Bloomberg is reporting that Claude Steele, Columbia University’s provost, is returning to Stanford University as dean of the School of Education. Steele, 65, is a psychologist and spent 18 years at Stanford, where he was director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, before leaving for Columbia. Oliver Staley reports that the…

Groove Volt is reporting that Carl Gardner, lead singer for the Coasters, has passed away from unknown causes. The singer’s powerful tenor drove legendary hits like “Yakety Yak,” “Charlie Brown,” “Young Blood,” “Poison Ivy” and “Searchin’.” He founded the doo-wop group in 1955. ”Carl Gardner was one of the great lead voices of the rock…

Howard Kurtz of the Daily Beast thinks that Michele Bachmann should not be underestimated. According to Kurtz, the Minnesota congresswoman used her bluntness and charm to overshadow the men at the GOP debate — announcing her presidential bid and passionately defending the Tea Party. Bachmann also used the opportunity to declare that President Obama would…

Fresh from our “You’ve gotta be kidding us” file, Cephus Johnson, the uncle of Oscar Grant, is speaking out against the judge in the Johannes Mehserle case. Mehserle, a former transit officer convicted in the fatal shooting of Grant, who was unarmed and lying facedown at an Oakland, Calif., train station, was released from jail…

Deborah Mathis of Black America Web is reporting that World Net Daily, the conservative news service, is at it again. The folks who brought you “Barack Obama Is Not American-Born” and “Barack Obama Is a Muslim Mole” are now trying to stir up a new one: Barack Obama’s parents had a “sham” marriage. Yes, just…

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Plaxico Burress will work with the National Urban League and Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence after spending nearly two years in prison on a weapon-possession charge. The 33-year-old former New York Giants receiver said Monday that he would be mentored by Magic Johnson and Tony Dungy through…

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, General Electric chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt and American Express CEO and chairman Ken Chenault laid out a series of jobs-council ideas to increase employment, including easing visa applications to attract more tourists and increasing energy efficiency in commercial buildings. The two are part of the President’s Jobs…

The Washington Post is reporting that Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall’s estranged wife, Michi Nogami-Marshall, has been arrested again. Nogami-Marshall was arrested back in March for stabbing the wide receiver in the abdomen. She was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon for that incident. The Broward Sheriff’s Office reports that deputies responded…

Yahoo News is reporting that CNN/Opinion Research Corp. has released the results of a poll that finds Sarah Palin is popular with Republican voters, yet they do not believe that she can beat President Obama in the 2012 elections. Even after Palin’s Paul Revere gaffe, her popularity has not waned with many Republican voters, 60…