News/Sports Blog (The Starting Five)

Jamie Foxx's tribute for Michael Jackson: Be glad, not sad 

Story time for young children — 10:30 a.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 5080 Riverside Drive. For more information, call (478) 474-0161.

 

Teaching Tuesdays — 11 a.m. Tuesdays July 14-31, Museum of Arts and Sciences, 4182 Forsyth Road. Dr. Craig Anderson of Mercer University presents a science show weekly. For more information, call  477-3232.

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Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression

The Central Georgian

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Reflections Photography Show — Aug. 21-Sept. 11, Middle Georgia Art Association Gallery, 2330 Ingleside Ave.  For more information, call 744-9557.

Nellie Mae Rowe: I Get a Kick Out of Drawin’ — Through July 5, Museum of Arts and Sciences, 4182 Forsyth Road. Paintings by the Georgia folk artist. 477-3232

Reverse discrimination ruling leaves confusion

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)-- The Supreme Court ruling in favor of white New Haven firefighters who said they were victims of reverse discrimination will probably leave employers confused, civil rights advocates and labor attorneys say. The court ruled 5-4 Monday that the white firefighters were denied promotions unfairly because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as a federal appeals court judge.

WSJ: Michael Jackson Left His Father Out Of Most Recent Will

Local: Bibb County Commissioners finalize an $89.7 million dollar budget for the upcoming fiscal year....

Supreme Court inaction delays Troy Davis appeal
By RUSS BYNUM - Associated Press Writer

SAVANNAH-- Death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis got another legal break Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court recessed for summer without acting on his latest appeal, likely delaying any developments in his case until fall. Earlier, his supporters presented Savannah's district attorney with 60,000 petition signatures urging him to reopen the case.

Davis has spent nearly 18 years on death row after his conviction for killing an off-duty police officer, and his case has become a rallying point for death penalty opponents worldwide. His attorneys say Davis is innocent of killing officer Mark MacPhail and deserves a new trial after several key prosecution witnesses recanted testimony given at his 1991 trial.

Davis has been spared from execution three times since he was first scheduled to die by lethal injection in 2007, as various courts have weighed and ultimately rejected his appeals.

Davis' attorneys filed his latest appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their request for a new trial in April. The Supreme Court had not decided whether it would hear Davis' appeal when justices recessed for the summer Monday. They won't reconvene until September.

"It's definitely good news," said Jason Ewart, Davis' attorney, who interpreted the court's inaction as a sign it wants to take a closer look at the case. "It's not just a move buying more time."

National: After Early Victories, Obama Faces Divided Democrats

Former governor to swear in new chief justice
The Associated Press

ATLANTA -- Former Gov. Zell Miller, who appointed Carol W. Hunstein to Georgia's Supreme Court, will swear her in as chief justice.

Hunstein is a former DeKalb County Superior Court judge. Miller tapped her in 1992 to become the second woman to serve on Georgia's Supreme Court. He will swear her in at 11 a.m. Wednesday as chief justice, and also will swear in George H. Carley as the new presiding justice.

The ceremony will take place in the Supreme Court's courtroom on the sixth floor of the Judicial Building in Atlanta.

Outgoing Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, whose last day on the court is Tuesday, will make the introductions.

Another update due on Vick bankruptcy
The Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va. -- Lawyers for suspended NFL star Michael Vick are headed back to bankruptcy court in Virginia.

Vick is not expected to attend Tuesday's hearing in Norfolk, where attorneys will update the judge on progress toward developing a new Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. The judge rejected Vick's first plan in April, saying it wasn't feasible.

Vick is winding down his 23-month sentence for operating a dogfighting ring. He's serving the last two months on home confinement in Hampton and is scheduled to be released from federal custody July 20.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is waiting until the 29-year-old former Atlantic Falcons quarterback completes his sentence before deciding whether to lift his suspension.

Ga. DOT awards 22 stimulus program contracts....

ATLANTA -- Georgia's Department of Transportation says it has awarded 22 more projects worth $56.7 million under the federal stimulus program.

DOT officials say construction should begin next month on the 22 projects, which include resurfacing 20 miles of Interstate 575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties.

Other projects include bridge replacements in Tattnall, Gordon-Murray, Bulloch, Candler and Atkinson counties, and safety improvements in Gwinnett, Catoosa, Dekalb, Douglas, Fayette and Lanier counties.

The department says that so far 63 highway system stimulus projects valued at $119 million have been awarded. It says another 43 worth an estimated $250 million will be awarded within a few weeks.

