A Radio Merger in New York Reflects a Shifting Industry

Story by New York Times
Written by Ben Sisario

On its surface, the merger last week of WRKS and WBLS, longtime rivals in the R&B radio format in New York, was business as usual for the broadcast industry. Two struggling competitors combined operations, and a deep-pocketed third party — Disney — came along to lease the leftover frequency.  

But radio executives and analysts said the deal also reflected a broader trend in the business that has taken a toll on black and other minority stations. Since the introduction five years ago of a new technology for tracking audiences, many such broadcasters have experienced shrinking numbers, forcing radio companies to consolidate stations or switch to general-audience formats.   

Arbitron, the standard radio ratings service, has long had sample audiences record their listening in a diary. In 2007, it began using the Portable People Meter, or P.P.M., a small electronic device that tracks radio signals, offering broadcasters far more precise listening data. 

The technology, now used in 48 markets, has already had significant effects — for instance, increasing ratings for news and oldies stations. But many black stations have suffered under the new scheme, including WRKS, known as Kiss-FM, (98.7 FM) and WBLS (107.5 FM). While both were once ranked near the top of their desired demographic — adults ages 25 to 54 — since P.P.M.’s arrival they have slipped to between sixth and 11th place, said Jeff Smulyan, chief executive of WRKS’s parent, Emmis Communications.

“The recent economic downturn has affected the profitability of everyone in radio,” Mr. Smulyan wrote in an e-mail, “but the decline has been much more pronounced in adult African-American targeted stations, largely because of the impact of P.P.M.” 

The deal to merge Kiss-FM and WBLS involves several broadcasters. Emmis sold Kiss’s intellectual property for $10 million to YMF Media, an investment group that is taking over WBLS. Disney, eager to expand its ESPN franchise, will lease Kiss’s old frequency for 12 years, paying a fee that starts at $8.4 million and increases 3.5 percent each year. The changes were scheduled to take effect at midnight on Monday. 

Political figures, broadcasters and other industry observers have expressed concern over how the loss of stations will affect minority communities. 

“I am saddened that an important black voice is going silent in New York City, especially during this important election year,” Tom Joyner, the syndicated talk-show host, said in a statement on Friday. 

“Although social media currently gets a lot of credit and rightfully so, nothing can replace the role black radio plays in empowering, informing and entertaining black people.” Mr. Joyner’s show was on Kiss-FM in New York but will not be on WBLS. 

Last year, Radio One, which owns 53 stations, mostly in so-called urban formats — hip-hop, R&B, gospel and other genres popular with black audiences — changed stations in Houston, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, from black to more general-interest formats, largely because of P.P.M. results, said Alfred C. Liggins III, the chief executive.

In response to complaints that P.P.M. undercounted minority listeners, Arbitron has settled lawsuits in New York and California, and pledged to improve its methods to find diverse sample audiences. But the company also stood by the accuracy of its ratings. 

“Arbitron’s point of view is that P.P.M. is a more reliable and granular look at the marketplace,” Thomas Mocarsky, a spokesman, said on Friday. “Unlike the diary, which depended on recall, P.P.M. records what people are actually exposed to.” 

Whether Arbitron’s new system will result in more changes for black stations is unclear. Emmis still owns WQHT-FM, (97.1) known as Hot 97, a top hip-hop station in New York, and Mr. Smulyan, the chief executive, said it had no plans to sell. Paul Heine, a senior editor at the trade publication Inside Radio, noted that some urban stations had been thriving under the system. 

“There are a number of cities where we have two well-performing urban stations,” Mr. Heine said. “I don’t know if there’s going to be a domino effect.” 

The companies behind WRKS and WBLS have also had troubles beyond simple ratings. Inner City Broadcasting, the previous owner of WBLS, went bankrupt last year. (YMF, the company buying it, is a new investment group including Ron Burkle and Magic Johnson.) WRKS’s revenue fell 32 percent in the last three years, according to a recent regulatory filing by Emmis Communications, and Mr. Smulyan said the station’s profit had fallen 90 percent. 

Emmis, which has sold off a number of stations as it struggles with a heavy debt load, said its deal in New York to sell Kiss-FM and lease 98.7 to Disney was worth at least $96 million, and that it would help stabilize its balance sheet.

Some broadcasters rued the loss of black stations and the reduction of services to black communities that would result, but said the change had simply become an inevitable part of business. 

“The economics of this business have changed so drastically,” said Mr. Liggins, of Radio One. “It is a shame. But something’s got to give.”

President Obama tells jokes at the 2012 Correspondents Dinner

Justices Seem Sympathetic to Central Part of Arizona Law

Story by New York Times
Written by Adam Liptak
Video by AP

WASHINGTON — Justices across the ideological spectrum appeared inclined on Wednesday to uphold a controversial part of Arizona’s aggressive 2010 immigration law, based on their questions at a Supreme Court argument.

“You can see it’s not selling very well,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a member of the court’s liberal wing and its first Hispanic justice, told Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., referring to a central part of his argument against the measure. 

Mr. Verrilli, representing the federal government, had urged the court to strike down a provision requiring state law enforcement officials to determine the immigration status of people they stop and suspect are not in the United States legally. 

It was harder to read the court’s attitude toward three other provisions of the law at issue in the case, including one that makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to work. The court’s ruling, expected by June, may thus be a split decision that upholds parts of the law and strikes down others. 

A ruling to uphold the law would be a victory for conservatives who have pressed for tough measures to stem illegal immigration, including ones patterned after the Arizona law, in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah. President Obama has criticized the Arizona law, calling it a threat to “basic notions of fairness.”

 

Should the court uphold any part of the law, immigration groups are likely to challenge it based on an argument that the court was not considering on Wednesday: that the law discriminates on the basis of race and ethnic background. 

Indeed, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. signaled that the court was not closing the door on such a challenge, making clear that the case, like last month’s arguments over Mr. Obama’s health care law, was about the allocation of state and federal power. “No part of your argument has to do with racial or ethnic profiling, does it?” he asked Mr. Verrilli, who agreed.

Wednesday’s argument, the last of the term, was a rematch between the main lawyers in the health care case. Paul D. Clement, who argued for the 26 states challenging the health care law, represented Arizona. Mr. Verrilli again represented the federal government. In an unusual move, Chief Justice Roberts allowed the argument to go 20 minutes longer than the usual hour.

Read more »

President Obama's Weekly Address: Helping our Veterans and Servicemembers Make Informed Decisions about Higher Education 4-28-12

 
President Obama discusses a new Executive Order designed to crack down on the bad actors who prey on our veterans and service members considering higher education.

Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem

Story by Washington Post
Written by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein

Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican, was recently captured on video asserting that there are “78 to 81” Democrats in Congress who are members of the Communist Party. Of course, it’s not unusual for some renegade lawmaker from either side of the aisle to say something outrageous. What made West’s comment — right out of the McCarthyite playbook of the 1950s — so striking was the almost complete lack of condemnation from Republican congressional leaders or other major party figures, including the remaining presidential candidates.

It’s not that the GOP leadership agrees with West; it is that such extreme remarks and views are now taken for granted.

We have been studying Washington politics and Congress for more than 40 years, and never have we seen them this dysfunctional. In our past writings, we have criticized both parties when we believed it was warranted. Today, however, we have no choice but to acknowledge that the core of the problem lies with the Republican Party.

The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoves by conventional understandign of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.

When one party moves this far from the mainstream, it makes it nearly impossible for the political system to deal constructively with the country’s challenges.

“Both sides do it” or “There is plenty of blame to go around” are the traditional refuges for an American news media intent on proving its lack of bias, while political scientists prefer generality and neutrality when discussing partisan polarization. Many self-styled bipartisan groups, in their search for common ground, propose solutions that move both sides to the center, a strategy that is simply untenable when one side is so far out of reach.

It is clear that the center of gravity in the Republican Party has shifted sharply to the right. Its once-legendary moderate and center-right legislators in the House and the Senate — think Bob Michel, Mickey Edwards, John Danforth, Chuck Hagel — are virtually extinct.

The post-McGovern Democratic Party, by contrast, while losing the bulk of its conservative Dixiecrat contingent in the decades after the civil rights revolution, has retained a more diverse base. Since the Clinton presidency, it has hewed to the center-left on issues from welfare reform to fiscal policy. While the Democrats may have moved from their 40-yard line to their 25, the Republicans have gone from their 40 to somewhere behind their goal post.

What happened? Of course, there were larger forces at work beyond the realignment of the South. They included the mobilization of social conservatives after the 1973Roe v. Wade decision, the anti-tax movement launched in 1978 by California’s Proposition 13, the rise of conservative talk radio after a congressional pay raise in 1989, and the emergence of Fox News and right-wing blogs. But the real move to the bedrock right starts with two names: Newt Gingrich and Grover Norquist.

From the day he entered Congress in 1979, Gingrich had a strategy to create a Republican majority in the House: convincing voters that the institution was so corrupt that anyone would be better than the incumbents, especially those in the Democratic majority. It took him 16 years, but by bringing ethics charges against Democratic leaders; provoking them into overreactions that enraged Republicans and united them to vote against Democratic initiatives; exploiting scandals to create even more public disgust with politicians; and then recruiting GOP candidates around the country to run against Washington, Democrats and Congress, Gingrich accomplished his goal.

Ironically, after becoming speaker, Gingrich wanted to enhance Congress’s reputation and was content to compromise with President Bill Clinton when it served his interests. But the forces Gingrich unleashed destroyed whatever comity existed across party lines, activated an extreme and virulently anti-Washington base — most recently represented by tea party activists — and helped drive moderate Republicans OUT of Congress. (Some of his progeny, elected in the early 1990s, moved to the Senate and polarized its culture in the same way.)

Norquist, meanwhile, founded Americans for Tax Reform in 1985 and rolled out his Taxpayer Protection Pledge the following year. The pledge, which binds its signers to NEVER support a tax increase (that includes closing tax loopholes), had been signed as of last year by 238 of the 242 House Republicans and 41 of the 47 GOP senators, according to ATR. The Norquist tax pledge has led to other pledges, on issues such as climate change, that create additional litmus tests that box in moderates and make cross-party coalitions nearly impossible. For Republicans concerned about a primary challenge from the right, the failure to sign such pledges is simply too risky.

Today, thanks to the GOP, compromise has gone out the window in Washington. In the first two years of the Obama administration, nearly every presidential initiative met with vehement, rancorous and unanimous Republican opposition in the House and the Senate, followed by efforts to delegitimize the results and repeal the policies. The filibuster, once relegated to a handful of major national issues in a given Congress, became a routine weapon of obstruction, applied even to widely supported bills or presidential nominations. And Republicans in the Senate have abused the confirmation process to block any and every nominee to posts such as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, solely to keep laws that were legitimately enacted from being implemented.

In the third and now fourth years of the Obama presidency, divided government has produced something closer to complete gridlock than we have ever seen in our time in Washington, with partisan divides even leading last year to America's first credit downgrade.

On financial stabilization and economic recovery, on deficits and debt, on climate change and health-care reform, Republicans have been the force behind the widening ideological gaps and the strategic use of partisanship. In the presidential campaign and in Congress, GOP leaders have embraced fanciful policies on taxes and spending, kowtowing to their party’s most strident voices.

Republicans often dismiss nonpartisan analyses of the nature of problems and the impact of policies when those assessments don’t fit their ideology. In the face of the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, the party’s leaders and their outside acolytes insisted on obeisance to a supply-side view of economic growth — thus fulfilling Norquist’s pledge — while ignoring contrary considerations.

The results can border on the absurd: In early 2009, several of the eight Republican co-sponsors of a bipartisan health-care reform plan dropped their support; by early 2010, the others had turned on their own proposal so that there would be zero GOP backing for any bill that came within a mile of Obama’s reform initiative. As one co-sponsor, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), told The Washington Post's Ezra Klein: “I liked it because it was bipartisan. I wouldn’t have voted for it.”

And seven Republican co-sponsors of a Senate resolution to create a debt-reduction panel voted in January 2010 against their own resolution, solely to keep it from getting to the 60-vote threshold Republicans demanded and thus denying the president a seeming victory.

This attitude filters down far deeper than the party leadership. Rank-and-file GOP voters endorse the strategy that the party’s elites have adopted, eschewing compromise to solve problems and insisting on principle, even if it leads to gridlock. Democratic voters, by contrast, along with self-identified independents, are more likely to favor deal-making over deadlock.

Democrats are hardly blameless, and they have their own extreme wing and their own predilection for hardball politics. But these tendencies do not routinely veer outside the normal bounds of robust politics. If anything, under the presidencies of Clinton and Obama, the Democrats have become more of a status-quo party. They are centrist protectors of government, reluctantly willing to revamp programs and trim retirement and health benefits to maintain its central commitments in the face of fiscal pressures.

