Wands at the ready! Now, swish and click on all the magical goodies Pottery Barn’s latest Harry Potter-themed collection has to offer. Accio Hedwig beanbag chair! Accio golden snitch task lamp! Accio bookshelf wallpaper! Accio all of it! There are even trunks so kids will be Hogwarts ready. Drop them off at King’s Cross Station. Don’t worry, they’ll figure out how to make the rest of the journey. The collection spans across Pottery Barn, PBteen, and Pottery Barn Kids and includes furnishings, bedding, trinkets, and more decor. 

A Georgia pastor’s eulogy of Aretha Franklin has sparked criticism from some people who accused him of being homophobic, sexist and demeaning to other black people. 

The Rev. Jasper Williams Jr. of the Salem Bible Church in Atlanta touched on Franklin’s life and career but also criticized black-on-black crime and said single mothers are incapable of raising sons by themselves. He said black America has lost its soul and that it’s “now time for black America to come back home.” 

“There was a time when we as a race had a thriving economy,” Williams said. “I remember we had our own little grocery stores. We had our own little hotels. They weren’t big and fancy, but they were ours. …

“As bad as the days as Jim Crow and segregation were … it forced us to each other instead of forcing us on each other. We quickly come to realize that as a people, all we really have is one another.

“But when we marched, when we protested, when we got through saying we shall overcome, yes, we were rewarded with integration, we got what we fought for, we got what we marched for. But with the birth of integration, there also came the loss of not only the black community’s economy, but there also came the loss of the black man’s soul.”

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Williams said the majority of black households are run by women — but also said women cannot raise boys to be men.  

“Where is your soul, black man?” he asked. “As I look in your house, there are no fathers in the home no more. Where is your soul?”

“Seventy percent of our households are led by our precious, proud, fine black women. But as proud, beautiful and fine as our black women are, one thing a black woman cannot do. A black woman cannot raise a black boy to be a man. She can’t do that. She can’t do that.” 

Then, Williams touched on the Black Lives Matter movement and called for an end to black-on-black violence. 

“It amazes me how it is that when the police kills one of us, we’re ready to protest march, destroy innocent property,” he said. “We’re ready to loot, steal whatever we want. … But when we kill 100 of us, nobody says anything. Nobody does anything.”

He continued: “If you choose to ask me today — Do black lives matter? Let me answer like this. No. Black lives do not matter. Black lives will not matter. … Black lives should not matter. Black lives must not matter. Until black people start respecting black lives and stop killing ourselves, black lives can never matter.”

Williams talked about the importance of strengthening black households and the importance of homes led by a man and a woman.  

“Anytime we stray away from God’s design for what the home is supposed to be, heavy will be our results,” he said.

“God has told us what to do with our home. He designed the home. I mean God put in a home a man and a woman, a father and a mother. God put in the home a husband and a wife. A provider and a nurturer.” 

Twitter user A’Ja Lyve, who uses the handle @ajalyve, accused the pastor of being homophobic and sexist.

“Reverend Jasper Williams Jr, pastor of Salem Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, is a homophobic, sexist, misogynist, ableist, uneducated bigot who is disrespecting Auntie Aretha Franklin at her funeral,” Lyve wrote. “She wasn’t about nonsense.”

Twitter user Tariq Nasheed, using the handle @tariqnasheed, wrote: 

“Reverend Jasper Williams plantation style speech at #ArethaFranklinFuneral is a prime example why there is a total disconnect between young Black people and the older Black church crowd. All that cowardly “you’s gots to do better” talk ain’t fooling these kids.” 

One Twitter user, @FreeBlackMan, seemed to like the pastor’s message. 

“There’s a reason Aretha Franklin ASKED Jasper Williams to do her eulogy. She knew what time it was. She knew her people needed some truth. Most will reject it and continue to embrace chaos. Some will hear, learn, and change course. Time is running out. #ArethaHomegoing,” he wrote. 

He also said: “What good is a community without the strength and discipline of fatherhood? We see the results every day. Black boys and men slaughter each other by the thousands. No one can bring correction, because the community has no manhood. Men bring strength, correction, and direction.”

