Jet articles from February 2002

Jet archives from February 2002

Powell is first U.S. Secretary of State to visit Kabul since 1970s. (National Report).(Colin Powell )(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan, recently for talks with the war-torn country's interim government. It was the first time a U.S. Secretary of State visited Afghanistan since 1975. Powell flew in from Islamabad...

Black History Month 2002 focuses on racism in America. (National Report).(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc. (ASALH) chose the theme "The Color Line Revisited: Is Racism Dead?" for 2002 in light of critical issues facing the United States, most notably the September 11 terrorist...

Social Security administration will pay $7.75 mil. to settle employment bias suit. (National Report).(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Almost 2,200 Social Security employees are expected to share in the $7.7 million settlement awarded against the Social Security Administration by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington. As far back as 1987, the Black...

Major art exhibition dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. opens in Detroit. (National Report).(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Mrs. Coretta Scott King, widow of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., recently helped launch a major museum exhibit dedicated to celebrating her late husband through artwork in Detroit. In the Spirit of Martin: The Living...

Ticker tape.(briefings)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Confidential: Noting the fact more than 11 percent of Whites having no medical insurance was "a national problem," U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings called the fact nearly 20 percent of African-Americans and more than a third of Hispanic Americans...

Library of Congress.(Jackie Robinson's personal papers donated to the library)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... The papers of famed baseball player Jackie Robinson, the first Black to break into the Major Leagues, were donated to the Library of Congress by his widow, Rachel, and daughter, Sharon, who is the author of a book about her father...

A Better Chance education program.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... The president of A Better Chance education program, Judith Berry Chase, opened the New York stock market on Jan. 3...

Sodexho food.(Reginald E. Gilliam Jr. , executive)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Former Interstate Commerce Commissioner Reginald E. Gilliam Jr. was named senior vice president for government affairs of the Sodexho food and facilities management firm in Gaithersburg, MD...

Secretary of State in Kansas.(David Haley vying for the position)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... State senator David Haley is exploring the chances of becoming the Secretary of State in Kansas. Before he was elected to the senate last year, he was a House member for six years...

Ohio's Common Pleas Judges Association.(James R. Williams, new president of the association)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Judge James R. Williams was elected president of Ohio's Common Pleas Judges Association. A former councilman, he has been a judge for more than a decade.

Modern black inventors: there have been many modern-day Black inventors who have impacted our lives over the last few years, and JET spotlights a few during Black History Month. (National Report).(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... * Lonnie Johnson You don't have to be a rocket scientist to become a successful inventor, but it sure helps. Lonnie Johnson, a former NASA rocket scientist, came up with the idea of a high-powered water gun called the Super Soaker, which...

`Call Me Mister' program Trains South Carolina's future Black male teachers. (Education).(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Schools across the country are experiencing a teacher shortage. But in South Carolina where less than 1 percent of the state's elementary schoolteachers are Black males, the "Call Me Mister" program, coordinated at Clemson University in...

Satcher directs Morehouse School Of Medicine's new center for primary care. (Education).(David Satcher)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... When U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher steps down from that post later this month, he will take on a new responsibility as the head of a new national health care center at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, which will seek to close...

Home of civil rights heroine Rosa Parks named a national landmark. (Black History).(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... The former home of Rosa Parks, the civil rights pioneer who sparked the 1955-56 bus boycott in Montgomery, AL, recently was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The designation by the National Park Service protects the building...

This week in black history.
February 4, 2002... January 28, 1956 * Autherine Lucy enrolled as the first Black student at the University of Alabama on this day. She graduated from Miles College in Fairfield, AL, with a bachelor's degree in English in 1952 and decided to pursue graduate...

Federal probe of Enron bankruptcy is led by Black Deputy Atty. Gen. Larry Thompson. (Business).(Attorney General)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... U.S. Deputy Atty. Gen. Larry D. Thompson has been selected to head up the massive government investigation of Enron, the Houston-based energy-trading company that filed for bankruptcy late last year under a cloud of suspicion and accusations of...

