ST. LOUIS (AP) – A Missouri grand jury has been hearing evidence for months as it weighs whether to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, which was followed by sometimes violent protests. Some answers to common questions about the grand jury:
Q: What is the grand jury deciding?
A: The grand jury is considering whether there is enough evidence to charge Wilson with a crime and, if so, what that charge should be.
Q: How is the grand jury different from other juries?
A: The grand jury will determine only whether probable cause exists to indict Wilson, not whether he is guilty. If the jury indicts him, a separate trial jury will be seated to decide whether to convict or acquit him.
Q: When will the grand jury make a decision?
A: There is no specific date for a decision to be revealed. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch has said he expects grand jurors to reach a decision in mid- to late November. But the timing ultimately is up to the grand jury.
Q: How many people are on the grand jury and how were they selected?
A: The grand jury is composed of 12 people “selected at random from a fair cross-section of the citizens,” according to Missouri law. The jury is 75 percent white: six white men, three white women, two Black women and one Black man. St. Louis County overall is 70 percent white, but about two-thirds of Ferguson’s residents are Black. Brown was Black. The officer is white.
Q: Was the grand jury appointed for this specific case?
A: No. It was appointed for a four-month term. The grand jury had been hearing routine cases around the time Brown was killed and then turned its attention to the shooting.
The jury’s term was due to expire Sept. 10. That same day, county Judge Carolyn Whittington extended the term to Jan. 7 – the longest extension allowable by state law. The investigation was always expected to go longer than the typical grand jury term.
Q: How often do the grand jurors meet?
A: Their normal schedule has been to meet once a week.
Q: Who is inside the grand jury room?
A: The jury, a prosecutor and a witness. Grand jury proceedings are closed to the public.
Q: What happens when the grand jury convenes?
A: Prosecutors present evidence and summon witnesses to testify. A grand jury is a powerful tool for investigating crimes because witnesses must testify unless they invoke the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects against self-incrimination.
Typically, grand jurors hear a condensed version of the evidence that might be presented at a trial. In the Ferguson case, grand jurors are receiving more extensive evidence and testimony.
Q: Who has testified to the grand jury?
A: The only witnesses known for certain to have testified are Wilson and Dr. Michael Baden, who performed a private autopsy on Brown on behalf of his family. But other witnesses and experts may also have appeared.
Q: What charges could be filed?
A: At the lower end is second-degree involuntary manslaughter, which is defined as acting with criminal negligence to cause a death. It is punishable by up to four years in prison.
First-degree involuntary manslaughter, defined as recklessly causing a death, is punishable by up to seven years in prison. Voluntary manslaughter, defined as causing a death “under the influence of sudden passion arising from adequate cause,” is punishable by five to 15 years in prison. Second-degree murder is defined as knowingly causing a death, or acting with the purpose of causing serious physical injury that ends up resulting in death. It is punishable by life in prison or a range of 10 to 30 years.
The most serious charge, first-degree murder, can be used only when someone knowingly causes a death after deliberation and is punishable by either life in prison or lethal injection.
Q: Do charges require a unanimous vote?
A: No. Consent from nine jurors is enough to file a charge in Missouri. The jury could also choose not to file any charges.
Q: Can jurors speak to the public?
A: No. Disclosing evidence, the name of a witness or an indictment can lead to a misdemeanor charge.
Q: What will be publicly disclosed when grand jurors reach a decision?
A: If Wilson is charged, the indictment will be made public, but the evidence will be kept secret for use at a trial. If Wilson is not indicted, McCulloch has said he will take the unusual step of releasing transcripts and audio recordings of the grand jury investigation.
Q: What preparations are being made?
A: Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency Monday and activated the National Guard. The governor said the Guard would assist state and local police as needed, in case there is civil unrest when the grand jury’s decision is announced.
Schools expect advance notice of an announcement to help ensure students can get home before any major disruptions from protests. Police have undergone training pertaining to protesters’ constitutional rights and have purchased more equipment, such as shields, helmets, smoke canisters and rubber bullets.

