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Kanye West reports financials in filing for his presidential run

Kanye West reported his financial assets and liabilities in an October filing to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics as part of his run for president.

The rapper said his largest asset is fashion company Yeezy LLC, worth “over $50 million,” according to the document. The firm’s apparel and footwear arms are also listed to be worth more than $50 million each. Last year, Bank of America Corp. valued just the sneaker side of Yeezy at as much as $3 billion, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg.

The value of his stakes in Adidas AG and Nike Inc. are worth as much as $50 million and $25 million, respectively, the filing shows. West also lists liabilities of up to $100 million, the bulk of which are made up of various mortgages.

West announced his run for president via Twitter in July, though he hasn’t secured a spot on the ballot in many states. He has qualified to appear in at least 12 states, including Mississippi and Vermont.

Earlier this year, his personal accountant, David Choi, provided an unaudited balance sheet that pegs the rapper’s net worth at $3.15 billion, with the bulk of his fortune tied to Bank of America’s Yeezy valuation, which was done before the pandemic shook up the global economy.

Business Insider reported West’s financials disclosure earlier.

More absentee ballots already cast in Georgia than in all 2016

ATLANTA — Votes are pouring in across Georgia, with over 262,000 absentee ballots returned to county election offices four weeks before Election Day.

The number of absentee votes so far is already higher than the total cast in the 2016 presidential election, when 202,500 voters mailed in ballots.

In all, nearly 1.5 million Georgia voters have requested absentee ballots, according to data from the secretary of state’s office.

High interest in absentee voting puts Georgia on track for a record-breaking presidential election, with total turnout estimated to reach 5 million. About one-third of all voters are projected to cast absentee ballots, with the rest voting in person during early voting that starts Monday or on Election Day on Nov. 3.

Absentee voting gained popularity this year as a way to participate in the election remotely, without having to visit in-person polling places during the coronavirus pandemic.

About 40% of voters who have requested absentee ballots for the general election didn’t participate in the June 9 primary. Of those who did cast ballots in the primary, 60% used Democratic Party ballots and 38% voted Republican. The remaining 2% pulled nonpartisan ballots.

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia county votes to rename school for Michelle Obama

ATLANTA — The Clayton County Board of Education voted Monday to rename South Clayton Elementary School for a former first lady of the United States.

In a 7-2 vote, the south metro leaders opted to rename the school the Michelle Obama STEM Elementary School. Obama was chosen over civil rights leader and former U.S. Congressman John Lewis for the honor, who was the preference of the two dissenting board members.

“Both of them are great individuals,” board chairwoman Jessie Goree said before the vote was called. “All of us are willing to go one way or the other.”

Obama has ties to Clayton County. Her great-great-great-grandmother Melvinia Shields was enslaved on a family farm in Rex, a tiny hamlet in northeastern Clayton.

The next step for the school district is to reach out to get an agreement with Obama, Goree said.

“We are going to make contact with the family because we have to get permission,” she said.

If Obama turns down the school system, then leaders will seek permission to name the school for Lewis.

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

University of Texas committee to examine history of controversial school song

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas will continue to examine its relationship with “The Eyes of Texas,” through a new committee tasked with examining the racist history behind the school song and issuing recommendations on how to reconcile that history with the role the song plays in campus culture today.

Earlier this summer, athletes and other students at the university called for the song to be replaced, amid a national conversation about race after the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed in police custody in Minneapolis.

In response, the university pledged to do more to support a more diverse campus community and reconsider symbols and names on campus — including renaming some campus buildings and erecting statues and monuments to honor Black students from the university’s history.

But the university did not honor some requests to do away with the centuries-old “The Eyes of Texas,” instead pledging to “own, acknowledge and teach about all aspects of the origins” of the song while continuing to sing it at campus and sporting events.

The new campus committee announced by university officials on Tuesday is intended to do just that: chronicle the full history of the song and offer guidance on how to handle said history moving forward.

“I understand and appreciate the deep passion surrounding our alma mater, ‘The Eyes of Texas’,” UT President Jay Hartzell said in an email to the university community on Tuesday. “As we move forward and continue to perform and sing ‘The Eyes,’ it is critical that we understand the full history of the song, share that history broadly and provide context around its meanings, origins and roles during the past 120 years.”

The song was written in 1903 and is set to the tune of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.” It was first performed at minstrel shows by white performers in blackface and today is performed at every university sporting event.

—Austin American-Statesman

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Copyright 2020 Tribune Content Agency.



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