The head of the Michigan’s Macomb County Republican Party, which is in a key swing county in the upcoming presidential election, denied charges late Thursday that he had hatched a plot to block residents with foreclosed homes from voting in November. Read more about the alleged plot at BET.com/News.

There’s one undeniable fact about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: He’s consistent. On Tuesday, speaking before an audience of Black-college presidents, the ultra-conservative justice, who was appointed by President G. H. Bush following the death of Thurgood Marshall, hammered home one of his favorite themes – that affirmative action is unconstitutional. Read more of what he said at BET.com/News. Nation’s top educator is canned in Miami. Rudy Crew, who just seven short months ago was lauded as the No. 1 school superintendent in America, was canned amid charges that his action within Miami-Dade County schools didn’t quite match the rhetoric. Find out more at BET.com/News.

Maybe it’s time for MCs to revisit a few old-school party rhymes. If not, The Smoking Gun Web site is around to keep those claiming hardcore, thug backgrounds as honest as Boy Scouts. For the second time this year, Smoking Gun has outed a performer who appears to have embellished his street credibility. Rick Ross had previously denounced photos that surfaced last week as “Photo Shop fakes created by fake people to entertain fake people.” But TSG reports that the pics, showing a younger, clean-shaven Ross in prison-guard gear, are authentic. The site indicates that William Leonard Roberts, aka “Rick Ross,” has a social security number and employee record matching those of a man who worked in corrections for 18 months in 1995. Ross reportedly earned $22, 913.54 a year. TSG previously blew singer Akon’s false claims of prison time and having master-minded an auto theft ring out of the water. Crime may not pay, but lying about it apparently does.

RZA to make directorial debut

While many rappers make the leap to acting, few have gone the route of directing films. Wu Tang Clan’s RZA, having studied filmmaking with Quentin Tarantino and having made a recent appearance in American Gangster, is set to helm a forthcoming martial arts feature. RZA joins Ice Cube, Will Smith and Queen Latifah in the ranks of hip-hop veterans who’ve moved beyond acting to executive roles in the film industry. He also made an appearance in Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai.

Ashanti takes on a new role
Grammy-winning singer and Long Island native Ashanti has a new gig: tourism ambassador. The R&B singer was introduced Tuesday at a news conference as one of nine ambassadors who will promote tourism in Nassau County on Long Island. County Executive Thomas Suozzi placed an orange blazer with a tourism patch over her white dress at the event at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, where 16 tourists were offered an all-expenses-paid tour of Nassau. Ashanti sang at Suozzi’s two mayoral inaugurals in her native Glen Cove.Ashanti says it’s “amazing” to be asked to “give something back to the community.” The singer recently released her fourth studio album, “The Declaration.” The tourism campaign pitches Nassau as “The Island Next Door” and is targeted at visitors to the city.