$25,000 grant creates new program at FVSU

(FVSU) Two-thirds of the state’s residents do not have college degrees according to a University System of Georgia study. But soon, the number of graduates may increase. A new initiative will help turn on-the-job training of residents into college credit. This month, Fort Valley State University – along with Atlanta Metropolitan College, Bainbridge College, Georgia Southwestern State University and Valdosta State University – was named to the University System of Georgia’s Adult Learning Consortium (ALC). The USG awarded FVSU a $25,000 College Access Challenge Grant to create and develop the program.

When fully operational, the Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) program, that is a feature of the consortium, will help non-traditional and low-income Middle Georgia workers move into higher-skilled, better-paying jobs. The university plans to target individuals in the criminal justice field and engineering technicians at Robins Air Force Base.

FVSU’s College of Graduate Studies and Extended Education Dean, Dr. Anna Holloway, learned about PLA last summer at a conference.

“The purpose of the PLA is a way of evaluating a person’s prior work experience, see what learning outcomes they have, and then choose the appropriate college courses they correspond with,” said Dr. Anna Holloway, the principal investigator for the grant.

“This is an opportunity for those who work in the law enforcement area to gain credit and continue their education, hopefully at FVSU,” said Dr. Jean Wacaster, who was named FVSU’s ALC coordinator. “The program will be individualized, and we will be trained to assess skill sets to determine how much college credit each student is eligible to receive.”

This week, Wacaster and representatives from the colleges of agriculture, arts and sciences, and education, and offices of institutional research and planning, financial aid and veteran affairs, information technology and the registrar are attending a conference to learn how to implement the program.

The USG received a $2 million grant for up to two years from the U.S. Department of Education to start the initiative. The system will work with the Governor’s Office, community and business groups statewide, and the Alliance of Education Agency Heads (AEAH), which creates policies to ensure a quality education for all students in the state from pre-K to graduate school.

 


Health Matters

47,000 elderly falls in US tied to canes, walkers

ATLANTA -- Health officials say more than 47,000 elderly Americans end up in emergency rooms each year from falls involving walkers and canes.

That's almost 3 percent of all falls among people 65 and older. Government researchers came up with the estimate by looking at six years of ER medical records. Nearly 9 out of 10 of the injuries involved walkers, rather than canes.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday their study shows that doctors should take more time to better fit patients with walking aids and to teach how to use them safely. The study is being published this month in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

On Memorial Day, Honoring Military Service and Sacrifice



 

The following is a list of five books that tell the stories of black American troops.

American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm by Gail Lumet Buckley and David Halberstam. Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks. Pub. Year: 2002. PP. 608. Ages Grade 7 and up. $12.75. "Buckley originally wrote Patriots for an adult audience, and this abridgment is still a deeply moving and inspiring account of the history of African Americans in the U.S. military and their unrecognized heroism in the face of overt racism." School Library Journal

Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride. Republished by Riverhead Trade in 2008 as a tie-in with the movie directed by Spike Lee. $5.00 paperback, 320 pp. "McBride offers a powerful and emotional novel of black American soldiers fighting the German army in the mountains of Italy around the village of St. Anna of Stazzema in December 1944. This is a refreshingly ambitious story of men facing the enemy in front and racial prejudice behind; it is also a carefully crafted tale of a mute Italian orphan boy who teaches the American soldiers, Italian villagers and partisans that miracles are the result of faith and trust." Publisher's Weekly.

Brothers in Arms: The Epic Story of the 761st Tank Battalion, WWII's Forgotten Heroes by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anthony Walton. Published by Broadway in paperback, 2005, 336 pp., $14.95. This book is headed to the big screen. Director, actor, and producer Denzel Washington recently hired a writer for the screenplay.

The Negro's Civil War: How American Blacks Felt and Acted During the War for the Union by James M. McPherson. Published by Vintage, 400 pp., 2003, paperback $14.95. "McPherson shatters the belief that [blacks] were passive about their freedom. His evidence is telling and, what is more, it is absorbingly retold." The New York Times

Black Union Soldiers in the Civil War by Hondon B. Hargrove. Published by McFarland, 2003, 250 pp. $35. Like McPherson's book, "this book refutes the historical slander that blacks did not fight for their emancipation from slavery."

Atlanta college students investigate cold cases

(AP) ATLANTA --The single moms and young college students sit in a circle, throwing out names, dates, anything that could lead them to the suspect in the unsolved lynching of four black sharecroppers killed decades ago.

On the wall hangs a long piece of paper with dates written on Post-it notes: stabbing, meeting, lynching. It's a timeline waiting for the details, a story to be told.

"Write down means, motive and opportunity, because you've got to figure out all three," says Sheryl McCollum, who oversees this group of aspiring sleuths. "Don't try to make this hard. Murder ain't ever complicated." More....

