Top 5 Live-WURD Thursday August 6
1. Criminal charges expected against Kane
Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman has decided to bring criminal charges against Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane for allegedly leaking confidential documents and then lying about it under oath.
After nearly six months, Ferman has endorsed a grand jury’s recommendation that Kane be arrested for releasing the documents in a bid to embarrass a critic.
Gerald Shargel, one of Kane’s lawyers, said Wednesday he could not confirm that the attorney general would soon face charges. Shargel said Kane vigorously denies any wrongdoing and would not resign if arrested.
Kane, 49, the first Democrat and woman to be elected attorney general, could not be reached for comment. Ferman, a Republican who is running for a judgeship in the fall election, declined comment.
In December, the grand jury recommended that Kane be charged with obstruction, official oppression, perjury, false swearing and contempt of court. The panel brought no charges, but instead forwarded its findings to Ferman.
2. Tennessee movie theater shooting suspect killed by police
A man wielding a gun, a hatchet and pepper spray was killed inside a Tennessee movie theater on Wednesday after police responding to reports of an active shooter traded gunshots with the suspect, Nashville police said.
Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron told reporters that one moviegoer was cut on a shoulder by a hatchet before police officers killed the 51-year-old suspect as he tried to go out the back door.
The wounded man had a superficial injury to his arm, fire department spokesman Brian Haas said.
No one has been transported to a hospital, Haas said, but three people — including the man who suffered the cut from the hatchet — suffered irritation from pepper spray apparently used by the suspect, who was wearing a surgical mask.
Police were called to the Carmike Hickory 8 movie theater complex in the Nashville suburb of Antioch at 1:15 p.m. CT. Two officers were already at the mall working a car accident when people came running toward them. The officers were inside the complex within two minutes, Aaron said.
3. Experts determine that wing fragment is from missing MH370
Experts have confirmed that the debris found on Reunion Island last week was that of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 that went missing last year, Malaysia’s prime minister said Wednesday.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris … is indeed MH370,” Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters.
The Boeing 777 jetliner disappeared 515 days ago on March 8 while on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. It is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean, but the reason remains one of aviation’s biggest mysteries.
The first ever physical evidence of the aircraft was found on the French territory of Reunion Island in the Indian ocean, thousands of miles from the site near Australia where the plane is believed to have gone down.
4. Ben Franklin Bridge, major highways, to be closed for the weekend of Pope Francis’ visit in September
City and state officials outlined sweeping details on Wednesday for a massive vehicle and security shutdown for Philadelphia for the weekend of Pope Francis’ visit, Sept. 25-26.
The Benjamin Franklin Bridge will be closed but I-95 will remain opened.
Mayor Nutter described the long-awaited details of the three-square-mile secure zone enveloping Center City and extending westward to 38th Street. Those boundaries stretch from the Delaware River westward to 38th Street, from South Street north to Spring Garden and, near the Schuylkill River, to Girard Avenue.
Bicycle traffic will be allowed within that territory, Nutter said. He also called it the “green zone.”
Any vehicles not already within the traffic box when it goes into effect on Friday will not be allowed to enter it, Nutter said.
5. Obama to call for Voting Rights Act restoration on law’s anniversary
President Obama will call for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act on its 50th anniversary Thursday, the White House said.
Obama will hold a teleconference to commemorate the landmark legislation and call for its renewal, following a 2013 Supreme Court ruling that voided one of its central provisions.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Rep. John Lewis, who rose to prominence in the 1960s as a civil rights leader, will participate.
The event will allow Obama to draw a sharp contrast with Republicans, many of whom argue some provisions of the 1965 law went too far. It will take place on the same day as the first GOP presidential primary debate.
“Maybe there will be an opportunity for Republican candidates to discuss the right for every American to cast a vote,” he added.
In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down a part of the law that required nine Southern states with a history of racial discrimination to obtain federal approval before changing their voting laws.
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
