10-05-09 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
NAACP PROBES CRACKER BARREL'S ROLE IN BEATING: Group's Georgia branch wants 'better understanding' of why it happened.
*The Georgia NAACP State Conference said it has launched an investigation into Cracker Barrel to gain a better understanding of the conditions that allowed an African American woman to be severely beaten inside a restaurant, while her assailant shouted racial slurs.
"Cracker Barrel has a proven history of racial intolerance, and this recent incident might very well be an outgrowth of that corporate culture,"
said Georgia NAACP President Edward DuBose. "Cracker Barrel has pledged in the past to take steps toward improving its diversity and racial tolerance, but I am unconvinced that the company has maintained that pledge in good faith."
A 2004 consent order required Cracker Barrel corporate leadership to hire an outside auditor to oversee the implementation of non-discrimination policies, procedures and training programs. The order also required severe discipline for Cracker Barrel employees found to have discriminated against any patron.
Troy Dale West Jr. was indicted last month on charges related to beating Tasha Hill inside a Morrow, Ga., Cracker Barrel restaurant. Police reports say West was shouting racial slurs at Tasha Hill until she fell unconscious, as her 7-year-old daughter looked on.
"What disturbs me most is that Cracker Barrel has refused to simply reach out to Ms. Hill in a basic gesture of condolence," DuBose said. "How can they ignore this act of brutal racial violence inside their building and pretend to have improved their culture of equality?"
The Georgia NAACP is considering a national boycott of Cracker Barrel, while lobbying state lawmakers for new hate-crime legislation.
PATERNITY SUIT FILED AGAINST BEYONCE'S DAD: Woman says she's six months along with Mathew Knowles's child.
*TMZ.com reported that a woman in her late 30s is claiming that Beyonce's father/manager Mathew Knowles is the father of her unborn child.
According to the Web site, Alexsandra Wright filed a paternity case in L.A. County Superior Court last week alleging she is 6 months pregnant with Knowles' child.
Wright, according to TMZ, lives in Los Angeles and works in the name-branding business. The Web site also said she had a small acting role on a 2001 episode of "Scrubs" titled "My 15 Minutes."
T-BOZ REVEALS SECRET BATTLE WITH BRAIN TUMOR: TLC singer had surgery in 2006; was sick during 'Celebrity Apprentice.'
*Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins revealed that she has been waging a secret battle against a brain tumor that was diagnosed in 2006.
In the Oct. 12 edition of People magazine, the 39-year-old said that she underwent a seven-hour surgical procedure back in 2006 during which doctors peeled the tumor from her brain stem by making a cut behind her ear.
The divorced single mother of one said she was battling the tumor earlier this year during filming of NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" but didn't want to make it known to the public.
"I didn't want pity. I was there to help sick children," she told People.
T-Boz, who also suffers from the blood disorder sickle cell anemia, competed on Donald Trump's reality series to raise funds for the Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia.
She said people are "shocked" when she tells them the news, but added "I won't let you feel sorry for me."
MAYA ANGELOU WAS NOT HOSPITALIZED: TMZ reported the poet was taken to the hospital in Los Angeles on Saturday, but she wasn't even in L.A.
*Contrary to a Saturday night TMZ.com report, author and poet Maya Angelou was not hospitalized while in Los Angeles.
The Web site, who traditionally scoops traditional news outlets with news of celebrity ailments,was forced to backtrack Sunday morning on its initial story of Angelou being taken to the hospital.
The site said she was scheduled to be honored at the BraveHeart Awards in L.A., but their camera guy on scene was told that she would not be there because she was taken to the hospital.
CNN news editor Saeed Ahmed shared this on Twitter early Sunday:
"Contrary to TMZ report, Maya Angelou is fine, at home, & wasn't even in LA Sat nite, said her literary agent Helen Brann."
The TMZ article was updated some time after 10 a.m. Sunday, saying:
Reps for Maya Angelou tell us she was never scheduled to appear at the event last night -- so we have no idea why the organizers told us she was a no-show because she went to the hospital. …She never agreed to be there at all and sent a taped acceptance speech in her place."
Angelou was in St. Louis Sunday, reportedly preparing for a trip to New York City for the next 2-3 weeks.
CHRIS BROWN TO BE SUED BY WRIGLEY?: Gum company reportedly wants to recoup money spent on filmed ads that had to be scrapped.
*Wrigley is reportedly preparing a lawsuit against Chris Brown to recoup the millions of dollars they spent on his endorsement deal for Doublemint Gum that went south when he was charged with assault.
