Justice Department To Investigate Ferguson Police Force
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The Justice Department will soon announce an investigation into the conduct of police forces in Ferguson, Missouri, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
The investigation will be separate from the ongoing federal probe into the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson on Aug. 9. The investigation into police practices could be announced as soon as Thursday afternoon, the Post reports.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will conduct the investigation, which will focus on police practices in Ferguson but could also include other police departments throughout St. Louis County. As the Post notes, many of the police departments in the county are primarily made up of white officers serving majority black communities.
The investigation isn't unprecedented; the Justice Department has opened 20 civil rights investigations into police practices during Attorney General Eric Holder's tenure.
Holder visited Ferguson in August to check in on the federal investigation into Brown's death and to meet with members of the community amid nightly protests of the shooting. He empathized with "the mistrust" between some Ferguson residents and police officers.
“I am the attorney general of the United States, but I am also a black man," Holder said in August, recounting being pulled over and accused of speeding on the New Jersey Turnpike on two occasions, and having his car searched.
"I remember how humiliating that was and how angry I was and the impact it had on me," Holder said.
Ferguson police officers began wearing body cameras last Saturday, first donning them at a march protesting Brown's death.
Top-seeded Williams takes little time to dispatch Flavia Pennetta and will face Ekaterina Makarova
Kei Nishikori wins another five-set match, this one against Stan Wawrinka, to reach men's semifinals
Serena Williams continued to power her way through the field in the U.S. Open on Wednesday night, again failing to lose more than three games in any set, as she made her way into the semifinals.
The top-seeded Williams took just over an hour to handle Flavia Pennetta of Italy, seeded 12th, 6-3, 6-2. Pennetta won the first three games of the match, then got blitzed, 12-2, the rest of the way.
Williams is seeking her third straight U.S. Open title and her sixth overall. A victory here would redeem a below-par season in the Grand Slams for Williams, who had yet to get to a major quarterfinal before she got to New York.
"I've been working hard all year," Williams said afterward. "In the losses I had, I just kind of blew up."
Williams' opponent in her semifinal will be Ekaterina Makarova of Russia. Her 6-4, 6-2 victory over Victoria Azarenka of Bulgaria was not a huge upset on the draw sheet. She was seeded one spot below Azarenka at No. 17.
But Azarenka had been to the final the last two years here and had won two Australian Opens, so expectations for her may have been a bit higher. Makarova, who has been in three Grand Slam quarterfinals — including here last year — dominated the return games, getting 12 break points and converting four of them.
Azarenka admitted she had suffered from food poisoning the day before, but didn't want that as an excuse.
"I just want to give credit to my opponent," she said. "She played really well. Am I disappointed? Yes, I'm disappointed, but I feel like I tried my best."
The other women's semifinal was established Tuesday and will pit No. 11 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark against unseeded Peng Shuai of China.
Though the marquee matchup of the day was in the men's singles between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray in the late night match, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori put on a great lead-in show in the late afternoon.
They battled for 4 hours 15 minutes, before Nishikori of Japan watched Wawrinka's final shot settle into the net in his 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-4 marathon victory over this year's Australian Open champion.
That was even more exceptional because Nishikori had played 4 hours 19 minutes Monday night, finishing at 2:26 a.m Tuesday. That was also a fight-to-the-death five-setter, over Milos Raonic of Canada.
McEnroe stepping down
The director of the U.S. Tennis Assn. Player Development Program, Patrick McEnroe, announced that he would be stepping down from that post, as soon as the new USTA center in Lake Nona, Fla., is completed. McEnroe has held the job for the last six years and was the U.S. Davis Cup captain for 10 years, ending in 2010.
Former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg eats pop corn at the US open while Roger Federer wins his match on Tuesday. The following day he announced his return to Bloomberg LP.
It was only a matter of time until he would decide to take the reins. Late on Wednesday, and less than a year after ending his third term as Mayor of New York City, billionaire Mike Bloomberg announced we would once again lead the company that bears his name. The announcement came with the departure of CEO Daniel Doctoroff, who worked as Bloomberg’s Deputy Mayor for six years before become moving on to Bloomberg LP. The former Mayor, who for years indicated he had no plans of returning to the company, faces the daunting challenge of diversifying revenue streams away from the terminal business, which generates about 80% of the company’s annual sales, as Bloomberg LP has become the dominant player in the financial data market across the globe.
Ultimately, Doctoroff couldn’t handle the billionaire’s increasing presence. While originally the former Mayor planned to spend a few hours a day at his new office in the fifth floor of their Lexington Avenue headquarters, Bloomberg began to spend more time at the company, participating in meetings about strategy and at times differing with his CEO.
“I love the company and have deep respect and affection for Mike, so leaving is not an easy decision, but it is the right one for the company, for Mike and for me at this stage of my life,” Doctoroff explained in a press release. “It is and has always been Mike’s company and given his renewed interest and energy, it only makes sense for him to retake the helm.”
Bloomberg only had praise for his former deputy, who took revenues from $5.4 billion in 2007, just before he became President, to over $9 billion this year. “This is a sad day for me and my company,” Bloomberg said, adding “I really wanted Dan to stay and continue in his leadership role. But I understand his decision. I never intended to come back to Bloomberg LP after twelve years as Mayor. However, the more time I spent reacquainting myself with the company, the more exciting and interesting I found it.”
Bloomberg LP is the global market leader in financial data, claiming to control 32% of the market. The company outstripped Thomson Reuters as number one, and under Doctoroff’s leadership has tried to expand elsewhere. While growth has been impressive, it has begun to slow as the internet and competitors eat away at its main revenue generator: the Bloomberg Terminal. Last year, company-wide revenue hit $8.3 billion, yet the 320,000 subscribers the terminal business counted on, each paying about $20,000 a year, generated approximately $6.4 billion in sales, or more than 79% of overall revenue.
Doctoroff pushed hard to diversify the company, building an important news and television unit, adding on legal, government, and alternate energy information, and creating an enterprise products and solution units. While the latter’s sales topped $1 billion, BusinessWeek is estimated by some to have losses in the tens of millions, with the TV unit potentially tripling that.
Bloomberg still derives the bulk of his net worth from his 88% stake in the company he founded back in 1981 alongside Thomas Secunda, Charles Zegar, and Duncan MacMillan. Under his stewardship, Bloomberg LP will face the challenge of a new era, where a falling number of traders can go to different and potentially cheaper sources of data and information. He will also have to figure out how to create a profitable media empire, and continue to grow their enterprise business.
In the meantime, Doctoroff can continue to be the former Mayor’s “friend, adviser, and partner,” as Bloomberg put it in the press release. He’s been offered a seat in the board of the Bloomberg Philanthropies. A seat he’ll probably accept.
