THE NATION

Paterson’s Stature Erodes Even in Stomping Grounds

NEW YORK (AP) — David Paterson, New York’s first black governor and a product of the Harlem political machine, faced rapidly waning support March 4 even among New York City’s most influential black leaders, while his top spokesman resigned and said he couldn’t “in good conscience continue.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton convened a meeting of black politicians at a soul food restaurant in Harlem in an effort to craft a message asking Paterson to resign, according to a senior state Democrat briefed on the meeting.

A state panel accused Paterson March 3 of illegally obtaining World Series tickets, then lying about it. That charge came on top of an investigation of whether the governor or staff members had inappropriate contact with a woman who made — but later inexplicably dropped — an abuse complaint against an aide who had accompanied Paterson to the baseball game four days earlier.

Testimony by communications director Peter Kauffmann was key to the decision by the Public Integrity Commission to charge Paterson with an ethics violation. Kauffmann resigned March 4.

The governor insists he is innocent, won’t quit and will fight the ethics charges.

FBI Says Civil Rights Initiative Ending

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The FBI is wrapping up the Civil Rights Cold Case Initiative, which focuses on racially motivated killings from the civil rights era.

The agency said March 2 that about half of the 108 cases it began investigating in 2006 involved deceased victims, while 30 percent involved subjects who had already been prosecuted at the state level and 20 percent uncovered deaths that weren’t racially motivated.

Three cold-case investigations were referred for state prosecution, and the FBI is currently assisting in the prosecution of a former state trooper.

The Department of Justice has closed eight cases.

Farrakhan Predicts Continued Trouble for Pres. Obama

CHICAGO (AP) — Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan claims the “white right” is trying to make Barack Obama a one-term president.

The 76-year-old says the stalling of health care legislation is proof.

Farrakhan made the comments as he addressed followers of the Chicago-based movement that has embraced black nationalism since its founding. The Feb. 28 keynote speech took place before an estimated 20,000 people on the last day of the group’s Saviours’ Day convention.

Farrakhan has vigorously supported Obama. Even so, Obama distanced himself from Farrakhan before his election because of Farrakhan’s past statements that were considered anti-Semitic.

During the hours-long speech, Farrakhan boasted of being bigger than a prophet.

On the Net: Nation of Islam Saviours’ Day 2010: www.noisd.org.

In D.C., Blacks Were Crucial to Gay Marriage Debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Gay and lesbian couples are able to marry in Washington, but the debate over same-sex marriage has sounded different here.

Over the past year, both sides have courted the support of D.C.’s black community, a majority of the city’s 600,000 residents.

That has meant drawing parallels to Martin Luther King Jr.’s advocacy for equal rights and saying same-sex marriage bans will one day seem as ridiculous as interracial marriage bans. Both sides worked hard to curry favor with black leaders and churches.

Gay couples were expected to be able to apply for marriage licenses beginning March 4 — but opponents are still challenging the bill in court.

THE SOUTHLAND

Three Teachers Removed Over Choice of Black Heroes

(AP) — Three Los Angeles elementary school teachers accused of giving children portraits of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul to carry in a Black History Month parade have been removed from their classrooms, a school district spokeswoman said March 3.

Children from other classes at the school displayed photos of more appropriate black role models, such as Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman and President Barack Obama, Los Angeles Unified School District spokeswoman Gayle Pollard-Terry said.

The incident occurred Feb. 26 at Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles, where the student body is more than 90 percent Latino.

District Superintendent Ramon Cortines placed the teachers — all white men who teach first, second and fourth grades — on administrative leave March 2 while an investigation is conducted, Pollard-Terry said.

“The superintendent will not let anyone make a mockery out of Black History Month,” she said.

L.A. County Probation Workers Going Unpunished

(AP) — The head of the Los Angeles County Probation Department said he doesn’t have the staff to punish 170 workers awaiting discipline for misconduct — including some that abused youngsters in their care.

Department Interim Chief Cal Remington told the Los Angeles Times that there’s a case backlog. He said a discipline unit that can issue written reprimands and even fire workers is too small.

Most of the workers awaiting discipline remain on the job.

The agency has 14 investigators to handle complaints of employee misconduct. Remington said more than 100 investigations are pending and some have been unresolved for months.

County supervisors on March 2 ordered an independent review of the agency’s discipline and internal affairs operations.

THE STATE

Calif. Shut Out of Education Funding Competition

SACRAMENTO (AP) — The U.S. Department of Education on March 4 rejected California’s application for the first round of a $4.3 billion school-funding competition, a blow to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and reform supporters who lobbied to change state law so California would have a better shot at the funding.

Other states with large populations, including New York, Florida, Pennsylvania and Illinois, were among 16 that made the list of finalists from 41 applicants in the first round of the “Race to the Top” competition promoted by the Obama administration.

California lawmakers wrangled for weeks before passing a package of school reform measures in January designed to make the state more competitive for up to $700 million of the funding.

The legislation included forcing persistently failing schools to make sweeping changes, such as replacing teachers or converting to charter schools. Parents with kids in the worst schools could move their children elsewhere, and some schools could even be forced to close. The changes were opposed by the California Teachers Association.

THE DIASPORA

Uganda Floods Displace 20,000, Slow Victim Search

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Officials in Uganda said heavy rains in the country’s east region have triggered flooding that has displaced more than 20,000 people and hampered search efforts after a massive landslide.

Joel Aguma, the police commander for eastern Uganda, says persistent heavy rains have flooded more than 30 villages, leading to the displacement of more than 20,000 people.

Recent rains have triggered massive landslides that covered three villages in the Bududa region, burying what officials believe to be several hundred people.