NBA superstar LeBron James is continuing to make moves off the court. James’ production company, SpringHill Entertainment, is adding the first scripted drama to its growing slate. The project also boasts Oscar-winning talent: Octavia Spencer.

Spencer is attached to star in the limited series about entrepreneur and social activist Madam C.J. Walker’s life, with James exec producing along with his company’s co-founder, Maverick Carter.

Sources tell Variety that Netflix is interested in the series and is the likely destination. The steaming service had no comment on their involvement in the project.

Nicole Asher is on board to write and co-exec produce and “Black Nativity” helmer Kasi Lemmons will direct the pilot and also exec produce.

The series is based on the book “On Her Own Ground” by A’Lelia Bundles, Walker’s great-great-granddaughter, who will also serve as a consultant on the series.

Walker, the daughter of slaves, was orphaned at age seven, married at 14, and widowed at 20. She spent two decades laboring as a washerwoman, earning $1.50 a week. However, everything changed following Walker’s discovery of a revolutionary hair care formula for black women. By the time she died in 1919, she had built a beauty empire from the ground up, amassing wealth unprecedented among black women. She counted W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington among her friends.


Zero Gravity Management’s Mark Holder and Christine Holder optioned the book from Bundles in early 2016. Spencer got wind of the project and aggressively pursued the part. Once word spread that Spencer was attached, WME, who reps both Spencer and James, pitched the series to James as his production company’s entryway into the prestige genre.

SpringHill president Jamal Henderson brought the project to Carter’s attention and the two moved quickly to land the property.

With Nicole Asher set to write, Spencer starring, and James and Springhill on board as producers, the package was presented to potential buyers, with Netflix acting fast and the favorite to land the series.

“I am really proud of this project and that SpringHill will be partnering with Octavia to tell this important story,” James said. “Every American should all know the story of Madam C.J. Walker. She was an innovator, entrepreneur, social activist, and total game changer whose story has been left out of the history books. I hope this project lives up to her legacy with a story that will educate and inspire.”

Zero Gravity and Warner Bros. will partner on the production.

The Holders (through Zero Gravity), James and Carter (through SpringHill), and Spencer (through her production company Orit Entertainment) will all serve as exec producers with Asher on board as a co-exec producer.

“It’s so exciting for all of us to keep building SpringHill, see it mature, and continue to find its voice. We are really focused on growing with authenticity and substance,” Carter said. “For us, this is totally about great stories and great partners. Partnering with Octavia to tell the story of Madam C.J. Walker is the ideal first project for SpringHill to take an important step into scripted drama.”

The film is in line with SpringHill’s mission to spotlight the hidden African-American figures who helped shape American history. The company recently donated $2.5 million to the Smithsonian’s Muhammad Ali exhibit at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Launched in 2013, SpringHill has quietly become a big force in the entertainment industry. Although the company, which partnered with Warner Bros. in 2015, didn’t produce any series that were picked up this pilot season, they sold three pilot pitches to broadcast networks while producing the hit Starz series “Survivor’s Remorse.” The company is also producing a comedy for HBO set in an L.A. sneaker store.

Trump expected to lift ban on military gear to local police forces

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Monday lifted a controversial ban on the transfer of some surplus military equipment to police departments whose battlefield-style response to rioting in a St. Louis suburb three years ago prompted a halt to the program.

The new plan takes effect immediately and fully rolls back an Obama administration executive order that blocked armored vehicles, large-caliber weapons, ammunition and other heavy equipment from being re-purposed from foreign battlefields to America's streets.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who led the campaign for the program's reinstatement, outlined the President Trump's new executive order Monday in an address at the annual meeting of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest police union.

The administration's action, first disclosed by USA TODAY, would restore "the full scope of a longstanding program for recycling surplus, lifesaving gear from the Department of Defense, along with restoring the full scope of grants used to purchase this type of equipment from other sources,'' according to a administration summary of the new program recently circulated to some law enforcement groups.

"Assets that would otherwise be scrapped can be re-purposed to help state, local and tribal law enforcement better protect public safety and reduce crime."

The FOP and some other law enforcement groups have long been pressing for a reversal of the Obama administration policy, arguing that access to such equipment was needed, especially in cash-strapped communities, to better respond to local unrest.

Civil rights advocates, however, warned that the program's reinstatement threatened to inflame tensions in minority communities where such equipment has been deployed in the past.

