Sherman White, a 1950s college basketball star at Long Island University (LIU) who served jail time for point shaving, has died. He was 82. White died of congestive heart failure on Aug. 4 at his home in Piscataway, N.J., his widow, Ellen, said Aug. 12. The 6-foot-8-inch White was one of the nation’s best college players for LIU in […]
Author Archives: Associated Press
Posted inSports
Serena Williams Wins Rogers Cup
TORONTO (AP) — Serena Williams is looking like her victorious self leading into the U.S. Open. In her fourth tournament since sitting out 49 weeks because of injury and illness, Williams won the Rogers Cup on Sunday, beating Samantha Stosur 6-4, 6-2. A foot injury and then blood clots in her lungs sidelined the 29-year-old […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Newark, N.J.’s First Black Female Police Chief Says She’ll Be Out and About
The city’s first female police chief plans to be an accessible, visible presence in the community, and will expect other officers on the force to do the same. “Those who don’t know me, will know me,” Sheilah Coley said Aug. 9 during her first public remarks as chief. “I want to promise all of you, […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
S. African Children May Have Stopped International Sex Predator
The words of little children from an isolated town in rural South Africa may have stopped an international sex predator. U.S. investigators say Jesse Osmun confessed that as a Peace Corps volunteer, he for months sexually molested at least five girls at a South African shelter for AIDS orphans and other children. None of the girls were […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
New Hearings Sought in Chicago Police Torture Case
Fifteen incarcerated men who claim they were sent to prison by confessions that were beaten, burned and tortured out of them by convicted Chicago police Lt. Jon Burge and his officers are getting some high-profile help—including from a former Illinois governor. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed Wednesday with the Illinois Supreme Court, ex-Gov. Jim Thompson […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Aretha Franklin Excited to Sing at MLK Memorial Dedication
When a young Aretha Franklin accompanied the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to churches in the early days of the civil rights movement, he usually made a special request for her to sing one song in particular: “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” On Aug. 28, when a memorial in his honor is dedicated on the […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
First Black Secret Service Agent Dies
WASHINGTON (AP) — Charles L. Gittens, the first black Secret Service agent, has died. He was 82. The McGuire Funeral Home in Washington confirmed that Gittens died July 27. A spokesman for the agency confirmed that Gittens was the first black agent, but said no further details would be immediately available. According to an obituary […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Ed. Secretary: States to Get School Test Waivers
Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced a new waiver system Monday to give schools a break from student testing mandates in the federal No Child Left Behind law. Critics say the benchmarks are unrealistic and brand schools as failures even if they make progress. Schools and districts where too few kids pass the tests for several […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Guilty Plea for ‘Wire’ Actress
BALTIMORE (AP) — An actress who played a Baltimore drug gang assassin in HBO’s “The Wire” is expected to plead guilty Monday in a drug conspiracy case. Felicia “Snoop” Pearson, 31, is scheduled to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to distribute heroin, a day before her trial was set to begin, attorney […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
ABC: Sorry About Nicki Minaj Wardrobe Malfunction
NEW YORK (AP) — ABC News is apologizing for a wardrobe malfunction that gave singer Nicki Minaj more exposure than she bargained for. Minaj appeared Friday on the “Good Morning America” concert series, wearing a loose-fitting halter top that she occasionally had to adjust. As Minaj sang “Where Dem Girls At,” some slips made one […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Lil Wayne sued for $15 million over ‘Bedrock’
NEW YORK (AP) — Rapper Lil Wayne faces a $15 million legal battle over allegations he stole the hit song “Bedrock.” Georgia-based production company Done Deal Enterprises is suing Wayne, Universal Music Group, Cash Money Records and Young Money Entertainment for copyright infringement. Lawyers for the rapper and representatives for Universal Music didn’t return a […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones Among Those Named to Receive Honorary Oscars
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says Oprah Winfrey and James Earl Jones will be honored with Oscar statuettes at the Governors Awards in November along with makeup artist Dick Smith. The academy’s Board of Governors voted Tuesday to recognize the entertainment industry veterans. Winfrey will receive the Jean […]