Not only is the Ohio Reformatory for Women considered the oldest women's prison in Ohio, it is the state's largest female prison with 2,500 inmates. In a lot of ways it's exactly what you'd expect.
And then, there's the unexpected. Ohio's prison is also home to those found guilty of no crime -- nine babies. Their mothers are inmates.
In most cases, babies born in prison are whisked away within hours, to relatives or foster care, but at this facility the infants move in with mom, behind bars.
When Takaya Patterson came to the reformatory she was six months pregnant and scared. She was locked up on a theft charge, and had left behind her two-year-old daughter. She thought she'd have to part with the baby she was carrying next.
"I didn't know what was going to happen, if my child was going to go to foster care," said Patterson.
But at the Ohio facility, Patterson had access to the prison nursery program, allowing non-violent offenders with short sentences to raise their newborns until they're one year old in a unit isolated from the general population. Now, Takaya's cellmate is seven-month-old son Takeem.
"I think babies do belong with their mothers whether it's in prison or not," continues Patterson.
Prison officials agree, saying the goal of the nursery is to help the babies by not depriving them of a parent. The program provides everything these mothers need such as clothes and shoes, food and formula, toys and TV.
Ohio's nursery is one of nine nationwide. More than half have opened in the last 15 years as the number of women in prison has skyrocketed to record levels, up 25 percent in the last 10 years alone.
The trend is felt especially hard in black communities where women are more likely to be the head of the household and African-American men have high rates of incarceration, as well. Almost seven percent of black children have a parent in jail, compared to less than one percent of white children.
For Treshawn, Zyiar and Shesire, there's no such thing as a quick trip to see mom Sharlene Henry and baby sister Delilah. It takes two trains, a cab and three hours to get to the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in New York where their mother is serving seven years for criminal possession of a controlled substance. Traveling with an aunt, they make the trip twice a month.
"I just want to be close with my mom," said Zyair.
Bedford Hills has the country's oldest prison nursery and right now, seven-month-old Delilah is one of its youngest residents. Sharlene was newly pregnant when sentenced. The thought of having her baby in prison was devastating and she almost decided not to.
"I'm very anti-abortion," said Henry. "But of course the thought is going to cross your mind because who wants to actually have a baby in prison and not be able to stay with the baby? I actually made an appointment not to have her and I couldn't do it. I was like, no. So I kept her."
Delilah is one of nine babies living at Bedford Hills. Here, the infants do leave their unit.
When the mothers go to mandated programs the babies go to daycare, staffed by other inmates like Shirelle Howard, serving 16 years to life for robbery. She says being with the babies is the bright spot of each day.
"I'm not a violent person," Howard said. "I robbed and stole because I had a habit to take care of. But I'm not getting high anymore so there's no habit to take care of. I have a habit with the babies now."
But some argue babies don't belong in prison and this is the wrong use of resources.
"I actually don't think the department of corrections should be in the child rearing business," said Karen Shain, who provides legal services for prisoners with children."I think that they barely can do the job that they're supposed to be doing."
Still, several studies show women who serve their time in a prison nursery have much lower re-offense rates than other inmates.
"I think it will help me stay focused more on my family," Patterson said, holding back tears. "It's hard being incarcerated. When you go back into the world you know sometimes people don't want to give you a second chance."
Now she's getting that second chance. This month, Patterson and her son are going to be released and will have the opportunity to strengthen the bond formed in prison.
Sharlene Henry's happy ending won't come for a while. On her first birthday, Delilah will have to leave Bedford Hills to go home with her siblings and aunt while Sharlene serves out the rest of her sentence.
"That's why when we get visits it's important," adds Henry. "I want [my other children] to play with her, but I know she's going to feel mommy's not here."
It'll be a bittersweet moment, parting ways with her daughter, and at the same time knowing it's the best thing for the baby.
"As much as I would love to be able to keep her here a little longer, I want her to know more than just other inmates and officers," Henry said. "I want her to see beyond these walls."
Delilah will finally get to know the outside world after a year spent getting to know her mom. For Sharlene and so many others like her, that makes this year of time served time well spent.
Look for more of this story on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and in the May issue of Essence Magazine, on newsstands now.
MIAMI (AP) -- A rap music smackdown looms in a federal courtroom between oft-troubled impresario Marion "Suge" Knight and controversial star Kanye West over a shooting at a star-studded Miami Beach party.
Knight, founder of Death Row Records and promoter of some of rap's biggest acts, was shot in the right leg in August 2005 by a still-unknown assailant at the ultra-trendy Shore Club. West was hosting the party before the MTV Video Music Awards held that year in Miami.
No one has ever been arrested, and like many other shootings in the rap world, police found few witnesses although the club was packed with partygoers, including celebrities Jessica Alba, Eddie Murphy, The Black Eyed Peas and Paris Hilton. At least six shots were fired, police said.
More than four years later, Knight is claiming in a lawsuit that West and the Shore Club's owners failed to provide security necessary to keep out people with weapons. Knight's attorney, Marc Brumer, said Tuesday that Knight had $200,000 in medical bills from a gunshot that shattered his femur and will seek total damages of well over $1 million.
"He's an icon in the music industry. He walks in a room and he lights it up," Brumer said. "He had an expectation of security there. How someone came with a gun into a very VIP party, that just doesn't meet the smell test in life."
U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz has scheduled a Dec. 6 trial date in Miami.
West's attorney did not immediately return a telephone call Tuesday seeking comment. In court papers, West and the Shore Club ownership have denied Knight's claims of negligence.
The damages total includes a 15-carat diamond earring valued at $135,000 that Knight said came loose during the shooting chaos and was picked up by an employee who promised to return it. Knight doesn't know the identity of the employee but has never seen the earring since, according to court papers.
Knight claims in his lawsuit that it should have been obvious to West and the Shore Club that the party could produce a "dangerous environment" because of well-known feuds between East and West Coast rap figures that have triggered a lot of violence.
