LOS ANGELES (AP) — Music fans who turned out to BMI’s annual pre-Grammy Awards “How I Wrote That Song” discussion got a little more than they expected thanks to Snoop Dogg — a contact high. The rapper smoked marijuana during Saturday’s panel discussion, lighting up a large, Kush-filled blunt on stage at The Roxy. He […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican Party’s problems with minority voters have preoccupied strategists since November, and it’s possible those difficulties will persist or worsen. But an opening for marked improvements in GOP-minority relations may be at hand, or at least close by. Republican leaders would have to make some timely decisions and get a few […]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — James DePreist, one of the first African-American conductors and a National Medal of Arts winner, died Friday at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., his manager Jason Bagdade said. DePreist, who was 76, had been in and out of the hospital since a massive heart attack last March that was followed by […]

CHICAGO (AP) — First lady Michelle Obama met privately with the family of a 15-year-old girl being laid to rest Saturday a week and a half after her fatal shooting brought national attention to Chicago’s staggering gun violence. Obama was among the dignitaries attending the service for Hadiya Pendleton at a South Side church that […]