According to Janet Charlton, "Chris had apparently signed up for another five year stint with Wrigley and finished a number of commercials when the Rihanna incident happened. Wrigley pulled his ads and fired Chris.
"Now they are said to be preparing to sue Chris for all the money they lost due to his bad behavior. They spent big bucks on ads featuring Chris along with other celebrities like JayZ and Mariah Carey.
"Since Chris was in them also – everything had to be ditched. Wrigley is mad and we hear they hope to recoup the money Chris caused them to lose with a big fat lawsuit."
MICHAEL EALY JOINS ABC'S 'FLASHFORWARD': Actor to go heads up with FBI character played by Joseph Fiennes.
*Michael Ealy has signed on to join the cast of ABC's time-travel drama "FlashForward," according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The freshman series follows a team of FBI agents led by Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) dealing with the aftermath of a global event where everyone blacks out for 2 minutes, 17 seconds. Ealy will play the recurring role of Benford's nemesis.
The ABC Studios-produced program also stars Courtney B. Vance as Benford's boss, Stanford Wedeck, Director of the Los Angeles Field Office of the FBI.
Meanwhile, Ealy next appears in Screen Gems' "Takers," opposite Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Jay Hernandez, Tip “T.I.” Harris, Chris Brown and Hayden Christensen.
Due Feb. 19, 2010, the plot follows a notorious group of criminals (Elba, Walker, T.I., Brown, Christensen and Ealy) who continue to baffle police by pulling off perfectly executed bank robberies. They are in and out like clockwork, leaving no evidence behind and laying low in between heists.
But when they attempt to pull off one last job with more money at stake than ever before, the crew may find their plans interrupted by a hardened detective (Dillon) who is hell-bent on solving the case. Watch the trailer
here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URX-R2skqi4
SHERRI SHEPHERD'S SITCOM TEASED TONIGHT: Lifetime airs a sneak peek of new series ahead of next week's premiere.
*Lifetime will air a sneak peek of Sherri Shepherd's new autobiographical comedy "Sherri," tonight at 7 p.m. before it settles into its regular 10 p.m. Tuesday timeslot beginning Oct. 13.
In the show, Shepherd plays a newly single mom, paralegal and part-time comedienne/actress who tries to get back into the dating scene and move on with her life after divorcing her cheating husband.
Sherri finds solace and support among her girlfriends at the office while juggling her hectic life.
The series co-stars Tammy Townsend ("Lincoln Heights"), Kali Rocha ("Grey’s Anatomy"), Elizabeth Regen ("The Black Donnellys") and Kate Reinders ("Ugly Betty").
Here is a promo clip of tonight's sneak peek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8_H7gc0Qv4
CHRISTINA MILIAN FINALLY ANNOUNCES PREGNANCY: Singer says she is four-months along with baby by new hubby The-Dream.
*After weeks and weeks of speculation, newlywed Christina Milian has finally confirmed that she and her music-producer husband The-Dream are going to have a baby.
"My husband and I are expecting," she told People.com Friday night at MGM Grand's Tabù lounge. "We're about four and a half months along, about 19 weeks."
Milian says she and her husband know the sex of the child, but are choosing to keep the information to themselves.
According to People, there was an undeniable baby bump under her flowing dress at the event, where she sipped water and danced on her VIP table with a group of girlfriends.
The confirmation of the pregnancy comes less than a month after she was married in Las Vegas. The wedding, she claims, was not as spontaneous as some in the blogosphere have speculated.
"Honestly, it was kind of planned," she said. "We were engaged for many months."
As previously reported, the couple is currently planning a second wedding ceremony in Los Angeles for family and friends who could not attend the Vegas nuptials.
LADY GAGA TO TOUR WITHOUT KANYE: Pop singer makes announcement after Live Nation canceled joint trek with rapper.
*One day after Lady Gaga's planned joint tour with Kanye West was scrapped by promoter Live Nation, the pop singer announced she will launch a solo tour in its place.
"We mutually decided to cancel the tour. He's going to take some time off, but I'm not," the 23-year-old told reporters before accepting the "Rising Star" honor at Billboard's annual Women in Music event Friday.
"Kanye and I talked about it. We talked about it a lot, as well as with Live Nation," she added.
Live Nation cancelled the trek on Thursday without explanation, but West had said he planned to take time off after drawing harsh criticism for his interruption of Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Gaga said while she didn't approve of what West did, he is a friend and she is standing by him "because everyone makes mistakes and it is important to forgive one another. …He's a good person."
The ill-fated "Fame Kills" tour with the Gaga/West double bill was due to begin Nov. 10 in Phoenix. It will now kick off mid-November – sometime around the Nov. 24 rerelease of her platinum-selling debut CD, "The
Fame."
