Articles Feature

Tenants Call Trump’s Son-in-Law a Slumlord

Reporter Examines Kushner’s Md. Properties

Trump Budget a ‘Crackdown on the Neediest’

. . . Public Broadcasting Funds Would Be Slashed

Hannity, Pushing Conspiracy, Loses Advertisers

David Louie Still Chases Stories After 45 Years

Coates’ ‘Black Panther’ Comic Spinoff Canceled

Univision, Telemundo Accused of Defamation

Journal-isms Inc. Gains Tax-Exempt Status

Chicago Radio Raises Funds for Summer Jobs

NABJ Names Four to Hall of Fame

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Fontana Village, a Baltimore-area apartment complex owned by Jared Kushner’s real-estate company, Kushner Companies (Credit: wm-fontanavillage.com)
Fontana Village, a Baltimore-area apartment complex owned by Jared Kushner’s real-estate company, Kushner Companies (Credit: wm-fontanavillage.com)

Reporter Examines Kushner’s Md. Properties

Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law, sues his Baltimore tenants for thousands of dollars in bogus debts, on which he also gets judgments allowing him to garnish their wages and drain their bank accounts,” Edward Ericson Jr. reported Tuesday for Baltimore City Paper.

“This according to Pro Publica’s Alec MacGillis, who reports in a story for this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine that Kushner quietly bought-up thousands of modest and run-down apartment units in Essex and other Baltimore suburbs, whose tenants complain of poor maintenance, harsh rent collection techniques, and relentless pursuit of old and sometimes dubious debts generated after tenants moved out.”

By email, MacGillis gave Journal-isms his “rough sense” of the racial breakdown of the affected tenants:

Jared Kushner, left, and President Trump, his father-in-law. (Credit: Jabin Botsford/Washington Post)
Jared Kushner, left, and President Trump, his father-in-law. (Credit: Jabin Botsford/  Washington Post)
  • “Four of the 15 complexes are virtually all black.
  • “9 or 10 of them are mixed white and black, in varying degrees. Most of those are probably still majority black.
  • “1 or 2 have quite a few Hispanic residents mixed in as well.”

Ericson continued, “MacGillis leads off with Kamiia Warren, who moved out of Cove Village in Essex years ago to get away from a crazy neighbor. She had permission to do so from the apartment’s managers, yet Kushner’s company sued her years later for breaking the lease, winning more than $3,000 plus fees and expenses: almost $5,000 total by 2014.

“At one point in the story, a private investigator looking into Westminster Management, [Kushner’s] property management company says, ‘they’re nothing but slumlords.’ MacGillis notes the P.I. is a Trump supporter and had no idea of the connection between Trump’s son-in-law and Westminster.

“MacGillis finds hundreds of cases, and the story profiles several other tenants with similar experiences. . . .”

The Times website had recorded nearly 700 comments on the story by Wednesday night.

Trump Budget a ‘Crackdown on the Neediest’

President Trump has set one goal that all Americans can get behind, and that’s making the sluggish U.S. economy grow faster,” the Los Angeles Times editorialized on Tuesday.

The editorial also said, “But rather than grapple with some of the challenges underlying the disappearance of millions of Americans from the workforce — in particular, the technological changes and globalization that have caused so many blue-collar and middle-class jobs to evaporate, and the gap between the education and training Americans have received and the skills demanded by today’s employers — the Trump budget seeks to force people back into the workforce by making it harder to obtain or keep food stamps, Medicaid and Social Security disability benefits, while reducing federal support for welfare and children’s health.

“The crackdown on the neediest and most vulnerable seems even more craven when considering the billions Trump’s budget would shower on defense, border security and tax cuts for high-income Americans, corporations and partnerships. . . .”

. . . Public Broadcasting Funds Would Be Slashed

The Trump budget proposal would give the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports operations of nearly 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations, a final $30 million in funding for 2018Dru Sefton reported Tuesday for current.org.

“CPB would receive just $30 million to close itself down in President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 proposed budget. . . .

“The draft notes that CPB provides about 15 percent of public broadcasting’s total funding, with the remainder coming from nonfederal sources. ‘This private fundraising has proven durable,’ the document said, ‘negating the need for continued federal subsidies.’

“In addition, the document noted, ‘alternatives to PBS and NPR programming have grown substantially since CPB was first established in 1967, greatly reducing the need for publicly funded programming options. . . .”

Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, said in a statement, “This is a service that benefits all Americans — those living in rural and urban areas who rely on broadcast for programs that are proven to get their children ready to learn, and provide access to life saving emergency alerts, as well as those for whom public media levels the playing field in terms of high-quality educational and informational content, through programs such as ‘NOVA’ and ‘Nature’ — all for approximately $1.35 in taxes per person each year. . . .”