Keith leads U.S. communication efforts with Middle East countries in war on terrorism. (Foreign).(Kenton Keith)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Never before has a Black man served in the strategic role currently performed by former diplomat Kenton Keith. A few months ago, the retired Arabic-speaking U.S. State Department pro was the senior vice president for the Meridian...

Society world.(marriages, anniversaries)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: * For You: Larry Phillip Green and Terry Latrice Russell united as one at the Revelations Missionary Baptist Church in Mobile, AL. A graduate of Alabama State University, the bride is a logistician with the...

Korey Stringer's widow sues Minnesota Vikings. (Law & Justice).(Kelci Stringer)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Kelci Stringer, widow of Minnesota Vikings tackle Korey Stringer, recently filed a $100 million lawsuit against the team saying she wants to know why her husband died after an intensive practice at the team's training facility last year. ...

Blacks criticize sentences of White New Jersey state troopers after plea bargain in racial profiling and shooting case. (Law & Justice).(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Two White former New Jersey state troopers, who admitted that they were trained in and expected to use racial profiling, recently escaped jail time for a turnpike shooting that drew national attention to the targeting of minority drivers. ...

Blacks sue Waffle House restaurant for discrimination. (Law & Justice).(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Four Blacks recently filed a federal lawsuit accusing employees and a security guard at a Waffle House restaurant in Gastonia, NC, of racial discrimination and mistreatment. The lawsuit alleges the discrimination occurred after midnight on...

Plaque honoring actor James Earl Jones has name of Dr. King's killer on it instead. (Newsmakers).(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... A plaque intended to honor baritone-voiced actor James Earl Jones at a celebration of late civil rights leader the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Lauderhill, FL, instead was erroneously inscribed to James Earl Ray, King's killer. ...

Aaliyah tops British music charts. (Newsmakers).(music)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... AALIYAH TOPS BRITISH MUSIC CHARTS: Late R&B singer Aaliyah recently topped the British music charts with a single released as a memorial after her death in a plane crash last summer. Aaliyah's song More Than A Woman held down the top spot in...

Ben Vereen lauded by City of Miami for heroism. (Newsmakers).(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Versatile actor, dancer and singer Ben Vereen recently took on a challenging new role--that of Good Samaritan--after he tried to capture a robbery suspect in Miami. The 55-year-old stage and screen veteran, who is performing in Miami, saw...

Far out.(Debra Wilson, actress)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: * FAR OUT: Debra Wilson, star of TV's hilarious sketch-comedy show "MADtv," knows how to keep a crowd on its toes as she arrives decked out in a zany outfit during an affair in Los Angeles. Wilson is the...

Beauty of the week.(Aundria Nickens, fashion model)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: AUNDRIA NICKENS is from Gaithersburg, MD. Her interests are cooking, exercising and modeling.

Wish granted.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: * WISH GRANTED: Perry Robinson wished for one dollar for every year of his life, and the money literally fell into his lap at his 103rd birthday celebration in Chicago, where he resides. Born January 9,...

Jill Scott visits `Sesame Street'.(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: * JILL SCOTT VISITS `SESAME STREET': Singer/songwriter Jill Scott shares a moment with a few of her new friends on the season premiere of the children's TV show "Sesame Street". The multitalented artist...

Barry Bonds inks five-year, $90 million deal with Giants. (Sports).(upfront)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Home run king Barry Bonds became one of the highest-paid players in Major League Baseball when he recently agreed to a five-year, $90 million contract with the San Francisco Giants. The 37-year-old slugger, who hit a record-breaking 73 home...

Chicago Bears' Anthony Thomas, Pittsburg Steelers' Kendrell Bell named NFL Rookies of the Year. (Sports).(National Football League)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Anthony Thomas, running back for the NFC Central champions Chicago Bears, was recently honored as the Associated Press (AP) NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Pittsburgh Steelers' inside linebacker Kendrell Bell was named the AP NFL Defensive...