Contact Ann Zaniewski: 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AnnZaniewski. 

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Sarah Hirshland has been CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee for just 11 days, but she wasted no time in making her strong feelings known about the chaos and controversy that continues to engulf USA Gymnastics.

In her first public statement as CEO, Hirshland blasted USA Gymnastics in an email to USA TODAY Sports on Friday night, saying “it is time to consider making adjustments in the leadership.”

“We’ve been following their activity and as we close the day I’m afraid I can offer nothing but disappointment,” Hirshland wrote. “Under the circumstances we feel that the organization is struggling to manage its obligations effectively and it is time to consider making adjustments in the leadership. We are engaging with the USAG board to offer our perspective, and also our assistance, as they manage the situation. We expect some additional discussions will occur this weekend.”

Hirshland’s comments came as USA Gymnastics was once again embroiled in a controversy of its own making, this time asking for the resignation of a top official just three days after hiring her.

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Mary Lee Tracy, who had been hired as elite development coordinator by USA Gymnastics CEO Kerry Perry earlier this week, had defended Larry Nassar in 2016 even though Nassar had been arrested after about 50 women and girls said he sexually abused them.

Tracy’s hiring drew wide criticism, including from Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman. Tracy announced in a Facebook post earlier Friday afternoon that Perry told her she had the option to resign or be removed after she reached out to Raisman. Tracy initially said she chose to resign, but an hour later said she had notified USA Gymnastics that she would not resign.

“We strongly believe in a culture that encourages our athletes and survivors to speak up and make their voices heard. As a representative of the organization, (Tracy) inappropriately contacted a survivor, who is also a represented plaintiff, in response to that survivor’s public criticism of her,” USA Gymnastics said in a statement released early Friday evening.

“USA Gymnastics decided it would be best to move forward without Ms. Tracy in this role.”

Perry’s nine-month tenure as USA Gymnastics CEO has been marked by intense criticism, a stunning lack of transparency and little tangible action in helping the organization recover from the Nassar scandal. Nassar, the longtime team physician for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, is serving an effective life sentence after pleading guilty to federal child pornography charges and state charges of sexual abuse. More than 350 women and girls said Nassar abused them.

What happens next with Perry is uncertain, but USA Gymnastics’ Board of Directors already had an informational call scheduled for Saturday, according to a member who spoke on condition of anonymity because the board is not authorized to discuss its meetings.

The USOC also has the option of decertifying USA Gymnastics as the national governing body for the sport.

Hirshland’s statement comes in stark contrast to months of inaction and uncertainty within the U.S. Olympic world as the sex abuse scandal widened in 2016 and early 2017.

The USOC finally forced out former USA Gymnastics CEO Steve Penny in March 2017. Then, this past January, former USOC CEO Scott Blackmun called on the entire USA Gymnastics board of directors to resign and promised an independent investigation into the scandal.

Contributing: Nancy Armour.

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Strapped to a chair at the arms and legs. A hood pulled over your head.

For Virginia parents, a state investigation’s findings earlier this year on the treatment of immigrant teens in a detention center was a wake up call.

The use of physical restraint, mechanical restraints and seclusion on children shocked many; but investigators concluded that abuse did not occur, because such treatment is within legal guidelines in Virginia.

What many parents did not realize is that much of the same use of restraint and seclusion — including strapping teenagers to chairs and locking them in seclusion rooms — is also allowed in public schools throughout the Commonwealth.

In the 2013-2014 school year, public school students in the state were restrained more than 6,000 times. They were strapped to chairs, physically restrained or placed into seclusion. This is according to the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection, the only source of comprehensive data about the use of restraint in the nation’s public schools.

Virginia is not alone. During the 2015–16 school year, the nation’s public school students were physically restrained, mechanically restrained or secluded 122,000 times. In nearly 86,000 of those instances, students were subjected to physical or mechanical restraint, and in 36,000 were subjected to seclusion, according to the data collection.

The vast majority of those students were in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs, according to the civil rights data collection.