One of Knight's biggest stars, Tupac Shakur, was shot and killed in 1996 while riding in Knight's car. At the time, Knight was feuding with Sean Combs' Bad Boy label, and Bad Boy's top artist, the Notorious B.I.G., was gunned down months later in Los Angeles. Relatives of B.I.G. have accused Knight of involvement, but police have never named him a suspect.
"Prior to the party, defendants knew that it was critical to screen guests, employees and others entering the party premises for weapons," Knight's lawsuit says.
In fact, Knight said in the lawsuit that he and his entourage were patted down by security personnel before they went inside, leading him to assume that was true for all guests.
The burly Knight, nicknamed "Suge" for Sugar Bear, was one of the most powerful music figures of the 1990s. With superstar rappers like Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Shakur in his stable, plus Bloods gang members on his payroll, he made millions and enemies in equal abundance.
West, meanwhile, is a multiple Grammy winner and one of today's biggest stars, but is prone to boorish behavior in public. These stunts include a 2005 comment that former President George W. Bush "doesn't care about black people" because of the slow government response to Hurricane Katrina and West's heavily criticized decision to grab the microphone from singer Taylor Swift during last year's MTV awards. West has previously lashed out at awards shows when he didn't win.
The lawsuit was originally brought in Los Angeles as part of Knight's 2006 filing for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws, which resulted in an auction of Death Row Records assets and sale of Knight's mansion in Malibu.
The Shore Club's owners, Philips South Beach LLC and Morgans Hotel Group Management LLC, successfully petitioned to have the lawsuit moved into federal court and transferred from Los Angeles to Miami.
If Knight wins, he'll have to share damages with the bankruptcy trustee and the Internal Revenue Service.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Federal investigators arrived Monday at the West Virginia mine where 29 men died in an explosion last week to begin piecing together what caused the worst U.S. coal mining disaster since 1970.
Thirty miles to the north, hundreds of mourners including the governor observed a moment of silence at the state Capitol, during a wreath-laying ceremony at the foot of a statue honoring the state's miners.
The team of inspectors at the Upper Big Branch mine weren't heading underground until searchers finished the grim task of removing the final nine bodies from the mine. The team from the Mine Safety and Health Administration briefed Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and MSHA director Joe Main at the mine.
The last bodies were expected to be taken out of the mine Monday afternoon, state mine office spokeswoman Jama Jarrett said. Recovery efforts had been stalled in previous days by volatile gases, but teams had entered by early Monday after the tunnels were ventilated.
Mining safety rules
The state panel that writes mining safety rules and typically reviews mine inspectors' reports after the investigations are complete said Monday it would like to join the investigators underground this time.
Richmond, Va.-based Massey has been under scrutiny for a string of safety violations at the mine, though CEO Don Blankenship has defended the company's record and disputed accusations that he puts profits ahead of safety.
Authorities have said high methane levels may have played a role in the disaster. Massey has been repeatedly cited and fined for problems with the system that vents methane and for allowing combustible dust to build up.
Hours after the blast, the company flew Gov. Joe Manchin back from a Florida vacation on one of its planes, Manchin said Monday. The governor's top lawyer told him the use of the company's plane was acceptable because it was an emergency and a flight on a state plane couldn't immediately be arranged.
Mourning continued Monday, exactly a week after the explosion, with the ceremony at the state Capitol and a moment of silence at 3:30 p.m. President Barack Obama on Monday ordered all U.S. flags in the state flown at half-staff until sunset Sunday.
Beneath a sunny sky, several hundred people held hands and prayed aloud during the ceremony. Four black-ribboned wreaths were placed at the memorial, as more than a dozen family members of those killed looked on. The largest bore white roses for each miner killed, and two yellow roses for the injured. Twenty-nine yellow helmets were lined up in front of the statue, a black ribbon on each.
A bell rang 29 times for each of the fallen miners. During a moment of silence that followed, sobs could be heard both from the family and the crowd thronged around them with heads bowed.
Today show contributor and NFL star Tiki Barber, 35, is pushing Jesse James and Tiger Woods out of the spotlight for a minute, in light of his announcement that he's splitting from wife Ginny, who's expecting twins next month, after the New York Post trumpeted that he's left her for a "hot" 23-year-old NBC intern.
A Miami Herald headline: "Tiki Barber: cheater du jour"
New York's Daily News reports today that Barber's girlfriend, Traci Johnson, convinced her family she was just babysitting for the ex-Giants star as their romance heated up and his marriage fell apart.
"That's what [her dad] Ernest told me," Johnson family neighbor Bob Drabik says, according to the paper. Drabik said he believed Barber wrote a letter that helped Johnson, a communications major, land an internship with NBC in 2007. A year later, Barber visited her Mount Saint Mary College campus in Newburgh, Orange County, to address students.
Barber has not commented, other than his statement yesterday announcing his split.
"After 11 years of marriage, Ginny and I have decided to separate," Barber said in a statement yesterday. "This decision was a painful one, but we are moving forward amicably and will continue to work together to raise our children with the love and dedication they have always known."
As if it was not enough that they were having an affair behind the back of Barber's pregnant wife, it has been reported by the New York Post that Traci Lynn Johnson pictures with Tiki Barber were posted by Johnson during their December 2009 Senegal, Africa trip. But soon Traci realised that it was not prudent to leave the pictures on facebook and removed all but one.
Really, I can not even begin to imagin what Ginny Barber, Tiki's wife must be going through realizing that she was made a fool of for so long while she completely trusted her husband. And Traci flaunting her affair with Tiki- definitely not in good taste at all.
Ginny is a former fashion publicist and full-time mom to the couple's two sons, A.J., 7, and Chason, 6.
A Gary, Indiana native will make history next month as the first black valedictorian from the University of Notre Dame.
Katie Washington, 21, is a biology major and minor in Catholic social teaching with a 4.0 GPA.
"I am humbled," said Washington to the Northwest Indiana Times. "I am in a mode of gratitude and thanksgiving right now."
