Category: Pontiac Tribune

Lancaster, PA (OW) – What’s the best way to push profit-seeking corporations out of the public sphere? Don’t let them take over in the first place. Residents of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania were thrilled to learn this lesson with their recent victory against Geo Group, a giant of the private prison industry. Geo turned into a household name for profiting off the youth and family detention centers that have become hallmarks of President Donald Trump’s inhumane immigration policies. But the company’s shady practices go way back. Geo Group has misspent millions in federal…

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California (Sputnik) –  A Californian jury has ordered Monsanto to pay close to $290 million to a dying man who said the chemical giant’s weedkiller gave him cancer, local media reported, citing the ruling. The jury deliberated for three days before concluding that the firm had failed to warn its clients about cancer risks associated with the product’s main ingredient, glyphosate, USA Today reported. Judge Suzanne Ramos Bolanos said in court Monsanto, which was acquired in June by German pharma giant Bayer, “acted with malice, oppression or fraud and should be punished for its conduct.” The 46-year-old plaintiff, DeWayne Johnson,…

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Memphis, TN (PT) –  The American Civil Liberties Union is back in the news again this week following the successful outcome of yet another lawsuit, this time filed by the ACLU of Tennessee, which was to result in the release into the public domain of a substantial trove of legal documents. The case, brought against the City of Memphis, was based on a consent decree, ‘an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt’, dating from 1978, which lawyers, acting on behalf of the…

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Georgia (TD) – Georgia’s Constitutional Court has ruled that all punishments for cannabis consumption, including fines, be immediately abolished. The court’s ruling – which took place on July 30 – was effective immediately, meaning it is now the law. The only exception to this, according to the Court, is if the cannabis consumption is perceived to cause direct harm to a third party. The Court stated that cannabis use could still be punished if “it is conducted in institutions, in some public places, for example in public transport, in the presence of…

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Miami Beach, FL (PT) – A former North Miami Beach police officer could face up to fifteen years in prison following a vicious assault on a pregnant woman who gave birth prematurely within minutes of arriving at a nearby hospital. The incident took place last Wednesday evening after a seemingly unprovoked attack ended with the woman being kicked in the stomach. According to the former Police officer, Ambar Pachero, the assault had happened in the immediate aftermath of the victim’s partner, Joseph Predelus Jr., punching her sister, Mikaela, in the…

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Redding, CA (Sputnik) – Driven by extreme winds, a deadly wildfire in California described by local firefighters as a ‘monster’ rapidly expanded in size by two-thirds overnight, sending an urban population into a panicked evacuation. The city of Redding, California (population 90,000), saw almost half of its residents evacuated as high winds whipped the deadly Carr Fire across a 125-sq-mile area. Image Source: FB Cal Fire Some 3400 firefighters supported by 17 helicopters are currently battling the blaze which has killed two, including one firefighter and a bulldozer operator. An estimated nine people — including a woman…

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Chicago, IL (ProPublica) – On Thursday, in partnership with WBEZ, we published the latest in our series of investigations into Chicago’s ticketing practices, pinpointing how the city raised the cost of city vehicle sticker tickets as a way to bring in millions of dollars in revenue. That extra revenue didn’t materialize. Instead, the increase in ticket cost disproportionately impacted black Chicagoans, helping force some black motorists into substantial debt, to lose their licenses, lose their cars and even declare bankruptcy. Melissa Sanchez and WBEZ reporter Elliott Ramos talked about this story on WBEZ and WVON…

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Baltimore, MD (PT) – In recent days the Baltimore Police Department has come under sustained criticism for what its critics view as excessive expenditure on overtime, according to a groundbreaking report by Baltimore based TRNN Journalist Stephen Janis, broadcast on Thursday. For some considerable time now the BPD has been justifying the allocation of tens of millions of dollars in public expenditure on overtime payments, due to what it claims is a shortage of Patrol Officers. The principal bone of contention, according to this report, is that with one in every…

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Mexico City (TD) – Drug prohibition has fueled corruption and brutal violence across Mexico for decades. As a radical new president prepares to take office, could legal regulation be the answer? According to Transparency International, Mexico is ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world. A recent report by the Washington Office on Latin America found that at least 14 former or current state governors are currently under investigation for corruption, some of whom are alleged to have colluded with criminal syndicates. The same report also cited evidence of the diminishing trust…

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US (Conversation) – A landmark case in the United States has been settled out of court, giving gun rights advocate Cody Wilson the right to publish instructions on the web that explain how to 3D print firearms. The suit was filed by the Second Amendment Foundation on behalf of Wilson and his company, Defense Distributed, which was previously instructed by the US government to remove such blueprints. The company will resume publishing the files at the end of the month. The Defence Distributed website now shows a landing page that celebrates the victory…

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