And in fact, since January 2016 there have been three confirmed incidents of restraint at the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind, according to VSDB Superintendent Pat Trice.

Restraint happens among at-risk youth. The News Leader requested information from the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center and The Commonwealth Center for Children and Adolescents on the number of incidents of restraint and seclusion at those facilities.

While teenagers in both facilities continue their studies under special supervision, a separate set of laws and regulations enable restraint and seclusion of its residents.

What’s surprising is what little difference there is between restraint allowed in those special circumstances and in our public schools.

At institutions such as the Commonwealth Center, the decision to use restraints or seclusion is a “clinical decision,” made by a medical professional — a doctor or psychiatrist.

But who makes those decisions in a public school in a crisis situation?

As it turns out, nobody is trained to carry out those policies.

Local school districts have restraint policies but take a different path to de-escalation

The News Leader requested information from all three local school districts on whether they had restraint equipment or space dedicated for seclusion in any of their facilities, as well as numbers and documentation for all incidents of restraint and seclusion over the last five school years.

Douglas Shifflett, assistant superintendent of Augusta County Public Schools, replied in an email that the district does not have any documents of incidents because “we do not use any of the methods you reference,” and noted that the school does not have any equipment or gear for restraint or dedicated space for seclusion.

But the county does in fact have a policy on restraint, section 7.560 of their policy manual. It’s a brief document that puts the district in line with guidelines proposed by the Virginia School Boards Association and set out in an appendix of a January 2015 report to the state Senate by the Virginia Commission on Youth.

Shifflett’s larger point is that the district’s training seeks to eliminate that risk altogether by following a different procedure, and for the five years of data the News Leader requested, the county reported no incidents of restraint or seclusion.

Shifflett wrote that the county uses the Mandt System, “a comprehensive, integrated approach to preventing, de-escalating, and if necessary, intervening when the behavior of an individual poses a threat of harm to themselves and/or others.”

“The focus of The Mandt System is on building healthy relationships between all the stakeholders in human service settings in order to facilitate the development of an organizational culture that provides the emotional, psychological, and physical safety needed in order to teach new behaviors to replace the behaviors that are labeled ‘challenging,’” wrote Shifflett in an email, providing boilerplate language also found on the reputable training system’s website.

The same method is used by Staunton City Schools, according to Brenda Lovekamp, administrative assistant to the superintendent.

Staunton responded to The News Leader’s request, confirming they had no incidents of restraint or seclusion in the past five school years. They also have a policy on restraint and seclusion.

The city does operate restraint equipment that can be part of Individualized Education Programs. “We provide support devices to assist students in maintaining safe and proper posture as directed by the IEPs,” Lovekamp said.

These types of restraint do not fall under the restraint requiring documentation of incidents. They do require consent. “All IEPs are implemented after signed consent from parents,” said Lovekamp.

IEPs are important parts of educational planning for students with special disabilities or needs.

For students with disabilities, occupational therapists and physical therapists “approve equipment, and parents agree to the use of equipment to provide support and safety restraint when agreeing to the annual IEP,” said Ryan Barber, Waynesboro Public Schools Director of Student Services, in that school division’s response to the Leader.

The occupational and physical therapists “provide training for specialized seating to help students who have limited core strength. Students are not placed in seclusion,” Barber says. “The training is provided annually and whenever a new supportive device is agreed to by the IEP Team.”

Waynesboro, like Staunton and Augusta County, avoided the use of restraint or seclusion though they also have a school policy in place.

“Our school division has not used restraint or seclusion in the last five years,” said Barber.

Barber also said there were no designated areas in school buildings for seclusion and restraint. “It’s not a practice we employ so areas are not designated.”

Waynesboro also subscribes to the Mandt System training. “The entire purpose of the (Mandt) training is to de-escalate situations and limit physical contact between our staff and students,” said Barber.

The Mandt System is used by 36 school districts state-wide, more than any other training system designed to de-escalate crisis situations, according to a 2015 Virginia Commission on Youth report.

