You all are going to stop messing with Sheree about her still under construction palace.

On Friday, we told you about former Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member Sheree Whitfield filing for a temporary restraining order against blogger Tamara Brawner.  But TMZ has learned that Whitfield was granted not one, but three separate temporary orders of protection against three bloggers. According to the report, Whitfield got the restraining orders on February 22nd and on the 26th.

Sheree says that the first restraining order against Brawner, also known as Tamara Tattles, is due to her actually spying on Whitfield and trespassing on her property since 2011. As Whitfield tells it, Brawner has been writing a blog called “Chateau Sheree” since 2011 on the construction – or lack of it – of the mansion.  She adds that on February 18th, Brawner actually entered the home and took pictures. Whitfield says that she is now afraid for her life.

Brawner has been ordered to stay at least 500 yards from Whitfield.

The remaining temporary restraining orders are against bloggers you might know: Michelle Brown, known for her website straightfromthea.com, and Quentin Latham, also known as Funky “Yasssss Gawd Hunty” Dineva.  Whitfield says that while the two never entered the home, they have stepped foot on the property.

However, on Saturday morning, Brown posted a response to the temporary restraining order and she says TMZ got it all wrong:

“I haven’t been served with a thing and if Sheree Whitfield was granted a ‘Temporary Restraining Order,’ me and my attorneys all anxiously await it’s arrival.  No more lies Miss thang!  Everybody knows Funky Dineva and I taped on the street… near the stop sign… on a busy route!”

Flooding in Little Ferry, NJ. Image: AP Photo/Craig Ruttle

This might sound counterintuitive, but according to experts Hurricane Sandy will actually boost the economy.

Sandy, which swept through mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, caused an estimated $30 to $50 billion worth of damage and more than 120 deaths. Certainly, this isn’t the most important issue the region is dealing with, but it is a historic trend that following natural disaster, certain business sectors see a boost, which results in economic growth.

So how will it improve the economy? Construction is one sector that will see increased business. “The biggest impact will be on housing, construction, and retail sales…The initial decline in these areas will be followed by a boost in building materials purchases, added construction, and some home sales, as families who lost homes enter the market,” reports the Business Insider. Some had suspected early on that this would be the case. With the damage now being assessed, that projection continues.

According to a Forbes article, “Companies in the housing and construction sector, like Home Depot, Loews, KB Home, and Lennar, could see a meaningful boost in the coming months from the rebound in activity. Beyond the human tragedy, there may be a silver lining to Sandy.”

The auto industry could also see a boost. According to Reuters, at least 16,000 new cars and as many as 250,000 used cars might be junked following Hurricane Sandy. Major automakers like GM have yet to give their tallies.

New cars had been moved to safer spots, but some, for instance at the port of Newark, were destroyed. Drivers may have to replace cars that were ruined, which could bump sales. Dealers, which are slowly reopening their doors, are already offering deals on new cars.

Reuters reports that 350,000 cars were destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.

Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Image: AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, file

Ed Gardner, the 87-year-old founder of Soft Sheen hair care products, met with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel this week to discuss the lack of African-American construction workers on jobs around the city. The Tuesday meeting came after more than two weeks of protest from Gardner and supporters seeking more opportunity for Chicago’s out-of-work or under-employed construction workers.

Gardner’s protest began in September when he passed a South Side construction site where sidewalk was being laid and saw no blacks among the workers. Gardner literally stepped (with his cane) into the wet cement to make abundantly clear how he felt about the situation. After calling for additional protests, about 1,000 joined the business leader on September 30, including  Reps. Danny K. Davis (D-Chicago) and Bobby L. Rush (D-Chicago). Other protests have also taken place.

Just days later, when asked about the protest during a press conference, Mayor Rahm Emanuel talked up the number of jobs that have been created in the transportation space and the minority- and women-owned businesses that have been commissioned for the work. However, he says unions and the lack of training they’re providing for minority workers also needs to be addressed.

