President has confidence of 2 out of 3 Americans. Two-thirds of the nation supports the leadership of President Barack Obama, if a CNN poll is correct. Released on Friday, the survey’s results also show that six out of 10 people support the economic stimulus proposal Obama signed into law this week. The first Black president’s approval rating of 67 percent is down 9 points from the last CNN survey weeks ago. “Since nearly all of the decline came from among Republicans, this doesn’t indicate that the honeymoon is already over,” says CNN spokesman Keating Holland. “Among Democrats, Obama’s approval went from 96 percent to 92 percent; among Republicans, it dropped from 50 percent in early February to 31 percent now.”

Kym Worthy keeps pressure on Kilpatrick. Don’t send out the Dallas welcome wagon for Kwame Kilpatrick just yet: The former Detroit mayor who just got out of jail has a tenacious opponent in Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. Worthy, who helped put Kilpatrick behind bars for corruption last year, asked a judge not to let Kilpatrick leave Michigan for job training, as Kilpatrick requests. They’ll appear in court next week when a court decides if the ex-mayor can go on with his plan to re-locate to Dallas and take a six-figure sales gig there. Worthy argues that Kilpatrick deceived the court when he said traveling to Texas was necessary for his job interview. She also says that the $3,000 monthly rent Kilpatrick reportedly plans to pay for his new home should go toward the $1 million restitution he agreed to give the Detroit finance department.

 Christine Beatty, former chief of staff to ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, begins her county jail sentence next week. Kilpatrick is serving 120 days after admitting that he lied under oath about an extra-marital affair with Beatty when the city was sued by two former cops whose investigation could’ve exposed the romance. Beatty pleaded guilty to similar charges last month after many had speculated that she’d agree to testify against Kilpatrick and avoid jail time. Beatty resigned as chief of staff when the Detroit Free Press published dozens of sexually explicit text messages exchanged between her and Kilpatrick.

The Kilpatricks give up their vacation home. Jailed ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his wife, Carlita, have sold the Tallahassee, Fla., vacation home that served as their family retreat after the text-message scandal erupted last January.  Read the rest here.

A Web site purported to be collecting $1 million to help Kilpatrick pay off his fine

Beware, if you were planning to send a donation to help Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pay off his court-ordered $1 million restitution. Somebody has set up a special Web site, purportedly to collect contributions for the disgraced mayor, who was sentenced to four months in prison and five years probation, in addition to the fine and his forced resignation. But a spokesman for Kilpatrick says that hizzoner is not connected to the site in any way. Find out what he had to say at BET.com/News.

Outgoing Detroit mayor tells citizens he takes responsibility for felonies.
Outgoing mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick says his fall from political grace won’t be the end of his contributions to community leadership. Hours after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice and announcing his plans to resign, the beleaguered leader gave farewell speech to supporters and live TV cameras, saying, “I take full responsibility for my actions.” Kilpatrick agreed to serve four months in jail and pay $1 million in restitution in exchange for dismissal of perjury charges, additional felonies and the possibility of 10 or more years in prison. In addition, the mayor must surrender his law license and agrees not to run for office during his five years of probation. Kilpatrick’s perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office charges stemmed from his discipline of cops whose investigation into police overtime threatened to expose the mayor’s personal life. Dozens of text messages sent between Kilpatrick and his ex-chief of staff Christine Beatty show an extra-marital affair between them in 2003. The former officers were blocked from probing alleged overtime abuse by Kilpatrick’s security squad whose members reportedly served duty during the mayor’s sexual encounters. Kilpatrick and Beatty, who’s now divorced, denied their affair while under oath at a 2007 civil trial where the investigating cops sued the mayor and the city. The cops won their lawsuit and the mayor later settled on the city’s behalf for $8.4 million – apparently after learning about the text messages. Beatty has since divorced her husband and also faces multiple felonies. “I wish that we could turn back the hands of time and tell that young man to make better choices, but I can’t,” Kilpatrick said Thursday night. Immediately following his guilty plea, the mayor pleaded no contest in a separate assault case involving a July confrontation with Wayne County sheriff’s deputies. While not specifying how he’d comeback from the legal and political devastation he’s facing, Kilpatrick expressed pride and appreciation for his administration and family, saying he’ll “rise” again.

