Top 5 Live-WURD Tuesday September 8
1. Mother’s 911 call: My sons are trying to kill me
Two Atlanta-area brothers are behind bars and charged with multiple felonies after police said they attempted to kill their own parents over the weekend.
Yvonne Ervin called 911 Saturday morning and reported that she and husband Zachary were being attacked in their own home.
The perpetrators, she told police, were their own children: 17-year-old Cameron and 22-year-old Christopher.
“(Yvonne Ervin) stated to our 911 operator that her sons were trying to kill her and her husband,” Gwinnett County Police Sgt. Rich Long told CNN.
But quick thinking from both mother and father enabled Yvonne to briefly escape from their sons long enough to call for help.
Yvonne Ervin called 911 and reported that she and husband Zachary were being attacked by their own sons.
2. Report: Philly could gain jobs with tax restructuring
A group of Philadelphia civic and business leaders released a report projecting 79,000 new jobs in the city over the next decade if politicians agree to a major revamp of the city’s tax structure.
The study, commissioned by the Philadelphia Growth Coalition, is part of an effort to build support for a change to the Pennsylvania Constitution that would allow the city to tax commercial real estate at a higher rate than residential property. The current tax rate of 1.4 percent applies to all real estate.
Under the proposal, spearheaded by Center City District CEO Paul Levy and Brandywine Realty Trust CEO Gerard Sweeney, the additional money raised from commercial real estate taxes would be used to cut wage and business taxes.
The Growth Coalition, which includes major landlords, chambers of commerce, and labor unions, argues that shifting the tax structure from what can easily leave (jobs and businesses) to what can’t move (land and buildings) would make Philadelphia more competitive.
3. Pope calls on every European parish to host one refugee family
On Sunday, Pope Francis called on every European religious community, including the Vatican, to take in one refugee family.
“I appeal to the parishes, the religious communities, the monasteries and sanctuaries of all Europe to … take in one family of refugees,” he said after his Sunday address in the papal enclave.
The pope’s call goes out to tens of thousands of Catholic parishes in Europe as the number of refugees and migrants arriving to Italy and Greece hits record levels.
There are more than 25,000 parishes in Italy alone, and more than 12,000 in Germany, where many of the Syrians fleeing civil war and people trying to escape poverty and hardship in other countries say they want to end up.
“Every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary of Europe, take in one family,” the pontiff said.
The pope, himself the grandson of Italian emigrants to Argentina, also made reference to a wall Hungary is building at the EU’s border.
4. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey talks ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement on Fox News
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said on Fox News Sunday that some anti-law enforcement protesters are missing opportunities to make a difference.
Ramsey was recently forced to cancel a community discussion at Eastern State Penitentiary after demonstrators interrupted him with shouts of “racist police.”
“I think it’s ignorant to do things like that,” Ramsey said. “But I also think the people that are serious in this movement are missing an opportunity to really make a difference.
“If all you want to do is get up during a meeting and yell and scream and shout and then walk out, then you’re not going to get too far because there’s no opportunity for dialogue.”
Ramsey also said, “If they want to really deal with the issue of black lives … then you have to look at the crime that takes place on the streets … black on black crime. If you don’t address that … then this is just going to not result in anything at all positive.”
Ramsey also said the media distorts the view of policing by disproportionately focusing on incidents of police misconduct.
5. Kim Davis asks Kentucky governor to free her in same-sex marriage case
Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who’s refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses, on Monday asked the Kentucky governor to immediately free her from jail, according to court documents obtained by CNN.
“We would like them to release her from jail and provide reasonable, sensible accommodation so she can do her job,” one of her lawyers,
Horatio Mihet, said in a statement. “That would be taking her name off of marriage licenses in Rowan County and allowing her deputies to issue the licenses.”
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s office said Monday he won’t respond, noting that the conflict was a “matter between her and the courts.”
On Sunday, her lawyers appealed the contempt of court motion that sent her to jail five days ago. Her lawyers said they’d file arguments to back up their appeal later Monday or Tuesday.
Davis was reading the Bible in jail and “exudes gentleness and peace,” Mihet said.
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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
