POLICE INVESTIGATING RACIAL SLUR DRAWN ON CAR
Temple Police are continuing an investigation after tweeting photos of three men suspected to be involved in drawing and writing offensive language on a car near Main Campus.
A student found a swastika and racial slur written in a thin layer of snow on a car behind White Hall on Carlisle Street about 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Police said they learned about it an hour later.
After reviewing cameras in the area, Temple Police released the pictures of the three men. One wore an Eagles jersey, the next wore a striped blue shirt with tan pants and the third wore a Phillies jersey.
Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said police are following leads from tips to identify them.
Temple released an official statement condemning the “language in the strongest terms” and said those responsible would be held accountable.
Tipsters can contact Temple Police’s tipline at 215-204-6493.
-Julie Christie
UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEE INJURED IN HIT-AND-RUN
A Temple security officer was released from Temple University Hospital after a hit-and-run outside the Campus Police headquarters at 1801 N. 11th St. Friday night.
A vehicle heading north on 11th Street hit the officer’s vehicle in the rear and fled, but was later stopped by Philadelphia Police at 11th and Diamond streets. The driver was arrested, however his name and the charges he will face are not yet known.
Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said the officer had neck and back pain, but no serious injuries, which was “very lucky.” -Julie Christie
ALUMNI win naacp awards
Three alumni and one faculty member were nominated for awards at the 47th NAACP Image Awards which aired last Friday.
According to the website, the NAACP Image Awards “celebrate the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts, as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors.”
Jill Scott, a 1996 alumna, won awards in the three music categories she was nominated. She received the award for “Back Together” in the Traditional category for Outstanding Song, for her album “Woman” in the Outstanding Album category and the award for Outstanding Female Artist.
Terrell Stafford, director of Jazz Studies and chair of Instrumental Studies in the Boyer College of Music and Dance, was also nominated for his album “BrotherLEE Love: Celebrating Lee Morgan,” in the Outstanding Jazz Album category.
-Lian Parsons
COSBY ATTORNEYS MAY APPEAL
A Montgomery County judge ruled last Wednesday the charges of sexual assault will not be dropped against alumnus Bill Cosby.
Cosby’s defense argued charges should be dropped because a former district attorney had promised to not prosecute Cosby. There is no binding record of the promise, said current District Attorney Kevin Steele, the Inquirer reported.
Cosby’s lawyers have 30 days to appeal the decision, which may halt court proceedings for several months.
Both sides argue whether the decision is one that can be appealed as well as the credibility of testimonies from former District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. and former Temple basketball manager Andrea Constand.
A decade-old deposition with Cosby’s testimony included that he had sexual relations with Constand and had purchased a sedative he intended to use during sex with women, the Inquirer reported.
–Julie Christie
CITY LAWYER JOINS ‘PORNGATE’ CASE AS MEDIATOR
Prominent Philadelphia lawyer Richard A. Sprague has been added as a mediator to negotiate a deal for Justice J. Michael Eakin so he may avoid public trial. Eakin was suspended from his position in December 2015 as a justice for the Pa. Supreme Court after ethics charges for exchanging obscene, misogynistic and racially offensive emails.
The “Porngate” scandal arose and reached the Supreme Court in 2014 after Justice Seamus P. McCaffery resigned after accusations of his exchange of hundreds of obscene emails and photos on state computers. After Attorney General Kathleen Kane released emails that Eakin had sent or received.
-Gillian McGoldrick
