Misty Copeland Becomes Lead Ballerina At American Ballet Theatre!

Misty Copeland is the first African American woman to lead the ABT.

An amazing woman became a part of history. World News Today wishes Misty Copeland well on her journey.

She became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in American Ballet Theatre's 75-year history after being named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time the prior month.

The AP reports that Copeland, 32, fought tears as she spoke about her promotion, which she said was a lifetime dream - but such a difficult one to attain that she never really thought it would happen.

"This is it," she said. "This has been my dream since I was 13, to be a principal dancer and reach these heights."

"But it hasn't been overnight," she added at a hastily arranged news conference - a rarity for a ballet promotion. "It's been 14 years of extremely hard work ... I'm just so extremely honored to be an African-American and to be in this position."

And, Copeland said, she hoped her ascension to the very top ranks of ballet would inspire other young dancers of color - "all the little girls" - to stick with their own dreams.

"So many young dancers of color stop dancing at an early age because they just don't think there will be a career path for them," she said. "I hope that will change." She spoke of her own doubts when she joined the ABT corps at age 19 and saw no one "who looked like me."

"I had moments of doubting myself and wanting to quit, because I didn't know if there would be a future for an African-American woman" at that level," she said. "At the same time, it made me so hungry to push through."

The company announced the promotion six days after Copeland made her New York debut as Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake," one of the most important roles in a ballerina's repertoire. The emotional performance ended with Copeland being feted onstage by trailblazing black ballerinas of earlier generations, and with a sea of fans cheering and taking cellphone videos.

Copeland has become increasingly famous over the past several years, achieving a pop culture status exceedingly rare for a ballet dancer.

"We haven't had a ballet dancer who has broken through to popular culture like this since Mikhail Baryshnikov," said Wendy Perron, an author and the former editor of Dance Magazine. "And she's going to bring more attention from that world to ballet."

In the past year, Copeland has appeared on the cover of Time magazine as one of the most influential figures of 2015, and written both a children's book, "Firebird," and a best-selling memoir, "Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina," which has been optioned for a movie. She also was the subject of a documentary at this year's Tribeca Film Festival.

In recent years she's also performed in a music video with Prince, and been featured in a hugely popular online ad for Under Armour sportswear that shows her leaping and spinning in a studio, while a narrator recounts some of the negative feedback she received as a youngster, when she was told she had the wrong body for ballet and had started too late - at 13.

The dancer also has appeared as a guest host on the Fox show "So You Think You Can Dance" and was a presenter at this year's Tony awards.

Many who attended Copeland's historic "Swan Lake" performance last week noted what a diverse audience Copeland had drawn to the Metropolitan Opera House, where ABT performs its spring season. The crowd was filled with young girls - black and white - in their party dresses.

"She singlehandedly made that a diverse audience," Perron said.

Damian Woetzel, former principal dancer for New York City Ballet and now the director of the Vail International Dance Festival, called Copeland's rise "groundbreaking."

"In the racially underrepresented world of ballet, Misty has already had an historic impact," Woetzel said in an email message. "Now, as a groundbreaking principal dancer, she will continue to inspire and make possible much-needed changes for our field and for the arts in America."

Misty becomes a legend.

Born in Kansas City, Copeland moved at age two to California, where, she noted at Tuesday's news conference, she first took ballet classes at the Boys & Girls Clubs of America - not, she said, a common path to becoming a ballerina for an elite company.

She writes in her memoir that her childhood was defined by "packing, scrambling, leaving - and often barely surviving." But she became known as a local dance prodigy, despite her late start, and joined ABT's junior company at age 18, then the full company at 19. She became a soloist at age 24.

Copeland is the first black ballerina and second black dancer overall to be a principal at ABT, after Desmond Richardson, who danced with the company in 1977-1978 and returned later as guest artist. At New York City Ballet, there has never been a black female principal, and only two black male principals. (One of them, Albert Evans, died last week at the age of 46.)

In 1990, Lauren Anderson became a principal dancer at Houston Ballet - the first black female principal in the country. Anderson, now retired, was onstage at last week's "Swan Lake" curtain calls to give Copeland a huge hug and lift her off her feet. Copeland paid tribute on Tuesday.

"It's not me up here," she said. "It's everyone who came before me and got me to this position."

Also named an ABT principal dancer on Tuesday was longtime soloist Stella Abrera. In addition, Maria Kochetkova, a principal with the San Francisco Ballet, and Alban Lendorf, a principal with Royal Danish Ballet, are joining as principals, it was announced.

City Leaders Want Dayton To Merge With Montgomery County!