Fast forward to Tuesday and Gardner was sitting with the Mayor. According to Gardner, he told the Mayor, “It must be corrected. I told the mayor, as far as I’m concerned, he is totally and finally responsible to seeing that this situation is corrected.” He wants half of the construction workers in the city to be African American, but there’s no law that says that needs to be the case, CBS reports.

“The mayor seems to show some sign of being concerned about making a change. That’s all I’m concerned about, that things are not like they have been for the past many, many years in the city of Chicago,” Gardner continued. He also tied the lack of jobs with violence in the black community.

Separately, Mayor Emanuel addressed the high-level of violence in the city yesterday, promising to add 500 police officers to the city’s streets.

FYI, Gardner founded Soft Sheen in 1964 and sold the company to L’Oreal in 1998.

The conversation about black construction workers will continue between the mayor’s office and the Coalition of African American Leaders (C.O.A.L). Chicago readers (and others in the know), do you think the path to change is being laid?

Americo Lopes - Source: nj.com

If you were looking for a reason why you might want to avoid getting caught up in an office lottery pool, this situation might just give you 38 million reasons why.

While working as construction workers in New Jersey, Americo Lopes and five of his cohorts (Candido Silva Sr., Jose Sousa, Daniel Esteves, Carlos Fernandes, and Candido Silva Jr.) used to pool their money together for years in order to have a better chance at winning the lottery. They didn’t have the luck like most people, but in 2009, after sending Lopes with money to buy Mega Millions tickets, they all won! Unfortunately for the five men, Lopes didn’t let them know. That’s right folks, Americo Lopes took the winning lottery ticket, cashed it in, and after deducting taxes, he walked away with more than $17 million. Dirty, much?

Thinking he was very slick, according to the New York Times, Lopes collected the winnings and told his job that because of foot surgery, he needed to quit doing construction. But if The Wire has taught us anything, it’s that word on the street spreads fast. One of the men in the pool found out Lopes won, but he lied and told the men he won after quitting. However, a quick search online found that the man was a winner while still working with his friends, and the five brothas in the pool out millions were being played like losers. So the smart thing to do, which they did, was take him to court. During the proceedings, the men seemed more hurt than angry, because they looked at Lopes as a good friend, while one, Candido Silva, Sr. looked at him like a son. According to the New York Times, he broke down on the stand at the act of alleged betrayal.

Lack of written evidence had Lopes’s lawyers questioning if the men were lying, and the “winner” stuck to the story that he bought a ticket separate from the pool that helped him strike it rich. But in the end, the Union County jury believed the five men and said Lopes would have to share the winnings. A huge chunk of taxes was taken out of the winnings (obviously, 17 million and 38 million = a big difference), and since the lawsuit started, a freeze was put on the money. Therefore, the tax situation has to be dealt with before all of the men can get…how do you say…broke off. But while watching the TV last night, local news outlets were claiming each man might be able to walk away with around $4 million each. Not bad!

When the verdict came in yesterday, Lopes was overheard saying in Portuguese, “They robbed me.” Nice try Mr. Lopes, but it sounds like it’s the other way around…

More on Madame Noire!

• What Happened To These Child Stars?
• Tell ‘Em Why You’re Mad: Ladies, Are We Way Too Hard on Each Other?
• Ask a Very Smart Brotha Live: Sleepy Tummys and Office Romances
• White Female Rapper: New Wave in Hip Hop or Pure Minstrelsy?
• What You Can And Can’t Fix About Your Sex Life’
• Hair-Raising!: Real Life Hair Horror Stories
• Six Blacks Who Made Forbes’ Billionaire List
• She’s Trying to Erykah Badu Me: 7 Men Whose Style Changed For Their Lady

About This Episode

Meet Marjorie Perry, President and CEO of MZM Construction and Management Company in Newark, New Jersey. Perry is a fearless visionary who started her construction company 20 years ago, untouched by her predominantly male competition. AN influential business executive, Perry has a proven track record of success, Having brokered multi-million dollars deals with clients such as the Marriot Hotels, Meadowlands Giants and Jets Sports Arena. She’s an innovative leader, passionate, and A positive role model dedicated to empowering women and minorities in business. Find out why she’s the boss!

