to indict.
Among the report’s major takeaways:
It’s unclear whether officer shouted warnings before shooting
3. Woman Involved in McKinney Pool Fight Punished by Employer
A Texas woman accused of being part of a fight that prompted a harshly criticized police response at a McKinney, Texas, pool party has been placed on administrative leave by her employer.
“CoreLogic does not condone violence, discrimination or harassment and takes conduct that is inconsistent with our values and expectations very seriously,” the employer, CoreLogic Inc., a major financial data and analytics firm, said in a prepared statement.
A company representative identified the individual placed on administrative leave as Tracey Carver.
Much of the focus on the notorious McKinney pool altercation has been directed at the actions of now-resigned Police Cpl. David Eric Casebolt, who was caught on tape manhandling a teenage girl and pulling his gun on other unarmed teens at a pool party.
Police, however, were called in after a fight that was also caught on video, between an older white woman and a younger black girl.
4. CIA declassifies inspector general’s report on 9/11
Ten years after the CIA’s Office of the Inspector General completed its investigation into intelligence failures prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the agency on Friday declassified its report.
The nearly-500 page document elaborates on a list of “systemic problems” the inspector general found that contributed to missed warnings of Osama bin Laden‘s plot to use hijacked planes as weapons.
“Concerning certain issues, the team concluded that the (CIA) and its officers did not discharge their responsibilities in a satisfactory manner,” the report states.
The inspector general’s investigation followed a joint congressional inquiry that concluded that the U.S. intelligence community did not have a comprehensive strategy for combating al Qaeda.
The report found that no CIA employee violated laws and that the errors in intelligence gathering were not the product of misconduct.
5. Rachel Dolezal’s appearance is ‘blackface,’ brother says
Ezra Dolezal says he didn’t know how to respond three years ago when his adopted sister, Rachel Dolezal, took him aside and asked him “not to blow her cover” about having a black father.
She told him she was starting life anew in Spokane, Washington, where she’s head of the NAACP and chairwoman of a police oversight committee.
Rachel’s parents live in Montana. They are white. Ezra, Rachel’s adopted brother, is biracial.
Ezra said Rachel Dolezal started changing physically in 2011. “There was the gradual darkening of the skin and the hair,” he said. He called added that her transformation was like living in “blackface.”
“It’s kind of a slap in the face to African-Americans because she doesn’t know what it’s like to be black,” said Ezra Dolezal. “She’s only been African-American when it benefited her.”
Click here to read these stories on 900amWURD.
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
