Volume 96 Number 28 | FEBRUARY 27- MARCH 5, 2019 | MiamiTimesOnline.com | Ninety-Three Cents Bills filed JUDGE SETS BOND FOR to dissolve MLK DAY ATTACKER MDX transit Mark Bartlett appears at bond hearing in a room Public transportation issues filled with member of the Black Community dominate meeting Monday FELIPE RIVAS and NYAMEKYE DANIEL [email protected] FELIPE RIVAS [email protected] he MLK Day attacker, Mark Bartlett, and his attorneys, faced Judge Alberto Milian on Tuesday morning in a courtroom filled Public transportation with members of the Black community. issues dominated the con- versation when Miami-Dade T County Commissioners and More than a dozen elderly a hateful rage. Prosecutors were state representatives gath- women could be spotted wearing able to identify three victims, who ered to discuss the county’s orange T-shirts with a white Under- they say Bartlett assaulted when priorities for the upcoming represented People Positive Action his gun appeared. legislative session. Council, or UPPAC, logos. On Tuesday, Bartlett looked se- The Miami-Dade Express- They were present at last week’s rious as Milian read the bond for way Authority, or MDX, hearing, to which Bartlett, nor his his felony charges, a far cry from was in the crosshairs. defense attorney Jayne Weintraub, his smiling mugshot that was In October, the Coun- attended. Bartlett instead filed a released following his arrest ty Commission set its written plea of not guilty. It is al- Jan. 21. legislative priorities for lowed, said Ed Griffith of the state Aside from the $32,500 2019, which includes What we are trying attorney’s office. bond, Judge Milian filed a more state funding for af- This week, the UUPAC ladies stay away order for Bart- fordable housing, school to get across is listened attentively as the Mi- lett. He is not allowed safety, sea level rise and that some of the ami-Dade County judge set the to have any direct or resiliency, and enhancing bills that have been bond for a man who touted a gun indirect contact with public transportation un- presented“ to the leg- in front group of Black teenagers the three victims, two A serious-face Mark Bartlett, der the county’s SMART islation is not in the on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in SEE BOND 6A attended his bond hearing on plan. best interest of this Tuesday morning. The need to improve county. I think they the county’s public transportation took all see that; hopeful- centerstage on Monday ly they can change at an open, joint meet- or amend some of ing with members of those bills to make the Miami-Dade State them better-suited Legislation Delegation for this community.” and Miami-Dade County Commission at the Adri- enne Arsht Center. The —Audrey Edmonson purpose of the meeting was to start a dialogue prior to Tallahassee lawmak- ers return March 5. Republican State Rep. Bryan Avila filed HB 385 in late January, which he believes will improve public transportation in Miami-Dade County. The bill, if passed, would repeal MDX, reform the spending of the 1/2 penny transportation surtax, reorganize the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Orga- nization, and requires all toll revenue collected in Miami-Dade County remain in the county. Republican Manny Diaz has filed similar legisla- tion in the Senate, SB 898.“This bill is transportation centric but has a lot of different components that affect our community,” Avila said. Commission Chairwoman Audrey Edmonson, who organized the joint meeting, is hoping that the twin bills to dissolve MDX could be amended. “What we are trying to get across is that some of the bills that have been presented to the legislation is not in the best interest of this county,” Edmonson said. “I think they all see that; hopefully they can change or amend some of those bills to make them better-suited for this community.” Client hired this truck The House version of the bill is coming out the to cruise nearby at every Ways & Means Committee, which Avila chairs. It is court hearing. headed to the State Affairs Committee and then SEE BILLS 6A Miami Times Photos/Felipe Rivas Ethics training exposes district’s failure to lead M-DCPS tries to get sexual abuse police officials followed by an administrator. reporting guidelines on course Failure to follow those guidelines exactly can “lead NYAMEKYE DANIEL lic Schools sets the highest to disciplinary action” for [email protected] expectations for profession- the employees, according to alism and accountability the policy. Members of Miami-Dade’s for employees, particularly Any disciplinary action has education community are as it relates to interactions to go to the board for approv- calling the district’s new with and between students, al, said school board spokes- “ethics training” campaign a with and between each oth- person John Schuster. cover up of its failure to keep er, and the duty to report all “If someone doesn't tell, teachers informed of how to inappropriate behavior, “ the the punishment will be se- report abuse. statement said. monitoring if staff know their reporting abuse. vere,” he said. The Miami-Dade County