No doubt, Democrats were not exactly warm and fuzzy toward George W. Bush during his presidency. But recall that they worked hand in glove with the Republican president on the No Child Left Behind Act, provided crucial votes in the Senate for his tax cuts, joined with Republicans for all the steps taken after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and supplied the key votes for the Bush administration’s financial bailout at the height of the economic crisis in 2008. The difference is striking.

The GOP’s evolution has become too much for some longtime Republicans. Former senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska called his party "irresponsible" in an interview with the Financial Times in August, at the height of the debt-ceiling battle. “I think the Republican Party is captive to political movements that are very ideological, that are very narrow,” he said. “I’ve never seen so much intolerance as I see today in American politics.”

And Mike Lofgren, a veteran Republican congressional staffer, wrote an anguished diatribe last year about why he was ending his career on the Hill after nearly three decades. “The Republican Party is becoming less and less like a traditional political party in a representative democracy and becoming more like an apocalyptic cult, or one of the intensely ideological authoritarian parties of 20th century Europe,” he wrote on the Truthout Web site.

Shortly before Rep. West went off the rails with his accusations of communism in the Democratic Party, political scientists Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal, who have long tracked historical trends in political polarization, said their studies of congressional votes found that Republicans are now more conservative than they have been in more than a century. Their data show a dramatic uptick in polarization, mostly caused by the sharp rightward move of the GOP.

If our democracy is to regain its health and vitality, the culture and ideological center of the Republican Party must change. In the short run, without a massive (and unlikely) across-the-board rejection of the GOP at the polls, that will not happen. If anything, Washington’s ideological divide will probably grow after the 2012 elections.

 In the House, some of the remaining centrist and conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats have been targeted for extinction by redistricting, while even ardent tea party Republicans, such as freshman Rep. Alan Nunnelee (Miss.), have faced primary challenges from the right for being too accommodationist. And Mitt Romney's rhetoric and positions offer no indication that he would govern differently if his party captures the White House and both chambers of Congress.

We understand the values of mainstream journalists, including the effort to report both sides of a story. But a balanced treatment of an unbalanced phenomenon distorts reality. If the political dynamics of Washington are unlikely to change anytime soon, at least we should change the way that reality is portrayed to the public.
Our advice to the press: Don’t seek professional safety through the even-handed, unfiltered presentation of opposing views. Which politician is telling the truth? Who is taking hostages, at what risks and to what ends?
Also, stop lending legitimacy to Senate filibusters by treating a 60-vote hurdle as routine. The framers certainly didn’t intend it to be. Report individual senators’ abusive use of holds and identify every time the minority party uses a filibuster to kill a bill or nomination with majority support.

Look ahead to the likely consequences of voters’ choices in the November elections. How would the candidates govern? What could they accomplish? What differences can people expect from a unified Republican or Democratic government, or one divided between the parties?

In the end, while the press can make certain political choices understandable, it is up to voters to decide. If they can punish ideological extremism at the polls and look skeptically upon candidates who profess to reject all dialogue and bargaining with opponents, then an insurgent outlier party will have some impetus to return to the center. Otherwise, our politics will get worse before it gets better.

Business Billboard in Georgia prints racial slur about the President

Washington Capitals' Joel Ward, African-American NHL player, recieves racist hate tweets after scoring the winning goal that eliminated the Boston Bruins

Story by The Grio
Written by Jay Scott Smith
Tweet Link: http://chirpstory.com/li/6781 

Washington Capitals' winger Joel Ward scored the game winning goal 2:57 into overtime of Game 7 of their first round Stanley Cup Playoff series last night. The Capitals knocked out the defending champion Boston Bruins and, in the process, Ward made history as the first black NHL player to score a Game 7 OT winner.

"All of a sudden, there was a blocked shot by (teammate Mike Knuble) and I knew we had a small window to go up the ice. I just said to myself, 'Go follow up the play,'" Ward said to the Washington Post. "Words can't really describe it. It was a sense of relief, excitement. It was just unbelievable.

"The puck was just sitting there. I just took a whack. When it was over, it really hit me when the guys were coming off the bench."

Ward, who was born in Canada and whose family is from Barbados, is one of 28 active black players in the NHL. He scored seven goals during last years playoffs as a member of the Nashville Predators and had been much maligned by Capitals fans after signing a $12 million deal last off-season.

Ward scored just six goals in the regular season, the last coming on Jan. 7. George McPhee, the Capitals' general manager even admitted that he overpaid to sign Ward last July, but that all stopped mattering last night in Boston.

"For me personally, I thought I may have lost a little bit of the respect of my own teammates being on the outside so much," Ward said. "I definitely do play for the respect of them. When you're on the outside it's a little tough."

Ward and the Capitals celebrated their stunning upset win -- Washington was the seventh seed in the East and made the playoffs on the second-to-last day of the season -- angry Bruins fans took to Twitter and unleashed a barrage of racist tweets http://chirpstory.com/li/6781. Most used the n-word, some him a "gorilla," many made references to Hockey being a "white man's sport," and some told Ward to "go play basketball."

This incident is the second issue of racial taunts toward a black player this season. During a preseason game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings in London, Ontario, someone in the stands threw a banana at Flyers' winger Wayne Simmonds during a shootout attempt.

Simmonds still managed to score on the play and shrugged off the incident after the game. "I caught it from the side of my eye," Simmonds said on Sept. 23. "When you're a black man playing in a predominantly white man's sport, you've got to come to expect things like that."

There is irony in this goal coming against Boston and the reaction from Bruins "fans." Ward scored the goal against Tim Thomas, the goaltender who refused to attend the White House celebration of the Bruins' championship because of his disdain of President Obama.

It was also the Bruins who broke hockey's color barrier 58 years ago when Willie O'Ree became hockey's first black player. Ward, like Simmonds, shrugged off the racist remarks, saying to USA Today that the tweets shocked him but "didn't ruin (his) day."

"It doesn't faze me at all," Ward said. "We won, and we are moving on. People are going to say what they want to say.

Ward was told about the tweets by teammate Jeff Halpern on the team flight back to Washington. Halpern apologized to Ward for having to see that behavior, but he took it in stride.

"I think he was telling me had my back, and felt bad that (some Twitter users) were talking about the negative side, instead of how we are moving on," Ward said. "It has no effect on me whatsoever. I've been playing this game long enough and I've not had any encounters of that nature."

