U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) is in hot water in both his political and personal life after his reported involvement in two different scandals. Reports have surfaced that Jackson was involved in the scandal to buy President Obama’s former Senate seat, while also having an affair with a Washington, D.C. restaurant hostess. According to […]
Category: NEWS
Posted inNational News
New Hearing Date Set for Mumia Abu-Jamal
Death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal will receive a new hearing on Nov. 9 to review his death sentence for the 1982 murder of a Philadelphia police officer. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Sept. 21 agreed to hear arguments in the case, under a directive from the U.S. Supreme Court to review […]
Posted inNational News
U.S. Census Report: The Harsh Reality of Poverty
The national poverty rate has risen and a disproportionately larger percentage of Hispanics and Blacks suffer from poverty than Whites, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau report. The report, released Sept. 16, found that, annually, the poverty rate is up to 14.3 percent in 2009 from 13.2 percent in 2008. However, the rate increased […]
Posted inNational News
Black Farmers, Lawmakers Implore Congress to Free Up Settlement Money
Some 75,000 Black farmers have grown weary of the battle they’ve waged over the past two decades for the federal government to provide them with a $1.15 billion settlement after they were routinely denied loans. But they refuse to give up. During a rally on Capitol Hill during the week of Sept. 20 led by […]
Posted inNational News
Affordable Care Act Looks to Close Hole in Health Disparities
On Sept. 23, six key provisions of the Affordable Care Act went into effect, which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said will make health disparities in minority communities start to disappear: *Young people will be allowed to stay on their parent’s plan until they turn 26 years old. This new provision does […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
D.C. Group Chides Oprah for ‘Extravagance’
A local advocacy group, which in the past has voiced its support for Oprah Winfrey to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, has now lashed out at the talk show queen who recently launched her show’s last season on TV by sending an army of super fans on a trip to Australia. The mega giveaway, geared […]
Posted inPrince George's County News
Capitol Heights Standoff Highlights County’s Recidivism Problem
When David E. Williams, a convicted felon, barricaded himself in a Capitol Heights home on Sept. 14, it once again highlighted a disturbing problem in Prince George’s County: What is being done with citizens re-entering society upon release from prison? According to Prince George’s County Police, the standoff ended at about 7 a.m., Sept. 15, […]
Posted inPrince George's County News
Green Party Candidate Tragically Killed in Accident
Green Party candidate Natasha Pettigrew died on Sept. 21 from injuries she suffered after being hit by a car in the early morning hours of Sept. 19. Pettigrew, 30, was attempting to unseat 24-year veteran Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D). Pettigrew, in training for a triathlon, was out riding her bike early in the morning when […]
Posted inPrince George's County News
Annual Youth Conference at Bowie State Sept 25.
On Sept. 25, approximately 300 students, age 12 – 18, from across the region will converge at the Center for Learning and Technology at Bowie State University for the 12th Annual Youth Leadership Conference. The event is hosted by the Lambda Gamma Gamma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. According to the press release, the […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Fired Child Services Workers Sue City
Alleging that Mayor Adrian Fenty’s administration wanted a different kind of workforce in place at the troubled Child and Family Services Agency, nine of its former workers recently filed a class action lawsuit charging that their terminations earlier this year were laced with race and age discrimination. “There was a pattern of dismissing primarily Black […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Retail Job Losses Contribute to Maryland Unemployment Rate Increase
WASHINGTON — Retail job losses helped boost Maryland’s unemployment rate to 7.3 percent from 7.1 percent, making it one of only two states to see a statistically significant increase last month. Maryland’s retail losses totaled about 3,000, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Another 1,400 census jobs ended, a situation that mirrored the […]
Posted inNational News
Bishop Eddie Long Accused of Sexual Coercion
Bishop Eddie Long, leader of the 25,000-plus member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., has been accused of sexual coercion and abuse by members of his church-affiliated youth academy. Two suits, filed Sept. 21 in the DeKalb County Court, list 11 counts they want a jury of 12 to rule on including: breach […]
