google-site-verification=cXrcMGa94PjI5BEhkIFIyc9eZiIwZzNJc4mTXSXtGRM Civil rights activists say large Black crowds prompted spring break restrictions in Miami - 360WISE MEDIA
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Civil rights activists say large Black crowds prompted spring break restrictions in Miami

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MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Miami Beach is attempting to scrap spring break, however it’s not yet clear whether spring break will adopt the suggestion.

After three consecutive years of spring break violence, Miami Beach officials are implementing months-long safety measures to curb the chaos, including parking restrictions for non-residents and shutting sidewalk cafes on busy weekends. The city warned visitors to expect curfews, beach bag searches, early beach closures, DUI checkpoints and arrests for drug possession and violence.

But business owners in the world-famous South Beach neighborhood now fear losing money during one among the busiest times of the 12 months, and civil rights activists say the restrictions are an overreaction to large Black crowds.

City of Miami Beach police and law enforcement officers patrol Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Florida. Miami Beach officials have announced a series of measures to discourage nonresidents from coming there in March, and civil rights activists say the restrictions are an overreaction to large crowds of Black people. (Photo: Lynne Sladky/AP, file)

Many of the town’s restrictions are usually not recent, but in past years they were introduced as emergency measures during an unofficial holiday, somewhat than measures implemented in advance.

“The status quo and what we have seen over the last few years is simply unacceptable and intolerable,” said Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner.

Meiner said despite the police presence, the group couldn’t be controlled. He said the town, which is positioned on a barrier island across the bay from Miami, can only hold so many individuals, and that capability often exceeds safety for each visitors and residents through the break.

Most spring break attractions focus on a 10-block stretch of Ocean Drive, known for its art deco hotels, restaurants and nightclubs.

David Wallack, owner of Mango’s Tropical Cafe, said Miami Beach has all the time thrived on celebration, and the limited access for tourists will turn the bustling, eclectic city right into a retirement community.

“I think we need to create something big, another big thing in March, because March fell off the cliff,” Wallack said.

Wallack and others have proposed holding a large music festival through the third week of spring break – when aimless and unruly crowds often reach their peak – with the hope that participants will disperse the loitering crowd.

Meiner said the town has spent tens of millions of dollars on concert events and other events in the past, which has done little to alleviate violence. He said businesses suffer when violent mobs gather along Ocean Drive force them to shut, and added that the people who find themselves the fundamental causes of the issues don’t spend money in the town anyway.

“They don’t stay in hotels,” Meiner said. “They don’t visit our businesses.”

Some civil rights activists, nonetheless, consider the restrictions are racially motivated.

South Beach became popular with black tourists about twenty years ago when organizers held Urban Beach Week over Memorial Day weekend. Many residents complained of violence and other crimes related to the event, which led to an increased police presence. However, the event’s continued popularity correlates with a rise in black tourism all year long.

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Stephen Hunter Johnson, an attorney and member of Miami-Dade’s Black Advisory Council, said city officials are reacting so harshly because most of the visitors are black.

“Everyone likes the idea that they are free from government interference,” Johnson said. “But surprisingly, if the government interferes with black people, everyone is OK with it.”

The mayor of Miami Beach rejects the notion that the town’s actions have anything to do with race.

“I have a moral obligation to keep people safe, and right now it’s not safe,” Meiner said.

In the Florida Panhandle, Panama City Beach, a longtime spring break destination, has seen an identical spike in violent crime, but Police Chief Eusebio Talamantez attributes it to people having fun with the outside, not actual college students on spring break.

“When you think about spring break, you might think about vacation, school break, maybe fistfights and keg stands,” Talamantez said. “It evolved into shootings, mass riots, rapes and murders.”

Violence in Panama City Beach got here to a head in 2015 when seven people were injured in a shooting at a house party. The city then banned alcohol consumption on the beach and suppressed prohibited events, amongst other things. Local businesses sued the town later that 12 months, claiming the brand new rules unfairly targeted events popular with black visitors, however the suit was dropped a number of months later.

