Wholesaler Pulls Controversial Black Doll from Shelves The wholesale giant Costco Corp. has apologized to those offended by an African-American doll who wore a headband that said “Lil’ Monkey” and was cuddling a stuffed monkey. The apology followed a complaint from a North Carolina customer about the Black “Cuddle with Me, Doll with Plush Monkey,” The Associated Press reports. Costco immediately snatched the doll, which also comes in Caucasian and Hispanic versions, from its shelves. “We are sensitive to any complaint that a product we carry would cause discomfort to any segment of our membership,” Costco CEO Jim Sinegal said in a statement. “As soon as it became clear to us that this toy item was offensive to some of our members, we decided to remove it from our warehouses. We don’t believe there is room for argument in matters of this type, even though it was an honest mistake, made while we were attempting to do the right thing.” Costco only carried the Black doll in its Northeast and Southeast regions, according to AP. The version of the doll that cuddles a panda is still carried by the wholesaler.

Atlanta Mayoral Wannabes in a Race About Race Make no mistake about it; Atlanta’s mayoral race is about race. On one side is the city’s top African-American candidate, Lisa Borders, president of the Atlanta City Council. On the other is frontrunner Mary Norwood, another councilwoman, who happens to be White. A few days ago – at least publicly – this race was about, crime, housing and city services, and who’s best suited lead the city after Shirley Franklin. That was before the local Black Leadership Forum sent a memo urging African-American voters to stand behind the Black candidate. “For the last 25 years Atlanta has represented the breakthrough for Black political empowerment in the South,” read the memo. “In order to defeat a Norwood (White) mayoral candidacy we have to get out now and work in a manner to defeat her without a runoff, and the key is a significant Black turnout.” Now, in this crucible of the Civil Rights Movement, where most of the 440,000 residents are African American, this race is all Black and White. Recent polls put Norwood at about 30 percent, 2 percentage points above Borders. Kasim Reed, a state senator, who is also running, has just a sliver of potential voters with 8 percent. Both of the African-American candidates were quick to distance themselves from the racial dynamic, saying that the next leader of Atlanta should not be chosen based on skin color. Said Borders, “We have had two Atlantas for far too long.” Reed echoed those sentiments, calling the memo racially charged and vitriolic,” adding that it “dishonors the legacies” of former mayors, both Black and White. “This campaign should be waged on the merits of each candidate, not the color of their skin,” Reed said.

The government’s plan to buy up, repair and sell distressed properties to poor and middle-income buyers is frozen in red tape and policy debate among local officials, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program, introduced last July, was designed as a rapid response to escalating foreclosures by injecting billions in emergency aid to local governments. But, as in the case of Atlanta, which has one of the nation’s worst foreclosure rates, local officials say the first property will not get bought and the first auction will not even take place until June. And don’t expect any notable results until late summer, at the earliest, the newspaper reports. But community leaders say that foreclosures are spreading like a brush fire, scarring once-beautiful neighborhoods with abandoned homes – and there’s no end in sight. Between July and December 2008, home sales dipped an astounding 16 percent in Metro Atlanta’s five core urban counties, according to a study by the Dirty Truth Campaign, a local nonprofit group. “We wish things would move faster,” said Robert Welsh, of Dirty Truth, which tracks the effects of foreclosure in Pittsburg, Sylvan Hills and other southwest Atlanta neighborhoods. “It’s a big problem, but at this point, we’ve got to roll with what they have going.”

An African-American ex-Atlanta Police sergeant is suing the city, alleging that Chief Richard Pennington discriminated against her when he let her go two years ago. When the Atlanta Police Department dismissed Karen Wells in April 2007, officials attributed it to a “lie” she had told, she says in her suit. But Wells, who had been with the Atlanta Police Department for 25 years — the last 14 as a sergeant — at the time, says she never lied about anything, only that she misunderstood the question and made a mistake in her response. In her lawsuit, Wells says that her firing was triggered by an internal investigation about whether another city department had paid police officers properly for working additional hours to guard a water main break. In May 2005, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, a water main broke on Peachtree Street in Buckhead. Wells was granted the extra work hours she had requested to guard the water main break. When asked whether she kept copies of paperwork for “extra jobs,” she said no. Less than two weeks later, the lawsuit contends, Wells told police officials she made a mistake because she was distracted by her mother’s surgery and was suffering from anxiety and depression. The department notified her on April 25, 2007, that she was being terminated, the lawsuit said. Wells, who is Black and 40, argues that she was punished more harshly because of her age, gender and race.

 Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has Virginia’s crowded prison step-down system to thank for his return home in a few months, The Associated Press is reporting. The 28-year-old All-pro, who is serving a 23-month sentence for dogfighting and animal cruelty, is supposed to be headed to a halfway house in Newport News, Va., when he is released from the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., but – because there is no room there – he will be released to his home in Hampton, a government official told The Associated Press Thursday. But what’s the catch? Read more.

Erykah Badu Gives Birth
Erykah Badu, who has a brand-new baby girl, said that she and the baby are “doing fine.” The Universal Motown Records Group artist, whose baby was born Sunday, said she had a home birth that lasted about five hours and that she didn’t use painkillers. Rapper Jay Electronica is the baby’s father. Badu, whose real name is Erica Wright, has a son and a daughter from previous relationships.

Atlanta DJ Tied to Blaze?
Authorities in Atlanta are searching for a well-known radio personality in connection with a “suspicious” fire that consumed a townhouse and left one woman injured, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Through interviews with the injured woman, who suffered from a second-degree burn to her arm, and neighbors, investigators “learned that two people were there at the scene that left the scene, that we need to talk with.” The duo reportedly was Tony Matthews, who lived in the town home, and Porsche Foxx, formerly a popular afternoon DJ with V-103 in Atlanta. She reportedly was visiting the home when the fire broke out early Tuesday, according to Fulton County Fire Marshall Keith Padgett. “These are not suspects, they’re just people we would like to speak with,” Padgett said. Foxx, whose real name is Stephanie Calhoun, was fired from V-103 after a 2004 DUI arrest but was re-hired by V-103 in 2007. She was fired again last November. According to the Journal-Constitution, Foxx’s home in the upscale Regency neighborhood in south Fulton was destroyed by a fire three years ago. Investigators later determined that the blaze could have been caused by an unattended candle.

Four thugs who busted into an Atlanta-area home demanding money shot their guns in panic, seriously wounding an 8-year-old girl who was attending a birthday party. A bullet grazed the chest of Andrea Martinez Reneaud, then traveled through her arm without hitting bone, according to Chamblee (Ga.) Police Chief Marc Johnson. The girl was at a party that was held for her 7-year-old friend. Six adults and their children were at the home after midnight when four men busted through the unlocked front door and demanded money with guns raised. They said that the men likely picked the house because it’s the only one that had the lights still on. “The suspects identified themselves as police officers but had no identifying patches or badges,” Johnson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “They demanded money and were threatening the people inside.” None of the partygoers was armed, according to police. One of the suspects fired shots in the air as he chased one of the men from the party to a back room. Somebody in the suspect’s group thought they were being shot at somebody in the house, and he began shooting his gun. The bullet exchange scared the suspects who fled the house with nothing. “There is no such thing as a good home invasion but this one was worse than normal,” Johnson said. “Everything blew up on them and they fled the house before they could get anything from anyone…. This is the first case we’ve had like this. We all want to think we’re safe in our own homes.”

 Atlanta Police have finally identified a robbery suspect they shot dead four days before Christmas. Police say that 44-year-old Carlos Stringer of Riverdale is the man who marked the third shooting by Atlanta officers in just four days. Two of those victims died from their wounds. All of the men shot by police had been confronted during robberies, according to the department. For example, on Dec. 18, officers exchanged gunfire with an armed man police said was running from a house in northwest Atlanta that he had just tried to rob. No one was injured, and the suspect was taken into custody. A day later, an Atlanta police officer shot and killed a man who allegedly kidnapped and tried to rob a pedestrian and was being pursued by a patrol car in northeast Atlanta. Two days after that, Stringer was shot to death while he and another man were running from a Dollar General Store. Police say an officer confronted the men and ordered them to freeze. Stringer was shot in the head and the other man escaped. All three shootings are still being investigated.