Want More She’s The Boss? Check out these other episodes:

• Episode 1: Ericka Dotson
• Episode 2: Michelle James
• Episode 3: Meme Omogbai
• Episode 4: Monif Clarke
• Episode 5: Karine Mehu
• Episode 6: Nikima Frenche
• Episode 7: Teneshia Jackson Warner
• Episode 8: Robin Wilson

(New York Times) — Two leaders of a minority labor coalition pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges that they used their organization, United Hispanic Construction Workers, as a baseball-bat-wielding criminal enterprise that threatened and extorted its way onto construction sites across Manhattan and the Bronx over the last 16 years.  The defendants — the coalition’s president, David Rodriguez, 54, and his chief lieutenant, Darryl Jennings, 50 — were arraigned on charges of enterprise corruption and related grand larceny charges in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.  Thomas Mooney, an assistant Manhattan district attorney, said there was video evidence of violence and intimidation that he said was perpetrated by the two defendants and the group they lead, which was also indicted. A not-guilty plea was entered for the organization, which prosecutors said had been acting as a criminal enterprise since 1995.

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(Wall Street Journal) —  Several Harlem streets remain closed after a parts of a five–story building collapsed onto a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus traveling along 125th Street Tuesday morning.  No serious injuries have been reported, but 18 people–including two police officers–suffered minor ailments, said Cas Holloway, deputy mayor for operations.  The building had at least one complaint of falling bricks on Sept. 7. That was followed up with a problem-free inspection, said Holloway. But BJ Group, owner of the Danice clothing store next door, said his employees have complained of pungent fumes and “unusually strong vibrations.”

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(AJC) — Hospitals across Georgia are pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into new patient towers, major renovation projects and state-of-the-art technologies — even as rising numbers of uninsured patients and falling reimbursements continue to pose financial pressures.  In the wake of the Great Recession, hospitals put off major capital investments as people postponed elective surgeries, more uninsured patients besieged emergency departments and an uncertain future loomed with the roll out of the new health care law.  The focus instead shifted to slashing costs. Hospitals cut hundreds of jobs, trimmed overtime hours and renegotiated contracts with suppliers.  But pressure to meet growing demand as populations swell and America’s 78 million baby boomers get older is spurring hospitals to push forward, experts say.

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(Chicago Tribune) — A city agency that oversees hundreds of millions of dollars worth of construction projects “grossly overstated” the amount it paid certified minority contractors in 2009, according to a report issued Wednesday by the city’s top internal watchdog.  The Public Building Commission reported paying $89 million to certified minority-owned businesses two years ago, but a review of actual payments and certifications indicates those payments were overstated by nearly 40 percent, the report concludes. Inspector General Joseph Ferguson also found that the commission overestimated payments of $16.1 million to certified women-owned businesses by 3 percent. And he alleged that the commission was not complying with its responsibility to allow him to probe all projects involving city money.

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(Chicago Sun Times) — Chicago’s scandal-scarred minority business program remains “dysfunctional” and “beset by fraud and abuse” because former Mayor Richard M. Daley lacked a commitment to clean it up, the city’s inspector general concluded Thursday.  One year after concluding that blacks, Hispanics, women and Asians were deprived of at least $19 million worth of construction contracts in 2008 alone because of “widespread” fraud, abuse and mismanagement, Inspector General Joe Ferguson determined that precious little has changed.  “The lack of an overall commitment to confronting the program’s deficiencies has left it beset by fraud and abuse and unable to achieve its objectives,” Ferguson wrote.

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