Seattle Storm Forward Shyra Ely and some of the close to 100 kids who participated in a free basketball clinic hosted by the WNBA and the Seattle Storm Saturday, Dec. 8 at Van Asselt Community Center watch to see if the ball goes through the hoop. The clinic was taught by WNBA and Seattle Storm staff and was open to 7- to 14-year-olds. All participants received a free T shirt and certificate of participation.

One of the NBA's greatest players of all time was recently in town. Basketball Hall of Fame legend, Earl "The Pearl" Monroe is hoping to raise awareness about a common urinary condition he suffered from, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or enlargement of the prostate.
Monroe talked to a group of men on Dec. 6, telling them about BPH and how they can recognize and manage the condition. The event, hosted by The Center for Multicultural Health, was held at Garfield Community Center.
Monroe, 61, is part of a national campaign called the "FLOMAX One Week Challenge," to educate men about BPH and encourage men age 50 and older to go online to www.oneweekchallenge.com and take a simple quiz to evaluate the severity of any unwanted urinary symptoms and to determine whether they should consult a doctor about diagnosis and treatment for BPH. Seattle is the final stop on Monroe's tour which began last month at Madison Square Garden in New York. ...

About 30 neo-Nazis and 20 anti-racist opponents remained peaceful during a meeting under swastika flags at a community center in Longview, Wash.
Police watched the three-hour meeting last night at the McClelland Arts Center, organized by the Church of Jesus Christ-Christian, an affiliate of the White supremacist Aryan Nations. The recruiting event included poetry based on Viking mythology, punk music and a speech about national socialism.
The opponents who listened quietly were from a crowd of people who marched and attended a cultural diversity picnic intended to counter the – much smaller — White supremacist recruiters rally. ...

DALLAS (NNPA) — Dr. M. Joycelyn Elders, The first Black surgeon general of the United States under Pres. Bill Clinton, won't keep silent about America's unhealthy relationship with sex. Speaking to a crowd of 500 people last week at a World AIDS Day luncheon held at the Hilton-Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, Elders called for better sex education for children and teenagers and a more honest discussion of sexual matters.
Stating that America has a sexually unhealthy society, Elders emphasized the fact that humans are sexual beings, yet, she said we don't talk about sex enough.
"We walk around and we say, well, ignorance is bliss and we misinterpret ignorance for innocence. We've got to start educating our children," she said, introducing her "ABC" list for sexual education. ...

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The 51st annual National Urban League Equal Opportunity Day Dinner on Thursday, Nov. 15 in New York raised $2 million dollars that evening, a record for Microsoft, who was inducted into their $5 Million Dollar Hall of Fame. From left: Claudette Whiting, Microsoft's General Manager of Global Diversity and Inclusion; Russ Mitchell, CBS "The Early Show" News Anchor; Magic Johnson, CEO Johnson Enterprises; Soledad O'Brien, CNN News Anchor and Special Correspondent join Marc Morial, president and CEO, National Urban League and John D. Hofmeister, Chairman of the Board of the National Urban League.

It's official. Crystal Aikin is the best of the best in amateur gospel singing, according to Black Entertainment Television.
The 33-year-old from Tacoma, Wash., sung her way into first place in BET's Sunday's Best Gospel competition. Her dynamic voice earned her the keys to a 2008 Toyota Camry and a  national recording contract with Zomba Records.
 And that's before we get to the $300,000 in prize money.
Aikin shed a few tears when her win was announced but said she felt enormous gratitude. Of all of the national and local singing competitions she participated in, this is the first competition she's actually won. 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Rev. Al Sharpton angrily denounced federal authorities Thursday for investigating him and his civil rights organization, suggesting that the Justice Department was retaliating against him for his political activism.
"I have probably been under every investigation known to man and I can't remember a time that I've not been under investigation," Sharpton said at a news conference at the Harlem headquarters of his National Action Network.
"The issues raised are issues that we've learned over and over again, particularly when we are approaching an election season."
Sharpton called the news conference after reports emerged Thursday of a federal probe into his finances.
The FBI and the IRS are investigating Sharpton for tax fraud and possible campaign finance violations stemming from his 2004 presidential bid, according to a person familiar with the investigation. They are also investigating the National Action Network and several businesses he runs.
A Brooklyn grand jury is scheduled to begin hearing evidence in the case at the end of the month.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) _ The federal government calls demolition of public housing complexes an overdue war on poverty in New Orleans made possible by Hurricane Katrina. Churchmen, civil rights lawyers, preservationists and protesters call it a land grab and class cleansing.
On Wednesday, workers began tearing down the first of 4,500 federally administered public housing units to make way for mixed-income neighborhoods.
The plan has ignited allegations the true aim is to benefit developers over the needs of New Orleans' poor, who are overwhelmingly black. ...