The Huffington Post is reporting that Brandon Ross, 16, has been charged with murder after a Chicago police officer fatally shot his 15-year-old friend Tatioun Williams Wednesday on the South Side. Ross and his friend allegedly robbed a man at gunpoint in the 7000 block of South Cregier Avenue Wednesday evening and were confronted by…

The Washington Post has profiled Kenneth Roberson, a recent high school graduate who is looking for work. Roberson is a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, Tenn., which was recently selected by President Obama as the country’s most “inspiring” high school. Obama spoke at the graduation ceremony, giving a message of hope…

This just in: Someone else is gay. Fresh from our “Out of the closet” file, Georgia state Rep. Rashad Taylor (D-Atlanta) has just become the first self-acknowledged gay man in that state’s Legislature. He made the announcement during a morning news conference. Jim Calloway of AJC.com reports that in a news conference at the offices…

Reuters is reporting that the impact of Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of consumer items will be missed, now that the show is off of the air. Deborah L. Cohen writes about the sweets company MarieBelle. Within one month after being named one of Oprah’s Favorite Things, MariBelle booked $600,000 worth of business. Aside from the chaos…

NewsOne is reporting that Chase Austin is set to make history on two fronts today, working to qualify for Friday’s 2011 Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. If Austin qualifies, he would become the first African American to start a Freestone Indy Lights race, and the first to race for the team assembled by…

This photo of Dominique Strauss-Kahn meeting President and Mrs. Obama at the G-20 conference in September of 2009 has been making its way around the Web. Can you say “hands off”? Read more at New York Magazine. in other news: Settlement Reached in Bishop Eddie Long Case. Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on…

Sheila M. Poole and Christian Boone of AJC.com are reporting that a settlement has been reached in the four lawsuits alleging sexual coercion that were filed against Bishop Eddie Long. Attorneys involved in the lawsuits against Long, the LongFellows Youth Academy and the 25,000-member Lithonia mega-church said that the cases had been settled but declined…

Nekesa Mumbi Moody of the Associated Press is reporting that a coalition of musicians is demanding that the Recording Academy restore more than 30 categories cut from the Grammy Awards, alleging that the reductions unfairly target ethnic music and were done without the input of its thousands of members. A protest was planned Thursday in…

You’ve heard the saying, “Those who cast stones should not live in glass houses”? Such is the case with Maricopa County, Ariz.’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who has been called the toughest sheriff in all of America. It seems that while he’s chasing down so-called illegals, three police officers under his command have been up to…