West Virginia 

CHARLESTON, W.Va.  — Gov. Jim Justice issued a proclamation on Friday that officially declares Juneteenth 2024 as a West Virginia State holiday.

Juneteenth is recognized on June 19 each year and celebrates the ending of slavery in the United States. The day will be observed on Wednesday, June 19 as a full-day holiday for all public employees in West Virginia.

Juneteenth has already been a federal holiday since 2021 when President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. The holiday comes from the same day in 1865 when news of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached Texas after being issued by President Abraham Lincoln six months earlier on New Years Day.

In a moving Instagram post, Michelle Obama reflected on the loss of her mother, Marian Robinson, who died last Friday, May 31, at the age of 86.

The former first lady and her family eulogized Robinson and the vibrant life she led in a statement, received first by NBC News and later posted on Michelle and Barack Obama’s Instagram pages.

Accompanying the statement on Instagram was Michelle Obama’s touching caption, calling her mom her “rock.”

“My mom Marian Robinson was my rock, always there for whatever I needed,” the former first lady wrote.

“She was the same steady backstop for our entire family, and we are heartbroken to share she passed away today.”

The former first lady went on to express her desire to “offer some reflections on her remarkable life” in a tribute that detailed her mother’s early life and her marriage to Michelle Obama’s father, Fraser C. Robinson III, who died in 1991. The statement was signed by Michelle Obama, her brother, Craig Robinson, and other members of their family. It touched on Robinson’s role as a grandmother to her grandchildren — including Malia and Sacha — and mother-in-law to former President Barack Obama.

“On Election Night in 2008, when the news broke that Barack would soon shoulder the weight of the world, she was there holding his hand. With a healthy nudge, she agreed to move to the White House with Michelle and Barack. We needed her. The girls needed her, and she ended up being our rock through it all,” the family statement reads in part.

Claudia Sheinbaum

Claudia Sheinbaum has been elected as Mexico’s first female president, in a historic landslide win.

Mexico’s official electoral authority said preliminary results showed the 61-year-old former mayor of Mexico City winning between 58% and 60% of the vote in Sunday’s election.

That gives her a lead of about 30 percentage points over her main rival, businesswoman Xóchitl Gálvez.

Ms Sheinbaum will replace her mentor, outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, on 1 October.

But in her victory speech she also highlighted what has set this Mexican election apart from previous ones. She told cheering voters: “For the first time in the 200 years of the [Mexican] Republic, I will become the first woman president of Mexico.”

She said it was an achievement not just for her but for all women.

“I’ve said it from the start, this is not just about me getting [to the top office], it’s about all of us getting here.”

She added: “I won’t fail you.”

Three police officers who defended the Capitol during the deadly Jan. 6 riot will help President Joe Biden

Former Sergeant Aquilino Gonell, former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police officer Daniel “Danny” Hodges will campaign in Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and New Hampshire, the campaign said in a news release.

The officers will meet with local elected officials, law enforcement organizations and community members to underscore what it described as the threat Trump poses to democracy and the “ongoing threat of political violence” if Trump is re-elected, the release said.

  Shirnae McFarlane (r) and her husband, Chris Hill and his wife

If you thought megachurch drama was limited to TV shows like Greenleaf, well, you’d be wrong. A new scandal has rocked the church world this week and its one closely connected to Bishop T.D. Jakes. A married Denver pastor has resigned after allegations that he was cheating with his godchild – his married godchild. Chris Hill, a Jakes protegé who is pastor of the The Potters House Church Of Denver, left his post earlier this month.

The Christian Post reports:

“The Potter’s House Church of Denver announces today that Senior Pastor Chris Hill, has tendered a letter of resignation effective immediately. Further, after several weeks of ministry, counseling and contemplation, Pastor Chris and his wife Joy Hill will be seeking a formal separation,” the church noted in a since removed statement on Facebook last Thursday.

While they are both saddened on many accounts they feel it is the best decision for both their personal healing and the successful continuation and growth of the Denver Church body. All of us here at the Potter’s House Denver are praying for Pastor Hill and his wife as they embark upon this very personal journey. The Church leadership will respect their privacy at this time as any further decisions about the state of their marriage will be a private one between them and their families,” the statement continued.

The resignation comes just two weeks after Jake’s ministry confirmed with The Christian Post that Hill had been nixed from the International Pastors & Leadership Conference set for April 27-29 at Jakes’ The Potter’s House of Dallas in Texas.

MIAMI, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 12: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a campaign event “Declare Your Independence Celebration” at Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on October 12, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Miami is the first stop of three that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will do in Florida with his Declare Your Independence Celebration event, announcing that he dropped his Democratic bid for president and will run as an independent candidate. (Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was eliminated in the first round of voting for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination during their convention on May 26. Despite being nominated unexpectedly, Kennedy received support from only 19 delegates, or 2.07%, and was quickly ousted.

The nomination ultimately went to Chase Oliver after seven rounds of voting, CNN reported. Kennedy’s candidacy faced boos from delegates, and he urged Libertarians to support his campaign even though they might not agree on all issues. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, who spoke at the convention and was loudly booed, was disqualified from consideration as he failed to submit the necessary paperwork. Trump received six write-in votes, while adult film actress Stormy Daniels received one vote as a rebuke against him, ABC News reported.

Family members were upset because venue was too small.

A graduation ceremony for nursing students at Howard University ended abruptly and in chaos after angry family members chanted “Let us in!” and pounded on the doors and smashed a window after being locked out when the auditorium hit capacity.

Loved ones of students in the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences packed into the Cramton Auditorium in Washington, DC, on Thursday, but not all relatives made it inside the building before the ceremony was abruptly canceled during the keynote address.

Chaotic video footage shows dozens of people standing outside the auditorium chanting, “Let us in! Let us in!” as the ceremony began.

Pictures showed a glass door had been shattered during the commotion as people banged on the doors and tried to push past security to go inside.

“While they were doing the keynote speaker, there was, like, loud banging, even before that, for like 10 minutes straight,” graduate Bria Flowers told NBC Washington. “Just like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”

School officials told students and their families mid-ceremony that the fire department had come to shut things down.

“Because of the size of the room and because our relatives sometimes do not know how to act, the fire department is now here to shut us down,” Dr. Gina S. Brown, dean of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, said to a roaring response of boos.

 However, DC Fire and EMS denied shutting down the graduation.