$1 million shot. (Sports).(Theo Nelson, new rich man in town; Cincinnati)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... * $1 MILLION SHOT: Theo Nelson didn't let his one shot to become a millionaire go to waste. Nelson, a Cincinnati native, recently won $1 million for banking in a half-court shot at halftime of the annual game between the cross town rivals,...

Emanuel Steward takes top coaching position for USA boxing. (Sports).(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Emanuel Steward, who has trained a number of professional world champions, was recently named the national director of coaching for USA Boxing. He will be in charge of a program for training USA Boxing's amateur coaches and athletes. The...

Allen Iverson's recent 58-point game most in the NBA in nearly two years. (Sports).(scores)(Interview)
February 4, 2002... Allen Iverson, star guard for the Philadelphia 76ers, recently scored a career-high 58 points, the most in an NBA game in almost two years and the fourth-highest total in team history, in a winning effort against the Houston Rockets in...

CIAA tournament. (Sports).(Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association )(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... * CIAA TOURNAMENT: Leon Kerry, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Commissioner, Dr. Dorothy Cowser Yancy, Johnson C. Smith University president, and Dr. Algeania Warren Freeman, Livingstone College president, recently announced...

O'Ree NHL pioneer. (Sports).(Willie O'Ree, hockey player)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... * O'REE NHL PIONEER: Willie O'Ree, the first Black to play hockey in the National Hockey League, waves to fans at the start of the St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers game in St. Louis. The Blues and the NHL presented a salute to diversity...

Marshall Faulk And Michael Strahan earn NFL player of the year awards.(top of the line)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Unanimous All-Pro players Marshall Faulk and Michael Strahan recently were named the Associated Press (AP) NFL Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year. Faulk, a St. Louis Rams running back, won the honor for the third-straight year...

Singers Chante Moore and Kenny Lattimore wed in Jamaica. (Cover Story).(Interview)
February 4, 2002... Unforgettable is probably the way famed singers Chante Moore and Kenny Lattimore would describe the way in which they rang in the new year. After dating for six months, the cute couple recently tied the knot on New Year's Day during a...

Top 20 albums.
February 4, 2002... 1. STILLMATIC Nas (Columbia) 2. WORD OF MOUF Ludacris (Disturbing Tha Peace) 3. INVINCIBLE Michael Jackson (Epic) 4. DOGGY BAG Lil' Bow Wow (So So Def) 5. TARANTULA Mystikal (So So Def) 6. MUSIC & ME Nate Dog...

Award-winning star. (Entertainment).(Cuba Gooding Jr., actor)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: AWARD WINNING STAR: Acclaimed actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is congratulated by his family, wife, Sara, and sons, Mason (1) and Spencer, after Gooding was given a star on the fabled Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los...

`The General's Daughter'. (television).(television)(Brief Article)
February 4, 2002... Clarence Williams III is Colonel Fowler and John Travolta is Paul Brenner in this murder mystery set on an American Army base about the daughter of a popular general who is found brutally murdered-and no one wants to touch the case, (Saturday,...

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy celebrated across U.S. during National Holiday. (National Report).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... In the East Room of the White House, the same room King watched President Lyndon B. Johnson sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Coretta Scott King presented Bush with a portrait of her husband, who would have been 73. She asked Americans to use...

Ticker tape.(political news)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Confidential: With many Republicans believing that the party can do better than get 10 percent of the minority votes in the nation's inner cities, Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts plans to escort Sen. John McCain on bus trips in coming weeks to...

National headliners.
February 11, 2002... Campaigning to renew tourism in downtown Washington, D.C., Mayor Tony Williams traveled to seven restaurants in one night... New book by Bush aide Kay Cole James--What I Wish I'd Known Before I Got Married... Passed --Maj. Charity Adams...