Hannity, Pushing Conspiracy, Loses Advertisers

Cars.com, Casper, and several other companies pulled advertising from Sean Hannity’s Fox News program Wednesday as the host continued to push a conspiracy theory about Seth Rich, the Democratic National Committee staffer who was killed in Washington, DC, last year,” Mary Ann Georgantopoulos and Brianna Sacks reported Wednesday for BuzzFeed.

Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity

“For days, Hannity has been peddling a theory that Rich’s killing was ordered by the Clintons in retaliation for leaking DNC emails to WikiLeaks. Police have said his death was the result of a robbery gone wrong. . . .”

Georgantopoulos and Sacks also wrote, “The decisions came after Rich’s brother sent a letter to Hannity’s executive producer pleading with him to stop spreading the rumor. On Tuesday, Fox News retracted a story tying Rich to [WikiLeaks] and wrote in a statement, ‘The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require from all our reporting.’

“On his show Tuesday night, Hannity said he would stop talking about the conspiracy theory ‘for now,’ but later implied he will address it again. . . .”

David Louie Still Chases Stories After 45 Years

David Louie-45 YearsShare this story with your rookie reporters,” Kevin Finch wrote Wednesday for the Radio Television Digital News Association.

“Ask them to project ahead decades into their career and see if it looks anything like the daily output of one David Louie, who celebrates 45 years with ABC-owned TV stations May 29.

“Take the floods in San Jose, California, Feb. 21: Louie was the lead reporter for KGO-TV, San Francisco, during an expanded noon newscast.

“ ‘We went into live continuous coverage for two hours,’ recalls news director Tracey Watkowski. ‘David was just fantastic — the play-by-play, explaining the situation. It was solid.’

“Watkowski cites other examples, including Louie’s ‘tremendous’ coverage of a murder trial that began in January and didn’t conclude until earlier this month.

“ ‘Hard news, breaking news, business, features — he can do it all,’ Watkowski said.

‘These days, doing it all is cranking out two stories a day, going live on TV, filing for the web and posting on several social media accounts.

“And did we mention he’s been at it 45 years? . . .”

Louie, a Chinese-American from Lakewood, Ohio, notes that he was hired by KGO-TV in 1970. “It was about the time affirmative action was starting to get traction. (There were) challenges to licenses and other pressure” on TV stations. . . .”

Estimated sales for the first issue of Black Panther and the Crew were a disappointing 35,604. (Credit: Marvel Entertainment)
Estimated sales for the first issue of Black Panther and the Crew were a disappointing 35,604. (Credit: Marvel Entertainment)

Coates’ ‘Black Panther’ Comic Spinoff Canceled

Marvel’s Black Panther may have found the one enemy he cannot defeat: weak sales,” George Gene Gustine reported May 17 for the New York Times. “His spinoff series, Black Panther & the Crew, which began last month, will be canceled with Issue No. 6.

“Notice of the cancellation came from the author Ta-Nehisi Coates, who has been writing the adventures of Black Panther since his latest series premiered in April 2016, in an interview with The Verge” on May 13.

“The decision was unusually swift, especially for a comic book with such an acclaimed writer, but Mr. Coates said the culprit was poor sales. . . .”

Univision, Telemundo Accused of Defamation

Juan Gabriel
Juan Gabriel

Iván and Simona Aguilera, the son and daughter-in-law of Juan Gabriel, the Mexican music icon who died last year, are accusing Univision and Telemundo networks of reporting ‘fictitious, defamatory stories’ about them stemming from broadcast and published accounts of Joao Aguilera, a man claiming to be a secret biological son of the late superstar,” Veronica Villafañe reported Monday for Forbes.

“The couple says the networks’ efforts to profit on a sensational story led to them report ‘false assertions that Ivan was responsible for his father’s death, and that Ivan and Simona were engaged in “robberies” of Gabriel or his estate, among many other false and heinous claims,’ without verifying those claims, effectively damaging their reputations.

“Iván and Simona Aguilera today filed a $100 million defamation suit against Defendants Univision Communications, Inc., Univision reporter Borja Voces, Telemundo Network Group LLC, Telemundo Media LLC, Joao Aguilera (Juan Gabriel’s alleged biological son), Consuelo Rosales (mother of Joao), Alberto Gómez (alleged friend of Juan Gabriel) and attorney Annalie Alvarez, who represents Joao. . . .”

The Associated Press reported Tuesday, “Univision said in a statement Tuesday that the allegations lack merit. Telemundo said it is reviewing the complaint. . . .”