University officials said they couldn't recall ever having a black valedictorian, and don't keep record of their race.
A Gary, Indiana native will make history next month as the first black valedictorian from the University of Notre Dame.
Katie Washington, 21, is a biology major and minor in Catholic social teaching with a 4.0 GPA.
"I am humbled," said Washington to the Northwest Indiana Times. "I am in a mode of gratitude and thanksgiving right now."
University officials said they couldn't recall ever having a black valedictorian, and don't keep record of their race
A New Jersey middle school student is recovering from injuries she suffered after being attacked by another student.
Felicia Daniels says, she was attacked by another girl from school apparently upset with Felicia's hair braids.
The middle school student says, the girl approached her, told her she liked her braids then began hitting and pulling her hair.
Felicia lost large amounts of hair in the attacked but was otherwise not seriously injured.
A third student recorded the attack on cell phone and distributed around the school.
School administrators plan to use that video in their investigation to see which students were involved.
Microsoft's new smartphone, the Kin, is shooting for a place in the hearts -- and pockets -- of a plugged-in "social generation," the company announced Monday.
From the ability to easily download photos from the Windows phone to a home screen that's constantly updated with feeds from services like Facebook and Twitter, Kin is clearly designed for young users for whom social networking is a way of life.
"Self-expression is super important to them," said Robert Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division. "What they are, what they're doing, they want to share the journey every day. It's like constantly publishing a magazine about their life."
The Kin name, Bach said, is for a phone "that knits together a tight community of kindred spirits whose lives are shared and who broadcast all the time."
Two phones, the Kin One and Kin Two, will be available next month in Verizon stores. Verizon will be the exclusive wireless provider in the United States, and Vodafone will be the provider internationally. No prices for the phones were announced at Microsoft's rollout event in Redmond, Washington, on Monday afternoon.
The Kin One is compact with a roughly square shape, designed to fit easily in a pocket. The Kin Two has a more traditional rectangular shape and is equipped with additional features, like more memory, a high-resolution camera and the ability to shoot high-definition video.
The Kin One has 4 gigabytes of memory, while Kin Two has 8. The camera is 5 megapixels in the Kin One and 8 megapixels in the Kin Two. Kin One has a 2.1-inch screen, while Kin Two's is 3.5 inches. Both phones are designed by Sharp Corp. and come with both touchscreen capability and a slide-out keyboard.
The Kins will not run the Windows Phone 7 operating system rolled out by Microsoft in February. But they will share some features, including programs to integrate search engine Bing and music-and-video site Zune.
The phones, unlike Apple's iPhone, Android phones and others, will not run applications designed by outside developers.
In addition to regular social-network feeds, the Kin will allow users to select "best friends" and give higher priority to any posts by the people on that list.
Videos, photos, text messages and links to Web pages can be shared by clicking and dragging them to what Microsoft is calling "The Kin Spot."
Their photos, videos and social-network posts will be compiled into a digital timeline, letting the user scroll back and view their posts in chronological order.
And content created on the phone will be automatically saved and available, through cloud computing, an any Web browser -- making photos, videos and other content easier to save and share, according to Microsoft.
Setting the tone for a product geared toward teens and 20-somethings, Microsoft began its announcement with a video featuring a rock soundtrack, quick-cut editing and a litany of hip young subjects talking about their smartphone needs.
At the age of 47, boxing legend Evander Holyfield is still hoping to become the world heavyweight champion for a record fifth time.
The American, who famously defeated Mike Tyson in 1996 to win the WBA title before having part of his ear bitten off in the rematch, extended his illustrious career into a fourth decade when he beat fellow veteran Francois Botha in Las Vegas to claim the little-regarded WBF crown.
While current WBA champion David Haye of Britain is expected to face one of the title-holding Klitschko brothers -- IBF/WBO king Wladimir or WBC champion Vitali -- in his next fight, Holyfield has staked his claim to be considered as a future challenger.
"I'm going to be the undisputed world heavyweight champion," he told reporters after beating his 41-year-old South African opponent, who lost on points in his second defense of the title in front of a small crowd of about 3,000 people on Saturday night.
Holyfield's last bid at a recognized heavyweight title saw him defeated on points by giant Russian Nikolai Valuev in a WBA bout in 2008.
This is a new era and I didn't think I'd be in it... You can't let people tell you what you can do. I fight because I want to
"I've been telling people since 1992 when I lost to Riddick Bowe that I was going to be undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. I won two but not the third," he said.
"Botha gave me an opportunity. People talk about my legacy. It's about who you've fought. They can't deny me -- I fight the best. I always want to fight somebody to get a little credit if I beat them."
Holyfield, an Olympic bronze medallist who won his first professional fight in 1984, said that he would ignore critics who said he was too old to be taken seriously.
"This is a new era and I didn't think I'd be in it," he said. "I was laughing a little when I fought George Foreman [in 1991]. He was 42 and I was 29. I really didn't want to fight him.
"He didn't beat me but he did become world champion again. What I learned from that fight was George said it wasn't about age but that I will give my all.
"You can't let people tell you what you can do. I fight because I want to. I wouldn't be the person I am without opportunities."
British fighter Audley Harrison, the 2000 Olympic champion, also added his name to the list of possible contenders after knocking out Michael Sprott on Friday to win the vacant European title.
The 38-year-old, who said he would retire if he did not avenge his career-damaging 2007 defeat by Sprott, was behind on points before winning with a final-round stoppage.
So what did Brandy, Chilli (from the group TLC), Ray J and the NBA basketball wives such as the Ex-Mrs. Shaq O'Neal all have in common this past Sunday??!?!? They all premiered on VH1 for another dose of REALITY..ummmm ok?
First up was "Brandy and Ray J a Family Business" So Brandy and Ray J are both ready to take their careers to the next level. They have had a lot of success over the years, but along the way the one person they've depended on the most has been their manager Sonja, who is also their mom. Sonja wants the kids to start handling more of the behind-the-scenes business so that she can take a step back. But whether or not Ray J and Brandy are ready for that is yet to be determined. Check out the next episode 8 p.m. central time this upcoming Sunday on VH1.