Talamantez said the measures were somewhat effective, but a significant hurricane in late 2018 and COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 disrupted the town’s ability to administer crowds after pandemic restrictions were lifted, resulting in a resurgence violence.

However, renewed crackdowns in 2023 led to a 44% reduction in crime, and the town is introducing similar policies this 12 months. Talamantez said he doubts anything Miami Beach does will likely be more stringent than enforcement measures in Panama City Beach.

“We are simply trying to create an environment where it is said loud and clear, in big, bold letters, that we are a law and order municipality,” Talamantez said. “And law and order doesn’t disappear just because you’re on spring break.”


This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Airlines must now refund cancellations and disclose all fees

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Airlines, Refunds, Airport, Cancellations


The government is cracking down hard on airlines that skimp on refunds and other questionable practices. Airlines like Delta, American and Southwest must now issue full refunds to customers for canceled and significantly delayed flights.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has implemented recent regulations to higher protect consumers from misleading flight prices. According to NPR, the principles will make sure that customers achieve this fully conscious your rights as you travel through the sky.

One provision will protect money spent by passengers within the event of flights being canceled or delayed. Customers will receive money refunds for canceled journeys or where delays cause disruption.

Another regulation requires airlines to achieve this must display the complete cost of the flight before the client purchases it. This includes all government taxes and fees, in addition to carrier-specific surcharges often hidden until purchase. Deemed “bait and switch tactics,” airlines lure unsuspecting customers into potentially purchasing specific flights while failing to disclose unexpected junk fees added to them. Now customers will know the total extent of their travel expenses before they embark on their journey.

In an announcement concerning the recent rulings, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said passengers “deserve” higher protection when flying.

“Today’s announcements will require airlines to both provide passengers with better cost information before purchasing a ticket, and to promptly provide passengers with refunds when they are due – not only saving passengers time and money, but also preventing headaches,” he said Buttigieg. “Passengers deserve to know up front what costs they will incur, and they should get their money back when the airline owes them – without having to ask.”

However, airlines have previously resisted such changes, especially regarding disclosure of the complete price. The outlet predicted they’d likely fight the brand new rulings. Lobbyists prior to now have argued that full tariffs will confuse customers when securing a flight.

Buttigieg, nonetheless, dismissed those concerns, adamant that the move was in the most effective interest of travelers.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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I had Karen’d and didn’t even realize it – a spring break story

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Panama Jackson theGrio.com

Spring break was recently held for college kids attending public or charter schools in Washington. As I have children in each systems, we had no schoolwork, no football practice and no late mornings for a week – it was great.

Well, mostly. But let’s get to the crazy stuff. My wife, as all the time when the youngsters have long breaks, tries to search out as some ways as possible to maintain my kids entertained. She is a master at sharing an important memories with children. In October 2023, a group (people don’t use the word “group” enough) of individuals tied to my wife’s bed maternity organization went to Perryville, Maryland, to the newly opened Great Wolf Lodge. This was my first experience in a hotel resort, but I immediately understood why people flocked there. There are arcades and mini golf courses here. There are climbing apparatuses and shows, in addition to the coup de grace – a huge indoor water park with food service and bars serving alcoholic beverages for adults within the room.

To use the food service, you could pay for a booth and you then are assigned a server who takes your order and brings you food and drinks. My kids had such a great time on our first trip in October that they’ve been asking about going back for months. My wife decided to do that over spring break. So we went and it was time. My wife likes the finer things in life and comfort, so she got us a beach cabana so we could have a central meeting place, couches and all, all to ourselves.

During the various, many hours we spent on the water park, we went in and out of the home each together and individually. Since we have now a 3-12 months-old, we normally share the chores with him, so while one person has him, the opposite can loosen up in the home and have a drink, you realize? I think you may pick up what I put down.

This is where it gets diabolical. After quickly handing over my 3-12 months-old and my wife, I returned to our cabin 15 to dry off, sit down, take a break, and drink the brown alcoholic beverage I had ordered. I walked towards my cabin and then into it, sat down and began drying myself off. I guess you possibly can call what I was doing “minding my own business in the space we paid for.” As I sat there, I noticed that the white woman was listening to me. Let’s call her, oh, I do not know, Karen. I noticed that Karen noticed me, so I identified to her that I noticed her too…looking directly at her. It’s vital to notice here that I literally had no idea why she was listening to me; It didn’t even occur to me that something bad was happening.

