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, […]
Author Archives: AFRO Staff
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 […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Ugandan Gay Rights Advocate David Kato Beaten to Death
Violence erupted in Mukono, Uganda at the funeral of gay rights advocate David Kato, two days after the Ugandan activist was beaten to death with a hammer Jan. 26. The religious rite was punctuated by a denunciation of homosexuality from the pulpit by the pastor, and the refusal of congregants in the village to bury […]
Posted inPrince George's County News
Prince George’s County Council Gears up for New Session
The Prince George’s County Council is gearing up for its next legislative session with some unique challenges ahead. The Council will have to work through a budget deficit, which threatens to cripple the county, while coping with a member with muted power. The Council concluded a three-day retreat on Jan. 12 in Cambridge, Md., where […]
Posted inD.C. Community, Washington D.C. News
Community College Week’ Ranks PGCC among Top 50 Fastest Growing Colleges
Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) has been ranked one of the nation’s top 50 fastest growing two-year colleges according to Community College Week’s ranks. PGCC is ranked 48 for its 2009 increase in credit student enrollment over 2008, reporting 13 percent growth from 12,110 students enrolled in 2008 to 13,685 in 2009. In fall 2010, […]
Posted inNational News
Search Continues for N.C. Teen Missing from Baltimore
Law enforcement agencies and other groups continue the search for Phylicia Barnes, the North Carolina teen who disappeared on Dec. 28 while visiting her sister in Baltimore. The Baltimore Police Department, the FBI and Team Adam from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children are all working to follow any lead, in an effort […]
Posted inNational News, Religion
Freshman Fla. Rep. West Stirs Controversy over Anti-Islamic Comments
Newly-seated Congressman Allen West (R.-Fla.) is facing a controversy following abrasive comments about the Islamic religion. The Tea Party-backed conservative, in an interview on “The Shalom Show,” a public affairs program airing on the JLTV cable channel, told producer Richard Peritz that Islam was the “antithesis” of America’s founding principles. At the outset of the […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Body Found Bears Similar Tattoos to Reed’s Brother
Louisiana authorities have tentatively identified a body recovered from the Mississippi River today as that of Baltimore Ravens star Ed Reed’s brother, who has been missing for more than three weeks. While an autopsy scheduled for Jan. 27 will offer firmer evidence, “based on the identifying marks—tattoos—found on the body, we believe it is Reed,” […]