Clinical trial results for a noninvasive colon-cancer test approved last year by the Food and Drug Administration indicate that it is promising as an effective alternative to colonoscopy for African Americans, according to researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The DNA-screening method, called stool DNA (sDNA), detected precancer in African Americans at…

The Congressional Black Caucus is taking action to address the lack of diversity at tech-industry giants like Facebook and Google. It’s hosting an event Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to launch the CBC Tech 2020 initiative, The Hill reports. The event, which will take place at the Library of Congress, will outline diversity; discuss best practices; present…

With summer weather approaching, the usual warnings about skin cancer are not far off. African Americans typically think of melanoma as a white person’s disease and seldom heed warnings about overexposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Actor Damian Thompson thought that way until a mole on his thigh was diagnosed as skin cancer, according to…

Corpus Christi, Texas, is mourning the death of Police Chief Floyd Simpson, the city’s first black police chief. He died late Sunday in a tragic highway accident, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports. Simpson, 51, was on his motorcycle, headed south on State Highway 361 in Port Aransas, Texas, according to the report. A Ford pickup…

Frenswa Raynor of Oakland, Calif., is one of the fortunate innocent, young black men to survive a police shooting. The Oakland City Council voted this week to settle lawsuits surrounding his near-fatal encounter for $275,000, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The shooting occurred in 2013, when Frenswa was 16 years old. The police responded to…

Gene Ryan, head of Baltimore’s Fraternal Order of Police, took a step back following backlash over a remark he made regarding protesters in the Freddie Gray case. “Maybe I need to reword that,” he said at a news conference. But while Ryan acknowledged that his words were inappropriate, the Gray family’s lawyer is demanding an…

Obamacare’s impact reaches beyond health care. An Associated Press analysis found that the president’s health-care-reform law apparently triggered an increase in food stamp enrollment across several states. An expansion in Medicaid appears to be the link. Ten states that expanded their Medicaid programs under the health care law are experiencing an increase in food stamp…

Smith Joseph, the mayor of North Miami, Fla., is now running unopposed for re-election. His only opponent, a former city councilman, was disqualified because of a bad check. North Miami’s city clerk told the Miami Herald that Jean Marcellus was disqualified because his $2,400 check for the qualifying fee was returned for insufficient funds on…