Fox Sports is reporting that former Auburn University quarterback Cam Newton is talking too much. Newton, who has been plagued by questions about his character related to an investigation over his alleged violation of NCAA rules, told Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, “I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon.”…

Lynn Sweet of Politics Daily is reporting that Rahm Emanuel decisively won Tuesday’s mayoral election, becoming the city’s 55th mayor. With 98 percent of the city precincts reporting, Emanuel had 55 percent of the vote — enough to avoid a runoff election. His main rivals were Gery Chico, with 24 percent; City Clerk Miguel del…

The Associated Press is reporting that Republican backers of Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to eliminate collective bargaining rights for most public employees are trying to move the explosive proposal closer to reality, even as Democrats remained on the run and protesters filled the halls of the Capitol for a second week. The Republican-controlled Assembly planned…

Fresh from our “Moving backward as a country” file, MSNBC’s Alan Johnson is reporting on the problems that are arising from budget cuts that are affecting school free- lunch programs. To make matters worse, the cost is being passed on to paying students. The National School Lunch Program, or NSLP, requires participating schools to provide…

ColorLines’ Akiba Solomon is reporting that Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore spoke passionately on Friday about having an unplanned pregnancy at age 18 during a session that was supposed to be about fixing the deficit. Anti-abortion Republicans took the opportunity to pass Rep. Mike Pence’s (R-Ind.) Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act. If this bill passes…

The Associated Press is reporting that Texas is preparing to give college students and professors the right to carry guns on campus, adding momentum to a national campaign to open this part of society to firearms. More than half the members of the Texas House have signed on as co-authors of a measure directing universities…

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that veteran music executive Steve Stoute is slamming the Grammys and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for “snubbing” teen sensation Justin Bieber and veteran rapper Eminem. In a full-page ad in the New York Times, Stoute accused the organization of losing touch with contemporary pop culture and failing…

The Washington Post is reporting that fresh protests have erupted across the Middle East and North Africa. Embattled leaders in the region struggled to contain their discontented masses, deploying a wide variety of tactics — from offers of dialogue to brutal crackdowns — to suppress the pro-democracy forces unleashed by the revolts in Tunisia and…

Sad news surfaced over the weekend. The death of Pro-Bowl safety Dave Duerson, who was a Super Bowl winner with the legendary 1985 Chicago Bears team and the New York Giants in 1990, has been ruled a suicide. Miami-Dade Police Detective Robert Williams said the body of Duerson was found Thursday in Sunny Isles Beach,…

ColorLines is reporting that Showdown in America has released a report about credit segregation and its impact on black and brown communities. Rinku Sen reports that their research shows that banks are pulling good credit services out of black and Latino communities, replacing them with more and more payday shops that lend money against an…