AFRICAN AMERICAN BUYING POWER EXPANDS: Georgia's Selig Center says it's approaching $1 trillion.
In 1990, the buying power of the nation’s African American population stood at $318 billion.

However, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth, in 2008 that spending power had grown to nearly a trillion dollars - $913 billion to be exact.

In a recent report, the Center projects that by 2013, Black buying power will shoot up by 35.7 percent to stand at $1.24 trillion.

Nevertheless, white spending power remains approximately ten times larger than that for Blacks and currently stands at $9.1 trillion.

In addition, with the nation’s fastest growing population, Hispanic American buying power recently surpassed that of Blacks and stands at $951 billion. [Note: Hispanics can be of any race.]

The Selig Center for Economic Growth is based in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.


Diana Ross' son is making a name on his own

Evan Ross, the son of singing legend Diana Ross, is making a name for himself as an actor and drawing praise for his talent and passion in his roles.

The 20-year-old is turning heads in Hollywood with noted performances in 2007’s “Life Support” and last year’s “Gardens in the Night.” In his newest project, Ross plays the part of "Romeo" in the addiction movie drama, "Life is Hot in Cracktown,” showing in selected cities starting June 26.


Unemployment numbers far worse for blacks

Poll: Nearly two-thirds of black Southerners worried about job security
By WAYNE WASHINGTON
The (Columbia) State

Almost two of every three black Southerners are worried they could lose their jobs this year in what they see as a deteriorating economy, according to a Winthrop University/ETV poll.

Just under 62 percent of black Southerners polled Feb. 6-22 in South Carolina, and 10 other Southern states said they were very or somewhat concerned about the possibility of losing their job in the next year.

That concern is far higher than in the U.S. population as a whole.

A national poll, conducted Feb. 12-27 for The Associated Press, found 47 percent of Americans said they were worried about losing their jobs.

The Winthrop/ETV poll found more than 69 percent of black Southerners think economic conditions in the country as a whole are getting worse.

The state's unemployment rate is the third-highest in the country. In 2008, South Carolina's monthly unemployment rate averaged 6.7 percent. The black unemployment rate was higher, averaging 10.1 percent.

In each of the 11 states polled, the black jobless rate was significantly higher than the unemployment rate of the state as a whole.

In Georgia, the average jobless rate in 2008 was 6.4 percent. But the black unemployment rate averaged 10.2 percent.

North Carolina's overall unemployment rate averaged 6.4 percent in 2008; the black jobless average was 8.6 percent.

The great sense of fear gripping many black households is no surprise to William Darity, a professor of African-American studies and economics at Duke University.

"Historically, if black folks have jobs, the jobs are held with fragility," Darity said.

Yet many black Southerners surveyed by Winthrop/ETV said they don't think they have it harder than white residents.

Almost half of those polled said the economy has had the same effect on black residents as it has on white residents.

"There may be two factors going on here," Darity said. "Everybody's boat is sinking and sinking rapidly. But there may also be what I call 'the Obama boost.' People are somewhat more optimistic about how their situation compares to that of others."

Creating a Green American Dream

(By Van Jones) We've brought to light real solutions to the economic and environmental problems facing the country so well that the White House itself wants to hear what we have to say -- and wants to make sure everyone else is listening, too.

An excerpt from Maya Angelou's 'Letter to My Daughter'

Excerpt from "Letter to My
Daughter," By Maya Angelou

(Random House, $25)

From the chapter "Keep the Faith":


"One of my earliest memories of my grandmother, who was called 'Mamma,' is a glimpse of that tall, cinnamon-colored woman with a deep, soft voice, standing thousands of feet up in the air with nothing visible beneath her.

"... Whenever I began to question whether God exists, I looked up to the sky and surely there, right there, between the sun and moon, stands my grandmother, singing a long meter hymn, a song somewhere between a moan and a lullaby and I know faith is the evidence of things unseen."



Both Chris Brown, Rihanna could be facing career fallout

Both Chris Brown, Rihanna could be facing career fallout
By Steve Jones, USA TODAY
The legal case moving forward against Chris Brown could reverberate into his once very bright future. It also could tarnish Rihanna's.

Brown, 19, who was charged Thursday in Los Angeles with felony counts of assault and making criminal threats after a Feb. 8 incident with his girlfriend and R&B singer Rihanna, could face up to four years and eight months in prison. He may have also suffered irrevocable damage to his squeaky-clean, boy-next-door image.

The baby-faced, limber-limbed singer had been one of R&B's fastest-rising stars, with a budding acting career (Stomp the Yard and This Christmas).

