The topics for "The Moral Side of the News" to be broadcast on Sunday, November 20, 2011, are found below. You may comment if you like.
The program is broadcast on WHAS-TV on Sundays at 5:30pm and on the FAITH CHANNEL in Louisville via Insight at 12:00nn on Sunday. On radio the program is broadcast on several Louisville stations on Sunday morning at 7:00am or 7:30am; and on Sunday evening on WHAS 840AM radio at 9:30pm.
TOPIC 1
Retail Employees, Shoppers Fight Black Thursday Openings
While many Americans are eager to take advantage of Black Thursday and Black Friday sales, Target employee Anthony Hardwick would rather spend time with his family and started a petition to urge his employer and its competitors to stay closed on turkey day.
Hardwick's petition on Change.org has about 100,000 signatures requesting Target open its doors at 5 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving rather than at midnight, which requires Hardwick, 29, and other employees to get to work at 11 p.m. Target announced it would stay open from midnight to 11 p.m. on Black Friday.
"A full holiday with family is not just for the elite of this nation -- all Americans should be able to break bread with loved ones and get a good night's rest on Thanksgiving!" he wrote in the petition. "Join me in calling for Target retail stores to push back their original opening time of 5am on Black Friday."
Molly Snyder, a spokeswoman for Target, said Hardwick has never been scheduled to work on Thanksgiving or Black Friday. In early November, he informed his managers that he was scheduled to work at his other job on Black Friday and indicated that he needed the day off from Target, she said.
"We honored that request," she said in an email to ABC News. "Target does our best to work around the schedules of all of our team members, making every effort to accommodate their requests."
She added that Target will offer holiday pay to all hourly "team members" who work on Thanksgiving Day.
"Black Friday is one of the busiest and most competitive shopping days of the year," she said. "We have heard from our guests that they want to shop Target following their Thanksgiving celebrations rather than only having the option of getting up in the middle of the night. By opening at midnight, we are making it easier than ever to deliver on our guests wants and needs."
Hardwick said it was "bologna" that retail employees could not work on Black Friday if they choose.
"No one in retail requests Black Friday off and gets it. It's a blacked out date," he said.
Hardwick said he did not request Black Friday off and if his employer called to request that he work that day, he would comply "and not let my team members down."
When asked why he was not required to work on Black Friday, Hardwick said, "I guess if you start a petition and raise a national media stink" he made clear his preference.
"I didn't start this for my own personal gain," he said. "I started it for my team members and retail employees around the country."
Other stores have one-upped the midnight opening time. Toys "R" Us will open at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving night for the first time, the retailer announced on Monday. Walmart announced earlier this month its stores will open at 10 p.m.
Meanwhile, Best Buy, Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Macy's, Kohl's and Target are embracing a midnight schedule.
WATCH STORY: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/target-retail-employees-fight-thanksgiving-openings/story?id=14963563
QUESTION: What are your thoughts on this?
TOPIC 2
White House Shooting Suspect Arrested
A 21-year-old Idaho man suspected of firing a semi-automatic rifle at the White House was arrested today, authorities said.
"On Wednesday afternoon at approximately 12:35 p.m. EST, based on information generated by Secret Service agents from the Pittsburgh Field Office, Pennsylvania State Police Troop A located and arrested Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez at a hotel near Indiana, Pa.," according to a statement from Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Edwin Donovan.
Donovan said that Ortega-Hernandez was in the custody of Pennsylvania State Police after being found at a Hampton Inn.
The Secret Service fanned out across the country, coordinating with local law enforcement to find the shooter. The agency said that it had received information that Ortega-Hernandez was using certain hotels during his travels.
This morning, a hotel employee reportedly recognized the suspect from photos distributed by the Secret Service and contacted the agency.
The Secret Service said Tuesday that it suspected that a bullet fired in the shooting incident Friday may have hit the White House after a round was found in a window. The agency said they feared the suspect in the incident might be a threat to President Obama.
The round was stopped by ballistic glass behind the historic exterior glass, while an additional round was found on the exterior of the White House.
Police believe Ortega-Hernandez is mentally ill. He has an extensive record, ranging from domestic violence to drug charges. Sources say a police investigation uncovered evidence suggesting Ortega-Hernandez has a fixation on the White House.
At 9:30 p.m. Friday, police received reports of shots fired in the bustling area of 16th Street and Constitution Avenue
Authorities later found a car in the area. The suspect had fled, but what police discovered inside the vehicle left them deeply concerned: an assault-style rifle and empty shell casings.
Police linked the car to Ortega-Hernandez and started searching for him.
Authorities suspect Ortega-Hernandez had been in the area for weeks, coming back and forth to the Washington Mall. Before the shooting, he was detained by local police at an abandoned house. U.S. Park police say Ortega may have spent time with Occupy D.C. protesters.
Obama, who is currently on a visit to Australia, was not present at the White House at the time of the incident, and has been out of town for the last week.
WATCH STORY: http://abcnews.go.com/US/white-house-shooting-suspect-ramiro-ortega-hernandez-arrested/story?id=14966099#.TsQPuD0k6dA
QUESTION: What are your thoughts on this?

