Lifestyle

Tyre Nichols Mother Says Ex-Cops Who Beat Her Son Won’t Look Her In Eye In Court

Published

1 year ago

February 17, 2023

Tyre Nichols Mother Says Ex-Cops Who Beat Her Son Won’t Look Her In Eye In Court

Fox13

The mom of Tyre Nichols says the 5 former Memphis cops on trial for her son’s demise are clearly afraid to face some exhausting truths … ‘trigger she says they will not look her within the eye.

Tyre’s mother, RowVaughn Wells, says she’s going to be entrance and middle at each courtroom date because the trial unfolds … however she says, to date, the ex-cops lack the braveness to face her.

MEMPHIS POLICE MUG SHOTS

Former Memphis PD officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith made their first courtroom look Friday … placing them in the identical room as Tyre’s mother and stepdad. She says they refused to even look her method.

Memphis Police Division

The fired cops have been arrested and indicted final month on a slew of felony costs … second-degree homicide, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression … and on Friday they every pleaded not responsible.

1/07/23

Memphis Police Division

Tyre’s mother says she’s dwelling a nightmare … however she’s vowing to maintain displaying as much as courtroom in assist of her late son and see the trial by means of to the tip.

Remembering Tyre Nichols

The subsequent courtroom date is not scheduled till Could 1 … and will probably be attention-grabbing to see if the officers look RowVaughn within the eye then.

Lifestyle

Hold on to your wishes — there's a 'Spider in the Well'

Published

5 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

Hold on to your wishes — there's a 'Spider in the Well'

Spider in the Well, written and illustrated by Jess Hannigan

Once upon a time, in the folkloric town of Bad Göodsburg, which is probably in Germany, there was an overworked newsboy.

Not only did he bring the people their daily news, he also swept their chimneys, shined their shoes, and brought them their milk.

He was overworked, and underappreciated.

So, when the townspeople discover that their wishing well is broken, the newsboy sets off to fix it — and get some revenge. Thus begins this children’s tale of extortion, labor rights, and justice.

Author and illustrator Jess Hannigan spoke about her debut picture book, Spider in the Well, with NPR’s Tamara Keith. Here are excerpts from that conversation, edited in parts for clarity and length.

Spider in the Well

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Spider in the Well

Interview highlights

Tamara Keith: How did you come to write a book about a spider, when I understand that you are afraid of spiders?

Jess Hannigan: I am. I don’t care for them. But do I love the webs they spin? Yes. Do I love the spooky aesthetic? Of course. Basically, the whole story came about because I really just had the image of looking down a well with the web, with the spider in it, and I thought that would look cool. And then I kind of asked myself, like, ‘Is there a story here? Why is he in there? What’s he catching in the web?’ And it kind of just wrote itself from there.

Keith: Is everyone in Bad Göodsburg a little bit bad and a little bit good? Or are all people a little bit bad and a little bit good?

Hannigan: Well it’s supposed to be, you know, real life. I really like when a character is in a gray area with some good and some bad because it’s realistic and relatable. And we have heroes and we have “villains,” but they’re just like us. And that way they’re humanized. And you just get to kind of discuss who you side with, who you agree with.

Keith: How would you describe what this book looks like?

Hannigan: I did the whole thing completely digitally. I kind of was going for a sort of imperfect printmaking effect because I love the look of block printing, but I don’t have the patience. So this was kind of a happy medium of me achieving that kind of folkloric, old-timey printing look without any of the labor.

Keith: Where did you draw your inspiration for the art? The colors are not colors that you traditionally see in a children’s book. It’s like black and hot orange and purple.

Hannigan: A lot of my inspiration for the kind of shapes that I use comes from like, Polish posters. They’re from the 1960s and ’70s — Polish poster design was crazy and they had the wackiest shapes and colors, and I was introduced to those back in college.

These were just the colors that I had been obsessed with at the time that I happened to be making the book. They are like these kind of sickly, weird tones. And I used all those purples and greens for the “bad guys” because I guess it suited their vibe. But I’m actually colorblind, very slightly. So everyone’s been telling me this book is such a lovely shade of orange and I’ve been telling everyone it’s red.

Keith: What lesson do you want the kids who are reading this book — or who are reading it with their parents — what do you want them to take away from it?

Hannigan: I didn’t go into making this story with a lesson in mind. I know books with morals are important and they have a place for sure. But really I just wanted to make people laugh. And to go back and read it again and think, ‘What the heck was this guy even doing? Where did they learn how to do blackmail? Who taught them about extortion and labor rights and things?’

I love stories like that, that just make you wonder more about them.

Lifestyle

Diddy Posts Apology Video for Cassie Beating

Published

5 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

Diddy Posts Apology Video for Cassie Beating

Diddy‘s uttering his first words about the videotaped beating of Cassie … saying he “takes full responsibility for his actions,” and claims he’s already gone to rehab.

He posted a video Sunday morning, looking directly into camera, he said, “It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you gotta do that. I was f***ed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom.”

A 2016 video shows Sean “Diddy” Combs assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in an altercation that matches some allegations in now-settled lawsuit https://t.co/fYUQ2z2MYN
— CNN (@CNN) May 17, 2024
@CNN

He says he’s not making any excuses for his behavior — the brutal March 2016 assault on his then-girlfriend Cassie while they were staying at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. The surveillance video — obtained by CNN — showed Diddy chase her down a hallway, grab her by the back of the neck and hurl her to the ground .. where he kicked her and dragged her.

Diddy claims he “sought out professional help” after the incident. He says, I had to go into therapy. Go into rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace.”

He didn’t offer any detail about how long he was in treatment.

TMZ Studios

He ended the video with an apology, of sorts … “I’m so sorry, but I’m committed to be a better man each and everyday. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry.”

What’s interesting is he did not directly apologize to Cassie — and, so, it comes off more as an apology to the public than the victim.

Remember, Cassie described the attack in the sexual assault lawsuit she filed in November against Diddy — a lawsuit they settled just one day later.

At the time, Diddy’s attorney emphasized the settlement was in no way an admission of guilt, and Diddy himself would later deny all the allegations made against him in several lawsuits.

Lifestyle

Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me!

Published

12 hours ago

May 19, 2024

Press Room

NPR’s weekly news quiz hosted by Peter Sagal. Have a laugh and test your knowledge with today’s funniest comedians and a celebrity guest.Hate free content? Try a subscription to Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!+. Your subscription supports public radio and unlocks fun bonus episodes along with sponsor-free listening. Learn more at https://plus.npr.org/waitwait