Image Source: WENN.com

Things just might not be looking up for Chris Brown in one aspect after all.

A couple of months ago, we told you about the police chief who resigned after he allegedly signed off on faulty community service hours performed by Chris Brown.  Well, his lawyer and the prosecutor met with a judge on Friday to discuss the next steps in what is turning out to be a messy situation.

CNN reports that Brown sat in the courtroom while  prosecutor Jackie Lacy and Mark Geragos, Brown’s lawyer, sat behind closed doors with Judge James Brandlin to discuss the evidence which claims Brown’s hours were not accurately met.  When the meeting was done, the judge told Brown that he would have to come back to court on June 10th because the lawyers needed more time to sift through additional discovery in his case.

Geragos seems outraged at these claims. So much so that he has asked the judge to punish the district attorneys handling the case and call for a contempt of court hearing for filing false documents.  He says this whole situation is not just false but “it is fraudulent.”

Geragos  says the prosecutors are “torturing” his client.

Despite the serious allegations, the district attorney’s office is asking that he restart his 1,400 hours of community service, not jail time.  She also wants him to be supervised in Los Angeles, where the star currently lives, and nowhere else.

Hopefully, this situation will be resolve with the correct ruling, no matter which side wins.

On a positive note, Brown’s new song “Fine China” has been getting major buzz and putting him in a really good musical place in his life.

Source: New York Post

Back in 2008, R&B singer Chris Brown’s good guy image went down the tubes when he was brought up on assault charges for brutally attacking his girlfriend Rihanna. In 2009, Brown’s plea bargain deal obligated him to complete 1,140 hours of community service. After 581 hours were completed in Los Angeles where the assault occurred, Brown was permitted to complete the remaining hours in his home state of Virginia; however, that doesn’t appear to have worked out too well. Brown claimed to have completed his required hours, but last week, the L.A. County district attorney came out stating that documents confirming community service hours completed by Brown in the state of Virginia had been falsified and contained multiple discrepancies. Now it seems that the scolding hot water that Brown has found himself in has also fallen into the lap of Virginia Police Chief, Bryan Norwood. Information discovered during investigations into the alleged faulty hours suggest that Norwood’s carelessness equipped Brown in cheating his way out of community service. As a result, the police chief who served Richmond, Virginia since 2008 resigned today, reports the New York Post.

“As of today I’ve accepted the resignation of Bryan Norwood from his post as chief of police for the city of Richmond. He has offered leadership that has brought us a little bit further in our endeavors to improve public safety. In many ways the Richmond Police Department and the city is better off because of his dedication. We’ve reached, however, a mutual agreement, at this time, that his time as Richmond police chief has come to an end. We certainly wish Chief Norwood much luck in his endeavors going forward,” announced Mayor Dwight Jones.

Prosecutors say evidence proves that the Richmond police signed off on community service hours that Brown claimed to have completed on days where he was globetrotting. For example, on March 15th Brown’s paperwork claims that he picked up trash between the hours of 10 am and 6 pm; however Homeland Security documents reveal that Brown caught a flight to Cancun at 4 pm that day.

The evidence doesn’t look good for Brown or Norwood. Chris is set to appear back in court April 5th where the Los Angeles D.A. is motioning to throw out all of his Virginia hours and have him redo them in Los Angeles.

What do you make of this?

Jazmine Denise is a news writer for Madame Noire. Follow her on Twitter @jazminedenise

Kezia M. Williams of Capital Cause

During a time when many might doubt the motivation and engagement of young people in philanthropy, Kezia M. Williams of Washington D.C. based non-profit organization Capital Cause is putting that stereotype to the test. As a part of the upward and well-mobilized millennial generation herself, Williams is changing the landscape of how young adults give back, meeting them where they are through popular social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter.

Williams’ commitment and dedication to summoning a whole generation of future philanthropists to use their resources as a way to give back is revamping the landscape and stereotypes of service to the community. Williams and her team at Capital Cause are making philanthropy young and popular again for a whole new generation looking to find a fresh way to change the world.

Madame Noire: Capital Cause will be hosting their premier event, The Young Philanthropists Industry Brunch, in Washington D.C. June 30^th. How did the event do last year, and what is your overall goal for the brunch this year, themed after poverty to raise awareness and money for the national and global issue?

