Lisa C. Willis: First female assistant coach in NY Knicks team history

The Westchester Knicks, the official NBA G League affiliate of the New York Knicks, and first-year head coach Derrick Alston, announced the hiring of Lisa C. Willis as an assistant coach. Willis becomes the first female coach in the NY Knicks organization.

“The Westchester Knicks continue to be a vital part of our player development program at the New York Knicks,” said Steve Mills, President, New York Knicks. “Today, we’ve added a talented coach who will improve our players’ skills both on and off the court.”

Willis comes to the Knicks following the completion of the NBA’s Assistant Coaches Program (ACP), a program formed by the NBA G League’s Player Development department, providing an educational conduit for former NBA, WNBA and NBA G League players to coaching and front office opportunities. Current Westchester assistant, Keith Bogans, is also a product of this initiative.

A former fifth overall pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft, Willis played her first two seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks before spending time with the New York Liberty (2007-08). At UCLA (2002-06), the Long Beach, Calif. native was recognized as the nation’s best defender by ESPN’s Nancy Lieberman. She later graduated as the Bruins’ all-time three-point leader and second all-time in then-PAC-10 history and ranked ninth all-time in scoring.

“I am very excited to welcome Lisa to our Westchester Knicks family,” head coach Derrick Alston began. “Lisa has had the benefit of playing professionally and winning at the highest levels. Given Lisa’s acumen for the game, there is no doubt in my mind that her transition to the sideline will be seamless.”

16-year-old girl arrested for plan to attack predominantly black church

Police have arrested a teen girl at Gainesville High School after she allegedly threatened to attack members of a predominantly black church.

On November 15, resource officers at Gainesville High School were informed by school administration that a 16 year-old white female threatened to cause harm to multiple people at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

School administrators verified the threat and the investigation was turned over to Gainesville Police. The juvenile was later arrested. It's unclear if she is a student at the school. “This is an active investigation and a prime example of how strong relationships between the student body, school administration, and law enforcement can intercept a potentially horrific incident.” said Gainesville Police Chief Jay Parrish.

The girl is charged with criminal attempt to commit murder.

Black voters file federal lawsuit against Mississippi prosecutor

Four black voters and a branch of the NAACP are suing a Mississippi prosecutor, asking a federal judge to order him to stop excluding African Americans from juries.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Greenville, alleges District Attorney Doug Evans excludes black citizens from juries at a rate disproportionate to whites.

The suit builds off an analysis of strikes by Evans’ office in a seven-county rural district in north Mississippi. That analysis by American Public Media’s “In the Dark” podcast was part of a series of episodes questioning the guilt of Curtis Flowers.

The U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned Flowers’ conviction in the killing of four people in a Winona furniture store in 1996, finding racial bias in jury selection. Evans has tried Flowers six times.

November 20th Democratic Debate to be held at Tyler Perry Studios

The fifth Democratic presidential debate, hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post, will be held at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta on Nov. 20.

The debate will be feature four moderators, all of whom are women: Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show"; Andrea Mitchell, host of MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" and NBC News' chief foreign affairs correspondent; Kristen Welker, NBC News' White House correspondent; and Ashley Parker, a White House reporter for The Washington Post.

[SOURCE: THE HILL]

Byron Allen Wins Two Big Federal Court Victories Against Comcast And Charter Communications

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Rejects First Amendment Right to Discriminate.

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios (ES) and the National Association of African-American Owned Media (NAAAOM) – plaintiffs in federal lawsuits filed against Comcast and Charter Communications – are pleased to announce two decisions issued today by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The lawsuits were filed against two of the largest cable television carriers in the country—$20 billion against Comcast and $10 billion against Charter—for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, prohibiting racial discrimination in contracting. For years, Entertainment Studios has been requesting that Comcast and Charter carry its networks, which are distributed by Comcast and Charter's competitors, including Verizon, DirecTV, AT&T, DISH, and many other carriers, to millions of people around the country.

Both Comcast and Charter, however, rebuffed all of Allen's requests for network carriage. Accordingly, Allen filed lawsuits in federal district court in Los Angeles. The cases are entitled National Association of African American-Owned Media, et al. v. Comcast Corporation, Case No. 2:15-cv-01239-TJH-MAN (C.D. Cal.) and National Association of African American-Owned Media, et al. v. Charter Communications, Case No. 2:16-cv-00609-GW-FFM (C.D. Cal.).

In two historically significant decisions, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected Comcast and Charter's attempts to dismiss the cases before trial. The Court upheld Entertainment Studios' Section 1981 claims against both Comcast and Charter; and instead ruled that both cases could proceed in the trial courts to discovery and trial.

"These two decisions against Comcast and Charter are very significant, unprecedented, and historic," said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Entertainment Studios. "The lack of true economic inclusion for African Americans will end with me, and these rulings show that I am unwavering in my commitment to achieving this long overdue goal."

"The Court's rulings overwhelmingly reflect the Ninth Circuit's rejection of the Defendants' positions and arguments," said Mark DeVitre, President of plaintiff, NAAAOM. "I look forward to quickly moving into discovery where we expect much more evidence to surface."

"These decisions are hugely important in terms of opening the courts to African American-owned media. The Court paved the way to our eventual success at trial by ensuring that the proper 'mixed motive' standard for our claims – a lower standard of proof than the 'but for' standard argued by Comcast and Charter – applies," said Entertainment Studios' attorney, Skip Miller, partner in Miller Barondess. "Additionally, the Court dismissed Charter's and Comcast's attempts to use the First Amendment as a shield for their alleged discrimination. I very much look forward to trying these cases. And I give Mr. Allen tremendous credit for having the will and the constitution to invest the capital and resources to pursue them relentlessly."

About Entertainment Studios / Allen Media LLC

Chairman and CEO Byron Allen founded Entertainment Studios in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, and Raleigh. Entertainment Studios owns eight 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 160 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, and JUSTICE CENTRAL.TV. The company also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 41 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. With a library of over 5,000 hours of owned content across multiple genres, Entertainment Studios provides video content to broadcast television stations, cable television networks, mobile devices, multimedia platforms, and the World Wide Web. Our mission is to provide excellent programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500 advertising partners.

Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures is a full-service, theatrical motion picture distribution company specializing in wide release commercial content. ESMP released 2017's highest-grossing independent movie, the shark thriller 47 METERS DOWN, which grossed over $44.3 million. In 2018, ESMP also released the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Western HOSTILES and the historic mystery-thriller CHAPPAQUIDDICK. Upcoming releases include the Keanu Reeves sci-fi thriller REPLICAS, the John Krasinski/Emily Blunt-starring animated feature ANIMAL CRACKERS, and Joe Carnahan's Mel Gibson/Naomi Watts starring action-thriller BOSS LEVEL. The digital distribution unit of Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, Freestyle Digital Media, is a premiere multi-platform distributor with direct partnerships across all major cable, digital and streaming platforms. Capitalizing on a robust infrastructure, proven track record and a veteran sales team, Freestyle Digital Media is a true home for independent films.

In 2016, Entertainment Studios purchased TheGrio, a digital video-centric news community platform devoted to providing African-Americans with compelling stories and perspectives currently underrepresented in existing national news outlets. TheGrio features aggregated and original video packages, news articles and opinion pieces on topics that include breaking news, politics, health, business and entertainment. Originally launched in 2009, the platform was then purchased by NBC News in 2010. The digital platform remains focused on curating exciting digital content and currently has more than 20 million annual visitors.