Ward told USA Today that he plans on thanking Capitals' fans on Twitter for their support and has already received an apology from one of the angry fans. He said that while he did have some racist experiences in junior hockey in Toronto, he's had nothing but positive experiences in the NHL and doesn't fear for his safety.

"I'm definitely the one black guy in a room with 20 white guys," Ward said. "There are definitely some cultural differences, such as taste in music, but I haven't heard anything derogatory.

"I'm pretty laid-back and I get along with a lot of people. I don't fear anything like that, and I have a good group of guys to protect me."

____________________________________________________________

Many Boston Bruin fans angrily expressed themselves about an African-American ending the defending champions season in the following link:  http://chirpstory.com/li/6781 

ONE FAMILY, ONE STATION ...OUR VOICE

107.5 WBLS AND 98.7 KISS FM COME TOGETHER AS KISS FM SAYS FAREWELL

NEW YORK – APRIL 26, 2012 – 98.7 KISS FM has been a voice in our community for 30 years, and today they say goodbye.  98.7 KISS FM will be joining forces with 107.5 WBLS to become one powerful R&B music and community force in the tri-state area.

WBLS VP/General Manager Deon Levingston says: “WBLS and WRKS have been the voice of the tri-state black community for 30 years and we plan to merge the best of both stations to create a stronger voice to deliver the best in R&B music while also super serving our community.”

Starting today at10am and throughout the weekend, 107.5 WBLS and 98.7 KISS FM will celebrate the legacy of 98.7 KISS FM by celebrating the music and impact of 98.7 KISS FM on both stations.  Listen today to 107.5 WBLS or 98.7 KISS FM to hear Shaila live from 10a-3pm, Jeff Foxx from 3pm-7pm and Lenny Green from 7pm-12am as we celebrate 30 years of KISS FM.

The music and thecommunity of NYC will come together Monday, April 30th at 12AM and the legacy of WRKS will continue as midday air personality Shaila and night air personality Lenny Greene join the WBLS family.  Shaila will occupy the mid-day shift from 10a-3pm and Lenny Green will continue in the evenings from 7pm-12am.

Emmis New York SVP/General Manager Alexandra Cameron adds: "I extend my gratitude and deepest thanks to the many special peoplethat created the memories and sense of community that KISS FM delivered for 30 years.  Emmis will be forever grateful.  We are so very glad that a part of KISS will remain remembered through WBLS programming as they welcome beloved personalities like Shaila and Lenny Green"

A tribute to the history of KISS FM will also be celebrated via wbls.com and 987kissfm.com.
It can also be seen on Facebook at 987kissfm and wbls1075 and twitter at @987kissfm and@wbls1075.

Story by wbls.com

ESPN Radio Moving To 98.7 FM In New York -- Emmis Sells Intellectual Property Rights Of WRKS To YMF Media

Story by AllAccess

ESPN RADIO will move its programming in NEW YORK to FM with the announcement that it will begin simulcasting its Sports WEPN-A (1050 ESPN) on what is presently EMMIS Urban AC WRKS (98.7 KISS FM) on SUNDAY at 12:01a (ET).

"This move to the FM dial is in keeping with the industry trend of sports radio shifting and offers an even broader reach for our content," said VP/GM DAVE ROBERTS. "By combining the FM reach with our wide variety of digital offerings from ESPN AUDIO, we are uniquely positioned to provide coverage of all of New York's sports."

WEPN-A will simulcast until SEPTEMBER and will then become Spanish Sports using ESPN DEPORTES.  "As part of ESPN's continual commitment to serve the U.S. Hispanic sports fan, we are thrilled to provide NEW YORK fans with a sports station that offers culturally relevant programming in Spanish," said ESPN DEPORTES VP of Programming and Business Initiatives FREDDY ROLON. "The launch of ESPN DEPORTES RADIO will also provide advertisers and marketers a unique opportunity to reach local Hispanics sports fans in this market."

"Opportunities like this don't come along too often and it's tremendous that we were able to conclude a deal that will enhance our mission of serving sports fans in not just English but Spanish as well," said ESPN SVO/Production, Business Divisions TRAUG KELLER. "Come fall, Spanish-speaking New Yorkers will have their first 24/7 sports talk radio station."

The ESPN NEW YORK lineup is also changing, with MIKE LUPICA moving to noon-1p and a new show with STEPHEN A. SMITH moving from evenings to join RYAN RUOCCO for 1-3p (ET).  DAVE ROTHENBERG takes over the 6-9p (ET) slot.

Emmis Also Sells Intellectual Property Rights Of WRKS To YMF Media

EMMIS also entered into a transaction to sell the intellectual property rights of KISS FM to YMF MEDIA, which is in the process of acquiring INNER CITY Urban WBLS and Gospel WLIB-A/NEW YORK.

In conjunction with these transactions, EMMIS also announced that it entered into a loan agreement with a large insurance company. The total consideration related to the proceeds from the loan agreement, initial payment from the sale of KISS FM intellectual property rights, and the present value of certain loan reserves required under the agreement with the insurance company which EMMIS expects to receive in the future, will be approximately $96 million.

The long-term LMA is not tied to a sale of the station. Transaction proceeds will be used to repay amounts outstanding under EMMIS' senior credit facility and to pay transaction fees and expenses.

"We want to thank our loyal employees and especially the fans of KISS FM for an amazing 30 year run including several periods where KISS was the number one ranked station in NEW YORK," EMMIS Chairman/CEO JEFF SMULYAN said. "Recent changes in the way radio ratings are measured made it very difficult for us to find success with KISS FM despite the great work of our EMMIS/NEW YORK team. We hope the best parts of KISS will continue to live on. With enhanced financial flexibility we look forward to enhancing our service to New York's urban community at our award winning [wqht] HOT97 brand."

This weekend EMMIS/NEW YORK plans to celebrate 30 years of KISS FM. EMMIS purchased KISS FM 98.7 in 1994.

"I have so many friends on the KISS FM team and this is an extraordinarily difficult decision for me, however the benefits to the financial health of EMMIS as a whole are significant. Coupled with the sale of a controlling interest in three of our radio stations to MERLIN MEDIA and the forthcoming sale of KXOS/LOS ANGELES, we will have one of the healthiest balance sheets in media thereby positioning EMMIS for future growth," SMULYAN said.

ALERT: “Kiss FM” to live, on WBLS.

Brief from Inside Radio

As part of its long-term lease of WRKS (98.7) to ESPN Radio, Emmis Communications has struck a deal to sell the intellectual property of the urban AC “Kiss FM” format to YMF Media which plans to mege the higher rated format into its former rival, WBLS (107.5).

