- Councilman Wayne Williams has conceded Colorado Springs mayoral runoff as Yemi Mobolade takes strong early lead Colorado Public Radio
- Yemi Mobolade elected mayor of Colorado Springs — the first Black man elected to lead the city — in political upheaval The Colorado Sun
- Yemi Mobolade defeats Wayne Williams in Colorado Springs mayoral race FOX 31 Denver
- Yemi Mobolade projected to be the next mayor of Colorado Springs as Wayne Williams concedes KKTV
- Governor Polis congratulates new Colorado Springs Mayor FOX21News.com
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: councilman
Denver City Councilman Chris Hinds, who uses wheelchair, says he was humiliated at mandatory debate due to stage without wheelchair access: “I felt like a circus clown” – CBS News
- Denver City Councilman Chris Hinds, who uses wheelchair, says he was humiliated at mandatory debate due to stage without wheelchair access: “I felt like a circus clown” CBS News
- Denver councilman forced to crawl onto stage with no wheelchair access Business Insider
- Denver city councilman says lack of accessibility for debate was ‘humiliating’ FOX31 Denver
- City councilmember hopes debate inaccessibility serves as a teachable moment 9News.com KUSA
- Denver Councilman Forced to Crawl Onto Debate Stage With No Wheelchair Access The Daily Beast
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Denver Councilman Forced to Crawl Onto Debate Stage With No Wheelchair Access – The Daily Beast
- Denver Councilman Forced to Crawl Onto Debate Stage With No Wheelchair Access The Daily Beast
- Denver councilman forced to crawl onto stage with no wheelchair access Business Insider
- Denver city councilman says lack of accessibility for debate was ‘humiliating’ FOX31 Denver
- “Humiliating”: Denver City Council candidate had to crawl on debate stage due to lack of wheelchair access The Denver Post
- Denver City Councilman Chris Hinds, who uses wheelchair, says he was humiliated at mandatory debate due to stage without wheelchair access: “I felt like a circus clown” CBS News
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Vernon Winfrey, Oprah’s father and former councilman, has died
“Yesterday with family surrounding his bedside I had the sacred honor of witnessing the man responsible for my life, take his last breath,” Oprah said in a tribute to her father shared on Instagram. “We could feel Peace enter the room at his passing.”
A tribute written on Oprah Daily, Oprah’s lifestyle outlet, said Oprah was able to spend time with her father in Nashville during his final weeks.
On July 4, Vernon was surprised with a “Vernon Winfrey Appreciation Celebration” and backyard barbecue, where he was surrounded by friends and loved ones.
The celebration was a way to give her father his “‘flowers while he’s still well enough to smell them,” Oprah said in an earlier post.
During the celebration, Oprah’s friend and gospel singer Wintley Phipps sang for him. “He FELT the love and reveled in it until he could no longer speak,” she wrote.
Vernon was a well known barber in his community and served on the Metro Nashville Council for 16 years.
“I offer my deepest condolences to the family of Vernon Winfrey. Vernon served on Metro Council for 16 years and dedicated his life to entrepreneurship, barbering, and mentoring young men in the community,” Nashville Mayor John Cooper said on Twitter. “An Army veteran and deacon, he leaves behind a legacy of service.”
Oprah’s mother, Vernita Lee, died in 2018 at 83. Lee was born in Mississippi and gave birth to Winfrey as a young woman. Lee and Vernon never married.
NYC councilman condemns Democrat who expressed condolences to family of alleged police killer
A Democratic New York City councilwoman is under fire for remarks she made following the fatal shooting of two NYPD officers, in which she offered condolences to the slain officers and their alleged killer in the same line.
On “The Ingraham Angle,” host Laura Ingraham cited a report saying Councilwoman Kristin Richardson Jordan, who represents the home area of slain Officer Jason Rivera, previously equated the law enforcement system with slavery.
Richardson Jordan wrote Tuesday on Twitter: “My deepest condolences to the families of Officer Rivera, Officer Mora and Lashawn McNeil. Lives lost due to broken public safety & mental health systems that spare nobody. Harlem stands with the families of the fallen and we will not stop fighting for a safer world for all.”
McNeil, allegedly a career criminal with ties to New York, Baltimore, and Allentown, Pa., died reportedly from injuries sustained after being shot by a third officer while trying to escape the scene.
NYC COUNCILMEMBER DEMANDS ‘RACIST’ NYPD BE CLOSED DOWN: ‘THUGS IN BLUE’
New York City council member Joe Borelli, a Republican from Staten Island, speaks outside City Hall. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
New York City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli, R-Staten Island, told Ingraham that Richardson Jordan’s comments were reprehensible.
