Social Media Influencer Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Failed Plot to Hijack Website Domain Name

It would appear that social media influencer Rossi Lorathio Adams II took the phrase “doin’ it for the ‘Gram” a little too literally.

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Tuesday's Best Deals: iPads, Aukey Accessories, Holiday Chocolates, and More

A Sephora sale, dog harnesses, TaoTronics Bluetooth Earbuds, and Anker ANC headphones lead off Tuesday’s best deals from around the web.

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Family believes Kansas City man killed by police was mistaken identity

A Kansas City family whose loved one was killed by police is searching for answers.

Cameron Lamb, 26, was gunned down by a Kansas City Police Department detective last Tuesday as he sat inside of his car in his backyard. Police are still investigating the incident but told The Kansas City Star that they were called to the scene because of a disturbance and when they got there, Lamb allegedly put the officer “in a position where he had to discharge his firearm,” Capt. Tim Hernandez, a spokesman for the KCPD, told the newspaper.

READ MORE: Kansas City votes to remove King’s name from historic street

The family isn’t buying it and think it could have been a case of mistaken identity.

“If you went through that area that day, you’d see a ton of police. I mean, man, plenty of police over there. Those police weren’t over there for that young man. About 60 cops over there. they weren’t over there for him. They had to be over there for someone else,” Lamb’s stepfather Aqil Bey told Fox 4 Kansas City.

The disturbance police were responding to reportedly involved two vehicles and took place near 35^th Street and College Avenue last Tuesday. A police helicopter spotted one of the vehicles as it pulled in the backyard of a home in the 4100 block of College Avenue.

As detectives approached the vehicle, Hernandez said the officer fired shots. Police told The Kansas City Star that Lamb was found inside of his vehicle although his left arm and head hung out of the driver’s side window. On the ground underneath his left hand allegedly was a handgun, according to police.

The family said they have been trying to get answers but all they’ve been getting is confusion.

“We just want to know what happened, we just want to know the truth. It’s not much more we can say other than we want the truth to come out and we want people to just be honest and tell us how it is, no matter what happened,” Lamb’s sister, Shelice Sheppard, told Fox 4 Kansas City.

Another sister talked about the toll this is having on the family.

“We lost a brother. Our mom lost her only son, and we have three nephews who don’t have a dad now. It’s definitely not going to be the same. It feels like a huge piece of your heart is just ripped out,” Lamb’s sister, Vanessa Gray, told Fox 4 Kansas City.

READ MORE: Black transgender woman, Brianna Hill, shot to death in Kansas City

Laurie Bey, Lamb’s mother, said never in a million years do you think something like this will happen to you. “We hear many times about stuff happening, but you never know this thing is going to hit your home and it hurts,” Bey said, adding that police have not told her anything.

In a police statement, KCPD said “The investigation is still ongoing regarding what the detectives were doing in the area.

The detective, who was not named, is out on administrative leave.

The post Family believes Kansas City man killed by police was mistaken identity appeared first on theGrio.

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The Truth Behind USDA’s Eligibility Changes to Food Stamps

Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) introduced changes to the eligibility rules for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—more commonly known as food stamps.

As NBC News reported, current USDA rules require individuals between the ages of 18 to 49 to work a minimum of 20 hours per week for more than three months over a 36-month period to be eligible for food stamps. However, states have the autonomy to waive the federal mandates amid periods of high unemployment.

But as of April 1, 2020, the new SNAP rules would limit states from unilaterally waiving the new standards and only allow such in areas that have an unemployment rate of 6% or higher. As of October 2019, Alaska is the only state that has an unemployment rate slightly above the 6% threshold that is currently holding at 6.2%.

Related: How Allyson Byrd Went From Living on Food Stamps to Running a Profitable Business

The sudden changes to SNAP sparked outrage by community activists, civil rights groups, and media pundits who opined on the alleged impact on underprivileged families and the timing of the announcement ahead of the Christmas and holiday season. But is the outrage a fair assessment and critique?

An objective analysis of the SNAP rule changes revealed that certain demographics between the ages of 18 to 49 will not be impacted. The demographics that would be excluded from the new SNAP eligibility requirements are:

• Elderly (ages 50+ will NOT be impacted)
• Families (individuals with children will NOT be impacted)
• Disabled

At a mere glance, one can clearly see that seniors, people with children, and the disabled do not fall within the changes to SNAP rules.

According to USDA’s analysis, approximately 2.9 million people receiving food stamps were able-bodied adults without dependents of which 2.1 million were not working. Based on the rule changes and protections, the USDA further estimated that only 688,000 people are in jeopardy of losing food stamps under the rule changes.

But why announce the SNAP changes now ahead of Christmas and Kwanzaa?

Well, there’s no better time than the present. Just last week the November 2019 national employment report revealed that 266,000 jobs were created vs 187,000 estimates by economists, resulting in the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years: 3.5%.

Additionally, the preceding September and October 2019 job reports were revised higher adding 13,000 and 28,000 jobs, respectively. The upward revisions bring the monthly average for the year to 180,000 jobs created.

And there is more good news, the average hourly wages for the working class continued to increase by 3.1% from the last year that also exceeded estimates by economists that were polled by Dow Jones.

The modifications to SNAP encourage able-bodied individuals to find work in the best economy in modern times. Hence, even a cursory review of the American economy and USDA rule changes provide insight worth considering before public opinions are ossified by uninformed hearsay and false perceptions.

For those who think job seekers will have a difficult time finding employment, CBS News reported earlier this year that there are one million more job openings than unemployed workers. According to the November 2019 Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment opportunities hold steady at one million more job openings than job seekers. And let’s not forget, there are federal and local government programs that provide job placement assistance.

The well-known truth about work is that it provides dignity and invokes self-discipline, which gradually increases confidence as one gains experience and hones skillsets. And I can tell you from personal experience at an early age that holding down a job, any job, makes it much more possible to land a better job. And there is no better time than now to explore work opportunities to journey down the path of empowerment to live a better life.

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The African American Film Critics Association Selects Jordan Peele's Us as 2019 Film of the Year

The blackest group of critics are back with their picks for the best of the best during the 2019 movie season! That’s right, you don’t have to worry about our black excellence not being recognized (you know, since other folks have apparently lost their minds), the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) are…

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