You don't have to be rich to need a will. (Lifestyles).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... When most people think of making a will, they think of people who are wealthy, living in a large mansion, doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars to their spouses and preparing trust funds to their children. However, that's not really the...

Internet twins' Mom sentenced to three years' probation on separate fraud charges. (Law & Justice).(chargdes unrelated to adoption dispute)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... The mother of twin girls caught in a highly publicized Internet adoption dispute was sentenced recently to three years of probation for lying to get rent subsidies, food stamps and unemployment benefits. The sentence is unrelated to the...

Former Bill Clinton staffers gather to revive One America program. (Education).(education foundation)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Supporters of One America, ex-President Bill Clinton's favorite education initiative, recently rallied in Washington, D.C., to revitalize the foundation which is pledged to provide education, grants and technical equipment to disadvantaged...

This week in Black history.(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... February 8, 1958-- * Clifton R. Wharton, Sr. was the first Black to head a United States diplomatic mission when he became minister to Romania (Rumania) during the Eisenhower administration on this day. Wharton was born in Baltimore on May...

Society world.
February 11, 2002... * I Knew Back Then: Mr. and Mrs. Kevin E. Boyd are so deep in love after exchanging marital vows at the chapel of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The bride, the former Sharon A. Barnes, is a graduate of Illinois State University. She is president...

Tyson's wife files for divorce and former champion makes countersuit. (Newsmakers).(boxer Mike Tyson says divorce will not distract him)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Mike Tyson's wife recently filed for divorce, accusing the former heavyweight boxing champion of adultery. Monica Tyson is seeking an unspecified "reasonable sum," according to divorce papers filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court in...

Wilder takes a new position. (Newsmakers).(former Governor L. Douglas Wilder)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder (l) listens as the current governor, Mark Warner, announces Wilder's new position as chairman of a 13-member commission that will study efficiency and effectiveness in state government, during a news...

Philly mayor's wife drops out of race for cabinet post. (Newsmakers).(Naomi Post)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Eleven days after word spread in Philadelphia that she would become the first wife of a sitting mayor there to hold a city Cabinet job, Naomi Post dropped out of the race for the position. Child advocate Naomi Post was speculated for the...

Ron Kirk for Senate. (Newsmakers).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, joined by his wife, Matrice, waves to the crowd as he announces his candidacy for the U.S. Senate during a rally in Austin, TX. The 47-year-old Democrat began his statewide campaign swing in Dallas, where he served...

Baby arrives. (Newsmakers).(Grant Hill's wife has baby)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... * BABY ARRIVES: Orlando Magic basketball star Grant Hill and his wife, famed singer Tamia, shown in a file photo, recently welcomed their first child--daughter Myla Grace Hill, who was born January 23, weighing 7 pounds, 6 ounces. The Hills...

Atty. Johnnie Cochran buys NY home of American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault for $1.4 million. (Newsmakers).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Acclaimed attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. and his wife, Dale, recently purchased the former home of American Express Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault in Long Island, NY, for $1.4 million, according to the Wall Street...

Benefits of fitness stretch beyond the physical for older adults. (Health).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Ever heard the adage, you're only as old as you feel? Apparently there's plenty of truth in those words since a growing number of studies have found that a healthy, active lifestyle indeed can make you look and feel years younger. ...

The week's best photos.(Judge Joe Brown marries)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... * WEDDING BELLS RING: Judge Joe Brown, star of the TV courtroom show, "Judge Joe Brown," sweeps his new bride, the former Deborah Herron, off her feet after they exchanged wedding vows at a private seaside ceremony in Oxnard, CA, attended by...

Beauty of the week.
February 11, 2002... KEMESHIA HORRELL is a medical receptionist from Brooklyn, NY. In addition to modeling she enjoys acting, singing and watching Karate movies. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Superstar welcome.(Chris Tucker visits school)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... * SUPERSTAR WELCOME: Comedian-actor Chris Tucker waves "presidentially" to applauding students at Chicago's Salem Baptist Church Elementary School during one of five stops he made in the Windy City with Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. to address...