In January 2015, the Commission presented a report to the governor and General Assembly. Its recommendations included introducing legislation (which passed in February of 2015) to standardize regulations to be consistent with the 2009 Department of Education Guidelines and U.S. Department of Education’s 15 Principles on Seclusion and Restraint; and supporting “efforts on training appropriate parties, including School Resource Officers and School Security Officers, in student development, de-escalation, and conflict mediation in the school setting.”

The Commission report recommended approving the Virginia School Boards Association draft policy on seclusion and restraint, and providing funding for additional training of de-escalation programs such as Mandt.

The Association policy draft appear to be the basis for all three local school districts’ policies on Seclusion and Restraint.

Yet without equipment or training for the execution of such policies, the schools are not capable of applying any form of restraint in a crisis situation. 

Meanwhile, local facilities that are fully trained for the use of restraint and seclusion are among the types of sites that have come under harsh national criticism for using these options too often and as punishment for behavior as opposed to a last option for preventing a student from harming themselves or others.

In our follow-up stories to this report, we’ll dig deeper into questions of restraint and the law:

• We look at how the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services characterizes these institutions’ use of restraint, as well as the training that personnel there receive.
• We ask the police how they’d respond if they were called to a scene and witnessed a teen tied up in a chair in a residential setting. 
• We examine proposed new regulations that if finalized may prohibit the use of mechanical restraint and alter the guidelines for physical restraint and seclusion.
• We ask local districts, ‘What happens when a hands-off approach doesn’t work?’ 

 

Next: how is ‘restraint’ defined?: Kids restrained at Staunton mental health hospital for safety

 

Sandra Harwitt, Special to USA TODAY
Published 9:14 p.m. ET Aug. 31, 2018 | Updated 10:13 p.m. ET Aug. 31, 2018

NEW YORK – As great as Venus and Serena Williams are at tennis,  it’s just a fact that Serena is the better sister.

The 30th installment of their career rivalry was meant to dazzle fans Friday night at the US Open. But it turned out again to be all about Serena, as she won handily even though she needed to have her ankle taped during the first set.

The quick 6-1, 6-2 victory increased Serena’s domination of her big sister to 18-12 since they first played 20 years ago.

“It’s not easy, she’s my best friend and she means the world to me,” Serena 36, told the crowd after Venus, 38, left the court after the 72-minute match. “She’s supportive of me, and I’m supportive of her. Every time she loses I feel I lose, too. But we all know that there’s a whole lot more to life than tennis.

“I love her with all my heart and she’s the reason I’m here, and Jehovah,” Serena added. “After God, I owe everything to her.”

Serena carries the mental edge over Venus, which happened as their encounters continued to favor Serena.  As talented as Venus is – she has won seven Grand Slam titles – Serena is a fraction better at every aspect of the game.

Serena, who leads Venus 11-5 in Grand Slam matches, has won nine of their last 11 meetings, dating to a 2009 semifinal at the Miami tournament. 

“I think it’s the best match she’s ever played against me,” Venus said. “I don’t think I did a lot wrong. But she just did everything right. Obviously that level is definitely where she’s going to want to stay during this whole tournament.

“She played so well, I never got to really even touch any balls. When your opponent plays like that, it’s not really anything to be upset about. The only thing I, maybe, could have done was put more first serves in. Any shot that I hit great, she hit a greater shot. Not a lot I can do.”

Serena’s third-round victory shows how far she has come since she returned from maternity leave at Indian Wells in March.  Williams  stepped away from the tour after she won her 23rd Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January 2017 while pregnant. Her daughter, Alexis Olympia, was born a year ago Saturday.

Venus did win the sister’s last encounter in the third round at Indian Wells, but Serena was  dealing with a long layoff at the time.

The sisters’ history shows that whoever wins the first set tends to win the match and that happened again Friday night for the 26th time in 30 meetings.

Serena was in control of the match from the outset with her only wobble coming when she turned over her ankle while going up 30-40 on Venus’ serve in the second game of the match. Serena saved the one break point she faced in the match and capably broke Venus on four of 10 opportunities presented.

While Venus leaves Friday night knowing she won’t win a third US Open trophy this year, Serena is still on course for history.