"It is both exceptionally dangerous and irresponsible for the administration to lift the ban on the transfer of certain surplus military equipment to state and local law enforcement organizations,'' said Janai Nelson, associate director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. "Just a few summers ago, our nation watched as Ferguson raised the specter of increased police militarization. The law enforcement response there and in too many places across the country demonstrated how perilous, especially for black and brown communities, a militarized police force can be.''

Nelson said the timing of the president's decision, against the backdrop of unrest in Charlottesville, Va., "reflects this administrations now open effort to escalate racial tensions in our country.''

Local access to the high-powered gear was put on national display in 2014 in Ferguson, Mo., where armored vehicles and heavily-armed police clashed with protesters for days following the police shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old black man by a white officer.

The deployment of such equipment, President Obama argued at the time, cast the police as an "occupying force,'' deepening a divide between law enforcement and a wary community.

"We've seen how militarized gear can sometimes give people a feeling like they're an occupying force, as opposed to a force that's part of the community that's protecting them and serving them," Obama said in announcing the ban in 2015.

The military gear ban was among a host of policing reform recommendations to flow from a White House advisory group formed in the aftermath of the Ferguson rioting.

The Task Force on 21st Century Policing, chaired by former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and Laurie Robinson, a former assistant attorney general, called on law enforcement officials to "minimize the appearance of a military operation'' when policing mass demonstrations.

"Avoid using provocative tactics and equipment that undermine civilian trust," the task force urged.

The previously-banned equipment also included tracked armored vehicles, bayonets and grenade launchers.

The Obama order did allow for the limited use of other surplus — aircraft, wheeled tactical vehicles, mobile command units, battering rams and riot gear — on the condition that such equipment was approved by the federal government.

The surplus sharing agreement, also known as the "1033 program," was created by Congress nearly 30 years ago as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. It was originally intended to assist local law enforcement in drug investigations.

The program was expanded in 1997 to include all local law enforcement operations, including counter-terrorism. Since then, according to the government, more than $5 billion in gear has been transferred to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.

"Much of the equipment provided through the 1033 program is entirely defensive in nature ... that protect officers in active shooter scenarios and other dangerous situations," the Trump administration proposal says.

Video of an Ohio cop brutalizing an unarmed black man appears to undercut the initial police story about what happened.

The Euclid Police Department originally released a statement claiming that Richard Hubbard III had ignored Officer Michael Amiott‘s instruction to “face away” as he stepped out of his car and then began to resist.

Dashcam video, however, appears to show Hubbard fully complying. As Amiott repeats his instruction, Hubbard is in the process of turning away–and then the officer appears to snap.

Amiott grabs Hubbard’s arms, pushes him, kicks him, and with the help of another cop, wrestles him to the ground. As the two officers hold Hubbard down, Amiott slams his head into the pavement multiple times and punches him repeatedly. The other officer retreats as Hubbard’s girlfriend jumps out of the car, screaming.

All the while, Amiott continues to go at Hubbard–who was allegedly pulled over on suspicion of driving with a suspended license. Hubbard was ultimately charged for that traffic offense–and for resisting arrest.

Those charges have proven controversial. Protests ensued. Hubbard’s attorney, Christopher McNeal, said:

“Your own two eyes and common sense can lead to only one reasonable conclusion as to the propriety of the level of force used for a basic traffic stop and whether or not my client had a chance to comply.”

In light of the uproar, the Euclid Police Department released Officer Amiott’s personnel file. Its contents are not likely to accrue to the department’s benefit. The image painted by Amiott’s file is not particularly flattering. It shows an officer with a history of allegedly losing evidence, losing his temper and losing the ability to drive police cars without crashing them.

Amiott also resigned from his prior job–moments before he was slated to be fired–at the Mentor Police Department because he conducted a traffic stop allegedly without probable cause and then lied about it. He’s been accused of using excessive force before, too.

Has it become fashionable to lash out at police? Law enforcement advocates fear it’s a growing trend in some circles.

Whether they’re being shot at, cussed at, zapped with a stun gun or denied service at a restaurant, many police officers in Metro Detroit and across the country feel they’re being disrespected more than ever.

“Everybody thinks it’s cool to not talk to the police, and to hate the police,” Detroit Police officer Ki’Juan Anderson said. “The bad guys love this. A criminal will commit a crime, and nobody wants to tell us what happened. We’re trying to help them ... and they say ‘get off my porch; I hate the police.’ ”

Anderson, who is assigned to the department’s Gang Intelligence unit, was in the Special Operations crew of Kenneth Steil in September, when Steil was killed in a shootout with a carjacking suspect.