Dayton, Ohio is struggling. The local leaders want to merge the city with the county.

In the rust belt city of Dayton, Ohio, some local elected leaders have thoughts of merger. They propose to merge Montgomery County with the city of Dayton.

Meaning that every jurisdiction will dissolve and eventually be a part of the city of Dayton.

If the local leader get a ballot measure on the docket and it's approved by the voters, Dayton will be a consolidated-city county similar to cities such as Louisville, Columbus, GA and Lexington, KY. 

Dan Foley is urging the city leaders of every jurisdiction to help.  

Foley has been a strong advocate for regional collaborations including the consolidation of services and the promotion of new models of revenue sharing to promote regional economic development. He has also been a strong advocate for improving the quality of life by spearheading efforts to improve the river corridor, the bikeway system, and amateur sporting events.

Dayton Together is the new shiny coin that Foley and others are trying to pass upon the residents.

They hope that if this works, Dayton's population will surpass Cleveland.

If you do the math, Dayton's residency population is 138,000. Montgomery County's residency population is 437,000. That equals to 565,000 residents.  

The city will officially become the second largest city in the state.

This area is still struggling with issues that date back to the civil rights days. Mainly the conservative minded residents are strongly opposed to this idea. They don't want the problems of the city to come into their neighborhoods. Of course, race is a contributing factor to their opposition.

An example of the concern trolls who went to the Dayton Daily News website to vent off about it.

• Posted by myself333 at 5:49 p.m. Jul. 7, 2015
• Report Abuse

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Dayton, like all cities run by Democrats, is running out of Other People's Money.

Now they would like the rest of the county to be forced to subsidize them.
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• Posted by myself333 at 6:02 p.m. Jul. 7, 2015
• Report Abuse

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County residents have an easy way to decide whether to support merging Dayton with the county.

Simply get in your car, and take a nice leisurely drive through the neighborhoods of East Dayton, West Dayton, and North Dayton. Notice the homes, the cleanliness of the area, etc.

Then compare those neighborhoods with your current area, and decide if you want to merge.

These cities surround Montgomery County, Ohio. Dayton, Ohio is the county seat.

• Brookville
• Carlisle
• Centerville
• Clayton
• Englewood
• Farmersville
• Germantown
• Huber Heights
• Kettering
• Miamisburg
• Moraine
• New Lebanon
• Oakwood
• Phillipsburg
• Riverside
• Springboro
• Trotwood
• Union
• Vandalia
• Verona

There are townships and unincorporated communities in Montgomery County. The proposed merger will dissolve the townships and incorporate every land mass into the city of Dayton.

Wikipedia has explained a consolidated city-county in this form. A consolidated city-county is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation, and a county, which is an administrative division of a state. It has the powers and responsibilities of both types of entities.

A consolidated city-county is different from an independent city, although the latter may result from consolidation of a city and a county and may also have the same powers as a consolidated city-county. An independent city is a city not deemed by its state to be located within the boundary of any county, and recognized by its state as a legal territorial entity separate from surrounding or adjoining counties. Not considering Hawaii, which has no independent cities, the Midwest and Upper South have the highest concentration of large consolidated city-county governments in the United States, including Indianapolis, Indiana; Nashville, Tennessee; Jacksonville, Florida; Louisville, Kentucky; Kansas City, Kansas; and Lexington, Kentucky. Currently, the largest consolidated city-county in the United States by population is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while the largest by land-area is Sitka, Alaska.

Any thought on this?

ESPN Fired Keith Olbermann Out The Cannon Again!

Keith Olbermann once again is without a television home.

Where will the controversial agitator go next?

Let's get through the list of jobs, Olbermann had.

ESPN
CNN
Fox Sports
MSNBC
Current TV
ESPN

Like O'Loofus, his rival has a problem with his temper. His temper is way worse than O'Loofus.

Once again the ego managed to destroy his two year gig at ESPN. As of today, Olbermann will finish his show. The executives had enough of the antics. Keith Olbermann hosted his sport program Olbermann on ESPN-2. The show dealt with sports, politics and weird events.

Olbermann was recently suspended for offensive comments about Penn State.

ESPN released a statement obtained by the AP.

"Keith is a tremendous talent who has consistently done timely, entertaining and thought-provoking work since returning to ESPN," the network said in a statement Wednesday. "While the show's content was distinctive and extremely high quality, we ultimately made a business decision to move in another direction. We wish Keith nothing but the best and trust that his skill and ability will lead him to another promising endeavor."