Kezia M. Williams: Capital Cause is elated to be able to host the 2^nd Annual Young Philanthropists Industry Brunch this year.  Last year’s event attracted 250 young philanthropists, trailblazers and changemakers who were interested in connecting with senior level leaders in their industry over brunch.  Guests at the 2011 brunch included industry representatives from Booz | Allen | Hamilton, the White House, Politico, and the Washingtonian to name a few.  Attendees at the brunch selected two nonprofits doing work to reduce the educational disparity gap as beneficiaries of two grants.  This year we plan to follow the same format; however we will increase the giving component and award three grants instead of two.

Annually, we ask our Young Philanthropist members to choose the cause that Capital Cause will donate its gifts of time and money to for the duration of the fiscal year.  Last year, our members choose education and collectively worked to award five grants and donate 400 hours to local nonprofits.  This fiscal year, in under six months, our Young Philanthropists members have donated $25,000, awarded five grants and contributed 3300 service hours to help end poverty, hunger and homelessness in the Nation’s Capital.

MN: What misconceptions have you received from others by working with millennials (for example, they are lazy, not motivated, do not care about the community, etc.), and how do you combat that as an organization?

KW: Capital Cause has witnessed our members deconstruct the myth that young people don’t care about philanthropy or giving back.  They have proven this by demonstrating the power of small gifts by coordinating low-dollar, high-grossing giving campaigns, deconstructing the myth that only large donations and large donors count.  They have demanded that Capital Cause plan more service events that show high and measurable impact in communities, deconstructing the myth that young people want less and give less time. Though we’ve only supported the DC Metropolitan Area, we believe their desires are representative of a larger millennial group that has been misrepresented and ill-defined when it comes to philanthropy.  Young people aren’t disinterested in service; they are disinterested in participating in outdated service-based activities that don’t consider millennial interests.

dailymail.co.uk

This story is giving me serious flashbacks. I went to a Catholic Highschool and remember being lectured nearly every day up until graduation about the consequences of our families cheering too loudly at the commencement ceremony—as if we had any control over them. The threats seemed pretty baseless but a Cincinnati student is actually being denied his diploma because he received too many cheers when he walked across the stage.

Anthony Cornist is a popular student at Mt. Healthy High School and when he achieved the pinnacle of high school achievements, he received roaring support from family, friends, and even some teachers. But when all was said and done, Anthony didn’t receive the diploma he earned from the school, he got a letter from the principle instead, stating:

 ”I will be holding your diploma in the main office due to the excessive cheering your guests displayed during the roll call.”

Anthony and his family were shocked. He told WCPO News, “I did nothing wrong except walk across the stage.”

What’s crazier is principal Marlon Styles is demanding 20 hours of community service before Anthony can officially graduate, and get this, the hours can be split between Anthony and his family, or the senior can perform them all himself. The teen’s mother, Traci Cornist says the school is insane.

“I don’t understand how he’s being punished for something he has no control over. I just thought that was ludicrous… I have no clue where the logic comes in.”

“He’s definitely not doing the community service,” she said. “I’m definitely not doing the community service.”

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Source: nydailynews.com

First and foremost, who knew that Dennis Rodman was 51???

But to the matter at hand. The former NBA star known for his colorful hair, multiple piercings, tattoos and sexual exploits, and oh yeah, his killer rebounding skills, was sentenced yesterday after being found guilty of four counts of contempt for failing to come up with his owed child support in 2009 and 2010. Rodman was hit with 104 hours of community service, along with three years of informal probation on the condition that he keep up with both spousal and child support payments to his ex-wife, Michelle Moyer. He has a son named D.J., 11, and a daughter named Trinity, 10, from his relationship with her. The couple married in 2003, but she filed for divorce in 2004. However, they tried to reconcile time and time again, but in the end, she filed for divorce again, and the marriage was put to an end this year.

Though Rodman’s ex-wife says he owes more than $800,000 in back child support, his lawyer, Linnea Willis, disputes the number (she says it’s much less of course) and says that Rodman isn’t and hasn’t been making enough money to pay up. According to the AP, she says the colorful NBA legend is broke, owing thousands in back taxes. On top of that, his troubles with alcohol and more had made it hard for him to get a job or endorsements to bring in more money, hence the struggle to pay spousal and child support payments recently. But now Rodman says that thanks to a few opportunities to play ball overseas (he’s 51 mind you…if you forgot), he’s doing okay, but not making the same dough he used to. “I’m making enough to keep everyone satisfied.” Rodman will have to report back to court on June 22 about more disputes over child support and additional contempt charges. While he is willing to do what’s necessary to do right by his children, Rodman made it clear that he was disappointed that things had to get so messy:

“It’s all about the kids. It does suck the fact that it had to come to this.”

It happens, brother. Just do better.

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