In today’s top news, Jay-Z debunks Blue Ivy poem rumors, NAACP President Ben Jealous predicts a fail for South Carolina’s voter ID bill and a new report shows ties between DOJ big wigs and mortgage banks.

Jay-Z says Blue Ivy Carter poem a fake. [BET]

NAACP President Ben Jealous predicts failure for the South Carolina voter ID bill. [BET]

Links between top Justice Department officials and mortgage banks revealed. [Reuters]

BET receives 14 NAACP nominations. [BET]

Obama belts a tune at the Apollo with Al Green. [AP]

DMX says a Ruff Ryders reunion may be in the works. [BET]

Search for cruise disaster survivors coming to a close. [CNN]

Gang members arrested after touting murder on Facebook. [Reuters]

Ebony.com gets a new look. [BET]

Gadhafi reportedly had a stash of chemical weapons. [BBC]

Cameroon concerned that militant group Boko Haram may be on the move. [CNN]

Ebony and JET Trim Jobs
Ebony and JET magazines, struggling to raise revenues during an anemic economy, have made cuts so deep that they even included their editorial director. Richard Prince, in his online Journal-isms column, reported that employees who lost their jobs could reapply for new positions. Johnson Publishing, he writes, is “executing a multi-phase reorganization.” Johnson Publishing is ranked No. 1 on Crain’s 2008 list of Chicago’s largest minority-owned companies with $453.3 million in revenue in 2007. It even beat out Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Inc. However, Ebony’s ad sales dropped almost 19 percent to $14.9 million in 2008, according to Magazine Publishers of America data. Advertising revenue for Jet sank 41 percent to $5.7 million in 2008.

Georgia Lawmaker Says Close Black Colleges
Republican State Sen. Seth Harp, who heads Georgia’s Higher Education Committee, is asking the state Board of Regents to phase out the historically Black 3,400-student Savannah State University with nearby Armstrong Atlantic State University, a majority White school with 6,800 students. He would also like to see historically Black Albany State University, which has about 4,100 enrolled, merged with nearby Darton College, which has a predominantly White student body of about 4,700 students. Harp calls the Black institutions a holdover from the Jim Crow era there merely “perpetuate segregation in our state.” Said Harp, “It is time we close this chapter in Georgia.” He said that in light of the state’s rapidly evaporating finances, it makes good money sense. Georgia has a $2 billion budget shortfall. Still, critics of the plan say, closing the schools would mean losing a significant piece of history, borne out of the civil rights struggle. “This is a matter of pride in the African-American community,” state Sen. Emanuel Jones, chairman of Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, said. “He is not just talking about merging institutions, he’s talking about a way of life with roots that go back to slavery. That’s the nerve that he’s touching.” Jones and others note that HBCUs provide an opportunity for postsecondary educations to students who otherwise might not attend college.

Michelle Obama covers Ebony.

While the ladies seem to love to accessorize their outfits with diamonds and pearls, Michelle Obama says her best accessory is her husband. She tells Ebony magazine, “The best thing I love having on me is Barack on my arm and vice versa, whether it’s having him standing there smiling at me or watching him mesmerize a crowd or talk to some seniors in a senior center.” Michelle Obama told the magazine, which hits newsstands Aug. 12, that should she become first lady, her primary focus will continue to be “mom-in-chief,” to their two daughters – Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7. Michelle Obama also discussed her marriage, how she balances motherhood and work and her fashion sense. Michelle Obama officially graced her way into the international spotlight as a fashion icon, making it onto Vanity Fair magazine’s International Best-Dressed List the last month. The couple also grace the cover of next month’s Essence magazine.