All employees have re- requirements. M-DCPS employees are Public Schools system sent ceived information remind- After publishing a story required to report any crim- SHE WAS FIRED a news release on Feb. 13 ing them of their professional about the launch of the series inal or inappropriate act or Alberto Carvalho Former Brownsville Mid- announcing that it will be requirement to report abuse, of trainings, called “Ethics suspicion of such to their dle School teacher, Diana reinforcing its policies on a district spokesperson said. Matters,” The Miami Times administrator. Allegations of The abuse must be report- Castella found out about the student-teacher relations But some teachers are say- discovered that some teach- sexual abuse or neglect have ed immediately to the Florida reporting requirements after and reporting abuse through ing that the district’s new ers said prior to the new a three-step process of re- Department of Children and the fact. training and staff meetings. efforts expose a lapse in trainings, they were con- porting that employees must Families at its hotline Castella was a part-time “Miami-Dade County Pub- leadership when it comes to fused about the process for follow. then to school SEE ABUSE 6A Today BUSINESS ................................................. 8B YOU & YOURS ............................................ 7D Performing arts 80° CLASSIFIED ............................................. 11B FAITH CALENDAR ................................... 8D IN GOOD TASTE ......................................... 1C HEALTH & WELLNESS ............................. 9D explored via LIFESTYLE HAPPENINGS ....................... 5C OBITUARIES ............................................. 12D 1C 8 90158 00100 0 INSIDE soccer field Editorials Cartoons Opinions Letters VIEWPOINT BLACKS MUST CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINY | FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 5, 2019 | MiamiTimesOnline.com Credo Of The Black Press MEMBER: National Newspaper Periodicals Postage EDITORIAL The Black Press believes that America Publisher Association paid at Miami, Florida (ISSN 0739-0319) can best lead the world from racial and MEMBER: The Newspaper POSTMASTER: Published Weekly at 900 NW 54th Street, Association of America Send address changes to national antagonism when it accords Miami, Florida 33127-1818 Subscription Rates: One Year THE MIAMI TIMES, to every person, regardless of race, Florida cannot Post Office Box 270200 $65.00 – Two Year $120.00 P.O. Box 270200 creed or color, his or her human and Buena Vista Station, Miami, Florida 33127 Foreign $75.00 Buena Vista Station, Miami, FL Phone 305-694-6210 legal rights. Hating no person, fearing 7 percent sales tax for Florida residents 33127-0200 • 305-694-6210 afford empty no person, the Black Press strives to H.E. SIGISMUND REEVES Founder, 1923-1968 help every person in the firm belief that GARTH C. REEVES JR. Editor, 1972-1982 all persons are hurt as long as anyone GARTH C. REEVES SR. Publisher Emeritus is held back. promises to end HIV RACHEL J. REEVES Publisher and Chairman uring his recent State of the Union address, Presi- dent Trump committed to ending new HIV trans- Dmissions by 2030. His pledge comes at a time Black LGBT victims aren’t believed when Florida leads the nation in AIDS diagnoses, and South CLAY CANE, host, SiriusXM's "The Clay Cane Show" Florida— specifically Miami and Fort Lauderdale— is facing the highest rate of new HIV infections in the country. If the “Empire” star lied, credibility turns on wheth- known instances of people The president’s pledge and South Florida’s troubling in- there’s no excuse. But when er his story is fabricated is its who’ve been given the benefit fection rates illustrate both how far we’ve come and how it comes to our unjust double own kind of hoax. of the doubt in circumstanc- entrenched the challenges are that we face in the struggle to standard on who is believed When I was 21, my best es where Blacks might not be: end the HIV epidemic in America. At its height, the epidem- and who isn’t, the problem friend, also Black and gay, was Think of George Zimmerman, ic claimed nearly 50,000 lives annually. Today, that number doesn’t start with him. assaulted outside his home by an armed adult who followed Even before “Empire” star two men. Afterward, he de- unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon has fallen to around 7,000. As people live longer, the pro- Jussie Smollett was criminal- clined to call the police. When Martin down a dark street in portion of all people living with HIV who are older than 50 ly charged for allegedly mak- I asked why not, he said: Do Florida and was found not years of age has exploded to almost half. ing a false report that he was I look like Matthew Shepard guilty of murder or manslaugh- Unfortunately, this incredible progress — and the very the victim of a violent hate to you? No one’s going to do ter after claiming he had killed real possibility that we could end the epidemic — is far from crime, the hand-wringing over a documentary on another the teenager in self-defense af- guaranteed.