“She’s a complete disgrace, and kudos to some of my Democratic colleagues who’ve chimed in on her as well,” he said, after Richardson Jordan was met with somewhat bipartisan criticism in the 46-5 Democratic-majority chamber.
Borelli noted Richardson Jordan represents the area where the shooting happened and where slain officer Jason Rivera lived.
“To mention his name … in the same sentence, almost equivocating it with the man who killed him is a new low for some people that I thought couldn’t possibly go lower,” he added. “And yet, here we are.”
“People like this have no place in office. I’m happy to disagree with people all the time, and there are some decent people I disagree with. [Richardson Jordan] is not one of them.”
CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
NEW YORK, NY-JULY 31: Kristin Richardson Jordan, City Council Candidate o Harlem District 9, at The Rally to End Police Brutality in Harlem, New York City on July 31, 2021. Credit: Rainmaker Photos/Media Punch/IPX
Borelli also criticized freshman New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who has been accused of forwarding soft-on-crime policies.
“He’s the one who’s telling us he’s not going to charge people with gun crimes and fully prosecute them, according to the law. So it’s just lip service from people like him. And unfortunately, that has real-world consequences,” Borelli said.
“Every single police action, whether it’s a domestic violence response like this or a traffic stop, has the potential of going south. And if police officers are not going to be protected by the law, if the prosecutors are going to go after the people, then we have to reconsider whether it’s even worth the risk of sending cops in the first place.”
“And it’s unfortunate that we’re having this conversation in the wake of the death of two of our finest people.”
City Councilman Andre Dickens will become Atlanta’s next mayor, CNN projects
Dickens and Moore had advanced to the runoff after no candidate in a wide field received a majority of the vote earlier this month. The sitting mayor, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, had announced in May she would not seek reelection.
Leading up to Tuesday, polls suggested the contest was close with a large swath of the electorate still undecided.
Dickens, a former businessman and nonprofit leader, has served on Atlanta’s City Council since 2013.
In a race that focused on a recent spike in violent crime as well as controversy over an effort by the residents of the wealthy community of Buckhead to break off from the capital and create their own city, Dickens — who previously served as the chair of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee — laid out a public safety plan that prioritized community policing and boosting police resources.
Dickens’ proposal calls for increasing the police force by 250 officers during his first year in office while requiring new training for every police department employee on de-escalation techniques and racial sensitivity.
Ahead of the November 2 general election, shooting incidents had increased dramatically from 406 at that point in 2019 to 629 this year, according to an October 23 report from the Atlanta Police Department.
When Dickens takes office, he also faces concerns about low morale at the Atlanta Police Department and the number of officers who departed the force since June 2020. Tensions were high after Bottoms called for the firing of the officer who shot Rayshard Brooks in the parking lot of a Wendy’s in June of 2020. Bottoms said she had asked the officer be let go from the force one day after the deadly shooting, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported at the time.
Though much of their rhetoric on the need for a safer Atlanta was similar, Dickens took a different approach than his opponent with regard to how he would handle policing in the city.
While Moore suggested removing Police Chief Rodney Bryant from his position, Dickens said he would not immediately replace Bryant and instead would give Bryant 100 days to improve the department.
Teenage Alabama city councilman who voted against mask mandate tests positive for COVID-19
A teenager who last year became the youngest person ever elected to his city council revealed this week that he has tested positive for COVID-19 just months after voting to end a local mask mandate.
Hunter Pepper, 19, told local NBC affiliate WAFF that he received two positive COVID-19 tests Wednesday and spent more than six hours at a local hospital, where he said he was diagnosed with “COVID pneumonia.”
“I didn’t think they were as bad as they are, and they are, they’re terrible, I mean, they’re terrible and it is rough,” the Decatur City Council member said of the virus.
According to The Washington Post, Pepper wrote in a private post on his Facebook page Wednesday that his condition “has terrified me and my family.”
“The media continues to report on Covid-19 and explains ‘Death’ each time they do,” he reportedly added. “That is honestly terrifying to me but I have faith in the lord.”
Pepper, whose symptoms included difficulty breathing, fever, headache and vomiting, told WAFF that he was now at home and that his condition was gradually improving.
In April, Pepper was among the council members who voted to lift the city’s mask mandate, saying at the time that he believed “wearing a mask should be my choice,” local ABC affiliate WAAY reported.
