NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The calamitous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico isn’t just a mess for the people who live or work on the coast. If you drink coffee, eat shrimp, like bananas or plan to buy a new set of tires, you could end up paying more because of the disaster. The […]
Category: NEWS
Howard Hires Nickleberry as New Basketball Coach
Howard University’s women’s basketball squad had its best season in a long time last year, thanks to the addition of second-year head coach Niki-Reid Geckeler. The Bison are now hoping for the same results with their men’s basketball team as they announced the hiring of new head coach Kevin Nickelberry. A native of Washington, D.C., […]
IndyCar Grand Prix Coming to Baltimore
A five-year agreement was finalized with Baltimore Racing Development (BRD) today to allow an IndyCar® ‘Baltimore Grand Prix’ street-racing event around the Inner Harbor and Camden Yards in August of 2011. The more than 100,000 people expected to attend the race will create an estimated $11 million in direct city tax revenue, form almost 2,000 […]
New Program Helps Residents Obtain Bank Accounts
For many low-income District of Columbia residents, check cashing and other money order vendors are the only forms of “banking” they know. But a new program recently announced by Mayor Adrian Fenty is poised to help some 10,000 of those residents get on a more solid financial footing by helping them sign up for a […]
New Database Closes Gap in Health Disparities
The National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing health disparities in the country, unveiled the new National Clinical Trials Atlas recently. The atlas will further assist the NMQF in improving physician and patient diversity. The CT Atlas is the nation’s first database that maps health statistics and clinical trial sites down […]
Betty vs. Goliath
PITTSBURG, Calif. (AP) — As a “greeter,” the cheerful Betty Dukes is one of the first employees customers usually see as they walk through the front doors of the Wal-Mart store here. As the first “named plaintiff” in Dukes v. Wal-Mart, the ordained Baptist minister also is the face of the largest gender bias class […]
Former City Contracts Administrator Sues City
The District of Columbia and its Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi have been named the primary defendants in a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by a former District government administrator, who claims to have been wrongfully terminated for failing to cancel a contract awarded to a firm co-owned by a friend of Mayor Adrian Fenty. The […]
Mitchellville Lawmaker Announces Bid for County Executive
Del. Gerron Levi (D-Dist. 23A) began her campaign for Prince George’s County executive in earnest on May 1 with bus tour stops in Seat Pleasant, Berwyn Heights, Landover, Accokeek and Bladensburg. Levi, who has garnered statewide attention this year for sponsoring legislation that would toughen penalties on gang-related offenses, said campaigning comes second to building […]
District Gets Final Approval for Medical Marijuana Program
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia’s long-awaited enactment of a medical marijuana law has paved the way for people who need the drug most to possess it without fear of being arrested. The City Council’s unanimous vote on Tuesday approved amendments to the law first passed in 1998, when 69 percent of city voters […]
Pioneering Civil Rights Reporter Evelyn Cunningham Dies at 94
In another sign of the passing of an era, noted civil rights reporter Evelyn Cunningham died April 28 in Manhattan. She was 94. “We keep losing people,” said fellow Black Press reporter Moses Newson, who covered civil rights and related stories such as the Little Rock Nine for the AFRO during the 1950s, ‘60s and […]
Governments, Sports Organizations to Boycott Arizona
Several governments and sports organizations nationwide are calling for boycotts of travel to and business with Arizona following that state’s passing of a tough immigration bill. Members of the city councils in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. both took steps during the week of April 26 to legislate boycotts of Arizona, while San Francisco Mayor […]
Arizona “Papers Please” Legislation Ignites Intense Activist Response
The state of Arizona was set to serve as the backdrop for a huge protest on the weekend of April 30 against a tough new state law aimed at identifying undocumented immigrants. The legislation, which is poised to take effect this summer, has been perceived as a racially insensitive attack on illegal immigrants and will […]