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Karen walked towards my cabin, looked into my cabin and looked around. At first I thought she was interested in the cottage and was about to ask me about buying such and such, which makes her nosy and unable to grasp the boundaries, but not a threat. But then she showed her true colours.

I asked, “Can I help you?” because I have manners and I don’t assume all white people need to put me in jail. She asked me, “Is this your cabin?”

I was surprised and replied, “Yes. That’s how it is.” To which she replied: “I saw a family leaving here a jiffy ago.”

“Lady, this was MY family.”

“Well, I was just making sure everything was okay because it’s happened to me before!”

I began to stand up and yell at the lady, but then I realized that my response to her being a fake cop would make me a problem because if I began yelling, among the sympathetic employees, most of them white, would probably change it not directly turned me into a person they thought was reasonable enough to be interesting. Does this make sense? Absolutely not. Is it likely? Absolutely.

Karen then walked away and turned her head back a few times, as if she wasn’t entirely sure I was telling the reality, but wasn’t sure if she was going to escalate it. She went to the food stand – it didn’t have a booth – and finally moved on. And I got indignant and furious. But mostly I was indignant with myself for even giving her the advantage of the doubt. I really didn’t think this woman was going to ask if I had any business within the place I paid for, or why she felt it needed to return over and check what I was doing. Or why she felt she had the suitable to accomplish that. I was indignant with myself for believing, even a little, in humanity.

And look, nobody was hurt. The police weren’t called. I was capable of move around normally throughout the day and my kids had a great time. Overall, it wasn’t the worst situation, but things like this occur to black people on daily basis and then they tell us to maneuver on because race doesn’t matter. Do I think she did it because I’m a black man? Absolutely. Thank you for not having the nerve to interrogate my wife because someone WOULD have been sent to prison. By the best way, my wife wanted to search out it, but I talked her into getting off that ledge for the sake of peace and spring break for the youngsters, because if she finds it, it won’t be nice.

But that is just a reminder: I put my paranoia aside for a second and boom, Karen Karen me.

It is not going to occur again. And it sucks, and it still sucks, that I should think this fashion on a regular basis.

America.



This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Access restrictions are already in place at the Atlanta airport to stem the influx of homeless people

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Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia


Passengers heading to Atlanta International Airport will now find a way to read the recent access rules. Restrictions at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport went into effect on April 22 to prevent homeless people from looking for shelter there.

informed that the regulations will limit the number of people who can stay at the airport at any time of the day. Only passengers with tickets, people meeting them, staff or people conducting business matters are allowed on the premises. This is a change to the original rules that restricted access from 11 p.m. to 4:30 a.m.

These restrictions apply to all areas outside the most important terminals, including the SkyTrain, Car Rental Center and car parking zone. The recent regulation goals to discourage homeless people from looking for shelter at the airport.

The issue of the airport’s homeless population stays a pressing issue for the city of Atlanta. The city owns and operates the facility, once considered the world’s busiest airport, bringing in According to the carrier’s website, it serves 286,000 passengers every day. At the same altitude, roughly 300 people used the travel center, especially during the colder months.

In December 2023, the city council passed a resolution requiring the airport authorities to adopt a plan to provide alternative shelter options. The plan led to a decline in the number of homeless people coming to the area, but failed to stop further restrictions.

However, some passengers are joyful with the changes, and one of them shared how “comfortable” travelers can feel after the introduction of this restriction.

“When you’re traveling and stuff, the service should be good,” Aniya Wesley told the news outlet. “You don’t expect to arrive at the airport and see a bunch of homeless people standing around who don’t actually fly here. They just sit there; it doesn’t really make people feel comfortable. I do know I would not feel comfortable.

Despite the advantages to the passenger experience, people battling homelessness could have one less probability to escape their outdoor conditions. People who try to use the airport anyway might be arrested.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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