JCPENNEY INVITES KIDS TO SUPER HERO EVENT THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 28, IN CELEBRATION OF AVENGERS MOVIE PREMIER
To celebrate the theatrical release of Marvel® Avengers: Infinity War, kids are invited to a special super hero event in all JCPenney stores this Saturday, April 28. Kids are encouraged to attend dressed as their favorite super hero to create an “Infinity Gauntlet of Power” or Captain America mask (pictures below). Part of the retailer’s monthly Kids Zone program, this fun (and FREE!) craft will take place from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., local time. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
Parents and kids will find this event stationed next to the new Marvel Avengers shop in the JCPenney kids department, with Marvel LEGO sets inspired by Infinity War and Black Panther, Marvel tees and pajamas, Marvel watches and Marvel toys such as Captain America shields, Infinity War and Black Panther action figures, as well as Infinity War plushes.
Unique to this super hero event, parents will receive a bonus coupon of 20% off all Hasbro toys valid only on April 28. This coupon applies to Marvel, Transformers, Nerf and My Little Pony toys, to name a new, so kids can pick out a new toy to take home at a discounted price.
The JCPenney Kids Zone program offers a free, interactive workshop for kids each month. Upcoming Kids Zone workshops taking place at JCPenney stores include making Mother’s Day flowers on May 12, creating a Father’s Day tie on June 16 and decorating sunglasses for summer on July 21. Advance sign up is not required.
Kids receive a collectible pin for every project they finish. And after each event, adults will receive a special 10 percent off coupon to use in-store on the day of the event. This coupon can be used in addition to current marketing promotions for maximum savings.
Please let your viewers/readers know about this exciting, festive activity in local JCPenney stores in your market. Consider including in community calendars and local event round ups.
WHEN:
Saturday, April 28
11 a.m. to 12 p.m., local time
WHERE:
Your local JCPenney store
Visit JCPenney.com and click on “find a store”
QUESTIONS:
Contact: Sarah Holland, JCPenney Media Relations
972-431-3400 or jcpnews@jcp.com
Visit jcpnewsroom.com and follow @jcpnews on Twitter for the latest announcements, images and Company information.
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ADVISORY: Secretary Perdue in Colorado TOMORROW
(Washington, D.C., April 26, 2018) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will be in Colorado TOMORROW, Friday, April 27th to speak at the Water in the West Symposium hosted by Colorado State University. Secretary Perdue will be joined by former Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for a conversation on issues surrounding food production and water use.
Secretary Perdue to Speak at Water in the West Symposium and Hold Media Availability
WHAT: Secretary Perdue and former Secretary Vilsack will participate in a discussion on the challenges and opportunities of agriculture and water conservation. Following the event, the Secretary will hold a media availability.
WHEN: TOMORROW, Friday, April 27th at 11:15 a.m. MT
WHERE: McNichols Civic Center Building, 144 W. Colfax Avenue, Denver, CO 80202
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NYPD Blues: De Blasio Takes Over
In 2011, then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg got himself in hot water when he declared “I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world.”
It was not—not the seventh biggest and not an army—but Bloomberg was not far off the mark. With a current uniformed strength of about 36,000 and powerful unions, the New York Police Department is a profound force in the city, from the streets to the suites and in the corridors of political power. It has shaped the national and even international imagination in countless books, movies and television shows. The mayor rightfully exercises civilian control over the department and to varying degrees, and with varying success, police commissioners rightfully have struggled to keep the NYPD from being bent too far to the political will of the city’s top elected official.
That drama is being played out again today. Mayor Bill de Blasio, his eyes on higher national office, is wrapping his political machine around New York law enforcement, locking down avenues of transparency and independence that could cause him trouble. The mayor cloaks his moves in the progressive politics of his base but no one is fooled. This is about Iowa and New Hampshire and the kind of raw political power that de Blasio needs to exercise to keep his long-shot presidential hopes alive.
The mayor visited Iowa in December, insisting he was not running for president. His wife, Chirlane McCray, was in New Hampshire earlier this month. The New York Times recently noted that Ms. McCray “suddenly seems to be everywhere… [she] has stepped up her out-of-town travel, meeting with political leaders, speaking about her signature mental health initiative, networking and building the family brand outside New York City.”
In March, de Blasio installed a top political aide, Phillip Walzak, as NYPD spokesman, with the rank of deputy commissioner. Walzak was communications director for de Blasio’s successful 2013 mayoral run, a key City Hall aide, and helped run the mayor’s 2017 re-election campaign. New York’s police unions immediately denounced the appointment. “This is the clearest sign yet that the de Blasio administration thinks the NYPD’s primary mission is to serve as a political tool, not to protect the public safety of all New Yorkers,” said Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch.
