Plus: Smokey got hot | Friday, August 09, 2024
| | | | | | | Presented By Amazon | | | | Axios PM | | By Mike Allen · Aug 09, 2024 | | Happy Friday! Today's newsletter, edited by Sam Baker, is 543 words, a 2-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing. | | | | | | 1 big thing: How Ferguson changed policing | | | | Michael Brown Sr. stands near a memorial to his son on Canfield Drive in Ferguson, Mo., on Wednesday. Photo: Jim Salter/AP The police killing of Michael Brown, 10 years ago today in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked a wave of protests and a nationwide push for police reform. - Many of the changes activists pushed for did happen in Ferguson, but results throughout the rest of the U.S. have been mixed.
👮♂️ State of play: Major federal policing reform stalled in Congress, Axios' Delano Massey and Russell Contreras report. - The momentum it seemed to gather after Brown's death, and the 2020 murder of George Floyd, dissipated after conservatives began to campaign aggressively against any policy that suggested the U.S. suffers from systemic racism.
- Brown's death led to the widespread adoption of police body cameras, and six states passed laws to ban or restrict no-knock raids.
- But other structural changes — like efforts to roll back qualified immunity, which shields police officers from lawsuits — haven't made much headway in the past decade.
⚖️ Zoom in: In Ferguson, however, courts cut back significantly on controversial fines and fees — a major target for criminal-justice reformers. - Every local leader in the majority-Black city was white at the time of Brown's death. Today, the mayor, police chief and city attorney, among other leaders, are Black.
Go deeper. |     | | | | | | 2. 🏀 Ballin' for gold | | | | Team USA's A'ja Wilson shoots between two Australian players today in the Olympics semifinal. Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images The U.S. men's and women's basketball teams will both be competing for gold this weekend. - The men, led by NBA All-Stars LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry, will square off against Team France at 3:30pm ET tomorrow.
- The women's team, which features Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi, A'ja Wilson and a host of WNBA All-Stars, will play either Belgium or France at 9:30am ET Sunday.
🥇 The women's team is chasing its eighth — eighth! — consecutive gold medal. | | | | | | | | A message from Amazon | | "Amazon gave me all the tools needed to be successful" | | |  | | | | Roman turned his part-time warehouse job in California into a marketing career with Amazon Music through Amazon Career Choice. - "At Amazon, you can always keep growing," he said.
Even better: Since 2012, more than 200,000 employees have used Amazon Career Choice to learn and earn more. Learn more. | | | | | | 3. Catch me up | | | | Yun Chuan, a male Panda, at the San Diego Zoo yesterday. Photo: Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images - 🐼 The San Diego Zoo's new pandas made their public debut yesterday. Go deeper.
- 😱 Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said a "somewhat artificial move" in a closely watched measurement of financial volatility contributed to Monday's market panic, Bloomberg reports. He urged federal regulators to investigate.
- 📺 Paramount Global took a $6 billion write-down on its cable TV business today, just one day after Warner Bros. Discovery did the same for $9 billion. Both companies are struggling to convince Wall Street that their streaming services will make up for those losses. Go deeper.
| | | | | | | | 4. 🐻 Smokey the Bear, sex symbol | | |  | | | Posters created for Smokey the Bear's 77th (left) and 75th birthdays. Illustrations: The Ad Council | | | | 🎂 It's Smokey the Bear's 80th birthday — and Americans of all generations are asking themselves... when did this cartoon bear get six-pack abs? - The internet has been thirsting over the fiery icon for years, Axios' Claire Reilly reports.
- Smokey's appearance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2022 got viewers "hot and bothered." His merchandise has been described as "objectively hot."
- "When did Smokey get so hot?" Claire's 62-year-old neighbor asked recently after seeing a wildfire-prevention billboard.
💪 What they're saying: Smokey is not just a PSA but also "a part of our culture," Ad Council campaign manager Tracy Danicich told Axios. - "We're glad that people are noticing Smokey," Danicich said after pausing to consider fans who are calling him hot. "Of course, he's turning 80 this Friday. So we're glad that he's stayed so young looking and that he looks as good as he feels."
Share this story. | | | | | | | | A message from Amazon | | "Amazon offers so many career paths to explore" | | |  | | | | Elia earned her associate degree in mechatronics through Amazon Career Choice. "The thing that caught my eye more than anything, was the chance for career growth," she said. More info: Since 2012 more than 200,000 employees have used Amazon Career Choice to learn and earn more. See the impact. | | |  | Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it. | | | |
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