A U.S. District court has thrown out a class action racial-discrimination lawsuit against a Kansas City, Mo., entertainment center. Two African-American men accused Cordish Cos.—which owns the downtown Kansas City, Mo., entertainment area called the Kansas City Power & Light District—of using various tactics to limit the number of black patrons at the district’s restaurants, bars and…

In a 5-4 ruling on Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas’ refusal to issue a license plate with the Confederate flag, the Associated Press reports. Justice Clarence Thomas joined the more liberal justices to form a majority. They overturned an appeals court ruling that barring the plates was a violation of free speech rights.…

The FBI is examining whether a nearly fatal attack on a black man at a Pittsburgh train station was a federal hate crime, WTAE-TV reports. Ryan Kyle, 21, faces the most serious charges among the five white men who allegedly attacked 55-year-old Kevin Lockett May 30. State authorities charged Kyle with attempted homicide, ethnic intimidation,…

The New York Liberty’s Tina Charles will again donate half of her WNBA salary to Hopey’s Heart, the foundation she established in honor of her beloved aunt, Maureen “Hopey” Vaz, who died of multiple organ failure in 2013, the Associated Press reports. According to the foundation’s website, “Hopey was known for having a very giving…

Delegates to the 2015 North Carolina Republican State Convention took a major step toward diversity. They elected Hasan Harnett as the party’s chairman—the first African American to hold that position. Harnett says he can make the party more appealing to minorities, the Charlotte Observer reports. His June 6 victory was “a rebuke” of Craig Collins,…

Norfolk, Va., Officer Michael Carlton Edington Jr., accused of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a mentally ill man, was released on a personal recognizance bond, the Virginian-Pilot reports.   On June 6, 2014, David Latham’s family called 911 to get emergency psychiatric treatment for him. Latham, 35, was mentally ill and had previous interactions…

Homicide detectives have completed their investigation into the fatal police shooting of Jermaine McBean, the Florida man who was killed while carrying an unloaded pellet gun and who may have been wearing earbud headphones at the time, impairing his ability to hear the police. Detectives have turned the case over to the prosecutors, who will…

The police are continuing their investigation into an alleged attack on a white family by a group of black teens in Florence, Ala. Many people there want the authorities to label the incident a hate crime. But the authorities are ruling out that possibility for now. Investigator Shannon Harris says the police don’t believe it…

Voters in San Antonio have elected their first African-American mayor. Ivy Taylor, who was serving as interim mayor, won Saturday’s runoff with 52 percent of the vote, Reuters reports. It was a surprising victory against a popular Hispanic candidate in a Hispanic-majority city. “The work starts on Monday at City Hall,” Taylor said, according to…

Louisville, Ky., Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad is defending an officer who fatally shot a man on Saturday. He plans to launch an internal investigation into the shooting, which black activists say did not require lethal force, the Associated Press reports. A surveillance video shows Officer Nathan Blanford confronting Deng Manyoun, a 35-year-old African immigrant,…