According to The Akron Beacon Journal, an Ohio prosecutor dropped grand theft charges against Kelley Williams-Bolar and her father, Edward Williams, after local school officials found she tampered with her daughters’ registration documents. Williams-Bolar, 40, was sentenced to 10 days in jail for registering her two daughters in Copley-Fairlawn schools – which are recognized for […]
Author Archives: AFRO Staff
Posted inAfro Briefs
White House to Launch ‘Startup America’ Initiative
In his State of the Union Address, President Obama laid out a plan for winning the future by out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building the rest of the world. This week, the White House will hold a number of events to focus on innovation, and how the nation can create the jobs and industries of the future […]
Posted inMusic Reviews
Former Go-Go Star Aims For Broader Audience with ‘F.I.N.A.O’ Mixtape
When Derek Lyons, stage name Poozy Kush, released his debut solo mixtape F.I.N.A.O. 11:11 If You Don’t Get it, You Don’t Get it, on Feb. 1, he joined a long line of independent artists attempting to blaze their own path on the mainstream hip-hop scene. But what separates Lyons from most “newcomers” is the fact […]
Posted inD.C. Community, Washington D.C. News
Pr. George’s Urges Residents to ‘Have a Heart for Animals’
LARGO, Md. – Valentine’s Day is usually a time dedicated to romantic love. But the Prince George’s County Department of Environmental Resources’ (DER) Animal Management Group (AMG) is urging county residents to celebrate love of a different kind. In recognition of Valentine’s Day, the agency is offering a reduced price on the adoption of animals […]
Posted inD.C. Community, Washington D.C. News
AKA Salutes Local Education Innovators
Beltsville, Md. – The efforts of local educators that use non-traditional ways of inspiring a love of learning in their students were recognized by the Alpha Kappa Alpha – Educational Advancement Foundation of the North Atlantic Region – Cluster One at its Community Education Awards Luncheon on Jan. 29 the Sheraton Washington North in Beltsville, […]
Posted inNational News
Michael Williams: Bow-Tied, Cowboy Boot-Shod Black Texan Carries Tea Party Backing in Run for Senate
Retiring Texas Railroad Commissioner and Tea Party favorite Michael Williams has decided to run for the U.S. Senate. The bow tie-clad, boot-shod Black Texan said Jan. 25 that he wants to bring his starkly conservative views—including no preferential treatment for Blacks in higher education, acceleration of oil exploration in coastal areas and a reduced role […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Blacks Trail Whites in Science on “Nation’s Report Card”
Black students significantly trail White students in science subjects, according to a recent national exam. The test, called the National Assessment of Educational Progress or the “Nation’s Report Card,” quizzes the basic, proficient and advanced scientific knowledge levels of a national sampling of fourth, eighth and 12th graders. The 2009 results, released earlier this month, […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Washington D.C. Holds One-Night Homeless Count
Impassioned volunteers scoured metropolitan Washington, D.C. during the week of Jan. 24 in an attempt to count the city’s homeless. Government officials and homeless service leaders joined in on the count to collect needed data on homeless and itinerant subpopulations, including the disabled, mentally ill and veterans. “As the region and the nation continues attempts […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Star to Go Supernova, Earth May See Two Suns
Science fiction may be coming to life as a red super-giant star is expected to go supernova, and light from the blast may reach Earth before 2012. Betelguese, the second largest star in the Orion constellation, is losing mass, which scientists say is a clear sign that a gravitation collapse is occurring. Brad Carter, Ph.D., […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Study: More Elderly May be Living in Poverty
The nation may have more elderly persons living in poverty than previously estimated, according to a census study released this month. The Supplemental Poverty Measure, which incorporates a new federal definition of poverty, revealed that one in six Americans lived in poverty in 2009 when out-of-pocket health and medical costs, after tax income, regional variations […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Gladys Horton, “Please Mr. Postman” Singer, Dies at 66
Gladys Horton, the leader of Motown’s The Marvelettes who gave the label its first No. 1 hit with “Please Mr. Postman,” died Jan. 26 in a Sherman Oaks, Calif., nursing home from complications of a stroke, Reuters reported. Horton was 66. The Marvelette’s classic R&B hit “Please Mr. Postman” first hit the airwaves in 1961 […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Funeral Services Scheduled for Brother of Ravens’ Ed Reed
Funeral services were scheduled for Jan. 29 for Brian Reed, the brother of Baltimore Ravens star Ed Reed, whose body was recovered Jan. 26 from the Mississippi River in what authorities are calling an accidental drowning. Louisiana authorities earlier in the week tentatively identified a body recovered from the Mississippi River as Reed, who had […]