Immediately following Brandy & Ray J was "BASKETBALL WIVES." Fresh off her highly publicized filing for divorce from megastar basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal, Shaunie O'Neal returns to Miami for a night out with fellow basketball wives and girlfriends Evelyn Lozada, Jennifer Williams, Gloria Govan, and Royce Reed. The women catch up and dish dirt over dinner and dancing as Shaunie and Gloria struggle to put recent drama behind them. Later, former Miami/Orlando dancer Royce gets out of control during a dance contest at a Terrell Owens/Ludacris pool party, creating a fresh internet scandal of her own and dragging Jen, Evelyn, and Miami social queen Suzie down with her. Check out the next episode at 9 pm central time this upcoming Sunday on VH1.
Then to end the night Chilli made her debut with "What Chilli Wants." Chilli (of pop/RandB group TLC) brings in love expert Tionna Smalls to help her find the one thing she wants most...a man. The challenge is made difficult by Chilli's checklist of things she expects in her man and by champion boxer Floyd Mayweather who wants to date Chilli as well. Check out the next episode at 9:30 pm central time this upcoming Sunday on VH1.
Vexed that some 30% of driver candidates flunk its traditional training, United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) is moving beyond the classroom to ready its rookies for the road.
Based on results so far, the world's largest package-delivery company is convinced that 20-somethings -- the bulk of UPS driver recruits -- respond best to high-tech instruction and a chance to hone skills.
Driver training is crucial for Atlanta-based UPS, which employs 99,000 U.S. drivers and says it will need to hire 25,000 over the next five years to replace retiring Baby Boomers.
Candidates vying for a driver's job, which pays an average of $74,000 annually, now spend one week at Integrad, an 11,500-square-foot, low-slung brick UPS training center 10 miles outside of Washington, D.C. There they move from one station to another practicing the company's "340 Methods," prescribed by UPS industrial engineers to save seconds and improve safety in every task from lifting and loading boxes to selecting a package from a shelf in the truck.
They play a videogame that places them in the driver's seat and has them identify obstacles. They progress from computer simulations to "Clarksville," a village of miniature houses and faux businesses on the property where they drive a real truck and must successfully execute five deliveries in 19 minutes.
So far, the new methods, designed by UPS and researchers from Virginia Tech, are proving successful, UPS says. Of the 1,629 trainees who have completed Integrad since it began as an experiment in 2007, only 10% have failed the training program, which takes a total of six weeks overall and includes 30 days driving a truck in the real world. UPS is known for promoting within, and many driver candidates began as UPS package handlers or other employees.
By getting out of the traditional classroom and using technology and hands-on learning, "we've enhanced the probability of success of these new drivers," says Allen Hill, UPS's senior vice president of human resources. A second Integrad will open in the Chicago area in the summer, and the training methods will eventually go company-wide, he says.
"Are you ready for this? Shake the nerves out! Take a deep breath," cheers Chris Breslin, a graying Integrad instructor, rallying his fresh-faced recruits on a recent day.
As Nick Byrnes, a 23-year-old with a buzz cut and black Ray-Ban sunglasses, drove through Clarksville, a UPS instructor tossed a football in his path. Mr. Byrnes hit the brakes. But then, when he hopped out to deliver a package, instructor Mike Keys sneaked an orange traffic cone in front of the truck.
Mr. Byrnes hopped back in and started up. "Stop! Stop! Ugh!" yelled Mr. Keys. He picked up the cone. "This is a kid who was playing football around your vehicle and went to get his ball."
Mr. Byrnes looked shaken and slapped his forehead. The lesson stuck: At the next stop, he checked for cones.
UPS isn't the only company using new training tools. Food service company Sodexo Inc. has recruited chefs through "Second Life" virtual job fairs and Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) has taught programming techniques through videogames. FedEx Corp. says it, too, has moved toward more hands-on learning in the past five years, although it adds the change wasn't prompted by a high failure rate among trainees.
On a recent day, UPS students at Integrad moved through "kinetic learning" modules. In one corner, they practiced loading and unloading packages from a UPS truck with clear sides, timed by instructors.
UPS allows 15.5 seconds to park a truck and retrieve one package from the cargo, which is arranged in order of delivery.
Over at the "slip and fall" machine, an instructor greased a tiled runway in preparation for a regular drill: Students must carry a 10-pound box down the surface -- while wearing shoes with no real tread. Luckily they wear a safety harness, as most flail around like drunken ice skaters until they are taught to stand straight and take slow baby steps. (This is the one time UPS relents on its rule that drivers walk at a "brisk pace," or 2.5 paces per second.)
In another corner, Rich Gossman, at 37 the oldest in the group, was slumped at a videogame that tests recruits' ability to find sales leads for UPS, something today's drivers are expected to do. The game puts his avatar in rooms where he has to identify competitors' packages.
Mr. Gossman, a married father, works overnight at a UPS warehouse, unloading packages for $12.50 an hour. Being a UPS driver appeals to him because of the pay and job security.
"This has been the most stressful week of my life," he said. But as he played the game Mr. Gossman got a pat on the back from UPS supervisor, Peggy Emmart. "I saw you identify that competitor package," she said.
"I saw that FedEx package and went, click, let's get 'em," said Mr. Gossman.
Trainees must pay attention to detail and appearance and work as a team. Students whose brown uniforms aren't ironed properly -- hanger creases are forbidden -- lose points for their teams, as does any trainee caught without his keys. UPS requires drivers to wear keys on their ring fingers to avoid wasting time searching for them.
"Raise your hands," Mr. Breslin ordered one group. Five jingling pairs of hands went up. "Good job," he said, clapping. "See how easy it is to bond with your keys?"
Visit www.ups.com for more information
Oakland rap pioneer Too $hort is taking his independent hustle to the Internet with the release of his new album, Still Blowin. Still Blowin, which is Too $hort’s first digital-only release as an independent artist, will be released on his Dangerous Music record label.