BEYONCE ON KANYE'S 'VMA' OUTBURST: 'When he walked on the stage I was like no, no, no!' Plus, Billboard crowns her 'Woman of the Year.'
*Beyonce has made her first public comments about the "MTV Video Music Awards" incident in which Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for best female video to say that the "Single Ladies" clip should've won.
"When he walked on the stage I was like no, no, no," she recalled laughing.
Speaking at Billboard's Women in Music luncheon, which crowned her as its "Woman of the Year," Beyonce added "I knew his intentions and I knew he was standing up for art," she said.
Beyonce, who ended up winning a VMA for video of the year, invited Swift back onstage to give her acceptance speech — and said in the end, everything worked out.
"Taylor Swift had her moment and I didn't have to give an acceptance speech!"
As for Bey's Woman of the Year honor, Billboard's Editorial Director Bill Werde introduced her by saying: "It is theoretically possible someone on some other planet had a better year than Beyonce. But I'm not buying it."
"It's obvious how classy she is," Werde continued about Beyonce, who was accompanied by her mother and father, Matthew and Tina Knowles, and Michelle Williams from Destiny's Child.
Beyonce accepted the award, remarking "I am the luckiest woman in the world." She was then interviewed by radio personality and Oprah Winfrey's best friend, Gayle King, for a Q&A during which she was probed about her relationship with husband Jay-Z, her position as a role model for young women, and her goals for the future.
"I really want to win an Oscar," she revealed.
The event, held at New York's Pierre Hotel, closed with heart-rending renditions of Beyonce's hits "Halo" and "Single Ladies," performed by Staten Island grade schoolers, the P.S. 22 Chorus.
WYCLEF ENROLLS AT BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC: Former Fugee due to start classes today in Boston.
*Classes begin today for rapper-musician Wyclef Jean, who at age 36 is officially a co-ed at Boston's Berklee College of Music.
The humanitarian and former member of rap group The Fugees announced Friday that he is pursuing a longtime goal of getting a music degree after years ago dropping out of college having completed only one semester.
His curriculum this fall includes ear training, theory, improvisation and guitar, reports the Associated Press. The artist said Berklee has a program flexible enough for his needs.
Wyclef is scheduled to release a remix CD on Nov. 10.
EMINEM'S PUBLISHER AND APPLE SETTLE OUT OF COURT: Agreement ends lawsuit over rapper's digital downloads.
*Eminem's music publisher Eight Mile Style and Apple Inc. have reached a settlement in a lawsuit over digital downloading rights to many of the Detroit rapper's songs.
Eight Mile Style attorney Richard Busch said Friday that the deal was reached late Thursday, according to the Associated Press, but no other details were shared.
Slim Shady's publisher had claimed that its deal to sell the rights to 93 songs to Aftermath Records did not authorize the record label to strike a separate deal with Apple to sell the songs digitally on iTunes.
Eight Mile was seeking millions of dollars in compensation.
SERENA REFUSING TO TALK ABOUT US OPEN OUTBURST: Tennis star has 'no comment'
for reporters at event in China.
*Serena Williams on Sunday repeatedly declined comment about an ongoing probe into her profanity-laced outburst at the US Open, but said she loved the game and would not give up her fighting spirit.
Williams has apologized and been fined $10,500 for threatening a line judge during her semifinal at Flushing Meadows, which cost her the match against eventual champion Kim Clijsters.
But the 11-time Grand Slam champion continues to be investigated by the Grand Slam Committee and could end up paying bigger fines or being suspended from future Grand Slam events.
"The moment happened. And I felt like I ended great, I ended up winning doubles" with sister Venus, Williams told reporters after her first round win at the China Open, her first tournament since the incident in New York.
"I thought like it was perfect and I felt like I was blessed to even have stayed in doubles that long and have the opportunity to come back and end on a positive note, so I was excited about that."
When asked if she was concerned about future punishment, the 28-year-old again declined comment, but added: "It is what it is. I'm really excited to be a tennis player... I love fighting for every point, for everything."
JUDGE SAYS JACKSON'S KIDS ARE ADJUSTING WELL: Plus, estate executors get expanded powers.
*Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff says he is "very pleased" with findings from a report that details how Michael Jackson's children are adjusting following the singer's death in June, reports the AP.
"It looks like the children are really doing wonderfully with their grandmother guardian," Beckloff said in brief comments on the probate investigator's report during a hearing Friday.