Movie premiere.
February 11, 2002... * MOVIE PREMIERE: Famed singer Cuba Gooding Sr., and his wife Shirley Gooding (l), greet actress Anna Maria Horsford during the premiere of the new hit movie, Snow Dogs, which stars theft son, Academy Award-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr.,...

Mariah Carey gets $49 million in deal to leave Virgin Records. (Celebrities).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... After less than a year and an unsuccessful album, singer Mariah Carey is leaving Virgin Records with a deal giving her $49 million. EMI, Virgin's parent company, recently announced that it would pay the 31-year-old diva $28 million to end...

Tony Dungy signs $13 million contract as new head coach of Indianapolis Colts. (Sports).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... Tony Dungy recently accepted a five-year offer to coach the Indianapolis Colts for $13 million. This came just one week after his dismissal from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their most successful head coach in franchise history. Dungy, who...

Pre-fight brawl. (Sports).(Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, heavy weight contenders, go at it during conference)(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... * PRE-FIGHT BRAWL: Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis (3rd, l) and Mike Tyson (r) square off during a recent press conference announcing the upcoming April 6 fight between the two at the Hudson Theater in New York. The brawl broke out when Tyson...

Bill Williams, Glory Foods president and co-founder, succumbs in Ohio. (Census).(Obituary)
February 11, 2002... William F. "Bill" Williams, president and co-founder of Glory Foods, Inc., recently died following complications from a heart attack in Columbus, OH. He was 57. Williams and co-founders Dan Charna and Iris Cooper developed, in 1989, the...

Died.(Obituary)
February 11, 2002... Ron Taylor, 49, Broadway actor who starred in It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues and who created the voice of the plant Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors, of heart failure at his home in Los Angeles... Valorie Jones, 45, who was a member of the...

Famed comedians spotlighted in five-part comedy central documentary `The Heroes Of Black Comedy'. (Entertainment).
February 11, 2002... There's no doubt that laughter is the best medicine. And TV's Comedy Central hopes to give millions of viewers a hefty dose of it with the airing of its five-part documentary series The Heroes Of Black Comedy. In honor of Black History...

Lil' Bow Wow: rap music's little big man. (Cover Story).(Interview)
February 11, 2002... Make no bones about it, 14-year-old hip-hop star Lil' Bow Wow can hang with the big dogs of rap music. His fast-paced vocal skills helped his debut album, Beware of Dog, go triple-platinum. He's headlined his own tour, which often sold out...

Stellar Gospel Music Awards held in Atlanta. (Music).(Brief Article)
February 11, 2002... The 17th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards ceremony was recently taped at the Atlanta Civic Center in Atlanta and is airing in national syndication this week. Gospel superstars Donnie McClurkin and Yolanda Adams served as co-hosts of the...

Television.
February 11, 2002... `Alias' Carl Lumbly and Merrin Dungey star on "Alias," which centers around grad student Sydney Bristow, who is an agent for SD-6, a supposed top-secret division of the CIA that is in actuality not a government agency, but an enemy of the...

Congress members sue for Florida voting rights. (National Report).(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... Florida's three Black members of the U.S. Congress filed suit in Broward County Circuit Court to gain equal voting rights for all Floridians, and perhaps foil another irregular election in the state. Led by Rep. Alcee Hastings, Reps. Carrie...

The Rev. Jesse Jackson holds fifth annual Wall Street Project in New York City. (National Report).(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... The Rev. Jesse Jackson recently hosted his fifth annual conference of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Wall Street Project in New York City, which focused on expanding opportunities for minorities in business. Jackson said: "Blacks are more than...