Fans will be treated to guest appearances by Earl Hayes, Baby of Cash Money, Silk E, SNL of young money and the Too $hort’s group, Town Bizness.
“My thing is I just like to work in the studio & make a ton of new music,” Too $hort told AllHipHop.com. “I work with several different producers & artists and whenever it’s time for me to release another album, I always have plenty of material on hand to choose from…It’s always been that way with me.”
Too Short Still Blowin
Still Blowin also features productions from Lil Jon, Jazze Pha and Too $hort himself, who contributed six tracks to his new album.
After 25 years in the game and a long tenure on Jive Records, Too $hort is excited about the new opportunities digital distribution provides independent artists.
Still Smokin’ will be distributed digitally via Urban Music Alliance (UMA). The move gives Too $hort unprecedented creative and business control of his future.
“I’m doing a digital only release because at this point in my career, I have to be able to make my music available to the masses without depending on a major label,” Too $hort told AllHipHop.com. “The majors will not push your product if you don’t have the hottest single on the radio & huge 1st week sales.”
DALLAS (AP) -- Erykah Badu faces a disorderly conduct charge for her nude music video shoot in downtown Dallas' Dealey Plaza, officials announced Friday.
Badu, a Dallas native and neosoul singer, performed a walking striptease in front of tourists and pedestrians during the March 13 shoot for Badu's "Window Seat" music video. The performance ended with a nude Badu acting out receiving a fatal gunshot to the head at the spot where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.
Sgt. Warren Mitchell said Friday the decision to cite Badu for disorderly conduct -- a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 -- came after witness Ida Espinosa, 32, of Vernon, offered a sworn statement to police Thursday. Espinosa declined to comment to The Associated Press on Friday.
"Having a fact witness that was there is what let us file the charges," Mitchell said. "After much discussion, we feel that these charges best fit her conduct. She disrobed in a public place without regard to individuals and small children who were close by."
Mitchell said the department has had "people calling from all across the country to express their concern." Mitchell said Badu can either fight the charge or pay the fine. He said a citation would be mailed to the singer.
Carla Sims, a spokeswoman for Badu, had no immediate comment Friday.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a group of urban African-American youths, vitamin D deficiency was considerably more prevalent among those with asthma, a new study shows.
Vitamin D deficiency is more common in African Americans than in other races, and African American children are also more likely to have asthma, Dr. Robert J. Freishtat and associates noted in their March 18 online article in the Journal of Pediatrics. However, the role of vitamin D in asthma remains unclear.
Using data from the Asthma Severity Modifying Polymorphisms (AsthMaP) Project, the investigators compared 85 asthmatic children (ages 6 to 20) and 21 healthy controls (ages 6 to 9). Both groups were African-American, with a similar prevalence of obesity and from the same general area of Washington, DC. No one in the study was taking vitamin D supplements.
The authors diagnosed 25-hydroxyvitamin D insufficiency in subjects with levels < 30 ng/mL and deficiency in those with levels < 20 ng/mL.
Median vitamin D level was significantly lower in the asthmatic subjects than in the controls (18.5 vs 40.4 ng/mL, p = 0.002) after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index percentile, and season of sampling.
Similarly, the children with asthma had substantially higher rates of vitamin D insufficiency (86% vs 19%) and deficiency (54% vs 5%).
Results were similar when the researchers confined the analysis to children 9 years old and younger.
Because of the cross-sectional design, the study did not prove causation. For example, the authors say, children with asthma may be out in the sun less often than healthy children, or else low vitamin D contributes to asthma prevalence. They suggest that controlled clinical trials of vitamin D supplementation in young urban African Americans with asthma would help clarify the matter.
"Emerging associations between low vitamin D levels and asthma, obesity, and immunodeficiency necessitate strong consideration for routine vitamin D testing in urban African American youth, particularly those with asthma," Dr. Freishtat, from Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, and his associates conclude.
Darrell Wallace Jr. made his debut in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East a memorable one.
Wallace pulled away from the field on a green-white-checkered finish at Greenville Pickens Speedway to take the victory on Saturday night. He is the youngest driver and first African-American to win in series history. He gave Drive for Diversity its first East victory and third overall in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series.
"We were solid all day - from practice to qualifying. Everything," Wallace said. "I can't thank the guys from Revolution Racing enough. They worked their tails off to get this car ready for this race."
Wallace led three times for 22 laps. At 16 years, 5 months, 19 days, Wallace eclipsed the mark set by Brett Moffitt (16 years, 9 months, 27 days) when he won at South Boston (Va.) Speedway last season.
Fellow rookie Andrew Smith finished second, followed by Jody Lavender and rookies Cole Whitt and Ryan Gifford. Gifford is Wallace's teammate with Revolution Racing, the four-car operation for Drive for Diversity.
Whitt started alongside Wallace on the final restart, but after Whitt led by a nose at the line to take the final green, Wallace was able to edge ahead and get clear coming out of Turn 2.
"I kept spinning my tires," Wallace said. "I told myself to just relax - you'll get them back. And that's what I did and I came home with the 'W' "
Defending series champion Ryan Truex started second and led 127 laps to earn the Wix Filters Lap Leader Award but was involved in a pair of late wrecks.
The first time, Truex bobbled on a Lap 137 restart while he started alongside the lead car of Wallace. The result was the cars in the outside lane bunched up and several top 10 cars were involved in the pile-up. Included were the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Max Gresham and Brett Moffitt, Ty Dillon, and defending NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion Jason Bowles.
Until that point, it appeared the race would come down to Wallace and Truex.
"At the start, they told me to be patient," Wallace said. "I just saved my tires pretty much and picked them off at the end.
"It was just a good race. I learned a lot from Truex. He's pretty much the young veteran out of the group. I'd like to thank him for running me clean."
The race was slowed 13 times for 61 laps, and included one red flag period for an extended cleanup after the Lap 137 melee. The race was extended to 156 laps due to a late-race caution.
