Page 12 - Florida Sentinel 6-23-17

National
Amazon Fighting With Walmart For Low-Income Customer Business; Will Accept Food Stamps Soon
Meet Billionaire Robert Smith
Michael Brown’s Parents Close To Reaching Wrongful Death Settlement
Amazon is in a deal to purchase Whole Foods Market, and will soon take food stamps.
Michael Brown, Jr. was killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson on August 9, 2014 that led to protests around the country. His parents Michael Brown, Sr, and Lesley McSpadden at a rally in 2014.
Kalief Browder’s Brother Is Running For Mayor Of NYC
FERGUSON, MO —- On Monday, the St. Louis Post- Dispatch reported that Michael Brown’s parents are close to reaching a settlement with the city of Ferguson in the wrongful death lawsuit they leveled against Ferguson for the unarmed teen’s shooting death.
The initial suit was asking for $75,000 in addition to punitive damages and a judicial order
against police tactics that un- fairly target minorities. This is after the Justice Department issued a study that found that Ferguson law enforcement em- ployed policies and routines that undermined “community trust, especially among African Americans.”
Anthony Gray, the attor- ney for Brown’s mother, Les- ley McSpadden, declined to comment on the settlement.
SEATTLE, WA —- Amazon is fighting Walmart for busi- ness by making its Prime mem- bership program more affordable for customers on government assistance pro- grams, including food stamps.
Walmart has long been known as one of the largest chain of discount department stores in the U.S., but Amazon is also determined now to go after the same low-income cus- tomers.
Amazon's new programs such as AmazonFresh are aimed at low-income cus- tomers. About 44 million recip-
ients of Supplemental Nutri- tion Assistance Program (also known as SNAP or food stamps) represent a huge po- tential customer base for Ama- zon. They also continue to add more perks to their programs to make it easier for low-in- come customers to shop.
Soon, Amazon may be able to accept online food stamp grocery purchases, thanks to a U.S. Department of Agriculture two-year pilot program that is planning to launch. But, Wal- mart, too is included in the pilot program.
Robert Smith, CEO of Vista Equity Partners.
AUSTIN, TX — Denver na- tive Robert Smith visited his home town to deliver a com- mencement address at the Uni- versity of Denver and took time to do something he seldom does, give an interview.
Smith, who has a net worth of $2.5 billion according to Forbes, is the second richest African-American—behind Oprah Winfrey—and wants to be a role model to young Black men.
“It’s important that these young African-American men understand there are people like Robert Smith out there who can actually be learned in the sciences and engineering and in finance,” said Smith.
He says that tenacity is the main ingredient to his success. Smith said he learned to “pick a purpose and to be dogged in the pursuit of that purpose,” while still in high school.
As a high school junior in the 1970s, he developed an in- terest in computers and sought an internship at Bell Labs in Denver. Those internships, however, were created and re- served for college students.
But that didn’t stop Smith from relentlessly calling the company for six months until Bell Labs invited him for an in- terview.
“I ran my own race. I knew what I wanted, and my persist- ence paid off, and I came in and interviewed. They liked me, and I got the internship.“In fact, I worked there for the next four years during summer and winter breaks.”
He went on to graduate from Cornell University and Colum- bia University before landing a Wall Street job with Goldman Sachs. Smith eventually de- cided to leave his high-paying position to launch Vista Equity Partners, a private equity and venture capital firm.
NEW YORK — Akeem Browder, the brother of Kalief Browder, is throwing his hat into the ring to run for mayor of New York City against Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“We have a problem with the way New York is being run – es- pecially by de Blasio,” Brow- der, who is running as the nominee of the Green Party, said.
Specifically, he said that de Blasio’s promise to close Rik- ers Island, the prison where his brother was held for three years without being convicted of a crime, was simply “lip service” during an election year when he knew promises like that would garner support.
“He knew that would get the people to cheer him,” he said. “He doesn’t have a plan to shut it down.”
AKEEM BROWDER
Browder offered himself as an alternative, saying that his own personal experience made him the perfect candidate be- cause he could relate to what people in the community have been through.
His platform includes a cam- paign to address homelessness, fix schools, and redo taxpayer spending.
Seattle Police Officers Fatally Shoot Pregnant Woman Who Called 9-11
SEATTLE, WA —- Seattle po- lice officers shot and killed a woman at her apartment Sun- day morning in front of “sev- eral children” when the woman, who relatives said was pregnant, “confronted” them with a knife, according to a statement from authorities.
The Seattle Times reported that the 30-year-old woman had called police to report a possible burglary.
At a vigil Sunday night, fam- ily identified the woman as Charleena Lyles, according to the Times, and relatives said she had a history of mental health struggles. She was sev- eral months pregnant, her fam- ily said, and too “tiny” for officers to have felt threatened byher—evenifshehada knife.
Authorities offered few im-
Pregnant Charleena Lyles was fatally shot by 2 officers.
mediate details about what led police to fire their weapons. Early Monday, the police de- partment released an audio recording capturing what they described as “some of the inter- action with the caller prior to the rapid development of the use of force incident.”
Winner Of $43M At Slot Machine Sues Casino Because They Refused To Pay
NEW YORK —-The Queens woman who was offered a steak dinner after staff said her $43 million win at a slot machine was the result of a glitch is suing the casino for the entire jackpot.
Katrina Bookman in Au- gust posed for a selfie at New York’s Resorts World Casino in front of the “Sphinx Slot Ma- chine,” its screen promising her a grand prize of $42,949,672.76. When she at- tempted to collect her cash, however, casino employees told her she hadn’t actually won and offered her a complimentary steak dinner and $2.25 — the prize they claim her slot ma- chine actually should have de- livered.
Bookman’s lawyer, Alan
Katrina Bookman took a photo after winning at the slot machine.
Ripka, told CNN Money his client turned down the chump change and the dinner along with it. Instead, the mother of four filed a lawsuit against the casino off Rockaway Boulevard in the Queens County Supreme Court last Wednesday.
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