Award-winning author Ann Petry was the first African American woman writer to attain best seller status in the United States. Though born to a family with privileges, she and her sisters were subjected to many incidents of discrimination while growing up black in privileged society. As a child, she remembers being forced to read the […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is debating a bill that would allow states to collect sales taxes from Internet purchases. Under current law, states can only require stores to collect sales taxes if the store has a physical presence in the state. As a result, many online sales are essentially tax-free, giving Internet retailers a […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — New York Democrat Charles Rangel on Monday filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to overturn a 2010 House decision to censure him for financial wrongdoing. The suit contends that staff and members of the House Ethics Committee that conducted the probe against the Harlem lawmaker willfully suppressed evidence of misconduct in […]

TORONTO (AP) — Two men were arrested and charged with plotting a terrorist attack against a Canadian passenger train with support from al-Qaida “elements” in Iran, police said Monday. Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, who live in Montreal and Toronto, were planning to derail a Via Rail passenger train in Toronto but posed […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Eighteen months after his involuntary manslaughter conviction, Michael Jackson‘s doctor on Monday appealed his case, claiming there were multiple legal errors at his trial. A lawyer for Dr. Conrad Murray argued in the 230-page appellate brief that there was insufficient proof that Jackson died of an overdose of the anesthetic propofol […]

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A federal judge postponed Lauryn Hill‘s tax evasion sentencing on Monday but not before scolding the eight-time Grammy-winning singer for reneging on a promise to make restitution by now. Hill pleaded guilty last year to not paying federal taxes on $1.8 million earned from 2005 to 2007. At that time, her […]

BOSTON (AP) — A seriously wounded Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged in his hospital room Monday with bombing the Boston Marathon in a plot with his older brother and could get the death penalty for the attack that killed three people. Tsarnaev, 19, was charged by federal prosecutors with using and conspiring to use a weapon […]

Dead air. It’s the bane of a broadcaster’s existence. Dead air is that pause that is too long, that allows listeners or viewers to change stations, that costs a station advertising and ratings points. Engineers, producers, news directors, reporters who allow dead air on their station or network are looking at termination. And so in […]

PHOENIX (AP) — Volunteers set up a table outside a music festival one day last month to gather signatures for a drive to oust the notoriously polarizing sheriff of metropolitan Phoenix. The venue, with its largely liberal crowd, seemed the perfect place to drum up support. But it didn’t take long for fans of Maricopa […]

Jennifer Hudson performed at the 28th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in LA wearing a curve-hugging Donna Summer-inspired sequin one-shoulder jumpsuit from Pamella Roland. She paired her look with a flawless nude face, big bouncy curls, and a pair of shiny gold ankle strap sandals. When I tell you I am totally […]

Supermodel Selita EBanks is on her way to becoming a reality TV star. The former Victoria’s Secret angel just landed her own docu-series on the Style Network. According to reports “Selita,” the show’s working title, will follow her ventures in the fashion world and life after the breakup with her boyfriend of two years, E! […]

Terrell Owens’ ex-money men are saying the former NFL wide receiver made stupid decisions with his money. According to TMZ, Owens has sued Jeff Rubin, Edward Rappaport and Pro Sports Financial, claiming they grossly mismanaged his stash, opening a bank account without his knowledge and then forging his signature, and leading him to really bad […]