But after turning himself in to police, Brown was dropped from ad campaigns for Got Milk? and Doublemint gum. Both he and Rihanna canceled heavily promoted performances at the Feb. 8 Grammy Awards, and he dropped out of his appearances at the NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix the following weekend. Some radio stations pulled his music. Rihanna, meanwhile, canceled a concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

"Prior to this, he was a teen idol with a fan base largely of teenage girls," says Entertainment Weekly music writer Margeaux Watson of Brown, whose two albums — 2005's Chris Brown and 2007's Exclusive— have sold more than 4 million copies combined and spawned such hits as Run It, Kiss Kiss, Wall to Wall and With You

"He was the guy all the girls wanted to date, and the guy that all of the guys wanted to be friends with. Now that's shattered."

The violence involved makes this case different from celebrity scandals about sex, substance abuse or other self-destructive behavior, says Cori Murray, entertainment director of Essence.

"It isn't like he was caught with drugs or was drunk," Murray says. "It's not like he was some bad boy, and this was just one more thing. It's so completely out of character for what audiences saw."

Rihanna, 21, is an even bigger crossover star than Brown. Her albums — 2005's Music of the Sun (582,000 copies sold), 2006's A Girl Like Me (1.3 million) and 2007's Good Girl Gone Bad (2.4 million) — have garnered increasingly larger sales, and she has more than a dozen endorsement deals, including Cover Girl, Totes, Nike and Fuze.

So far, she has maintained her corporate support and received an outpouring of sympathy. But public opinion could change in reaction to reports that the couple may have reconciled.

Regardless of the outcome of the court case or any reunion, both will carry a burden for years to come.

"She will always have support because she's a victim, but she has a difficult road ahead," says Murray. Promoting future music projects will be problematic because they'll be asked about the incident. "Just like he is always going to have to answer questions, she will also have to answer: 'Why did you take him back?' "

Watson says that question also could give sponsors pause.

"She's supposed to be a role model, and that isn't role model behavior," she says. "It goes counter to everything young girls are raised to do and believe. If I'm an executive, I would have to reconsider whether she's the proper spokesperson for my brand.".

Obama takes office, saying choose 'hope over fear' ....

YES, WE DID !

Rev. Joseph Lowery's impassioned benediction
USA Today 
Joseph Lowery, a civil rights icon and a pastor known to speak his mind to power, opened his benediction with the first words of the Negro National Anthem...

FVSU launches transportation service
Fort Valley State students, staff and faculty who need transportation can now jump on a bus to get from one side of campus to another, visit downtown shops in Fort Valley, or grab groceries at the store. This week, the university officially launches a new service: Wildcat Transportation. Four brand-new, spacious 24-passenger buses will take riders to downtown destinations and Harveys Supermarket – at no cost. An employee or student identification card is required. The shuttle service runs every thirty minutes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Shuttle Bus Pilot Program is the brainchild of Dr. Dwayne Crew, associate vice president for business and finance. Crew believes the new program will provide an important nexus between the Fort Valley community and the university.

“This is the beginning of plans to ensure that our students are connected to the downtown community,” he said.

So far, there are only a handful of stops, but routes may expand. The university is also looking at the feasibility of developing weekly trips to shopping districts in Centerville, Warner Robins and Perry.

The buses have several pick up locations:

* Stadium Parking Lot 8:15 a.m.
* Wildcat Commons Clubhouse 8:20 a.m.
* Carnegie Hall 8:25 a.m.
* Evans Building 8:30 a.m.
* Harveys Supermarket 8:38 a.m.
* Lottie Lyons Student Center 8:45 a.m.

Local: Upward Unlimited teams up with Campus Club of Macon in basketball venture


YES, WE CAN !!!!!


OBAMA: "CHANGE HAS COME TO AMERICA"



Macon Regional CrimeStoppers  names Jarrod Walker Executive Director

The Macon Police Department would like to announce that officer Jarrod Walker will be the new face for Macon Regional CrimeStoppers. Officer Walker has been employed with the Macon Police Department for two years.

Before joining the force, the Macon native and Central High School graduate served in the military.

" Well we're excited today to announce the addition of the CrimeStoppers team Officer Jarrod Walker and we're excited that he's our new executive director and we're here today to make that announcement. CrimeStoppers has over 14-hundred arrests and has paid almost 160-thousand dollars in rewards so we're excited that he's a part of the team again and we look forward to him taking the program to new levels."

UNCF : Unted Negro College Fund

Nation's largest African-American religious group tackles AIDS

ST. LOUIS (ABP) -- For the first time, the nation's largest African-American religious body has corporately addressed the HIV/AIDS crisis.

AIDS awareness and prevention figured prominently on the agenda for the annual meeting of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. Scheduled to meet June 18-22 in St. Louis, leaders of the 7.5-million-member group said 45,000 National Baptists were participating in the gathering. More...





 




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