Ticker tape.(Martin Luther King Jr. Day exhibits, other news)(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... Confidential: Celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday still has its share of ups and downs. In the nation's capital, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints displayed rare artifacts of collector Mark Mitchell in its...

National headliners.(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... When an anthrax scare flourished, Virginia brought in one of its skilled employees, Denise Sockwell, one of the few Black epidemiologists in the country... A'Lelia Bundles' new book, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madame C.J. Walker,...

Michael Jordan and wife attempting reconciliation. (Celebrities).(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... Basketball star Michael Jordan and his wife Juanita are giving their marriage another try. The Jordans, who announced last month they were divorcing after 12 years of marriage, (JET, Jan. 28) said at JET press time, they are attempting a...

Halle, Alicia & India.Arie featured in Ebony's annual Women's issue. (Celebrities).(Halle Berry, Alicia Keys, and others)(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... In honor of Women's History Month the March issue of EBONY salutes Black Sisters making a statement everywhere from the entertainment world to corporate America. EBONY takes a look at three of entertainment's most talked-about females with...

University of Chicago scholar joins Harvard faculty. (Education).(Michael C. Dawson)(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... * UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SCHOLAR JOINS HARVARD FACULTY: Michael C. Dawson, director of the University of Chicago's Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture, recently accepted an appointment at Harvard University as a professor of...

Villanova university names scholarship for 1963 Birmingham church bombing victim Denise McNair. (Education).(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... Denise McNair, one of the four little girls killed in the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, AL, recently had a scholarship established in her memory at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. School officials announced the four-year...

Artificial heart patient has true grit. (Medicine).(James Quinn)(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... * ARTIFICIAL HEART PATIENT HAS TRUE GRIT: James Quinn (r), 51, the world's fifth recipient of a self-contained artificial heart, plays with grandson Baseem "Little James" Price while wife Irene looks on during a recent press conference at...

This week in black history.(Barbara Harris, Clifford Alexander)(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... February 11, 1977-- * Clifford L. Alexander Jr. was confirmed as the first Black Secretary of the Army during the Carter administration on this day. A native of New York, Alexander graduated from Yale Law School in 1958. He later served as...

Society world.
February 18, 2002... * Inseparable Two: Ima Nene Whiting became the wife of Damon Lamont Woodfork in Orlando, FL. The happy bride is a graduate of Florida A&M University. She is an administrator in the Orange County Public School system. The proud bridegroom is a...

Trio of musicmakers. (Newsmakers).
February 18, 2002... Veteran husband-wife songwriters-singers Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson greet singer Roberta Flack during a celebrity gala at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York.

Gladys Knight inks 1-year deal at Flamingo Las Vegas casino. (Newsmakers).(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... Soul singer Gladys Knight has signed a one-year contract to perform at the world-renowned Flamingo Las Vegas casino-hotel. She is scheduled to kick off her headlining engagement this week, beginning Feb. 12. "I am thrilled to be...

Blues legend Koko Taylor recovers after collapsing at Chicago club. (Newsmakers).(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... * BLUES LEGEND KOKO TAYLOR RECOVERS AFTER COLLAPSING AT CHICAGO CLUB: Koko Taylor, shown at the 2001 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, was released recently from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago following surgery to unblock a...

Eddie Murphy and wife have fifth child. (Newsmakers).(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... Superstar Eddie Murphy and his wife Nicole recently welcomed their fifth child. Bella Zahra Murphy was born at a Los Angeles area hospital, weighing 7 pounds, 6 ounces, according to publicist Arnold Robinson of Rogers & Cowan public...

Loving life. (Newsmakers).(Punny Brittine celebrates 106th birthday)(Brief Article)
February 18, 2002... * LOVING LIFE: Mr. Punny Brittine, a native of Cullen, LA, recently celebrated his 106th birthday on Jan. 15 with family and friends at Sunrise Day Care in Kansas City, KS, where he currently resides. Mr. Brittine was married to his late wife...