Rodney King 20 years after the 1992 Los Angeles Riot

 Rodney King was interviewed by Al Sharpton on the Syndication One News-Talk Radio Network

Story by AP

Written By John Rodgers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — We saw his face a bloody, pulpy mess. And in 1992, when the four Los Angeles police officers who beat him after a traffic stop were acquitted, it touched off anger that affected an entire generation. Now, 20 years later, this is the face of Rodney King, and this is what has happened to him in the interim.

He's been a record company executive and a reality TV star among many other things.

To millions of Americans, though, he will always be either a victim of one of the most horrific cases of police brutality ever videotaped or just a hooligan who didn't stop when police attempted to pull him over.

____________________________________________________________________

This file photo of Rodney King was taken three days after his videotaped beating in Los Angeles on March 6, 1991. The photo is one of three introduced into evidence by the prosecution in the trial of four LAPD officers in a Simi Valley, California Courtroom, March 24, 1992. The acquittal of four police officers in the videotaped beating of King sparked rioting that spread across the city and into neighboring suburbs. Cars were demolished and homes and businesses were burned. Before order was restored, 55 people were dead, 2,300 injured and more than 1,500 buildings were damaged or destroyed. (AP Photo/Pool,File) 

 ___________________________________________________________________

He's indisputably the black motorist whose beating on a darkened LA street led to one of the worst race riots in American history.

It's been an up-and-down ride for King since he went on television at the height of those riots and pleaded in a quavering voice, "Can we all get along?"

He's been arrested numerous times, mostly for alcohol-related crimes. In a recent interview with The Associated Press he said, "I still sip, I don't get drunk."

He has been to a number of rehab programs, he said, including the 2008 appearance on "Dr. Drew" Pinsky's "Celebrity Rehab" program.

Still, he was arrested again just last year for driving under the influence.

It was his fear of being stopped for drunken driving on March 3, 1991, King said, that initially led him to try to evade police who attempted to pull him over for speeding.

______________________________________________________________________

This March 3, 1991 file video tape shot by George Holliday shows what appears to be a group of police officers beating Rodney King with nightsticks and kicking him as other officers look on. Thursday, March 3, 2011, marks the 20th Anniversary of the video taped beating. Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck says his department has gone through sweeping reforms since the 1991 Rodney King beating, and he doesn't think his officers would engage in such a videotaped assault today. 

_________________________________________________________________________

After he did stop, four LA police officers hit him more than 50 times with their batons, kicked him and shot him with stun guns. A man who had quietly stepped outside his home to observe the commotion videotaped most of it and turned a copy over to a local TV station.

After a jury with no black members acquitted the officers on April 29, 1992, the city's black community exploded in rage. Fifty-five people died, more than 2,000 were injured over three days.

King received a $3.8 million settlement from the city, but said he lost most it to bad investments, among them a hip-hop record label he founded that quickly went broke.

He makes money these days taking part in events like celebrity boxing matches. He's also promoting his just-published memoir, "The Riot Within: My Journey From Rebellion to Redemption."

______________________________________________________________________

   

In this May 1,1992 file photo Rodney King, right, makes his first statement, pleading for an end to the rioting in South Central Los Angeles, in Los Angeles stating: "Can't we all just get along?". At left is King's attorney Steven Lerman. On April 29, 1992, four white police officers were declared innocent in the beating of black motorist Rodney King, and Los Angeles erupted in the deadliest riots of the century. (AP Photo/David Longstreath,File)

____________________________________________________________________

A tall, physically imposing man who is disarmingly friendly, self-effacing and soft-spoken, King, 47, maintains he is happy.

"America's been good to me after I paid the price and stayed alive through it all," he says. "This part of my life is the easy part now."

Deion Sanders says wife attacked him

Story by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

Written by Joel Provano

Photo by Collin County Sheriff Department

The estranged wife of Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders was arrested Monday night after he accused her and a friend of assaulting him in front of his children.

The former Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys star posted on Twitter Monday night: "Pray for me and my kids now! They just witnessed their mother and a friend jump me in my room. She's going to jail n I'm pressing charges!"

Later he tweeted: "I'm sad my boys witnessed this mess but I warned the police department here that she was gone try n harm me and my boys. This is on my mama."

Pilar Sanders, 38, was booked into the Collin County, Texas, jail Monday night on a misdemeanor family violence charge, according to jail records. Bond was set at $264.

In an interview with Dallas television station KXAS, Sanders said "My kids, they are scared for their life. They just saw two women jump their dad in his own house, in his room. It's sad.

"I got locks on my doors right now," he said. "Is somebody going to have to die? Is it going to be me before the court does something and get this woman out of my house? It's absurd."

The couple married in 1999. Deion Sanders filed for divorce last year. Pilar Sanders sued Deion for $200 million in March, alleging in two suits an assault and libelous comments posted online. She claimed "emotional and physical abuse, mental distress, public humiliation and financial loss," according to the Dallas Morning News.

Deion Sanders, 44, was selected by the Falcons in the first round of the 1989 NFL draft. He played five seasons with Atlanta before leaving to join the San Francisco 49ers for one year and then the Dallas Cowboys.

He closed out his career with one season in Washington and two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.

Sanders also played major league baseball for nine years, including three-and-a-half with the Braves from 1991-1994. He was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 2011.

George Zimmerman released from jail

Story by Dr. Boyce Watkins

In an unusually low-key turn to a high-profile case, George Zimmerman was released without incident around midnight Sunday from a Florida county jail on $150,000 bail as he awaits his second-degree murder trial for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin.

The neighborhood watch volunteer was wearing a brown jacket and blue jeans and carrying a paper bag. He walked out following another man and didn’t look over at photographers gathered outside. He then followed the man into a white BMW vehicle and drove away.

Moments before, two Seminole County sheriff’s vehicles blocked access to the intake building parking lot where Zimmerman was being released. Zimmerman emerged after two public information officers confirmed the credentials of the photographers outside.

No questions were shouted at Zimmerman, and he gave no statement.

His ultimate destination is being kept secret for his safety and it could be outside Florida.

As with the July 2011 release of Casey Anthony, the Florida woman acquitted of murder in the death of her daughter, Zimmerman was released around midnight. But the similarities end there. Anthony was quickly whisked away by deputy sheriffs armed with semi-automatic rifles as angry protesters jeered her. While news helicopters briefly tracked her SUV through Orlando before she slipped from public view, there was no such pursuit of Zimmerman, who will have to return for trial.

Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester said at a hearing Friday that Zimmerman cannot have any guns and must observe a 7 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew. Zimmerman also surrendered his passport.

Zimmerman had to put up 10 percent, or $15,000, to make bail. His father had indicated he might take out a second mortgage.

Zimmerman worked at a mortgage risk-management company at the time of the shooting and his wife is in nursing school. A website was set up to collect donations for Zimmerman’s defense fund. It is unclear how much has been raised.

Bail is not unheard of in second-degree murder cases, and legal experts had predicted it would be granted for Zimmerman because of his ties to the community, because he turned himself in after he was charged last week, and because he has never been convicted of a serious crime.

Longtime radio figure Brian Carter dies at 56

Story by Daily News

Written by John F. Morrison

They made a lot of kids late for school.

Brian Carter and his sidekick, Dave Sanborn, thrilled morning radio in Philly as entertaining yakkers and disc jockeys on Power 99 from 1987 to 1999, and later on WDAS.

Carter, the brasher and funnier of the mixed-race duo, died Sunday of a heart attack at home in his native Baltimore. He was 56.

"You and Sanborn raised me," a fan wrote on 99FM's Facebook page. "I listened to you guys all through middle school and high school. When Horace the Taurus came on, I knew I was going to be late for school."

Horace, the lovelorn astrologer, was one of the characters who enhanced Carter and Sanborn in the Morning, along with bluesman and occasional guest Lunchmeat Mumford.

Carter and Sanborn offered some of the most imaginative and outrageous features ever heard on the air. "I am devastated beyond words by the loss of Brian Carter," said Sanborn, whose real name is Bill Simpson. "He was the best radio partner on the planet, and most importantly, one of my dearest friends.

"We were dear friends from day one. When we met, there was instant chemistry. We would finish each other's sentences."

Another fan wrote on the station's Facebook page the show was "a staple of my upbringing. . . . The opening song, 'Two For the Price of One,' always brought a smile to my face and a dance in my heart."

 

"Carter and Sanborn are the reason Power 99 is the station it is today," said Ken Johnson, director of urban programming for Clear Channel Media, owner of the station. "They inspired me to recapture the presence in the community Power had when they were on the air."

Loraine Ballard Morrill, director of news and community affairs for Power 99 (WUSL-FM), who was news anchor on the show when it aired, said, "Brian Carter was an icon in radio with a love for the business and giving back to the community. This not only is a loss for his family and friends, it's a loss for broadcasting."

Carter recently worked at WBLS in New York and XM Radio.

WBLS program director Skip Dillard said, "I will miss talking to Brian. I will miss his smile, and, most importantly, his passion for radio that always reminded me why I'm here."

Carter was heard as recently as Saturday on WBLS, when he did his regular 10 a.m.-2 p.m. shift.

When Carter met Sanborn, he was doing Top 40 in the afternoons on WBSB-FM Baltimore, and Sanborn was coanchor of a zoo-type format at Norfolk's Z-104 in his native Virginia.

Power99 program director Dave Allen, who knew Carter, suggested he team with Sanborn. The two jumped at the chance.

They were famous for their quick-witted repartee, as when they were discussing Lunchmeat Mumford, who got his name because he was born on a delicatessen counter in New Orleans.

"They wanted to name him Coldcuts Mumford," Brian said, "but there was already a Coldcuts in his family."

"He always shows up in his one good sportcoat," Sanborn said. "Always brings his guitar, Ethel."

"He just shows up, does a number, and splits," Sanborn said.

"Sometimes he leaves so fast he drops his bottle."

"His liquid diet."

"Thunderbird."

Their show went off the air in January 1999, apparently on amicable terms. They renewed their partnership on WDAS-FM for a few months in 2005.

Brian Carter is survived by his wife, Sandra; two daughters, Natalie and Angela; and a son, Jordan.

Funeral arrangements had not yet been made.

Zimmerman's bond set at $150,000; he apologizes to Trayvon Martin's parents

George Zimmerman, who has been charged with second degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, takes the stand at his own bond hearing at the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman tells Martin's parents he's "sorry for the loss" of their son (video by MSNBC)

Radio One raises $1 million for kids’ charity.

From local gospel stations to its syndicated programs, Radio One says a one-day radiothon raised more than $1 million during its fifth annual Radio Cares for St. Jude Kids national event. The company says 11 of its gospel stations took part in the April 5 event as well as Syndication One’s “Yolanda Adams Morning Show” and “CoCo Brother Live” programs.

First Lady Michele Obama exclusive interview Thursday April 19th (Encore First Lady Broadcast MONDAY MORNING) on Syndication One News-Talk Networks' Warren Ballentine Show

First Lady Michele Obama takes time to provide insights to Warren Ballentine during an interview at the White House (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Martin Raab

972.371.5810 Marty.Raab@ReachMediaInc.com

• First Lady Michelle Obama Speaks About Assisting Our Troops with Syndication One's Warren Ballentine Thursday April 19, 2012 (encore First Lady broadcast Monday April 23rd 11am eastern)

• Visit to White House Highlighting Entrepreneurship for HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions brings vital observations from First Lady.

• First Lady Michelle Obama outlines the ‘Joining Forces’ Program set up by her and Jill Biden to assist troops, veterans and families.

When: Thursday, April 19, 2012 

Time: Show broadcast 10:00am - 1:00pm EDT

Targeted interview time in 10:00am hour, approximately 10:15am (encore First Lady broadcast Monday April 23rd 11am eastern)

Broadcast outlets:

1. http://www.syndication1.com/
2. Sirius/XM Channel 128
3. 28 Affiliate Radio Stations throughout the country

(Dallas, April 18, 2012) - On Thursday, April 19th (encore First Lady broadcast Monday April 23rd 11am eastern), Syndication One News-Talk Network's talk show host Warren Ballentine will highlight an exclusive interview with First Lady Michelle Obama LIVE from the White House. Ballentine most recently visited on Monday, April 16th as part of their Summit on Entrepreneurship for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions. The White House Summit offered the opportunity for nationally syndicated talk show host Warren Ballentine to provide a national African-American audience for small business owners, government experts, and leaders from a variety of HBCUs/MSIs to discuss their numerous opportunities and facilitate solutions to challenges in under-served communities.

The First Lady spoke caringly about the ‘Joining Forces’ program that she and Jill Biden set up to assist our troops, veterans, and their families: “We want to make sure that we rally this country around our troops, veterans, and their families to make sure that we are giving them the kind of support that they are giving to this nation.”

