• The single graduating student of a school on a tiny Massachusetts island is nonetheless receiving the star treatment. Actress and comedian Jenny Slate will speak at this month's graduation ceremony for the Cuttyhunk Elementary School, a one-room schoolhouse on the Massachusetts island that has a year-round population of about 12. Slate's audience will be Gwen Lynch, this year's lone graduate of the school that goes up to eighth grade, as well as her family and other Cuttyhunk residents. Michael Astrue, a summer resident who was in charge of finding a speaker, told the Cape Cod Times that Slate is familiar with the island as a Massachusetts native. Slate played Mona-Lisa Saperstein on Parks and Recreation and is a former Saturday Night Live cast member. Astronaut Cady Coleman spoke at the graduation of Gwen's brother, Carter, last year.
• Lawyers for Meek Mill will get a chance to argue that the rapper's 2008 conviction on gun and drug charges should be overturned. The Pennsylvania Superior Court granted Mill a hearing in his long-running appeal, his legal team announced Tuesday. Arguments are scheduled for July 16 in Philadelphia. Mill has been trying to get his conviction overturned because of questions about the credibility of the arresting officer. Mill, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, became a symbol to advocates of criminal justice reform after a Philadelphia judge sentenced him in 2017 to two to four years in prison for minor probation violations. He spent months in prison before a court ordered him released in April 2018. Last month, Philadelphia's top prosecutor called for a new trial and judge for Mill, saying Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley abused her discretion and has been biased against him. Brinkley, who denied Mill's bid for a new trial last year, has rejected accusations of bias and refused calls to remove herself from the case. "We're looking forward to the oral argument before the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and to, hopefully, having Meek's conviction vacated," Jordan Siev, Mill's lawyer, said in a statement. "In light of the district attorney's recent filing, where he supports the granting of a new trial to Meek and the recusal of Judge Brinkley, we hope to have this injustice rectified once and for all."
A Section on 06/05/2019