The teen also took to Facebook over the summer to criticize Alabama Gov. Kay IveyKay IveyFacebook says removal of Alabama governor’s campaign was not based on Biden comments GOP sees Biden vaccine mandates as energizing issue for midterms Hurricane Ida could strengthen to Category 4 before hitting US MORE (R), who blamed “unvaccinated folks” for recent surges in COVID-19 cases, arguing that those refusing to get the vaccine were “letting us down.”
Pepper wrote in a public post at the time, “If you choose to get vaccinated that is your choice.”
“I will NEVER, push something on you or tell you that you must do something or your not a great member of society (sorta like Govenor Ivey did yesterday) because I don’t agree with it,” he added.
Pepper told WAFF this week that he has received criticism for his past remarks since he announced his COVID-19 diagnosis, explaining, “I’ve had folks tell me that they hope there’s no ventilator available for me.”
“It’s terrible, and I hope I don’t have to be put on a ventilator,” he added. “Everybody has the right to their opinion and should never be torn down and wished death upon because of something that they believe in.”
The councilman added that while his personal opinion on the importance of COVID-19 safety restrictions has changed, he still does not believe that governments should impose mask or vaccine requirements on citizens.
“I’m not saying that it should be mandated and I’m not saying that vaccinations should be mandated, but I feel that everybody should play their part,” he told the local news outlet.
Teen city councilman in Alabama who voted against masks has Covid-19
A teenage city council member in Alabama who had voted to end a mask mandate is encouraging residents to get vaccinated after he contracted Covid-19.
“I am going to get the vaccine after I’m cleared of the virus,” Hunter Pepper, 19, said Friday. “Let’s stop the spread. Let’s do what we can to do our part. I encourage people to get vaccinated. This is a virus that is tearing down everybody.”
The Decatur city councilman said he received two positive Covid-19 tests Wednesday and has dealt with uncomfortable symptoms, including labored breathing, fever, headaches, vomiting and a raspy cough. He said his condition was improving and he was quarantining at home.
“The way it hit me, it felt like a train. … It’s a terrible feeling,” he said.
The Decatur council voted in April to lift the city’s mask mandate with only one member voting to keep it, WAAY in Huntsville reported. WAFF, the NBC affiliate in Huntsville, reported Pepper called the mask mandate “overreach.”
When asked Friday about the vote, he said he has never been against masks or vaccinations.
“I am against putting on a fat label that says, ‘You’re required to ….,'” he said. “Our country was built on freedom.”
Pepper was 18 earlier this year when he began the four-year term. He said he has received hundreds of death threats since he went public with the news.
He said he hopes his message will encourage inoculations.
The highly contagious delta variant of Covid-19 has increased infection rates throughout the country and has hit Alabama particularly hard. The state has hovered at or near the bottom of the country in vaccination rates.
The Alabama Department of Public Health on Friday listed community transmission as high for the entire state, which has seen 13,048 Covid-19 deaths since 2020, including 5,867 in 2021.
The Associated Press contributed.
Hunter Pepper, Unvaxxed Teen Councilman Who Attacked Mask Mandates, Now Battling ‘Terrible’ COVID Pneumonia
A teenage city council member in Morgan County, Alabama, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday after railing against mask mandates said he’s now battling coronavirus-related pneumonia in the hospital.
“I am still shallow in breathing but my oxygen remains okay for now,” Decatur City Councilman Hunter Pepper, 19, wrote on Facebook Thursday. He received a CT scan on Wednesday night that confirmed he has COVID pneumonia, “which is absolutely terrible,” he wrote.
On Wednesday, Pepper—who’s repeatedly slammed mask mandates and refused to get vaccinated— said that he took two rapid tests and a PCR test for the coronavirus after he started to feel sick on Monday.
“Well, it has finally happened to me. Unfortunately, this morning I have confirmed two positive [tests] for Covid-19,” Pepper wrote Wednesday on Facebook. Everything In me wants to tell myself it is something different but every way I look it’s ‘Covid this, Covid that’ and it has terrified me and my family.”
Pepper wrote that he was “terrified” by the way that the media “continues to report on Covid-19 and explains ‘Death’ each time they do,” adding that he has “faith in the lord.”
“Maybe this will clear up soon and the symptoms of this sickness shall not progress as I can tell you, it feels terrible not to be able to breathe.”
He later told the Decatur Daily News that he had begun to show a “massive amount of symptoms” of the virus on Wednesday and that his oxygen levels were “holding a little well, and I don’t feel good at all.”