In speaking about the special opportunity, Warren Ballentine stated: "Doing my show from the White House was such a great honor for me. The staff was OUTSTANDING and the chance to interview First Lady Michelle Obama was truly a blessing and honor. The First Lady is not only gracious, she is wise, funny, empathetic and truly in tune with the people of America. This is an experience that I will never forget!”

Ballentine brought his talk show to the White House as the Obama Administration joined forces with the Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Department of Education (DoED) as they have partnered to create awareness and increase entrepreneurial services to minority serving two and four-year institutions. They have joined forces to promote services, and explore solutions to entrepreneurship gaps in under-served communities.

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The Warren Ballentine Show features Warren Ballentine, "The People's Attorney." The listeners he calls his "Truth Fighters" have an open and frank discussion each weekday about legal issues, politics, education, religion, sex, and anything else that's topical. During his three hours of "thought radio," Warren shoots straight from the hip and inspires his listeners to not just complain, but to take action to solve problems. The Warren Ballentine Show top 10 markets include WSRB Chicago and WGUN Atlanta.

Senate torpedoes 'Buffett Rule' bill

Story by The Hill
By Bernie Becker, Pete Kasperowicz, and Vicki Needham

The Senate on Monday rejected a Democratic proposal intended to ensure millionaires pay a minimum tax rate.

In a mostly party-line 51-45 vote, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes they needed to move forward with a debate on the so-called “Buffett Rule” legislation, with all but one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), voting to oppose proceeding on the legislation.

Sen. Mark Pryor (Ark.) was the only Democrat to vote against the motion, though Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who caucuses with Senate Democrats but missed Monday’s vote, released a statement announcing his opposition to the Buffett Rule.

Fifty Democrats supported the motion to proceed to the bill, including Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who previously had opposed similar efforts. Nelson cited the deficit for changing his position, but his decision to retire and not seek reelection at the end of this Congress might also have played a role.

Both parties expected the result, and the issue of whether wealthier households should pay higher taxes on investment income appeared likely to remain at center stage through November’s presidential election.

The two sides believe they will benefit from an extended debate over taxes this election season.

Democrats believe they have a winner in the Buffett Rule’s proposition that those making north of $1 million a year should pay a higher effective tax rate than middle-class families.

The Obama White House and party lawmakers have been determined to amplify the issue, with the president using the bully pulpit last week to pressure Republicans on the message of tax fairness and economic equality.

But Republicans say Democrats are overplaying their hand by pushing for a tax increase, and believe a proposed small-business tax cut scheduled for a House vote this week sets up a nice contrast.

Top GOP lawmakers have repeatedly called the Buffett Rule a political gimmick, and derided the president for campaigning heavily on the issue.

Republicans have also said that the Senate proposal, which the Joint Committee on Taxation says would raise roughly $47 billion over a decade if current income tax rates expire, would put only a little dent in the federal debt.

“President Obama looked at the options in front of him, sat down with his political advisers, and he said, ‘you know what, let’s go with the poll-tested tax increase on investment and job creation that won’t fix anything and won’t pass anyway, instead of actually doing something about the debt and the deficit,’ ” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday.

Democratic lawmakers said before the vote that they were willing to force repeated votes on the Buffett Rule to press their case.

“Republicans in Congress would rather end Medicare as we know it and slash education funding than ask the richest of the rich to contribute even a penny more,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on the chamber floor on Monday.

Democrats believe that, in presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, they have an ideal foil as they make their push for the Buffett Rule, which is named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has said he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.

Romney, the likely GOP presidential nominee, has released tax records showing that he paid a 13.9 percent tax rate on $21.6 million in 2010 income.

But Republicans think the Democratic effort could backfire with an electorate focused on unemployment and high gas prices. They latched on to comments from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the sponsor of the legislation, who said the bill’s goal was not to lower gas prices or the jobless rate.

Whitehouse’s legislation would mandate that taxpayers making more than $2 million a year, counting proceeds from capital gains and dividends, pay at least a 30 percent federal tax rate. The rule would be phased in for those making between $1 million and $2 million.

House Republicans have scheduled their own tax vote for this week, a proposal to allow businesses with less than 500 employees a 20 percent tax deduction.

Signs also emerged over the weekend that Romney was interested in showing he’s willing to raise some taxes on the wealthy.

Romney, whom Democrats have repeatedly tried to cast as out of touch, floated the idea of limiting the deduction for mortgage interest of wealthy taxpayers’ second homes, according to reporters who heard his pitch at a private Florida fundraiser.

Still, Democrats, citing poll data showing that Americans support the Buffett Rule, appear confident that that they have a tax message that is better tailored to the middle class.

Whitehouse implied on the Senate floor on Monday that the Buffett Rule legislation could keep the United States from becoming a country that is too tilted toward the rich, and suggested to reporters he believed the proposal would eventually have enough votes to proceed in the Senate.

“I think once we hit 60 votes, it will flood well beyond,” Whitehouse said on a Monday conference call. “We must keep up the continued pressure on special interests that will hold their own for awhile.”

President Obama Weekly Address 4-14-12: It’s Time for Congress to Pass the Buffett Rule

President Obama urges Congress to pass the Buffett Rule -- which asks those who make more than $1 million a year to pay at least the same percentage of their income in taxes as middle class families -- as a principle of fairness.

George Zimmerman in Court and Affidavit

The following is a transcript of the arrest and charging affidavit used to bring second degree murder charges against George Zimmerman for the shooting death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin.

_____________________________________________________________________

OFFICE OF THE STATE ATTORNEY
FOURTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT of FLORIDA
ANGELA B. COREY -- STATE ATTORNEY

STATE OF FLORIDA VS. GEORGE ZIMMERMAN

EIGHTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, SEMINOLE COUNTY FLORIDA

AFFIDAVIT OF PROBABLE CAUSE - SECOND DEGREE MURDER

_____________________________________________________________________

Before me, personally appeared T.C. O'Steen and K.D. Gilbreath, who after being duly sworn; deposes and says:

Your affiants, Investigators T.C. O'Steen, and Dale Gilbreath are members of the State Attorney Office - Fourth Judicial Circuit appointed in the case by State Attorney Angela B. Corey, who was assigned in the case under Executive Order of the Governor 12-72.

Investigator O'Steen was previously employed by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, and has 35 years of law enforcement experience, including 20 years handling homicide investigations. Investigator Gilbreath was previously employed by the Jacksonville, Sheriff's Office, and has 36 years of law enforcement experience, including 24 years handling homicide investigations.