Mortgage Brokers Jerked Minority Borrowers Two major mortgage brokerage companies, which consistently zapped Black and Hispanic borrowers with substantially higher interest rates than Whites, must pay $665,000 in restitution. Under the terms of the agreement between HCI Mortgage, Consumer One Mortgage and the New York Attorney General’s Office, the companies must compensate 445 minority clients. New York filed suit following an investigation of GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, a division of Capital One Financial, found discriminatory lending practices.  HCI, Consumer One and U.S. Capital Funding did “substantial business” with GreenPoint, said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. In March 2007, Capital One agreed to pay $1 million in compensation. The U.S. Capital Funding suit has yet to be resolved. The settlements will “ensure mortgage brokers comply with the law and offer fair and legitimate rates to all New Yorkers,” Cuomo said. The Black and Hispanic borrowers who used HCI Mortgage paid about 50 percent, or about $2,500, more than White clients.
Car-jacking Suspects Arrested in Atlanta. Police arrested two men Tuesday who allegedly jacked a Jaguar in downtown Atlanta after their car slammed into other vehicles, injuring two other people, including a 12-year-old boy. Both suspects were also injured and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.

Muslims are angry over headscarf ruling. Muslim rights activists are outraged at an Atlanta judge who ordered a 40-year-old Muslim woman to serve 10 days in jail for refusing to remove her headscarf before attending a hearing in his courtroom. Although she was released before serving a full day, critics want the Justice Department to look into what sparked the incident in the Atlanta suburb of Douglasville, Ga., a community of about 20,000 people.  We can deal with whether people knew about policies or whether they handled things correctly, but the bottom line is, can a Muslim woman walk into this courtroom wearing religious attire?” said Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim. City court workers will now be required to undergo sensitivity training and post courtroom dress code signs.

N.Y. Pastor celebrates his 106^th birthday. The Rev. Charles Leonard, pastor of Mount Zion Church of Christ, celebrated his 106^th birthday on Christmas Day. He said that his friends, family and God has been the source of his longevity. “My generation coming up, young people, they were brought up in church,” said Leonard, who was born in Philadelphia in 1902. “This is the way it was with me. The secret is God. He keeps me alert. He keeps me active.” Leonard’s grandmother lived to be 108. He was reared in segregated North Carolina and Georgia. In 1933, he moved to New York, where he landed a job as a high-steam engineer for the Washington Heights Laundry Co. Leonard began preaching more than 50 years ago. “He travels by himself, he goes out on his own, he’s totally independent,” said his 48-year-old great-niece, Brenda Greene. “If he doesn’t hear from us, he calls and checks on us. Sometimes he’s more alert than we are.”

Rev. Jackson makes Christmas jail visit. On Christmas Day, the Rev. Jesse Jackson did what he has done for the past two decades – visited inmates in Chicago’s Cook County Jail. During his visit, he described U.S. corrections facilities as “Jail hotels” and said that people must stop thinking of prison as “free meals, medicine, heat and recreational activities.” It’s time to vote and get tested for HIV, he told the 500 inmates who gathered to hear him speak. Jackson, whose Rainbow PUSH Coalition turned 43 on Christmas, urged his audience to “make better choices.”

The jury is deadlocked over Atlanta shooter’s sentence. A deadlocked 12-member Atlanta jury may ask Superior Court Judge James Bodiford in writing if they can rehear a controversial tape recording of a telephone conversation in which Nichols tells his brother that he killed four people – and should have targeted prosecutors the day of his courthouse shooting spree. On Nov. 7, after 12 hours of discussion, the jurors convicted Nichols of 54 crimes from the March 11, 2005, courthouse shootings, including four murders, carjackings, robberies and assaults. The panel has already deliberated more than 25 hours in the penalty phase, but appears deadlocked with a 9-3 vote on whether to sentence Nichols to death. Defense attorneys had vehemently objected when the tape was first introduced without warning in November. They’ve called the contents a “bombshell” that would certainly prejudice Nichols’ case, but failed earlier to keep it from the jury.