In his 2002 will, Michael Jackson designated his mother as his choice to care for his children if he died. Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince II, 7, have been in her care for the past three months. Beckloff appointed Mrs. Jackson as the children's permanent guardian in August and asked for an update on their condition.
Jackson's estate is paying a $60,000 per month stipend to care for and protect the kids. Beckloff sealed the report on the children and said he sees no need to get future updates.
Beckloff also increased the powers of Jackson's estate executors, attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain, in part because of the singer's substantial debts. The position allows them to consider creditors' claims. They can also enter into business deals that aren't opposed by Katherine Jackson without Beckloff's approval, and they can begin to represent the estate in several court cases pending against the singer when he died.
The ruling was made over the objections of Katherine Jackson's attorney Burt Levitch, who said his client is still hoping that a settlement will add a Jackson family member to the team administering the singer's estate, which is expected to be worth more than $500 million.
Numerous people have already filed claims against the estate for unpaid bills, including a stylist, security providers and Jackson's criminal defense attorneys who won his acquittal against child molestation charges.
Until Friday, no one could accept or reject creditor's claims against Jackson, who died with an estimated $400 million in debt.
Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson attended Friday's hearing but did not speak during or after the proceedings.
BYRON ALLEN AND WIFE EXPECTING: Second child due to join couple's 13-month old daughter.
*"Comics Unleashed" host Byron Allen and wife, producer Jennifer Lucas, are expecting again, reports People.com.
Lucas, who married the TV personality in 2007, is pregnant with their second child together, Allen's rep confirms to the Web site.
"They are very happy," says the rep. "Everybody is really excited."
Allen and Lucas have a 13-month-old daughter, Chloe Ava.
LIL WAYNE TO STAND TRIAL IN MARCH: Rapper facing three charges of drug possession stemming from Yuma, Ariz. arrest.
*A trial date has been set for Lil Wayne's drug possession case stemming from an arrest last January at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Yuma, Ariz.
The artist, born Dwayne Carter, Jr., will head to court in March on three drug possession charges after cops allegedly found cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana on his tour bus. An additional weapons charge was subsequently dropped after the .40 caliber pistol found on the bus was discovered to be registered to the star in Florida.
Lil Wayne's lawyer tried to have the case dismissed over claims the sniffer dogs used in the search were unreliable. However, a judge in Yuma on Thursday ordered the rapper to stand trial in Spring 2010.
The New Orleans native is also facing trial in New York on gun possession charges stemming from a 2007 arrest in that city.
HAMMER, CASH4GOLD TEAM FOR DISASTER VICTIMS: Rapper and mail-in gold buyer solicit donations for Feed the Children.
*MC Hammer and mail-in gold buyer Cash4Gold have teamed to assist hunger relief organization Feed The Children in the wake of recent disasters in the Philippines, American Samoa and Indonesia, and the widespread flooding across Georgia.
"I am asking my followers on Twitter to also follow my example and to do their part to help out those involved in these tragedies," said Hammer.
"Thousands of people here at home and abroad are facing a very difficult time, which is why I'm urging everyone to support Feed The Children, a tremendous organization helping to get these victims back on their feet."
At a recent event sponsored by Cash4Gold, he and the company's CEO Jeff Aronson helped Feed The Children hand out meals to families hard hit by the recession in the Stockton, CA area.
Following news of the disaster in the Pacific and the widespread flooding in Georgia, Hammer asked his close friend Aronson if Cash4Gold could donate as well.
Cash4Gold featured MC Hammer and the late Ed McMahon in a Super Bowl ad earlier this year.
In addition to his financial contribution, MC Hammer is mobilizing the masses to support Feed The Children by sending out tweets to his more than 1,500,000 followers on Twitter. To follow MC Hammer on Twitter, please visit http://twitter.com/MCHammer.
If you are interested in joining MC Hammer and Cash4Gold as they help Feed The Children provide much-needed emergency aid, please visit http://www.feedthechildren.org.
CANTON JONES RETURNS: Latest CD to be released this week.
*Atlanta native and hip-hop favorite Canton Jones returns with his latest release Kingdome Business 2. This album is the sequel to Kingdom Business, which produced the hits "Hater Day" and "My Day.
According to Gospelflava.com, Jones won four Stellar award nominations for work on his last CD. This new project, which is recorded with members of the CAJO (Canton Jones) Family is in stores Oct. 6.
His first album, 20 Years, 3 Months & 12 Days, came in 2003, and one year later he completed The Password. His breakthrough came in the summer of 2005 with the release of Love Jones, which made its debut on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart at No. 11.
FOR THE CHILDREN: New Bible designed for African-American children.