Journal-isms Inc. Gains Tax-Exempt Status

Journal-isms Inc., a legal entity created to publish “Richard Prince’s Journal-isms,” has been granted federal tax-exempt status retroactive to Feb. 9, the Internal Revenue Service has determined.

“Donors can deduct contributions they make to you under IRC Section 170. You’re also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under Section 2055, 2106 or 2522,” the IRS said in a letter.

“Journal-isms” began a “Stay Woke” GoFundMe fund-raising campaign in November, nine months after suddenly finding itself steering an independent path. The drive has raised $19,161 from 171 people in five months. Thanks to all who have participated!

One Summer Chicago "The program helps teens and young adults ages 14-24 improve their futures by providing more than 31,000 jobs, internships, and other meaningful experiences," its promoters say..
One Summer Chicago “helps teens and young adults ages 14-24 improve their futures by providing more than 31,000 jobs, internships, and other meaningful experiences,” its promoters say. (Credit: University of Chicago)

Chicago Radio Raises Funds for Summer Jobs

Forty-seven Chicago radio stations have launched a joint fundraising campaign for One Summer Chicago 2017, the city’s summer jobs program, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation announced on Tuesday.

WGN-AM helped to kick off the campaign at 6 a.m. Tuesday with a 24-hour radiothon. The campaign runs through June 30.

Phil Zepeda, a spokesman for the campaign, told Journal-isms by telephone that results of the radiothon probably would not be announced until the drive ends.

Former president Barack Obama announced May 3 that he and former first lady Michelle Obama would donate $2 million to One Summer Chicago and the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance, a collaboration of foundations and corporate funders focused on employment equity, Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz reported May 4 for the Chicago Tribune.

Michael Days, left, the Rev. Aisha Karimah, John Jenkins and Garth C. Reeves Sr.
Michael Days, left, the Rev. Aisha Karimah, John Jenkins and Garth C. Reeves Sr. (Credit: NABJ)

NABJ Names Four to Hall of Fame

Michael Days, the Rev. Aisha Karimah, John Jenkins and Garth C. Reeves Sr. have been named to the 2017 class of the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame, NABJ announced on Tuesday.

Days “has had an impressive career at numerous publications including Minneapolis Tribune, Gannett Rochester Newspapers, Louisville Courier-Journal, Wall Street Journal and Philadelphia Media Network, home of the Daily News — where he led Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage, and The Inquirer. . . .”

Jenkins, a veteran photographer and television executive, “spent the last 16 years leading the management team at NBC5/ KXAS-TV” in Fort Worth, Texas. “He is a long-time NABJ member, helping to form the DFW/ABC chapter, and the Society of Professional Journalists in 1981. . . .”

Karimah is a prize-winning television producer who “worked in Washington, D.C. for NBC/News 4 for 46 years. Ms. Karimah also produced programs for the Howard University station WHUT-TV, which was known as WHMM-TV. “Karimah retired in 2016 but she’s just as active as part of the ministerial staff at Metropolitan AME Church where she said she continues, just like when she was at NBC, to address issues around social justice, community engagement, pipeline to prison, affordable housing and healthcare, because your work ‘ought to be a reflection of who you are.’ . . .”

Reeves, publisher emeritus of the Miami Times, “proudly boasts that he has had only one job in life and that has been working for the Miami Times, the newspaper his father founded in 1923. . . . Reeves served for 10 years as president of the Amalgamated Publishers of New York City, which represented over 100 African American-owned newspapers throughout the United States. He was also elected to serve two terms as president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. . . .”

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Richard Prince’s Journal-isms originates from Washington. It began in print before most of us knew what the internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a “column.” Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity.
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1 comment

richard May 27, 2017 at 9:05 pm

Comments from The Root:

WokeLadyVee73

5/26/17 10:45am
Not the least bit surprised. Why don’t people in these situations unite & fight back? There’s got to be SEVERAL anti-Trump, outspoken and democratic attorneys who’d take this case pro-bono.

Zabella
WokeLadyVee73
5/26/17 12:01pm
Why don’t people in these situations unite & fight back?
Until the article was published, they thought they were alone? Kushner’s company sued a lot of former tenants, if neighbors didn’t stay in touch, they had no way of knowing they were all being ripped off.

The current president has conditioned me to expect nothing good to ever happen, so I don’t think a class action suit would actually help the people who were victimized. There is a chance will make Jared and Ivanka uncomfortable as they send multiple payments to their lawyers.

5/26/17 7:16am
I hope the people Kushner fucked over sue him in a class action lawsuit and win.

STLOrca
5/26/17 5:28pm
From my boys Living Colour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=254&v=6V5VkMqM07s

Art

5/25/17 10:14pm
“What a surprise!”

-said nobody

Reply

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