Pepper’s diagnosis has raised concerns over whether he may have exposed other local officials during a city council work session earlier in the week.
Carlton McMasters, a councilman who was seated beside Pepper at the in-person meeting, told the outlet that he has not had any symptoms.
“I’m fully vaccinated,” McMasters said, according to the outlet. “I’m trying my best to follow the CDC guidelines.”
Pepper, who is training to become an emergency medical technician, has routinely challenged pandemic-related restrictions as a city councilman, both slamming mask mandates and opting not to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, the outlet reported.
“I don’t believe you should be forced to do something like this, it’s wrong and it’s government overreach,” Pepper said in April as the city considered repealing a local mask mandate, according to WAFF.
“Me wearing a mask should be my choice,” Pepper said, days later, in an April 9 vote to end the city’s mask order, per WAAY.
Last month, Pepper, who became the youngest person elected to Decatur’s city council last year, vowed that he would “fight to the end” against another city mask mandate.
Only 41 percent of the county’s eligible population has been vaccinated, CDC data shows.
“Everybody at City Hall is over 18 and old enough to make their own medical decisions,” he declared at the time.
On Aug. 18, the Alabama Hospital Association said that there were “negative 29” ICU beds available in the state, meaning that dozens of people in the emergency room were kept waiting for beds to be vacated for treatment, WBRC reported at the time.
As the Delta variant ripped through the state over the summer, Alabama saw a massive COVID-19 spike, with more cases recorded in August than in any month since the pandemic began.
Covid US: Anti-vaxx Georgia councilman urges conservatives to get jabbed after hospitalisation
A conservative Georgia city councilman who previously railed again the COVID-19 vaccines is now urging others to get jabbed after his own battle with the virus.
Jim Sells, 71, of Grantville, Georgia, was hospitalized for 16 days due to the virus last month.
He told Newsweek that he was ‘hardcore anti-vaccine’ before he had to deal with the virus himself.
Sells even urged others to not to get vaccinated, as he did not trust the shots himself.
Now, after falling ill with COVID-19 himself, and realizing what the current virus outbreak is doing to local hospitals, he is urging the people he once told not to get vaccinated to get jabbed.
Jim Sells (pictured) was ant-vaxx before he personally contracted COVID-19 in August and was hospitalized for 16 days. Now, he is pushing for others in his Georgia community to get vaccinated
Sell (pictured) is the city councilman of Grantville, Georgia. He hopes more residents get vaccinated to alleviate the current capacity issues in hospitals across the state. More than 96% of Georgia ICU beds are currently in use
Sells said surviving his bout of the virus was a gift from God, and now he would not waste the gift ‘and not try to do something to pass the word to my group of hard-headed conservatives.’
‘I prayed for recovery, and all my friends prayed, and the doctors and nurses worked on me,’ he told 11 Alive news in Atlanta.
‘I said “if you can recover from this, you have to change everything,” Sells said.
‘This has to be a life-changer.’
Sells has been out of the hospital for around a week now, and says he only feels like 30 percent of himself.
He is one of 48 percent of Georgia residents that are currently unvaccinated for Covid.
The state, which does not report cases daily, is currently averaging around 8,900 new cases per day – a 17 percent increase over the last two weeks.
Just over 78 deaths are being recorded every day as well, 0.73 out of every 100,000 residents and the seventh highest rate of any state.
The recent uptick of cases and deaths have also proved a problem for hospitals in the state.
More than 6,400 people are hospitalized with the virus, and 96 percent of the state’s ICU beds are currently in use – one of the worst situations of any state.
Having seen the situation in hospitals first hand now, Sells understands that getting more Georgians vaccinated can help quell a terrible situation.
‘We don’t have our hospitals now, they’re COVID centers,’ Sells told Newsweek.
‘We need our hospital back, the vaccine is the quickest way.’
He has faced some backlash for changing his tune, though, as those he stood with previously in the culture war surrounding vaccines are now his opposition.
Sells also blamed social media like Facebook for himself and others in his community being misinformed.
‘Social media is killing people. Anything that supports your belief will come your way and you’ll be in that cultural group,’ he said.
‘I’m catching hell for promoting the vaccine, but I’m not gonna let up,’
‘The hospitals are full, and the morgues are full of unvaccinated patients, and I damn near became one.’
In Coweta County, where Sells serves around 35 miles southwest of Atlanta, 35 percent of residents are fully vaccinated and just under 40 percent have received at least one shot of a vaccine.
The county has recorded 18,358 COVID-19 cases and 256 deaths from the virus since the pandemic first began.