By Scott Malone

FERGUSON Mo. (Reuters) – Missouri’s governor declared a state of emergency on Monday and authorized the state’s National Guard to support police in case of violence after a grand jury decides whether to indict a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed Black teenager.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to plan and be prepared for any contingency, it is necessary to have these resources in place in advance of any announcement of the grand jury’s decision,” Governor Jay Nixon said in a statement. The order also puts the St. Louis County Police Department, rather than police in Ferguson, Missouri, in charge of policing protests.
Residents of Ferguson, which saw weeks of sometimes violent protests following the Aug. 9 shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, are braced for the possibility of more unrest, particularly if the grand jury decides not to criminally charge Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.
The past two days have seen protests around the area in anticipation of the grand jury’s report. Several dozen demonstrators took to the streets on Monday in Clayton, Missouri, where a grand jury is meeting.
“We want an indictment. The cops don’t like it,” the protesters chanted as they marched in freezing temperatures.
“Something about the way Mike Brown was killed started a fire in me that I can’t ignore,” said one of the demonstration’s organizers, Dhorbua Shakur, 24.
He said he had little sympathy for area residents who are tired of the demonstrations, which left some businesses in Ferguson burned out.
“They can turn this off and on with a TV screen. But this is my reality. This is my life,” Shakur said.
Decision Expected This Month
Some area schools have told parents they will dismiss students early when the decision comes and many businesses near the stretch of downtown that saw the worst rioting after Brown’s killing have boarded up their windows as a protective move.
Officials have said the grand jury’s decision is likely to come this month.
Video and audio published over the weekend by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch showed Wilson leaving the police station and returning to it hours after the shooting.
There are conflicting accounts of what happened, with some witnesses saying Brown had his hands up in surrender when he was shot and others describing a physical altercation between Brown and Wilson.
Many protesters expressed anger at word over the weekend that Wilson may be able to return to his job if he is not indicted, although local police said he would be fired immediately if charges are brought.
Protest organizers planned to demonstrate at the Ferguson Police Department when the grand jury’s decision comes back, and later at the county courthouse in Clayton.
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles expressed confidence on Monday in the city’s police department and its chief, Thomas Jackson.
“Right now, what we need is continuity in the police department and the chief has made tremendous relationships with a number of protesters and so I think that’s what those protesters want,” Knowles said. “The conversations we have been able to have with people have been very productive. … We need to have a mutual understanding before we can move forward.”
(Editing by Doina Chiacu and Peter Cooney)

By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER, Associated Press

FERGUSON, Mo.— Some suburban St. Louis gun dealers have been doing brisk business, particularly among first-time buyers, as fearful residents await a grand jury’s decision on whether to indict the police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown.
Metro Shooting Supplies, in an area near the city’s main airport, reports selling two to three times more weapons than usual in recent weeks — an average of 30 to 50 guns each day — while the jury prepares to conclude its three-month review of the case that sparked looting and weeks of sometimes-violent protests in August.
“We’re selling everything that’s not nailed down,” owner Steven King said. “Police aren’t going to be able to protect every single individual. If you don’t prepare yourself and get ready for the worst, you have no one to blame but yourself.”
The store’s waiting list for private lessons and concealed-carry training classes extends into 2015.
Protest leaders say they are preparing for non-violent demonstrations after the grand jury’s decision is announced, but they also acknowledge the risk of more unrest if the panel decides not to issue criminal charges against Darren Wilson, the white officer who shot Brown, who was Black and unarmed.
Other gun dealers say their sales spikes are comparable to the increases seen soon after Brown’s death on Aug. 9.
“I’ve probably sold more guns this past month than all of last year,” said County Guns owner Adam Weinstein, who fended off looters last summer at his storefront on West Florissant Avenue, the roadway that was the scene of many nightly protests. Weinstein stood guard over his business with an assault rifle and pistol.
The store has since moved out of Ferguson — in part because of concerns about potential further violence.
First-time gun owners account for about 60 percent of his recent customers, King said. Among them is Dave Benne, who on Saturday purchased a Smith & Wesson handgun as shoppers swarmed the 8,600-square-foot showroom.
Benne said he’s considered buying a gun for some time, but the events in Ferguson, a town that borders his community of Florissant and shares a school district with its neighbor, were the decisive factor.
“Everyone else has one,” he said. “I figured I’d better too.”
The St. Louis County Police Department reports a sharp increase in the number of concealed-carry permits issued since Brown’s death compared with a year ago.
From May through July, the county issued fewer permits compared with 2013, records show. But from Aug. 1 through Nov. 12, officials issued 600 more permits, including more than twice as many in October as a year earlier. Fifty-three more permits were issued in the first eight business days of November than in all of November 2013.
Police spokesman Brian Schellman said “it would be naive” to say the increase has not been driven by concern over the grand jury decision.
The purchases are not limited to residents. The owner of an online business that sells tactical gear to law-enforcement agencies said his warehouse in the suburb of Chesterfield has been visited by Missouri state troopers and officers from the Department of Homeland Security assigned to help state and local police.
“None of us has ever seen anything quite like this before,” said Chad Weinman of Cat5 Commerce, which operates the website TacticalGear.com. “There is an uncertainty in the air that has my entire staff on edge. To say that St. Louis residents are concerned about what will transpire in the coming days is an understatement.”
At the Ferguson Wal-Mart, one of more than a dozen stores attacked the night after Brown’s death, managers have removed ammunition from shelves as a precaution.
The move to make the ammo less visible apparently did not deter customers. A manager said Monday that the store had sold most of its supply of bullets.

