Latest news with #SoniaKumar
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
MP takes health centre fight to Westminster
Dudley MP Sonia Kumar has taken the fight for answers on the future of a Sedgley health centre to Parliament. Ms Kumar presented a petition containing over 1,600 names to the House of Commons, telling MPs the number of signatures shows the strength of feeling among people in Dudley. Campaigners are calling on Dudley Council to finalise a deal to keep services at the Ladies Walk Health Centre and library by renewing a lease on the property, which is set to expire in March 2026. Ms Kumar told MPs: 'This facility is a vital community hub and a treasured lifeline for local people accessing essential care. 'The petitioners request that the House of Commons urge the government to communicate urgently with the owners of the Ladies Walk centre property, Dudley Council and the NHS to secure the centre and stop its closure.' Campaigners fear, if the lease is not renewed, services will be relocated. They are calling for the council to either renew the lease or buy the centre under a compulsory purchase order. Dudley council's leader, Cllr Patrick Harley, says the situation has moved on substantially and negotiations are underway. Clr Harley said: 'We are all around the table and things seem to be moving at pace. Talks are ongoing, and I am confident we will come to an agreement at some point and things will stay as they are. 'We need to let the people who know what they are doing negotiate a good deal.' The centre was opened 25 years ago, it was constructed from 72 steel-framed modules which were craned into position. The centre was the first Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project to be constructed off-site. Under a PFI deal the private sector pays to construct public buildings and the public sector pays to use the building over a long-term contract. A public meeting to discuss progress on the Ladies Walk centre will take place at the Parish Church of All Saints, Vicar Street, Sedgley, on May 21, starting at 6.30pm. Anyone wishing to attend the meeting must pre-book at
CBS News
19-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Maryland families see hope in new autopsy reviews of in-police custody deaths
Maryland families hope to see change as the attorney general's office reviews more than 40 deaths in police custody across the state. WJZ Investigates is continuing to follow a landmark audit that revealed many of the cases should have been classified as homicides but were often misclassified as accidents initially. ACLU response The cases, including the deaths of Anton Black and Tyrone West in police custody, hinged on the opinion of Maryland's former chief medical examiner, Dr. David Fowler. The audit found possible pro-police and racial biases in determining why someone died when they were restrained by officers. "I'm not aware of anything this sweeping in its scope and this damning in its findings," Sonia Kumar, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, said about the audit. Sonia Kumar and the ACLU previously secured a landmark settlement for the family of Anton Black, a teenager restrained by police on the Eastern Shore. It required the chief medical examiner to follow new standards. "From our perspective, we wanted more," Kumar said. "There were a lot of changes further that we thought were needed. You had a teenager who died after being restrained by three police officers, and the official cause of death at the time was listed as an accident. …The medical examiner claimed he died of bipolar, which is a mental health condition that does not cause death, and a heart condition that the family later learned was something that was completely benign." Fowler's testimony Despite Black's family sounding the alarm since 2018, it was not until 2021, when Dr. Fowler testified for Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, that there was a push to look more closely at past cases. "Dr. Fowler's testimony in that case was really important to educating the public about what was happening in Maryland," Kumar said. WJZ Investigates reached out to Dr. Fowler for comment, but he did not immediately respond. He retired in 2019. Now, it's up to the attorney general to go back through the cases in the audit and determine if any criminal charges are warranted. "Each of these cases presents an opportunity for reconsideration, and we'll be closely following," Kumar said. "So much of how we've gotten here is families not giving up… I hope the family members who have been engaged in advocacy and have really sort of put themselves out there feel vindicated, heard, and acknowledged for the first time. I think we can only go from there."