*A new full color Bible designed for African-American children is in distribution. This large print, easy-to-read Bible contains special features that celebrate the African-American heritage and faith. The Bible features artwork from leading Black illustrators and is complete with text from the New International Version, the most-read, most-trusted Bible translation.
This version of the book was created by Cheryl and Wade Hudson, publishers of Just Us Books founded in 1988. Just Us Books, which also has a Bible geared towards teen girls, is considered as one of the leading publishers of Black interest titles for young people.
The book is sold through Amazon, Barnes and Nobel and Chrsitianbook.com. Other versions of African-American Bibles can be found at Zondervan.com.
From GospelFlava.com do story on Canton Jones and Kingdom Business 2 with CAJO Family in stores Oct. 6th.
HUMAN CHAIN: Right to life advocates create a human chain around North America.
*Hundreds of thousands of pro-lifers and Christians lined sidewalks across 1,450 cities nationwide last Sunday to peacefully protest abortion. The 22nd Annual National Life Chain had participants from Canada and the United States as reported by the Associated Press. The message they wanted to send: "Abortion Kills Children" and "Abortion Hurts Women."
Some protestors held signs displaying the event’s two main messages, while others advocated adoption in the case of unwanted pregnancies.
Barbara Meara, chairman of the Bronx Right to Live Committee in New York, said she hopes the Life Chain will remind young women that there are alternatives available such as pregnancy care centers. Over the past years, more and more people have participated in the Life Chain. Around 40 to 100 new cities have joined the event each year since 1992.
NO TOUCHING AT CHURCH: Swine flue threat changes communion practices.
*Churches have changed their communion rituals in the face of the swine flu. According to Citizen-Times.com in Asheville, the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh has asked church members not to drink from the same cup during the Eucharist or to shake hands, effective last Sunday.
Bishop Michael Burbridge’s request means that the passing of the peace — a time when worshippers stand to shake hands and hug one another — will not be offered during services. During the Eucharist, parishioners will receive only the wafer and will not drink from the chalice. In western Canada, a similar edict went out from the archdiocese of Winnipeg, suggesting that people try bowing to one another instead of touching.
In Knoxville, Tenn., some churches have reported up to 25 percent of the congregation out sick — or staying home as a precaution against getting sick. In Asheville, St. Eugene's Parish is telling parishioners to use their best judgment. "If someone refrains from holding hands or shaking hands with you or receiving from the cup, please do not take it as an unfriendly gesture," the Rev. Edward Sheridan wrote in a letter to members, adding that "it is entirely optional according to a personal preference."
Many churches, including St. Eugene's, are making bottles of hand sanitizer readily available. The church has asked those who distribute Communion to sanitize their hands after shaking hands and before the distribution of Communion. Until the danger of flu is over, St. Eugene's will not offer Communion cups or allow hand-holding during school Masses.
PACKING HEAT: Detroit minister wards off evil with a gun.
*Rev. Lawrence Adams of Westside Bible Church in Detroit is a retired police lieutenant who carries a gun in the pulpit. It’s not because he can’t let go of the past. It’s because he wants to be prepared to defend his parishioners in any event.
Adams is one of several Detroit clergymen who have taken to packing heat in the pulpit due to an increase in violent incidents at churches nationwide. According to the AP Wire, Adams recently surprised a burglar at the church and shot the man in the abdomen after the man swung a bag of loot at him one Sunday evening. The burglar survived - for which Adams is grateful - but the reverend said he could have been hurt or killed if he had not been armed.
Detroit had the nation's highest homicide rate last year among cities of at least 500,000 residents. The city has been losing manufacturing jobs for decades, and these days about one in four adults there is without a job.
The northwest Detroit neighborhood surrounding Adams' church isn't one of the city's most dangerous. But there have been many recent reports of crimes in the area, including four burglaries, three auto thefts, one armed robbery and four assaults, including one with intent to murder.
"It's getting worse because of the economy," Adams told the AP Wire. "People are out of work and feel they have to provide for their families."
Prior to 2000, anyone who wanted to carry a concealed weapon in Michigan had to show a need to do so. Now, gun owners simply have to pass a stringent background check and complete eight hours of handgun training.
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most people succeed because they are
determined to." — George E. Allen
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Oct. 5: Singer Arlene Smith of The Chantels is 68. Singer Richard Street (The Temptations) is 67. Singer-actress Heather Headley is 35.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
In these tough economic times, a job source is a great resource. Here's one: www.HBCUCareerCenter.com
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
Oct. 5, 1869: First Reconstruction legislature (27 Blacks, 150 whites) met in Richmond, Virginia. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