Olbermann was a "SportsCenter" anchor on ESPN from 1992-97. He went on to work for Fox Sports (1998-01) and switched to news with MSNBC (2003-11) and Current TV (2011-12) before returning to ESPN. He also was part of NBC's NFL coverage for the 2007-09 seasons.

A similar spin to his breakout news program Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC.

Olbermann is a principle liberal agitator who helped Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell propel into primetime. He helped them build successful shows on MSNBC.

But oftentimes, he often clashed with Joe Scarborough, Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz and Al Sharpton.

He was pulled off MSNBC after the conservative Craigslist and Newsbusters reported him donating to Democratic candidates. He was pulled off MSNBC for two weeks. After the two weeks pass, he would end his show on a commentary and a reactionary call.

Then a few months later he would turn up on Al Gore's Current TV network. He would bring his Countdown show to the struggling network. Before liberal talk radio agitators Stephanie Miller, Bill Press and Cenk Uyger jumped onto the network, Olbermann abruptly was fired from the network.

Olbermann had a biter fallout with Al Gore and Current TV co-founder Joel Hyatt.

Olbermann would later get his royalties from Current TV.

Current TV went bust and sold off to Al Jazeera.

Olberamann's gig at ESPN was supposed to be a comeback. This comeback didn't last long. It became one of the reasons to his legacy will forever be marred in controversy.

It would be nice if MSNBC hire him back. They're struggling for ratings success.

For the time being, Olbermann will be off the air. Where will he appear next?

The Flag Is Down!

Looks like another victory in the battle for progress.

South Carolina lawmakers passed a bill that will take the Confederate flag off the state capitol grounds and have placed in a historical museum. Republican governor Nikki Haley is likely to sign it.

The flag coming down will certainly piss off the racist right. They believe that the flag represents Southern pride and heritage. Bullshit.

The flag represents a losing side of history. The AP reports that state lawmakers overwhelmingly passed this. There were some Republican and Democratic lawmakers who voted against lowering the flag.

The push that would bring down the Confederate flag for good only started after nine black churchgoers, including state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, were gunned down during Bible study at the historic Emanuel African Episcopal Church in Charleston on June 17. Police said the white gunman's motivation was racial hatred. Then three days later, photos surfaced of the suspect, Dylann Roof, holding Confederate flags.

"I am 44 years old. I never thought I'd see this moment. I stand with people who never thought they would see this as well," said House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, who called the victims martyrs. "It's emotional for us not just because it came down, but why it came down."

Nikki Haley, South Carolina governor.

Republican Rep. Rick Quinn, whose amendment appeared it might at least delay the flag's removal for several hours, was happy too after getting a promise that lawmakers would find money for a special display at the Relic Room for the Confederate flag that was about to be removed as well as the one that flew over the Statehouse dome in 2000 when a compromise was passed to move the rebel banner to its current location.

"It was done in a way that was a win to everyone," said Quinn, who voted for the bill.

The back-to-back votes came around 1 a.m. Thursday after more than 13 hours of passionate and contentious debate.

As House members deliberated well into the night, there were tears of anger and shared memories of Civil War ancestors. Black Democrats, frustrated at being asked to show grace to Civil War soldiers as the debate wore on, warned the state was embarrassing itself.

Changing the Senate bill could have meant it taking weeks or even months to remove the flag, perhaps blunting momentum that has grown since the church massacre.

Republican Rep. Jenny Horne reminded her colleagues she was a descendent of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and scolded fellow members of her party for stalling the debate with dozens of amendments.

She cried as she remembered Pinckney's funeral and his widow, who was hiding with one of their daughters in a church office as the gunman fired dozens of shots.

"For the widow of Sen. Pinckney and his two young daughters, that would be adding insult to injury and I will not be a part of it!" she screamed into a microphone.

She said later during a break she didn't intend to speak but got frustrated with fellow Republicans.

Opponents of removing the flag talked about grandparents who passed down family treasures and lamented that the flag had been "hijacked" or "abducted" by racists.

Rep. Mike Pitts, who remembered playing with a Confederate ancestor's cavalry sword while growing up, said for him the flag is a reminder of how dirt-poor Southern farmers fought Yankees not because they hated blacks or supported slavery, but because their land was being invaded.

Those soldiers should be respected just as soldiers who fought in the Middle East or Afghanistan, he said, recalling his own military service. Pitts then turned to a lawmaker he called a dear friend, recalling how his black colleague nearly died in Vietnam.

Black lawmakers told their own stories of ancestors. Rep. Joe Neal talked about tracing his family back to four brothers, brought to America in chains to be bought by a slave owner named Neal who changed their last names and pulled them apart from their families.

