news

  • The Victims of the Charleston, SC, Church Massacre

    One woman coached the girls track team at a local high school. Another young man had just graduated from college last year and was thinking about pursuing a career in broadcast journalism. Another man was the consummate community leader, having met both President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of…

  • Judge Rejects Lawsuit by 2 Black Men Alleging a Pattern of Racial Discrimination at Kansas City Entertainment District

    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…

  • US Supreme Court Permits Texas to Reject Confederate Flag License Plate

    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.…

  • Watch: Obama Speaks Out on Charleston Church Shooting: ‘I’ve Had to Make Statements Like This Too Many Times’

    In a speech Thursday afternoon before a trip to California, President Barack Obama gave a statement on the mass shooting in Charleston, S.C., denouncing the “senseless murders” while also remembering the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church’s long and embattled history.  “To say our thoughts and prayers are with [the victims] and their families and their…

  • Dylann Storm Roof, Suspect in SC Church Mass Murder, Arrested in NC

    Updated Thursday, June 18, 1:36 p.m. EDT: A South Carolina news station, WLTX, is reporting that law enforcement has apprehended Dylann Storm Roof in Shelby, N.C.  According to the report, the 21-year-old was taken into custody at approximately 11 a.m. after a traffic stop. Charleston, S.C., Police Chief Greg Mullen said that a citizen called…

  • Adults Told Black Girl Scouts Protesting Animal Cruelty to ‘Go Back to Baltimore’

    The members of a Maryland Girl Scouts troop—the Chesapeake Bay Troop 176—attended a public meeting of the Animal Care and Control Oversight Commission in Cecil County, Md., to protest the mistreatment of animals at a county animal-control facility. The Girl Scouts were allegedly told by a group of adults to “go back to Baltimore, where…

  • Shots Fired Into Tenn. Church 

    Shots were fired into a Memphis, Tenn., church early Thursday morning during a choir rehearsal, WMC Action News reports.  There was a bullet in the wall of St. Matthew Missionary Baptist Church, the news station reports. No one was present at the time of the shooting. A pastor noticed the bullet in the front door,…

  • Kan. Family Files Claim Against Wichita Police Officers in 2014 Shooting Death of Mentally Ill Vet

    The city of Wichita, Kan., released a copy Tuesday of the full claim document that a grieving family filed against the city claiming that Icarus Randolph, a Marine veteran struggling with his mental health, was needlessly and wrongly shot by a police officer who ignored the Wichita Police Department’s policy on engaging mentally ill individuals,…

  • 10-Year-Old Hero Pulls 2 Kids Out of Burning Mobile Home in Fla.

    When a fire broke out early Tuesday morning inside a mobile home in Orange County, Fla., Isiah Francis leaped into action, even though he’s only 10, WFTV reports. The boy rushed into the burning home and successfully pulled two young children out of the blaze with the help of his friend, 11-year-old Jeremiah Grimes. The…

  • Woman Suspended From Job Over McKinney Pool Fight Denies Using Racist Slurs

    One of the white women seen on video in a scuffle with black teens in a fight at the notorious McKinney, Texas, pool party is now defending her name, insisting at a press conference in Los Angeles Tuesday that she never said anything racist toward the teens, the Dallas Morning News reports.  Tracey Carver told…