 Congressional Democrats and Republicans are calling for “tax reform” in this lame duck session. Anticipating this, the Florida legislature sent a bold message to both parties earlier this year: Abolish the IRS and end the current Income Tax system.

Senate Memorial 118 expresses the will of the Florida House and Senate. It calls on members of Congress and the President to eliminate the following: “the personal income tax, the alternative minimum tax, the inheritance tax, the gift tax, the capital gains tax, the corporate income tax, the self-employment tax, and the employee and employer payroll tax.”
To replace all taxes on income, the Legislature called for a national retail sales tax; specifically, proposed legislation already before Congress in the forms of H.R. 25 and S.122, better known as the “FairTax®.” As written, the FairTax would raise the same amount of revenue for the federal government. It would also defund and eliminate the IRS over a three year phase out period.
After approval of several committees by near-unanimous vote, the proposal was adopted by the Florida Senate on March 20, and by the House on April 9. It was forwarded to Florida’s Secretary of State, who sent copies to the President, Vice President, and all members of the Florida delegation in Congress.
While states can’t make those in Washington, D.C., do anything, it is significant that leaders of the 4th most populous state would call for such sweeping changes. Also, as one of seven states that have no income tax, Florida is leading by example.
“The federal government, too, should have no taxes on income,” says Mark Gupton, Managing Director of the Florida FairTax Educational Association.“Under the FairTax we would be taxed on what we spend, not on what we earn.”
Without federal withholding, every worker would see a dramatic increase in take home pay.
To learn more about the FairTax and how you can help make it the law of the land, go to www.FairTax.org.for the national website. In Florida, visit www.flfairtax.org.

by Dave Campbell, Associated Press|

MINNEAPOLIS — The NFL has suspended Adrian Peterson without pay for at least the rest of the season.
The league said Tuesday it informed the Minnesota Vikings running back he will not be considered for reinstatement before April 15 for violating the NFL personal conduct policy.
The NFL Players Association quickly announced its plan to appeal the punishment.
Peterson pleaded no contest Nov. 4 to misdemeanor reckless assault in Texas for injuries to his 4-year-old son he was disciplining. He had been on paid leave from the team since Sept. 17.
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Aug. 28 an enhanced crackdown on players involved with domestic violence.

 11-Country, 3-continent STEM+ Learning Tour Inspired Students Worldwide

(BLACK PR WIRE) – WHAT: Join us to welcome Captain Barrington Irving, Miami’s own educational hero who holds the Guinness World Record as the youngest person to fly solo around the world, after a two-month trip to Asia, Indonesia, and Australia, where he carried out 16 powerful ground, air, and sea expeditions exploring real-life applications of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, history, geography and humanities (STEM+). 

Throughout the trip, thousands of students worldwide followed Irving’s adventures through videos and a real-time blog on www.flyingclassroom.com. An electronic portal on board enabled them to follow and participate in expeditions as part of their school science curriculums. The Flying Classroom, named Inspiration III, is a Hawker 400XP business jet provided by Executive Air Services in Miami.

More than 150 students from area schools, special guests, local marching bands, and members of the 5000 Role Models will greet Captain Irving and his crew when they arrive.

