News You Ought to Know
Judge won’t return R. Kelly bond money to woman who paid it
CHICAGO (AP) — A judge in R. Kelly’s Illinois sexual assault case has refused to give $100,000 in bail money back to a Kelly friend who paid it in February to secure the singer’s release from county jail.
The judge says papers that restauranteur Valencia Love signed clearly indicated she could lose the money.
Love’s lawyer said in court Tuesday that she didn’t know when she paid 10% of a $1 million bond that Kelly would be charged federally and land in federal jail.
John Collins said Love now fears losing all the money as charges against Kelly stack up.
But Judge Lawrence Flood read sections of papers Love signed warning the bond money could be used for Kelly’s legal fees and that she may never see it again.
Whataburger donation stocks school library with over 1,000 books
DALLAS — The Dr. Barbara Jordan Elementary School campus library will receive more than 1,000 new books thanks to Whataburger and First Book.
The Texas hamburger chain donated more than $70,000 to provide funding for new books to 70 schools in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Whataburger partnered with First Book, a non-profit that provides reading materials, educational resources and other basic needs to students across the country. Schools can apply for $1,000 grants that would go toward supplying new books through the nonprofit.
“From a charitable giving standpoint, children’s education is one of Whataburger’s charitable pillars,” said Shannon Anderson, Whataburger franchise marketing manager. “It’s really important to the company, very important to our leadership, and to our employees as a whole. It’s something that we love to do!”
Lynn DeFord, librarian at Jordan Elementary, applied for the grant on behalf of the school. Besides earning the $1,000 book credit, the campus was among two schools that won the Grand Prize Award. First Book will grant 1,000 new books for their library.
“It makes me feel good that I can bring something extra for my students that they can enjoy,” DeFord said. “This will get them excited about reading and introduce them to literature they were previously unaware of.”
The school hosted a Reading Party on Sept. 6. Volunteers from Whataburger and CBS11 read poetry to third-grade students. Each student was given a copy of “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” a book of poems and drawings by bestselling author Shel Silverstein.
“They’re able to see that Whataburger does more than serve burgers. They serve their community,” said Jordan Elementary Principal Lucy Hopkins. “We know that when we put a book in the hands of a child, we open up endless possibilities for them to imagine, to dream, to think about what they might be.”