"The whole world is asking, is South Carolina really going to change, or will it hold to an ugly tradition of prejudice and discrimination and hide behind heritage as an excuse for it," Neal said.

Other Democrats suggested any delay would let Ku Klux Klan members planning a rally July 18 a chance to dance around the Confederate flag.

Instead, Democrats were using a line Gov. Haley often says, calling it "a great day in South Carolina."

The governor issued her own statement. "It is a new day in South Carolina, a day we can all be proud of, a day that truly brings us all together as we continue to heal, as one people and on," she said.

Baltimore's Top Cop Fired Out The Cannon!

The city of Baltimore is dealing with a rise in violence. The top cop failed. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had to load him in the cannon and fire him out. Anthony Batts is out.

Baltimore police commissioner Anthony Batts is fired out the cannon.

The city of Baltimore seen a huge spike in gun violence and the junk food media is bothering Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Marilyn Mosby.

For you see, the concern trolls aren't concerned about the illegal guns on the street. They're just trying to finger the rise in violence on Blake and Mosby, because they supported the decision to charge six officers who let Freddie Gray die in custody with involuntary homicide.

Batts was loaded in the cannon and fired out of it.

The AP confirms that this decision comes straight out of the mayor's office. Blake said that homicides in the cities are not acceptable and his performance is poor. This is a distraction. She stuffed him in and fired him out!

Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, who has only been with the department since January, will serve as interim commissioner, Rawlings-Blake said.

"We need a change," the mayor told a news conference, which was attended by Davis. "This was not an easy decision but it is one that is in the best interest of Baltimore. The people of Baltimore deserve better and we're going to get better."

The firing comes 2 1/2 months after the city broke out in riots following the death of Freddie Gray, who died in April of injuries he received in police custody. Six police officers have been criminally charged in Gray's death.

After the unrest, arrests in the city plummeted and homicides spiked. Baltimore's homicide total this year is 156, according to police. That's a 48 percent increase compared with the same time last year. Shootings have increased 86 percent. In one of the latest examples, gunmen jumped out of two vans and fired at a group of people a few blocks from an urban university campus Tuesday night, killing three people.

Police said Wednesday that the shooting wasn't random, but no arrests have been made.

"As we have seen in recent weeks, too many continue to die on our streets," Rawlings-Blake said. Referring to Batts, she said "recent events proved that his being here was a distraction."

"We cannot continue to debate the leadership of the department," the mayor said. "We cannot continue to have the level of violence we've seen in recent weeks in this city."

Batts and Rawlings-Blake are African-American, as is the city's top prosecutor, Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby. Davis is white. Sixty percent of the city's population is black, while the police department is 48 percent African-American.

Mosby said her office has already met with Davis and she looks forward to working with him.

The Rev. Alvin Gwynn Sr., president of the city's Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, said the firing was long overdue. Gwynn, who began calling for Batts' resignation within days of Gray's death, blamed the bloody spike in violence on the mayor's previous reluctance to fire the commissioner.

"We have people who died because they delayed," he said Wednesday.

Keonna Stokes, 22, a resident of the housing development in front of which Gray was arrested, said she was glad to see Batts removed from his position, and hopes a new commissioner will have a lower tolerance for police misconduct.

"The police wouldn't do the things they do if the commissioner didn't allow it," she said. "He should have been fired. We call the police when we really need them, when people hurt us. But now we don't call them, because they hurt us. If they didn't Freddie would still be here."

The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a civil rights review of the department, and on Tuesday, Batts announced that an outside organization will review the police response to the civil unrest that followed Gray's death. Most of the unrest took place on April 27, prompted by Gray's death on April 19.

The Baltimore police union released its own scathing post-mortem report Wednesday accusing Batts and other top brass of instructing officers not to engage with rioters and to allow looting and destruction to occur.

"The officers repeatedly expressed concern that the passive response of the Baltimore police commanders to the civil unrest allowed the disorder to grow into full-scale rioting," Gene Ryan, president of the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, wrote in the report.

Following Batts' firing Wednesday, the union issued a statement reiterating the report's concerns but also said it would work with Davis to improve the situation.

Davis was previously chief of police in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and assistant chief in Prince George's County, Maryland. The mayor said that in addition to reducing crime, Davis would "bring accountability to police, hold officers who act out of line accountable for their actions."

Rod J. Rosenstein, U.S. Attorney for Maryland, praised Davis, saying he helped reform the Prince George's County Police Department, "raising morale and professionalism while dramatically reducing crime."