WHEN: 
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 

10:00 a.m. Flying Classroom Jet Lands at Opa-locka Airport 
10:15-11:15 Remarks by VIP’s, Barrington, Q&A with students 
11:15-noon Media Interviews/Photo ops 
Noon-2 pm Flying Classroom—20-minute flights for media/special guests

WHERE: 
Landmark Aviation 
15001 NW 42nd Avenue 
Opa-locka Airport 
Opa-locka, FL 
(305) 687-8410

WHO: 
Program Speakers: 
-Fedrick Ingram, President, United Teachers of Dade 
-Fabio Alexander, CEO, Executive Air Services 
-Captain Barrington Irving, President, Experience Aviation, Inc; Guinness World Record Holder; National Geographic Emerging Explorer

About Barrington Irving 
In 2007, Barrington Irving became the youngest person, at 23, and the first black pilot to fly solo around the globe. On his 97-day journey, he flew 30,000 miles in a single-engine plane called “Inspiration.” He made the trip to show other youth that if he could achieve his dream, they could too. A Guinness World Record Holder who was named a National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2012, Captain Irving took flight again on September 23, 2014 in the world’s first Flying Classroom. For more information and to see videos of his educational STEM+ land, sea, and air expeditions, visit www.flyingclassroom.com.

 CORCORAN, Calif. (AP) — Mass murderer Charles Manson plans to marry a 26-year-old woman who left her Midwestern home and spent the past nine years trying to help exonerate him.
Afton Elaine Burton, the raven-haired bride-to-be, said she loves the man convicted in the notorious murders of seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate.
No date has been set, but a wedding coordinator has been assigned by the prison to handle the nuptials, and the couple has until early February to get married before they would have to reapply.
The Kings County marriage license, viewed Monday by The Associated Press, was issued Nov. 7 for the 80-year-old Manson and Burton, who lives in Corcoran — the site of the prison — and maintains several websites advocating his innocence.
Burton, who goes by the name “Star,” told the AP that she and Manson will be married next month.
“Y’all can know that it’s true,” she said. “It’s going to happen.”
“I love him,” she added. “I’m with him. There’s all kinds of things.”
However, as a life prisoner with no parole date, Manson is not entitled to family visits, a euphemism for conjugal visits.
So why would Burton marry him under those conditions?
She said she is interested in working on his case, and marrying him would allow her to get information not available to nonrelatives.
“There’s certain things next of kin can do,” she said without elaborating.
Tate’s sister, Debra, who acts as a spokeswoman for the families of Manson’s victims, said the impending marriage is “ludicrous.”
“I think it’s insane,” she said. “What would any young woman in her right mind want with an 80-year-old man?”
As for Manson’s motives, she said, “The devil is alive and well.”
Burton gave an interview a year ago to Rolling Stone magazine in which she said she and Manson planned to marry. But Manson, who became notorious in 1969 as the leader of a roving “family” of young killers, was less certain about tying the knot.
“That’s a bunch of garbage,” Manson said in the December 2013 interview. “That’s trash. We’re playing that for public consumption.”
Asked Monday about those comments, Burton said, “None of that’s true,” adding that they’re waiting for the prison to complete their paperwork.
California Department of Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton confirmed to the AP that the license had been transmitted to the prison.
Thornton said each California prison designates an employee to be a marriage coordinator who processes paperwork for an inmate’s request to be wed. In most cases, she said, the Department of Corrections approves of such weddings as “a tool of family reunification and social development.” But Manson is a unique case.
Burton said the wedding might have happened earlier if Manson did not have “some situations” at the prison.
Thornton explained that in February, Manson had three violations for possession of a weapon, threatening staff and refusal to provide a urine sample. Further details on the violations were not immediately available.
Burton said the prison holds marriages on the first Saturday of each month and she expects to be married in an inmate visiting room at the prison.
Thornton confirmed that Manson can have a wedding at the prison and invite an officiant from outside the prison to perform the ceremony.
Manson and his prospective spouse also would be allowed to invite 10 guests who are not inmates.
He and two followers, Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel, remain imprisoned. Another follower, Susan Atkins, died of cancer behind bars. Other members of the Manson “family” still behind bars are Charles “Tex” Watson, Bruce Davis and Robert Beausoleil.
Manson, Watson and the women were convicted in the gruesome killings of Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski, and four others at her estate on Aug. 9, 1969, and grocers Leno and Rosemary LaBianca who were killed the following night.
Manson is not eligible for parole until 2027. He has been a habitual criminal and spent most of his life in prison.