WASHINGTON (NNPA) - A report released on June 16 by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund titled, "Confronting the New Face of Hate: Hate Crimes in America in 2009," says recent history that suggests America is on a more progressive path in terms of racial and ethnic relations is simply not true. To stem the tide of hate crimes in the country, a civil rights organization has joined forces with a prominent Jewish group to support fighting hate crimes.

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - Ninety years after the passage of the 19th amendment by Congress, a new report for the National Council of Negro Women researched by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) shows that African-American and Latino women continue to receive disparate treatment in the mortgage lending process.

For the last five months of his life, Sam Sachs has spent more time advocating for the rights of minorities than ever before. He's cut out on work, showed up in Salem on a moment's notice and spent hours upon hours advocating for legislation that won't ever personally affect him. Sachs was responsible for House Bill 3118, which requires institutes of higher education in Oregon to interview at least one minority candidate for a head coaching or athletic director position ...

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The insurance industry Tuesday laid down a marker on health care, warning in stark terms that a proposed government insurance plan would dismantle the employer coverage Americans have relied on for a half century and overtake the system. Recent media polls have found strong public support for the idea of a government plan. It would compete with private companies to offer coverage to individuals and small businesses, but eventually might be opened to large employers as well ...

FRANKFURT (AP) _ Iran is big business for Europe, whose companies sell it everything from rail equipment to turbines and even cell phone technology that has been used to block communications between protesters seeking to overturn disputed election results. But while European governments have expressed outrage over Tehran's bloody crackdown on the demonstrations, lucrative business interests will make them think twice about taking tough action like imposing sanctions ...

ATLANTA (AP) -- A new Internet data map offers a first-of-its-kind, county-level look at HIV cases in the U.S. and finds the infection rates tend to be highest in the South. Of 48 counties with the highest prevalence rates for HIV that had not yet progressed to AIDS, 25 were in Georgia, according to the map ...

Listen, if it's okay in the world of pop music for DJs to remix snippets of classic songs in order to rap over them, why shouldn't a hip-hop era filmmaker be able to do the same thing with an old movie, especially if its copyright is expired and its now part of the public domain?  That's precisely what we're dealing with in the case of "Rebirth of a Nation," a sophisticated overhaul of D.W. Griffith's "Birth of a Nation" ...

Stacy Spikes is the founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Urbanworld Film Festival, the premiere showcase for urban and ethnic films ... Over the years, his goal of celebrating filmmakers of color has successfully created a bridge in Hollywood between studio and independent films. . . .

Oregon lawmakers last week passed food quality standards for olive oil, with legislation introduced by Portland resident Paul Knauls Jr. State senators Friday approved a bill banning additives and fillers such as peanut oil to "extra virgin" olive oil – the finest quality oil, produced by the first pressing of the olives — sold in the state of Oregon, as well as creating new labeling requirements for the product. . . .

If you still receive your television signal off your old rabbit ears, take notice: On Friday June 12, your television set will no longer receive a signal from local stations. But it's not too late, digital converter boxes are available at local retailers and $40 converter coupons are still available until July 31 . . . .