Since then, 10 Detroit officers have been shot in the line of duty, while shots were fired at several other officers, including an incident July 20 in southwest Detroit near Chamberlain and Elsmere. Officers were responding to a call of shots fired in the area when a man shot at them. The officers returned fire and the suspect ran away.

Since Steil was killed, “I feel like I’m going to get shot every day,” Anderson said. “But I have to put that aside and go out there and do my job.”

Nationwide, 143 officers were killed on duty last year, the most in five years, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

The organization’s “Mid-Year Law Enforcement Officer Fatalities Report,” released last month, found a 30 percent increase in line-of-duty deaths in the first six months of this year over the same period in 2016.

On Friday, six officers in Pennsylvania and Florida were shot, two fatally, in the space of a few hours.

“Most citizens are supportive, but we have a criminal element that has no reservations (about) shooting at cops,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig said. “They buy into the ... anti-police rhetoric and they feel they have a green light to attack officers.”

Singer Trey Songz, whose real name is Tremaine Neverson, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of disturbing the peace after he punched a Detroit police sergeant following a December concert at Joe Louis Arena. He was sentenced to probation and will serve no jail time.

During a free-speech rally Saturday in Boston, city police tweeted: “#BPD is asking individuals to refrain from throwing urine, bottles and other harmful projectiles at our officers.”

Police say the anger against cops is manifested in ways other than violence. In several recent incidents, restaurant workers refused to wait on police officers. Late last month in New York, a Dunkin’ Donuts employee allegedly told two officers, “I don’t serve cops.” New York officers began a boycott of the chain.

“I think this is one of the more challenging times that I’ve seen in this profession and I’ve been in it a long time,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. “I think there’s a false narrative out there that police officers are quick to use force, quick to violence, quick to improper behavior.”

Another indication cops have fallen out of fashion: Police departments in Michigan and across the country are having trouble recruiting.

Kenneth Reed, spokesman for the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, scoffed at the suggestion there’s a war on cops.

“There’s a war on the citizenry by law enforcement,” Reed said. “There’s an element of uneasiness and even fear among citizens, particularly among African descent and other brown people — especially when you have Donald Trump saying it’s OK to brutalize people when they’re taken into police custody.”

During a speech last month at Suffolk County Community College in Long Island, New York, President Trump told a gathering of police officers: “When you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over (their heads)? I said, you can take the hand away, OK?”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters: “I believe (Trump) was making a joke at the time,” but the president’s statement was roundly denounced by civil rights groups and police officials nationwide.

Videos shared on social media, including the April 2015 incident in which Charleston, South Carolina, police officer Michael Slager fatally shot unarmed black motorist Walter Scott in the back, has fueled the perception that all cops are bad, police officials say.

Slager, who pleaded guilty in May of willfully using excessive force to deprive Scott of his civil rights, is awaiting sentencing.

“Are there some problem officers? Absolutely, and nobody wants a dirty cop off the street more than we do,” Michigan State Police Lt. Michael Shaw said. “But that’s the small minority. All police are not like that, despite the perception by some.”

Ray Winans, a former gang member who was convicted of manslaughter at age 15 and now mentors Detroit youths, said the chasm between police and citizens is the fault of both parties.

“There’s a mistrust that goes both ways: Police hear horror stories about community members and believe them, and community members hear horror stories about the police and believe them,” he said. “But it’s not near as bad in Detroit as it is in other cities. That’s because Chief Craig has done a good job being transparent and holding problem officers accountable.”

Black Lives Matter protestors rally at home of officer involved in fatal shooting

Activists call for punishment in the shooting of David Jones outside officer's home in quiet Bustleton neighborhood.

Calling for justice in the recent, fatal police shooting of 30-year-old David Jones, a small group of Black Lives Matter protestors marched in the streets in front of the Bustleton home of the police officer who caused Jones’ untimely death.

The events unfolded at about 7 p.m. on Thursday, when a group of protestors began pasting “wanted” posters for Philadelphia Police officer Ryan Pownall on telephone poles near his home along Bridle Road in Northeast Philly.

The posters featured a photo of Pownall and claimed the officer was “wanted by the people of Philadelphia for the murder of David Jones.”

According to the police report on Jones’ death, he was fatally shot in the back by Pownall on June 8th after a scuffle over a gun in Jones' waistband.

Pownall had stopped Jones after seeing him riding a dirt bike erratically near the intersection of Whitaker and Hunting Park Avenues in Juniata Park, notes the report. An alleged witness to the shooting has claimed that he saw Jones' gun drop to the sidewalk before Jones ran and Pownall shot the fleeing Jones fatally in the back.