Serena is tied with Chris Evert for the most US Open titles at six. If she can pick up a seventh this year,  she’ll tie Margaret Court for most Grand Slam singles titles at 24.

Serena will next face Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in the fourth round Sunday.

 

 

Celtic striker Moussa Dembele has completed a £19.7m move to Lyon, the French club have said.

The Ligue 1 club’s president Jean-Michel Aulas said the French under-21 forward has signed a five-year deal.

The Scottish champions announced on Friday night that they had accepted an offer for Dembele.

Manager Brendan Rodgers said earlier in the day that a “significant” bid had been rejected for the 22-year-old, and that he did not expect him to be sold.

However, in a statement, Rodgers later said the fresh bid had been accepted “to serve the best interests” of “the culture and environment” at Celtic.

“The board and myself are united and they have been very supportive to me on this issue,” Rodgers said.

Dembele – who was halfway through a four-year deal – sat out Thursday’s Europa League win over Suduva after Lyon’s bid emerged.

The former Fulham player later posted two tweets, containing messages which read: “A man, without his word, is nothing. A real man keeps his word”, and “A lie has many variations, the truth has none”.

On Friday, he made a brief appearance on the club’s Lennoxtown training pitch before retreating indoors.

“It is vital to make clear that we have never promised any player that he can leave the club at a particular time,” added Rodgers in the club statement.

“It has never happened. In fact, we have said all along that we did not wish to sell Moussa, given the circumstances within the transfer window and that is why we rejected a significant offer yesterday.

“However, this particular decision to accept this offer has been taken in order to serve the best interests of the first-team squad, my coaching team and the culture and environment we have created in these last two seasons.”

Are Celtic weaker? Or is it good business? – analysis

Sportscene pundit and former Scotland midfielder Michael Stewart

Rodgers said the deal wasn’t likely to happen because it didn’t give him time to recruit a replacement. What’s changed? This transfer window has descended into farce for Celtic. The squad is dramatically weaker now and a lot of it is self inflicted.

BBC Scotland pundit and former Hibs striker Tam McManus

£18m for Dembele is terrific business for Celtic. It’s unreal, given they picked him up for £500,000. He was clearly unsettled and wanted to go. The club got the absolute most they could have in my opinion. They had to punt him now.

WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence turned to the Bible when asked recently what he makes of a new critical biography that calls him as a “Christian supremacist.”

“The Bible says count it all joy when you endure trials of many kinds,” Pence told the Christian Broadcasting Network in an interview excerpt released Friday. “Any time I’m criticized for my belief in Jesus Christ, I just breath a prayer of praise.”

In “The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence,” that came out this week, authors Michael D’Antonio and Peter Eisner cast Pence’s background – congressman, Indiana governor, Trump VP – in a harsh light, arguing that “the most successful Christian supremacist in American history” is already functioning as a “kind of replacement president” and is preparing to “fashion a nation more pleasing to his god and corporate sponsors.”

After New York Times columnist Frank Bruni wrote about the book under the headline “Mike Pence, Holy Terror,” religious leaders and other Pence supporters accused Bruni and the book’s authors of religious bigotry. Saying he’d “never heard such hatred poured out against such a good man,” evangelist Franklin Graham urged supporters to pray that God will put a “hedge of protection” around Pence and his family.

“You’ve been under attack,” David Brody, chief political analyst for CBN News, said to Pence in asking for his reaction.

Pence told Brody, “I really don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it.”

“This is a nation of faith,” Pence said. “We’ll continue to stand for the things that we believe in.” 

Pence, who has long described himself as a “Christian, a conservative and a Republican – in that order,” also defended his faith in February after one of the co-hosts of the ABC daytime talk show The View cracked that Pence is mentally ill if he thinks Jesus is talking to him. 

“It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. It’s another thing when Jesus talk to you,” Joy Behar, an actress and comedian, said on the show. “That’s called mental illness, if I’m not correct. Hearing voices.”

Pence responded that Behar’s comments are “evidence of how out of touch some in the mainstream media are with the faith and values of the American people.”

“I’d like to laugh about it, but I really can’t,” Pence said at the time.

 

 

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