By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent, @StacyBrownMedia According to an analysis by the Tax Foundation, as many as 13 states will consider President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness a taxable event, levying as much as $1,100 in taxes to some borrowers who receive a $10,000 break. When announcing plans to forgive as […]
Category: Afro Briefs
Posted inBaltimore News
Owings Mills native serves aboard Navy’s newest warship
By Petty Officer 1st Class Patricia Rodriguez, Navy Office of Community Outreach NORFOLK, Va. – Seaman Samuel Ikome, a native of Owings Mills, Maryland, serves aboard the Navy’s newest warship operating out of Norfolk, Virginia. USS Fort Lauderdale, an amphibious transport dock ship, was commissioned July 30 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “If there is one […]
Posted inBaltimore News
E.Coli detected in Charm City water: Baltimore City residents react to boil water notice in their homes and businesses
By Spencer Alyson, AFRO Intern and Alexis Taylor, AFRO News Editor Ataylor@afro.com Community residents spoke with the AFRO at water distribution centers this week after a large portion of West Baltimore was put under a boil water advisory (BWA). The notice came on Sept. 5 after the Department of Public Works (DPW) detected E.coli bacteria […]
Posted inBUSINESS
SparkCharge is the world’s first and only mobile electric vehicle charging network
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com While studying economics and data science information management at Syracuse University, Joshua Aviv’s environmental economic professor came into class one day and told his students if they wanted to change the world, they’d have to solve the problem of infrastructure for electric vehicles. […]
Posted inNEWS
US argues Supreme Court shouldn’t review Dylann Roof case
By Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press Dylann Roof’s death sentence and conviction in the 2015 racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation should be upheld and don’t merit review by the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys for the federal government wrote in a filing recently. Attorneys for the U.S. Justice Department argued […]
Posted inHealth
PRESS ROOM: Black PR Wire Recognizes National Sickle Cell Awareness Month
(Black PR Wire) – September is National Sickle Cell Awareness Month. During this observance, people living with sickle cell disease, as well as their caregivers, advocates and healthcare professionals, come together to bring awareness to the disease and eliminate any myths or stigma associated with it. Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of inherited […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Facebook parent company culls expansive Proud Boys network from sites
By Associated Press MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Facebook parent Meta says it has removed a network of accounts linked to the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group it banned in 2018. Meta said on Thursday that it recently uncovered and removed about 480 Facebook and Instagram accounts, pages and groups linked to the Proud […]
Posted inNational News
‘EtymologyRules: Back to Basics’ helps learners improve literacy skills by teaching the origin and history of words
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, 54 percent of adults, nearly 130 million people, aged 16 to 74 lack literacy proficiency, reading below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level. Low levels of literacy make individuals more likely to have poorer […]
Posted inHealth
US government to end free at home COVID-19 test program this week
By Raquel Rogers, Houston Defender Network The federal government is ending its free at-home Covid-19 test program this week, citing a lack of funding and efforts to preserve supply ahead of an anticipated fall surge in cases, a White House official told CNN on Sunday. Both the White House and the website where people can […]
Posted inHealth
Battling Black and Brown youth suicide rates
By Ariama C. Long, New York Amsterdam News New York City Councilmember Rita Joseph has introduced a bill to address the rise of suicide rates among Black girls and boys, and other racial ethnic groups, an “alarming” situation that’s persisted for the past two decades nationwide. September is National Suicide Prevention Month and Americans are […]
Posted inCoronavirus
CDC challenges continue: fighting a pandemic requires public trust
By Fatiha Belfakir, Special to the AFRO, fbelfakir@afro.com The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently revealed new changes of its operations and the COVID-19 quarantine protocol. This sparked a debate among both the American public and health professionals, exposing a dire need to rebuild a fundamental trust between the people and public health […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Minneapolis teacher contract’s race language ignites firestorm
By Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press When Minneapolis teachers settled a 14-day strike in March, they celebrated a groundbreaking provision in their new contract that was meant to shield teachers of color from seniority-based layoffs and help ensure that students from racial minorities have teachers who look like them. Months later, conservative media outlets have […]