New Orleans police officer Martinus Mitchum shot to death by man refusing to wear COVID mask
Updated Mar 01, 2021;
By Ramon Antonio Vargas The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate (TNS) and Tribune Media Services
The man accused of fatally shooting a police officer outside of a high school basketball game Friday night did so after becoming embroiled in an argument with a school staffer enforcing a mask mandate and compliance with other coronavirus restrictions.
Police say John Shallerhorn also robbed a man of his medallion and chain at gunpoint in the George Washington Carver High School parking lot before the altercation that ended with the slaying of Martinus Mitchum.
University of New Orleans instructor Chioma Urama is the winner of the competitive national Georgia Poetry Prize for 2019. Urama, who teaches creative writing and English composition, earned the prize for her debut collection of poetry, “A Body of Water.”
The University of Georgia Press established the national poetry prize in partnership with the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia to celebrate excellence in poetry. The annual contest is opened to residents of North America.
The prize includes a $1,000 award and a publication contract with the University of Georgia Press. Urama’s book published on Feb. 15, 2021.
“This award is a great achievement that highlights the great artistic work that is coming out of UNO s English and foreign languages department,” Urama said.
Ruth Simmons, Ph.D. ’73, president of Prairie View A&M University, president
emerita of both Brown University and Smith College, and one of the nation’s foremost leaders in higher education, will be the principal speaker at Harvard’s celebration of the Class of 2021 on Thursday, May 27.
“I am delighted to announce that Ruth Simmons will deliver our principal address,” said Harvard President Larry Bacow in a message to the Harvard community today in which he announced the virtual celebration, calling her “among America’s foremost advocates for higher education.”
“Having led a women’s college, an Ivy League research university, and a historically Black university, she has a unique perspective on how very different types of institutions contribute to the fabric of our nation” said Bacow. “She has also defended with great passion the possibility of improving our society by learning from our differences. I very much look forward to hearing her remarks later thi