Florida Sentinel Bulletin

MICHIGAN – Once again proving that racism crosses party lines, Gloria Platko, a Democratic Township Clerk in Buena Vista, Michigan, is refusing to step down from her position after being busted calling Township Supervisor Dwayne Parker “an arrogant n***er.”

Interim Township Manager Dexter Mitchell taped a phone conversation and, though Platko’s words are clear, the 63-year-old Dixiecrat claims that it was a “slip of the tongue.”

House and Senate budget negotiators this evening agreed to raises for state workers, the first in six years.

The deal would provide a $1,400 pay hike for state employees who make less than $40,000 a year and $1,000 for those who earn more than that. In addition, bonuses of up to $600 would be available as merit incentives.

“This is a great day,” said Doug Martin, a lobbyist and spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “Also, the way that they’ve structured these raises acknowledges that the great majority of state employees make less than $40,000 a year.”

Lawmakers are working through final differences in the state’s $74 billion spending plan. They have until Tuesday to reach a final deal to meet a constitutionally mandated cooling-off period before voting on Friday and adjourning on time for the scheduled end of the regular session.

Now in its third year, President Barack Obama will host the annual White House Science Fair that celebrates the achievements of young high school and college students who entered and won various science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) competitions nationwide.

The fair will feature ingenious creations, such as a manually operated water sanitation system, a mobile app that helps babysitters and nannies care for young ones, and more.

Among the winners are 18-year-old Kiona Elliot from Oakland Park, Fla., who worked alongside classmate Payton Karr, 16, to invent a bicycle pedal-powered water filtration system.

CHICAGO — Don’t take the cinnamon challenge. That’s the advice from doctors in a new report about a dangerous prank depicted in popular YouTube videos, but which has led to hospitalizations and a surge in calls to U.S. poison centers.

The fad involves daring someone to swallow a spoonful of ground cinnamon in 60 seconds without water. But the spice is caustic, and trying to gulp it down can cause choking, throat irritation, breathing trouble and even collapsed lungs, the report said.

Laying in his heavily guarded hospital bed at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, severely injured Boston Marathon bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was officially charged by federal prosecutors with using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property.

Due to his extreme injuries and the urgency of the situation, a federal judge went to his hospital bed to preside over the proceedings.

Moctar Dembele and Gerard Niyondiko have won the Global Science Venture (GSVC) competition for creating an anti-malaria repellent soap.

Burkina Faso native Dembele and Burundi native Niyondiko created Faso Soap from different herbs, including karate citronella.

In many countries of tropical Africa, malaria is the leading cause of death for the population. It represents 30-40% of hospital admissions and up to 40% of public health expenditure.

According to Niyondiko, the soap will initially be available in African countries hit hardest by malaria.

BOSTON (AP) — Tamerlan Tsarnaev ranted at a neighbor about Islam and the United States. His younger brother, Dzhokhar, relished debating people on religion, “then crushing their beliefs with facts.” The older brother sought individual glory in the boxing ring, while the younger excelled as part of a team.

Tamerlan “swaggered” through the family home like a “man-of-the-house type,” one visitor recalls, while Dzhokhar seemed “very respectful and very obedient” to his mother. The brothers, now forever linked in the Boston Marathon bombing, in some ways seemed as different as siblings could be. But whatever drove them to allegedly set off two deadly pressure-cooker bombs, their uncle is certain Dzhokhar was not the one pulling the strings. “He’s not been understanding anything.

He’s a 19-year-old boy,” Ruslan Tsarni said of his brother’s youngest child, who was clinging to life in a Boston hospital Saturday after a gun battle with police. “He’s been absolutely wasted by his older brother. I mean, he used him. He used him for whatever he’s done. For what we see they’ve done, OK?”

Russia Alerted FBI About Tamela Tsamaev

The FBI came under fire from members of both parties Sunday as lawmakers questioned whether the bureau mishandled the case involving the deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Several lawmakers said that considering Tsarnaev was already on the FBI’s radar, officials should have followed up with him after he traveled to Russia in 2012 for six months. The FBI had interviewed Tsarnaev in 2011 at the request of a foreign government. Tsarnaev’s application for U.S. citizenship was placed on hold after the interview, “raising questions about whether he could have been identified before carrying out the attack.”

A New jersey woman filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against CVS Tuesday (April 16), claiming one of its employees wrote a racial slur on her receipt. Describing herself as “adult ethnic Korean,” the woman was “mortified” by the treatment.

Hyun Jin Lee went to pick up photos from a CVS in February, and was “shocked, stunned, mortified, humiliated, and severely distressed” to see that she was called “Ching Chong Lee“ on the receipt. In an email sent in to the company, an outraged Lee wrote “Why doesn’t he just call me Chink!” The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court.

According to the document, the term “Chig Chong” is a “pejorative” slur used to “mock people of Chinese ancestry,” or those mistaken as such. CVS apologized to Lee in an email, stating that the employee in question would be “counseled and trained.”

Lee is seeking $1 million in damages.

TEXAS  — Rescue workers searched rubble early Thursday for survivors of a fertilizer plant explosion in a small Texas town that killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160 others. The blast left the factory a smoldering ruin and leveled homes and businesses for blocks in every direction.

The explosion in downtown West, a farming community about 20 miles north of Waco, shook the ground with the strength of a small earthquake and could be heard dozens of miles away. It sent flames shooting into the night sky and rained burning embers and debris down on shocked and frightened residents.