In his own remarks to the news conference, Davis said his goals would include improving the relationship with the officers who work for him. "I will walk with them and serve with them and be with them every step of the way," he said.

But Davis also has indicated a willingness in the past to speak out against police abuses.

As Anne Arundel chief, he issued a news release disagreeing with a decision by the county Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 70 to donate $1,070 to a defense fund for Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Wilson, who is white, fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, on Aug. 9.

Rawlings-Blake appointed Batts as police commissioner in September 2012.

His contract with the city paid him $190,000 and was to run through June 2020. It includes a provision for a severance payment equal to his annual salary if he is terminated without cause.

Hours after he was fired, Batts sent a short statement to the Baltimore Sun.

"I've been honored to serve the citizens and residents of Baltimore," he said. "I've been proud to be a police officer for this city."

The Simpsons Will Go On: Harry Shearer Is Back!

Fox and The Simpsons finalized a deal with Harry Shearer. Harry plays numerous supporting characters on the country's longest running animated sitcom.

Many fans felt that the lost of comedian/talk radio host Harry Shearer would end Fox's longtime animated series. Fear not, Harry's worked out a deal with Al Jean, James Brooks and creator Matt Groening. He signaled that he's down with the series for a few more seasons.

A few months back, Harry was not a happy camper when it came to his cut of the check. He said that for all the work he's contributed to the show, the quality of the product isn't benefiting him. He made it clear, if he's not getting paid enough, he's done.

He contributes to a vast majority of characters in The Simpsons hometown of Springfield.

Don't panic, Mr. Burns and Smithers will continue on The Simpsons.

To lose him would be the end of five major supporting characters.

Harry contributes to 20 supporting characters in the series.

The remaining cast have confirmed signing on to series for the next two seasons. Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith and Hank Azaria are down with the series.

All have been in their roles since 1989.

Dan Castellaneta - Homer, Krusty, Itchy, Bumblebee Man Santa's Little Helper, and others.
Julie Kavner - Marge, Patty and Selma.
Nancy Cartwright - Bart, Nelson, Milhouse, Maggie, Ralph Wiggum and others.
Yeardley Smith - Lisa
Hank Azaria - Apu, Moe, Chief Wiggum, Carl, Prof. Frink, and others.
Harry Shearer - Flanders, Seymour Skinner, Lenny, Smithers, Mr. Burns, Dr. Hibbert, and others.

Omaha's Baby-Face Gangsta Becomes The Talk Of The Nation!

Boy facing murder charges in Omaha.

The racist right found its newest boogeyman, a 12-year old Nebraska boy who will be charged as an adult in the murder of a man in a botched armed robbery.

Jarrell Milton was caught by the law aided by the U.S. Marshals.

He was hanging out in Minneapolis over a stack of miles from the city of Omaha.

The conservative Craigslist of course linked the story to The Smoking Gun website. I wouldn't be surprised that the first thing to come in social media word vomit section is NIGGER or OBAMA.

Newser and Huffington Post have also reported this story.  Milton, his brother Jamar and friend Shuntayvious Primes-Willis lured two men into a park in Omaha. They were selling some baggies of Mary Jane.

Instead, the crew used their Second Amendment right to robbed the tricks.

One victim was wounded and one victim was killed.

According to prosecutors, the three alleged assailants were tied to street gangs.

Shuntayvious Primes-Willis is 15 and Jamar Milton is 17. They are being charged as adults for first-degree murder. That charge for them could carry life in the iron college. Nebraska ended the death card last year despite pleas from its Republican governor and state lawmakers.

Teens will be charged as adults in a botched robbery that led to murder.

Police have recovered two guns used during the crime and are searching for the third weapon.

Jarrell Milton will be heading to juvie time out. Investigators did not disclose how the boy made his trip up to the Twin Cities. But rest assured that Milton's friends and family will be charged if they aided him on his mission to elude state authorities.

Again the Milton brothers and Primes-Willis are innocent until proven guilty. They will face a court date in August.

Okay concern trolls what will you post in the social media?

A) If I had a son, would he be like Jarrell.
B) This little thug and his buddies.....
C) Will Obama, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson say something about this.
D) You see racial violence is caused by Blacks....
E)  I would have......
F)  All of these above

When it comes to crime, it's a matter of what race does it the most! That's what our friends in the conservative media harp on.

Crime doesn't discriminate. A person commits a crime based on opportunities. A person doesn't care about the life, the property or the monetary of the victim.

That's why crime is called the thrill of opportunity.

World News Today send our condolences to the victim Tamell Gray and send our prayers to Charles Fisher.