On Thursday, Black Lives Matter organizer, Asa Khalif led a group of about ten protestors in chants of “No justice, no peace, no racist police” and “We demand justice for David Jones,” as police vehicles quickly filled the block.

It was mere moments after the protestors placed their first “wanted” poster when law enforcement officials arrived en masse, creating a line of officers along the sidewalk, separating protestors from the home they had targeted.

“We want justice for his kids. We want justice for his family,” shouted Khalif. “We want justice or else we are going to keep going into your motherf***ing neighborhood.”

During the protest, local residents emerged from their homes. Some confronted the protestors, with one man even attempting to throw several signs that read “Black Lives Matter” into a plastic garbage bag.

He shouted “I saw trash and wanted to pick it up,” when officers on the scene stopped him and walked the man back towards his home.

Though the event was mostly peaceful, at times protestors clashed with residents in prolonged shouting matches. Police on hand seemed content to monitor the situation and make sure to keep the parties separate.

When asked to discuss the police response to the protest, officers on scene declined to comment to a Metro reporter.

At one point, someone in the crowd shouted that, if Khalif wanted to have his point heard, he should go directly to the mayor’s office.

Khalif replied that he had indeed done that.

In fact, he had, in recent weeks, stopped press conferences, marched on City Hall and stormed into the offices of the city’s managing director, Michael DiBerardinis, calling for Pownall to be arrested for Jones’ shooting.

Khalif replied that they had decided to come to Pownall’s home in a further effort to seek justice.

“[Police] come into our communities and we are flipping the script. We are coming to your neighborhood,” he said.

The investigation into Jones’ death is ongoing and is being handled by the Office of the Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

After about an hour, as the sun began to set, Khalif gathered his small group of activists and left for the evening.

“Black lives matter also,” said Khalif as he closed the rally. “When you kill someone, you should go to jail.”

No arrests were made. Mayor Jim Kenney praised the conduct of the police officers who, he said, "peacefully defused last night's event."

"There are many Philadelphians and officers who are productively working to build police-community trust, including pushing for transparency and reform which Commissioner Ross and I both agree must continue," Kenney said. "What happened last night did nothing to move those efforts forward."

Following the display, some locals seemed upset by the protest.

"This is a disgrace. Don't come to our neighborhood!" shounted one neighbor as Khalif's vehicle drove off. The man refused to share his name with a reporter.

Yet, others seemed to believe that it was everyone’s right to protest if they feel there has been an injustice.

Citing the fact that protestors promised to return to the neighborhood in the coming days, a neighbor of Pownall’s asked to remain anonymous, but he said that he could understand the protestors’ motivations.

“We live in a free country, so you should be able to voice your opinion,” said the neighbor. “But, my father was a cop and you show up at a guy’s house to express your opinion? I don’t know… That’s tough.”

Pownall was called a "racist, bigot pig cop" and Khalif said he has "a murderous spirit" referring to another shooting that the officer was involved. That 2010 shooting left Carnell Williams-Carney paralyzed when a bullet hit him in the back. The shooting was ruled justified and Williams-Carney lost a federal lawsuit against police.

Thursday's protest riled police union boss John McNesby. He called Khalif a "punk" who shoud've been arrested for protesting without a permit.

"I can't use the words I want," McNesby said Friday. "To take it to someone's house, a police officer's house, he doesn't have any respect."

"He's a two-bit punk who doesn't have the respect of decent protesters, if there is any in this city."

16-year-old MPS student arrested after punching teacher several times in the head

MILWAUKEE -- A teacher at South Division High School punched by a student. The whole thing was captured on camera.

The video shows a student punching a teacher several times in the head. That student, not just in trouble with the school...but also with police.

A confrontation between a student and a teacher--escalates to violence.

A cell video records from the back of the classroom-- as a 16-year-old is seen shoving his teacher. Eventually, punching him repeatedly in the head.

The man falls to the ground as the teen keeps hitting him.

The circumstances around the fight aren't known.

Police say the student was arrested at the school and faces possible charges of battery.

A Milwaukee Public School spokesman says the district is cooperating with the investigation.

"MPS is cooperating with the Milwaukee Police Department to investigate a situation that occurred today at 1515 W Lapham Blvd. Due to this being an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further."

A school that's known as the fighting cardinals--now dealing with a fight of a different kind.

Police tell FOX6 the teacher's injuries were not life threatening. Charges will be presented to the District Attorney's Office in the coming days.

Officials say the case will be presented to the Milwaukee County District Office in the coming days for possible charges of Battery to a School District Official.