Two adults and three juveniles have been charged with gang-raping a 7-year-old girl who was sold by her 15-year-old stepsister during a party at a crime-ridden Trenton, New Jersey apartment building.Police announced the arrests on Saturday.
Investigators say the teen went to a party with some men on the 13th floor of the Rowan Towers apartment building, and the younger girl tagged along because she worried about her stepsister's safety.
The 15-year-old sold sex to men in the room, then took money to let them touch the younger girl, and the touching turned to forcible sex as at least seven men raped the 7-year-old. The 15-year-old has been charged with promoting prostitution, aggravated sexual assault and other crimes. Police have not released her name.
One of the two adults charged was Gregory Joseph Leary, 20, of Trenton, who was charged with having sex with the 15-year-old.
He now has additional charges of aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child against him.
The second adult arrested is Tiemear Lewis, 19, also of Trenton, who was also charged with aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
The juveniles arrested on the same charges were boys ages 13, 14 and 17.
They were remanded to the Mercer County Youth Detention Center and are waiting for an arraignment to be scheduled. The juvenile suspects may be tried as adults.
Mayor Doug Palmer said he met with the victim's relatives at his office on Thursday to offer help and make sure they were able to move out of the neighborhood over safety concerns.
"We made sure they got out of the area," he said Saturday afternoon, before the news conference.
He credited the police force for its hard work but said "we're still not finished."
He pledged to spare no expense "to make sure that everyone responsible is brought to justice."
"We're still asking the community to let us know if they have any more information on this heinous crime," he said.
Palmer met with the parents, the 7-year-old girl and her two younger siblings.
The woman is the mother of the 7-year-old girl, and the man she lives with is the father of the 15-year-old.
The man and woman also have two toddlers together.
He said police officers had taken the case "very personally" and the investigation has been "a nightmare on everyone involved."
Police Director Irving Bradley would only say "it's still an active investigation" and that police had received a lot of help from the community.
Earlier in the week neighbors said they were scared to offer information due to fears of retaliation from gangs that prowl the streets if they spoke up.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The ball went sailing while the buzzer went off. Where it landed would be the difference between a shining moment for one team, a tearstained loss for another. Butler forward Gordon Hayward's halfcourt shot hit backboard, then rim, then barely careened out. Duke beat Butler 61-59 on Monday night. What a game! And what a way to end the season, even if America's favorite underdog came up a little short.
"It will become an historic game, a benchmark game," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Not just the way it was played, but who played in it and what comes about."
Memorable, indeed, for the way both teams battled, never giving an inch, or giving in on a single possession.
And memorable for the way it ended. Tiny Butler, on a mission to write a sequel to "Hoosiers," had two chances to win it in the last 4 seconds. Hayward's more traditional attempt -- a fadeaway, 15-footer -- was barely long. Then, after Brian Zoubek made one free throw and intentionally missed the next, Hayward collected the rebound, moved to halfcourt and took another shot that was on line, but barely bounced out.
"I can't really put it into words because the last couple of plays were just not normal," said Duke's Kyle Singler, who scored 19 points and was named the Final Four's most outstanding player.
The Blue Devils (35-5) got the right bounces at the end to snap Butler's 25-game winning streak and bring the long-awaited fourth national title back home to the Cameron Crazies.
The "Big Three" -- Singler, Jon Scheyer (15 points) and Nolan Smith (13) -- won the Big One for Coach K, his first championship since 2001 and fourth overall, tying him with Adolph Rupp for second place on the all-time list.
Krzyzewski is now 4-4 in title games.
"It's the best one I've been involved in of the eight," he said.
Nobody figured this would be easy, and it wasn't -- no way that was going to happen against Butler, the 4,200-student private school that sent millions of brackets to the paper shredder while earning the right to make the 5-mile drive from its historic home, Hinkle Fieldhouse where they filmed "Hoosiers," to the Final Four.
Butler (33-5) shaved a five-point deficit to one and had a chance to win it, when its best player, Hayward, took the ball at the top of the key, spun and worked his way to the baseline, but was forced to put up an off-balance fadeaway from 15 feet.
He missed, but Duke's title wasn't secure until Hayward's desperation heave bounded out.
"The first shot, caught it, tried to go left, went back right. Thought it was a good shot and missed it," Hayward said. "The last shot, it was just a last-second shot. I don't know. It missed."
What a game to end one of the most memorable March Madnesses in history, filled with wild finishes, upsets and underdogs; the kind of tournament that some fear could be history if the NCAA moves forward with an expansion to 96 teams -- something very much on the table for next year.
It was the closest margin of victory in a final since Michigan defeated Seton Hall 80-79 in 1989.
"We came up one possession short in a game with about 145 possessions," said Butler's 33-year-old coach, Brad Stevens. "It's hard to stomach when you're on the wrong end of that."
Nobody led by more than six. The Blue Devils won with defense. They held the Bulldogs to 34 percent shooting and contested every possession as tenaciously as Butler, which allowed 60 points for the first time since February.
They won with some clutch shooting. Singler went 3 for 6 from 3-point range and the Blue Devils went 6 of 6 from the free throw line in the second half until Zoubek's intentional miss.
They won with a mean streak. It was most pointed when Lance Thomas took down Hayward hard to prevent an easy layup with 5:07 left. The refs reviewed the play and decided not to call it flagrant -- one of a hundred little moments that could have swung such a tight, taut game.
They won because that last shot didn't go in.
"Speechless. It's the best feeling in the world," Smith said. "That shot didn't go in and I just hugged Kyle and just hugged my teammates. We've worked so hard and we finished it together."
A perfect ending for Duke, which won a different way this season, on a team that had no superstars. Good teams only become great in Coach K's mind when they win it all, and though the members of this group may not end up with lottery-pick money in their pockets, they'll have a national title forever.
They'll be mentioned in the same breath as Christian Laettner and Shane Battier and Grant Hill, all immortalized by the Cameron Crazies, who were outnumbered about 5-to-1 at cavernous Lucas Oil Field.