“With the mayor’s former campaign manager now overseeing information given to the press, Lynch added, “…how can either police officers or the public have any confidence that it will be dispensed with an eye toward public safety and justice and not filtered through a purely political lens?”
Police Commissioner James O’Neill is an NYPD insider appointed by de Blasio. “When Jim O’Neill became police commissioner in 2016, he was known as a ‘cop’s cop,’” noted the influential police-affairs columnist Len Levitt. “With his recent appointment of Phillip Walzak as the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, he seems more like the mayor’s cop.”
The New York Post reported that several of O’Neill’s top aides opposed Walzak when rumors of the appointment first surfaced. And the head of another police union, Ed Mullins of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, told the Post that of the “many highly talented media personalities in the selection pool, it seems the Commissioner expects us all to believe the Mayor’s office had the best people. I guess we’ll see if the NYPD’s communications are separate from City Hall.”
De Blasio and O’Neill have triggered unease in police ranks with a sweeping series of high-level changes and forced retirements mainly aimed at instituting the mayor’s signature “neighborhood policing” concept. We have been to neighborhood policing dance before. The police seek stronger ties with communities to lower crime. “While neighborhood policing may be a terrific concept,” Levitt wrote, “there have been problems with its implementation that neither de Blasio or O’Neill have publicly acknowledged.” One of the problems, Levitt notes elsewhere, is a “behind-the-scenes battle” raging at the NYPD over the policy’s effectiveness and rollout.
Earlier this month, the mayor struck again, issuing an executive order limiting the power of the city’s independent-minded Department of Investigations. The issue at hand involved department commissioner Mark Peters’ control of a special unit policing corruption in New York’s vast education system. But the Post reported that the real reason for the executive order was that Peters, a former de Blasio ally, had issued “a series of scathing reports…against various city agencies, including the Housing Authority.”
The head of the City Council’s investigations committee—fellow Democrat Ritchie Torres—denounced the de Blasio move as “an insidious power grab” and “part of an orchestrated campaign to remove the DOI commissioner.” Torres told the Post, “if disempowering the agency that investigates you fails to constitute a conflict of interest—let alone an abuse of power—then I’m not sure what does.”
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WASHINGTON, DC — As the wave of teacher protests continues this week with walkouts and strikes in Arizona, Colorado and Puerto Rico, union organizers are increasingly reaching beyond their rank and file to mobilize charter school teachers. Charter schools and the non-union educators serving more than 5 million students in 44 states and DC bringing innovation, opportunity and consistently leading in student achievement, have long been the bane of American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and pose an existential threat to the future of teacher unions.
Yet a coordinated, politically motivated effort to strengthen the union position and make it appear that they have a groundswell of support is underway. These walkouts threaten to close charter schools and provide a completely artificial “win” for the union.
Education advocates and charter schools are uniting to inform, arm and energize charter school teachers, activists and lawmakers in affected states and nationwide as to the true nature of these protests and ramifications of supporting union-backed rallies, walkouts and strikes.
“We’re taking a clear stand for the dedicated teachers who are delivering quality learning experiences for millions of students, and especially those who choose to work at public charter schools because they afford them the opportunity to do their jobs unfettered from the bureaucracy and mediocrity that union contracts cause,” said Jeanne Allen, Founder & CEO of the Center for Education Reform. “Rather than fight for better education for all children, the AFT and NEA are focused on walk outs and strikes to support their union-building activities, pushing charter school teachers to follow them, while at the same time fighting to limit the growth of charters, impose restrictions and, worst of all, fighting to make sure charters are funded at lower levels than traditional schools. It’s hypocrisy, plain and simple.”
Allen penned an Op-Ed last week pointing out that AFT is, in fact, calling for teachers to strike and leave students without teachers in the classroom.
“If we want teachers to be paid well we must ensure money follows students and doesn’t continue to get wasted on a bloated bureaucracy and top-heavy school districts that have grown dramatically faster than enrollment. This – and closing achievement gaps and rewarding innovation and excellent performance – is the real fight.”
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Founded in 1993, the Center for Education Reform aims to expand educational opportunities that lead to improved economic outcomes for all Americans — particularly our youth — ensuring that conditions are ripe for innovation, freedom and flexibility throughout U.S. education.
