ST. LOUIS (NNPA) – Responding to an inquiry by the editor of The St. Louis American newspaper, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood last week outlined portions of the $827 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that he says will specifically impact the Black community....

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) -- Namibia has a new national park -- a landscape of dunes, plains, dramatic rock arches and even ghost towns in what was once a diamond mining area.
Environment and tourism minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said at the launch of the Sperrgebeit park Friday that the 2.6 million hectare reserve supports nearly a quarter of Namibia's plant diversity on less than 3 percent of the country's land surface. ...

SEATTLE – The Seattle Foundation announced today it is awarding more than $800,000 in grants from the Building Resilience Fund to help Puget Sound families hit hard by the tough economy. The targeted grants were awarded to five multi-service agencies and will help an estimated 800 people and 352 families in the Puget Sound area....

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - "It's tough," Kadiatou Diallo told the AmNews on the eve of the 10th anniversary of her son being gunned down in a fusillade of 41 bullets outside his home in the Bronx. "We are doing an event on the 5th of February at Bronx Community College, where he was a student, to remember him and commemorate his passing." ....

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - Upon its 100th anniversary this week, the NAACP under the leadership of Benjamin Todd Jealous, set aside euphoria over the historic inauguration of the first Black president and challenged the Obama administration on where he stands on human and civil rights issues as they pertain to people of color. 
''We're not simply interested in a bail out for Main Street, it's a good goal. It's a good starting point. But, we want a fix for back street,'' says Jealous ...

(NNPA) - It has been described as the worst labor market since December 1974. With nearly 600,000 jobs alone lost this past January, the already dismal unemployment rate has been boosted from 7.2 percent to 7.6 percent, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.  A survey by Briefing.com also states that the government's latest assessment of the labor market is even worst than the predictions of economists ...

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced new restrictions Tuesday for banks requesting bailout funds. Under details released Tuesday, banks will be subject to a "stress test" before receiving funding ... to ensure those that need the capital are healthy enough to be able to lend it  ......  "The spectacle of huge amounts of taxpayer money being provided to the same institutions that helped cause the crisis, with limited transparency and oversight, added to public distrust....

NNPA) - Soon after her comments about Beyonce and President Barack Obama set the internet ablaze and made their way to mainstream entertainment news last week, Etta James has come forward to say it was all just a joke. An audio tape of James slamming Beyonce for singing her signature song at the first Inaugural Ball, and ridiculing Barack Obama for allowing it to happen, were not meant to be taken seriously, according to James....

WILMINGTON, N.C. (NNPA) - If recent reports are any indication, people suffering from HIV/AIDS, the elderly and children, and even victims of North Carolina's forced sterilization program, will see the short end of the budget stick after Gov. Beverly Perdue and state lawmakers decide how to make up an estimated $2 billion budget shortfall.
The state NAACP has wasted no time demanding that no matter how bad the deficit, the programs that serve the poor and needy should be protected, not decimated.
''Don't balance the state budget on the backs of the poor,'' ...

9:30 a.m. – Main program at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts as outlined in wa.gov website
3:00 p.m. – Prayer circle with area pastors and ministers in the Rotunda of the Legislative Building
4:00 p.m. – Commission Mtg. / Education Roundtable in the Columbia Room of the Legislative Building– dinner will be served.