BET News Quiz. Detroit mayor will get jail time, millions of Blacks still not registered to vote and one female rapper is looking to adopt. Test your knowledge here!

Removal hearings for Kwame Kilpatrick scheduled for today

Barring a last-minute plea agreement, historic proceedings are set to begin this morning for the possible removal of Detroit’s mayor. Gov. Jennifer Granholm will preside over the hearings requested by Detroit City Council, in the wake of multiple felony charges leveled against Kwame Kilpatrick this spring. He’s accused of both lying in court about an extra-marital affair with his ex-chief of staff and hiding evidence of the affair by settling a multi-million-dollar lawsuit with ex-cops who could’ve exposed the romance. Kilpatrick’s lawyers worked through Labor Day weekend and on Tuesday trying to negotiate a plea that wouldn’t include jail time for and hoping to get a court order stopping Granholm’s hearings. The mayor reportedly sought to offer his resignation, surrender his law license and state pension, do community service and probation, all in exchange for no jail time. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is said to be unyielding on the question of Kilpatrick’s incarceration. The mayor enjoyed a small victory Tuesday when a court agreed to let him remove his ankle monitor at a bond hearing. But a second judge, followed by the Michigan Court of Appeals, ruled that the governor’s hearing can proceed. Granholm’s removal of Kilpatrick would leave him subject to prosecution without the chance to resign as part of any plea. About a dozen witnesses are expected to testify at the 9 a.m. hearing, which Granholm – former Michigan attorney general – plans to oversee.

Clock ticking as Detroit mayor reportedly turns down second plea offer 

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick could be spending his final week in office after reportedly turning down a second plea opportunity to reduce the felony charges he faces. Kilpatrick last week rejected an offer from prosecutors that would let him plead guilty to one of two felony assault charges, connected with his alleged shove of a sheriff’s deputy at his sister’s home last month. Get more details at BET.com/News.

Governor To Decide Kilpatrick’s Fate

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s poltical future now rests in the hands of the governor.  Gov. Jennifer Granholm said on Tuesday that she may use a provision in the state constitution to have him removed from office for misconduct, The Associated Press reports. Read more about the city counci’s appeal to the governor and the charges Kilpatrick faces at BET.com/News.

Skin head gets 25 years for murdering a Black man. The justice system is finally bringing some closure to the nearly 20-year-old murder of a Black man in Philly. Thomas Gibison, a White supremacist, was convicted of conspiracy in the 1989 shooting death of Aaron Wood and was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, The Associated Press reports. A friend of Gibison testified during the trial that they went to North Philadelphia to find a Black man to kill so they could earn a White supremacist tattoo. Gibison already is serving time in prison for unrelated weapons offenses charges.

March on Washington anniversary remembered. Forty-five years ago, thousands descended on D.C., and changed America forever. See the photos here.

Kwame Kilpatrick’s trip to DNC still in question.

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is due in court tomorrow for the fifth time in weeks, where he’ll be arraigned on charges that he assaulted a sheriff’s deputy last month. Kilpatrick also faces criminal charges of perjury for his alleged involvement in a cover-up of a police investigation and his denial under oath that he had an extra-marital affair with his former chief of staff. The denials contradict hundreds of text messages sent between Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty, who also faces perjury charges. Kilpatrick’s next court appearance could determine whether he’s free to travel to next week’s Democratic National Convention and historic nomination of Barack Obama. Last week, Judge Leonard Townsend reversed an order that Kilpatrick wear an ankle tether and be restricted from leaving metro Detroit after a bond violation. But within hours, Kilpatrick was tethered again, due to separate restrictions connected with the assault charge. Townsend shocked prosecutors by openly advocating in court for the mayor to attend the Democratic National Convention, but Kilpatrick has said he doesn’t want to be a distraction. Many critics of the mayor say his association with Obama could cost the presidential candidate votes in November.