Your affiants, along with other law enforcement officials have taken sworn statements from witnesses, spoken with law enforcement officers who have provided sworn testimony in reports, reviewed other reports, recorded statements, phone records, recorded calls to police, photographs, videos and other documents in detailing the following:

On Sunday, 2/26/12, Trayvon Martin was temporarily living at the Retreat at Twin lakes, a gated community in Sanford, Seminole County, Florida. That evening Marin walked to a nearby 7-11 store where he purchased a can of iced tea and a bag of skittles, Martin then walked back to entered the gated community and was on his way back to the townhouse where he was living when he was profiled by George Zimmerman. Martin was unarmed and was not committing a crime.

Zimmerman who also lived in the gated community, and was driving his vehicle observed Martin and assumed Martin was a criminal. Zimmerman felt Martin did not belong in the gated community and called the police.

Zimmerman spoke to the dispatcher and asked for an officer to respond because Zimmerman perceived that Martine was acting suspicious. The police dispatcher informed Zimmerman that an officer was on the way and to wait for the officer.

During the recorded call Zimmerman made reference to people he felt had committed and gotten away with break-ins in his neighborhood. Later while talking about Martin, Zimmerman stated "these assholes, they always get away" and also said "these fucking punks".

During this time, Martin was on the phone with a friend and described to her what was happening. The witness advised that Martin was scared because he was being followed through the complex by an unknown male and didn't know why. Martin attempted to run home but was followed by Zimmerman who didn't want the person he falsely assumed was going to commit a crime to get away before the police arrived. Zimmerman got out of his vehicle and followed Martin. When the police dispatcher realized Zimmerman's was pursuing Martin, he instructed Zimmerman not to do that and that the responding officer would meet him. Zimmerman disregarded the police dispatcher and continued to follow Martin who was trying to return to his home.

Zimmerman confronted Martin and a struggle ensued. Witnesses heard people arguing and what sounded like a struggle. During this time period witnesses heard numerous called for help and some of these were recorded in 911 calls to police. Trayvon Martin's mother has reviewed the 911 calls and identified the voice crying for help as Trayvon martin's voice.

Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest. When police arrived Zimmerman admitted shooting Martin. Officers recovered a gun from a holster inside Zimmerman's waistband. A fired casing that was recovered at the scene was determined to have been fired from the firearm.

Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Bao Performed an autopsy and determined that Martin died from the gunshot wound.

The facts mentioned in this affidavit are not a complete recitation of all the pertinent facts and evidence in the case but only are presented for a determination of Probable Cause for Second Degree Murder.

By: Investigator T.C. O'Steen, Affiant
By: Investigator Dale Gilbreath, Affiant

Sworn to and subscribed before me
This 11th day of April, 2012

Jennifer Weigel
Notary Public, State of Florida at Large

Press Conference for the Parents of Trayvon Martin

http://www.livestream.com/officialnationalactionnetwork/share?clipId=pla_2d8b21e1-d49f-4915-beef-2bbe1995da73&utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=ui-share&utm_campaign=officialnationalactionnetwork&utm_content=officialnationalactionnetwork

George Zimmerman arrested and charged with 2nd degree murder

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN TO BE CHARGED IN TRAYVON MARTIN SHOOTING

Trayvon Martin's Dad thanks Al Sharpton and all that are supported his family

Story by Washington Post

Written by Sari Horwitz 

Video by NBC

Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey plans to announce as early as Wednesday afternoon that she is charging neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, according to a law enforcement official close to the investigation.

It was not immediately clear what charge Zimmerman will face.

Martin, 17 and unarmed, was shot and killed Feb. 26 by Zimmerman, who said he was acting in self-defense. Police in Sanford, Fla., where the shooting took place, did not charge Zimmerman, citing the state’s “stand your ground” law.

Corey told reporters Tuesday night that she would hold a news conference about the case within 72 hours. A news release from her office said the event will be held in Sanford or Jacksonville, Fla.

Benjamin Crump, who is representing the Martin family, said this week that Corey’s office had asked where Trayvon’s parents would be each day this week. They arrived Wednesday in Washington for a civil rights conference organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton, where they are scheduled to speak.

The announcement of a charge against Zimmerman would come a day after Zimmerman’s attorneys withdrew from the case, citing their inability to contact Zimmerman.

Lawyers Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig on Tuesday expressed concern about Zimmerman’s emotional and physical well-being, saying he has taken actions without consulting them. They also said they do not know where Zimmerman is.

“You can stop looking in Florida,” Uhrig told reporters. “Look much further away than that.”
Corey said Monday that she would not bring the case before a grand jury, which was expected to convene this week. She said her decision to forgo the grand jury should not be viewed as a factor in determining whether charges will be filed.

Corey has indicated in recent weeks that she might not need a grand jury to bring charges against Zimmerman.

The lawyers said they stand by their assertions that Zimmerman acted in self-defense when he killed the 17-year-old, who was unarmed, but they acknowledged that they formed their impressions without meeting Zimmerman.

Santorum suspends Presidential Campaign

Rick Santorum suspends his 2012 presidential campaign at an event in Gettysburg, Pa.

Story nt MSNBC
Written by Michael O'Brien
 
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum suspended his campaign on Tuesday, clearing Mitt Romney’s path to the Republican presidential nomination.

Citing weekend reflection with his family, prompted in part by a hospital stay for his youngest daughter, Santorum suspended his campaign, effective today.

"We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me and we will suspend our campaign effective today. We are not done fighting."

"Ladies and gentleman, we made the decision to get into this race at our kitchen table against all the odds," Santorum said in remarks to reporters in Gettysburg, Pa.

The announcement effectively stifles opposition to Romney from within the GOP; amid signs that the Republican establishment has started to rally around Romney, the former Massachusetts governor no longer faces any serious conservative challenger.

Rick Santorum and I (Kirk Tanter) in New Hampsire during the 2012 N.H. primary 

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul remain active candidates, though neither of them have a plausible path to winning the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the nomination.

The decision comes two weeks before the Pennsylvania presidential primary. Santorum had faced the prospect of an embarrassing loss to Romney that threatened to short-circuit any of his future political aspirations, either statewide or nationally.

Santorum’s announcement also follows the second health scare of the year for his daughter Bella who suffers from the chromosomal disorder Trisomy 18.

Read more »

Al Sharpton Radio Show Available Now

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1st television interview in 1957 at age 28