They'll be the ones who put Duke back on top on Tobacco Road, where last season, North Carolina brought home its second of two championships in the time since Duke last made the Final Four, six years ago.
That's like a lifetime down there. But now, the Blue Devils are standard-setters.
"There's only one team that can say they are national champions and that's us," freshman guard Andre Dawkins said.
Even though the trophy won't go to Butler, the point has been proven.
Teams with mega-money from power conferences aren't the only ones that win in big-time college sports. Nothing proved that better than the Bulldogs in their run through this year's NCAA tournament.
In the true team fashion that has defined "The Butler Way," the Bulldog scoring was distributed almost perfectly even. Hayward and Shelvin Mack had 12 each. Matt Howard, coming off a concussion in the semifinal win over Michigan State, finished with 11, and 2-point-a-game scorer Avery Jukes kept Butler in it with all 10 of his points in the first half.
"Hate losing," Hayward said. "It's one of the worst feelings personally that I have, is losing. So it's great for us to be here, but that's not what we wanted to do. We wanted to win."
They weren't alone.
They captured America's attention, and its heart, and came close to writing the unthinkable sequel to "Hoosiers." In the movie, the winning team is tiny Hickory High, and Jimmy Chitwood hits the game-winner at the buzzer to strike a blow for the little guys.
Thankfully, that movie is still available on DVD.
This game might be too, someday.
"My congratulations and empathy are with the Butler team, who played winning basketball," Krzyzewski said. "And, yeah, to me, it was a game that we won, but they didn't lose."
Police in Ohio say a woman shot her cousin to death during an argument that started because one woman didn't think the other was dressed properly for Easter dinner.
Columbus police Officer Jean Holmes said in court Tuesday that the leg-baring shorts worn by 19-year-old Danielle Pickens sparked a verbal and physical confrontation with 42-year-old Evelyn Burgess on Sunday at Burgess' home.
Police say Pickens walked outside to leave and Burgess shot her in the head with a handgun. Pickens died at a hospital early Monday.
Burgess is charged with one count of murder. During her initial court appearance Tuesday, Franklin County Municipal Court Judge William Pollitt set bond at $500,000.
There was no immediate comment from Burgess' public defender.
A huge underground explosion blamed on methane gas killed 25 coal miners in the worst U.S. mining disaster since 1984, and rescuers on Tuesday began a dangerous and possibly futile attempt to rescue four others still missing.
Crews were bulldozing an access road so they could drill 1,000 feet into the earth to release gases and make it safe to try to find the missing miners. They were feared dead after the Monday afternoon blast at a mine with a history of violations for not properly ventilating highly combustible methane.
Rescuers were being held back by poison gases that accumulated near the blast site, about 1.5 miles from the entrance to Massey Energy Co.'s sprawling Upper Big Branch mine.
They had to create an access road above it before they could begin drilling four shafts to release methane and carbon monoxide. Gov. Joe Manchin said at a news briefing Tuesday that it could be Wednesday night before the first hole is drilled.
"It's a slow process," Manchin said. "It's just going to be a slow process."
April 5, 2010: Emergency vehicles leave the entrance to Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Coal Mine in Montcoal, W.Va. after an explosion at the underground coal mine.
It had already been a long day for grieving relatives, some angry because they found out their loved ones were among the dead from government officials or a company Web site, not from Massey Energy executives.
"They're supposed to be a big company," said Michelle McKinney, who found out from a local official at a nearby school that her 62-year-old father, Benny R. Willingham, died in the blast. "These guys, they took a chance every day to work and make them big. And they couldn't even call us."
McKinney said her husband is a miner too and her 16-year-old son doesn't want him to go back to work. Willingham, who had mined for 30 years, the last 17 with Massey, was just five weeks from retiring and planned to take his wife on a cruise to the Virgin Islands next month.
U.S. Rep. Nick Rayhall, D-W.Va., said at a press briefing Wednesday that Massey should have been in better contact with families.
Three members of the same family were among the dead. Diana Davis said her husband, Timmy Davis, 51, died in the explosion along with his nephews, Josh Napper, 27, and Cory Davis, 20.
The elder Davis' son, Timmy Davis Jr., said his brother, Cody Davis, and an uncle, Tommy Davis, were also at the mine at the time and survived the blast. He said his brother was taking it particularly hard because he and their father were best friends.
Timmy Davis Jr. described his dad as passionate about the outdoors and the mines.
"He loved to work underground," the younger Davis said. "He loved that place."
President Barack Obama offered his condolences at an Easter prayer breakfast in Washington on Tuesday and said the federal government is ready to assist with whatever the state needs. He also asked the audience to pray for those lost in what he called a tragic accident.
Kevin Stricklin, an administrator for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, said the situation looked grim for the missing miners.
"All we have left is hope, and we're going to continue to do what we can," he said.
Officials hoped the four miners still unaccounted for were able to reach airtight chambers stocked with food, water and enough oxygen for them to live for four days, but rescue teams checked one of two such chambers nearby and it was empty. The buildup of gases prevented teams from reaching other chambers, officials said.
A total of 31 miners were in the area during a shift change when the explosion rocked the mine, about 30 miles south of Charleston.
"Before you knew it, it was just like your ears stopped up, you couldn't hear and the next thing you know, it's just like you're just right in the middle of a tornado," miner Steve Smith, who heard the explosion but was able to escape, told ABC's "Good Morning America."
Some of those killed may have died in the blast and others when they breathed in the gas-filled air, Stricklin said. Eleven bodies had been recovered and identified, but the other 14 have not. Names weren't released publicly.
He said investigators still don't know what ignited the blast, but methane likely played a part.
The death toll is the highest in a U.S. mine since 1984, when 27 died in a fire at Emery Mining Corp.'s mine in Orangeville, Utah. If the four missing bring the total to 29, it would be the most killed in a U.S. mine since a 1970 explosion killed 38 at Finley Coal Co., in Hyden, Ky.
"There's always danger. There's so many ways you can get hurt, or your life taken," said Gary Williams, a miner and pastor of New Life Assembly, a church near the southern West Virginia mine. "It's not something you dread every day, but there's always that danger. But for this area, it's the only way you're going to make a living."
Though the situation looked bleak, Manchin said miracles can happen and pointed to the 2006 Sago Mine explosion that killed 12. Crews found miner Randal McCloy Jr. alive after he was trapped for more than 40 hours in an atmosphere poisoned with carbon monoxide.
In Monday's blast, nine miners were leaving on a vehicle that takes them in and out of the mine's long shaft when a crew ahead of them felt a blast of air and went back to investigate, Stricklin said.
They found seven workers dead. Others were hurt or missing about a mile and a half inside the mine, though there was some confusion over how many. Others made it out.
In a statement early Tuesday, Massey Chairman and CEO Don Blankenship offered his condolences to the families of the dead.
Massey Energy, a publicly traded company based in Richmond, Va., has 2.2 billion tons of coal reserves in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwest Virginia and Tennessee. It ranks among the nation's top five coal producers and is among the industry's most profitable. It has a spotty safety record.
In the past year, federal inspectors fined the company more than $382,000 for repeated serious violations involving its ventilation plan and equipment at Upper Big Branch.
Methane is one of the great dangers of coal mining, and federal records say the Eagle coal seam releases up to 2 million cubic feet of methane gas into the Upper Big Branch mine every 24 hours, which is a large amount, said Dennis O'Dell, health and safety director for the United Mine Workers labor union.
In mines, giant fans are used to keep the colorless, odorless gas concentrations below certain levels. If concentrations are allowed to build up, the gas can explode with a spark roughly similar to the static charge created by walking across a carpet in winter, as at the Sago mine, also in West Virginia.
Since then, federal and state regulators have required mine operators to store extra oxygen supplies. Upper Big Branch uses containers that can generate about an hour of breathable air, and all miners carry a container on their belts besides the stockpiles inside the mine. Upper Big Branch has had three other fatalities in the last dozen years.
Upper Big Branch has 19 openings and roughly 7-foot ceilings. Inside, it's crisscrossed with railroad tracks used for hauling people and equipment. It is located in a mine-laced swath of Raleigh and Boone counties that is the heart of West Virginia's coal country.
The seam produced 1.2 million tons of coal in 2009, according to the mine safety agency, and has about 200 employees.
Users who rushed to snap up Apple's iPad are complaining within days of the slate computer's highly anticipated release that they're having trouble connecting it to the Internet.
On Apple's technical support Web site, there were 11 pages of comments Tuesday morning on a post saying Wi-Fi connections were weak or kept cutting out.
"Add me to the list with problems! I'm very disappointed that there's no solution either," one user wrote. "Does anyone think this can be fixed with an update, or should I just get a refund while there's time?"
Versions of the iPad, a sort of hybrid between a laptop and a smartphone designed largely for reading, Web surfing and playing games, will eventually work with both Wi-Fi and 3G wireless connections.
But the versions released Saturday are Wi-Fi only.
Some users were saying their Wi-Fi connections were weak, while others were saying they weren't able to connect with Wi-Fi at all. Some users say laying the iPad on a flat surface exacerbates the problem.
Apple did not respond Tuesday morning to a request from CNN.com for a response to the complaints.
On Saturday, when the company reported selling 300,000 of the devices, Apple posted a Web page outlining troubleshooting tips for "occasional problems" that included weak Wi-Fi connections or not being able to find a signal.
The tips include moving closer to a Wi-Fi router or hot spot and making sure the Wi-Fi router is plugged in and the power is turned on.
The Web page also suggests checking for sources of possible interference, like a microwave oven, and making sure you're connected to the correct Wi-Fi connection if multiple ones are available.
It's not unusual for users to have trouble navigating a new electronic device in its early days. But reports from tech-savvy members of the online community suggest the problem isn't just operator error.
"Count me in as someone who's having iPad Wifi issues as well,"wrote Michael Arrington, founder and editor of technology blog TechCrunch. "The device works fine near the router, but on the other side of the house, nada. But my Macbook pro and my Nexus One and other various devices I've brought into the house pick up wifi just fine in that area."
The iPad is a lightweight, portable computer with a glass multitouch screen that wirelessly surfs the Web, displays photos and videos, runs apps and plays games and movies, among other potential uses.
Reviews in the tech community have ranged from "sensual" to "disappointment" in the hours since its release. Some have raved that it's close to being a "laptop killer," meaning it can perform almost all the functions of the bigger portable computers.
There have been raves about its 1.5 pound weigh-in, making it easy to carry, and its ability to render reading material in color -- a potential boon for comics, newspapers and magazines.
Complaints, which predated widespread notice of the Wi-Fi issues, have centered around its lack of a camera, difficulty using its onscreen keyboard and the fact that users can't run more than one program at a time.
Like other Apple products, iPad does not run Flash, making some games and videos unusable.
Gathered together in the Bahamas for their annual one-week reunion, four close couples share news about their lives and relationships. But, their intimate week in paradise is disrupted by the unexpected arrival of Sheila's ex-husband, Mike, who hopes to break up her marriage with Troy. While Sheila deals with her problem, the others soon realize they too are not immune to the challenges of commitment and fidelity.
Angela doesn't believe her husband, Marcus, can be faithful now that he is a celebrity newscaster. Dianne & Terry's relationship is feeling the strain of raising children. And Patricia, a successful self-help psychologist, must finally reveal the deep flaws in her seemingly perfect marriage to Gavin. With their relationships hanging in balance, when they return home, each couple must choose between blame and forgiveness, doubt and faith, with life altering consequences.....
Serving as the follow-up to 2007 "Why Did I Get Married?", the upcoming drama comedy has the original stars, Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Sharon Leal, Tasha Smith, Malik Yoba, Richard T. Jones, and Lamman Rucker, returning to their roles. Directed, produced and written by Perry,
