Judge rules in Kwame Kilpatrick’s favor this time around

Embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick remains free after facing the same judge on Tuesday who ordered him to jail last week on a bond violation. A Detroit news outlet had published a photo of Kilpatrick at his mother’s home at the same time that his sister visited the house, raising questions of whether his presence there violated court restrictions.  Get the latest details at BET.com/News.

Money for MLK Memorial pours in.

The money keeps on pouring in for the historic Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, organizers announced that donors, including $3 million from Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, had compelled them to raise the fundraising goal from $100 million to $120 million. Contributions for the memorial, which will be built on the National Mall, already has reached $99 million, according to Harry E. Johnson, Sr., president of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, the private group in charge of the effort. So why the new money goal? There are “a number of variables,” including changes in the structural plan, the addition of a bookstore and security costs as well as inflation for the rising cost estimate, Johnson says. After a stormy past few months over the design of the 28-foot statue of King, to be sculpted by Chinese artist Lei Yixin, the project appears on a positive track. Still, the project must win final approval for all aspects of the memorial site before construction can begin. The memorial is expected to take about 18-20 months to complete.

Muslim hate-crime victim leaves the hospital. The Muslim native of Uzbekistan, who was shot repeatedly while pumping gas at a Cleveland gas station, left the hospital Monday, nearly eight weeks after the tragic episode was captured on videotape. Police have been investigating the incident as a hate crime. As he left the MetroHealth Medical Center, 49-year-old Fazliddin Yakubov offered “a million, million thanks” for all the support he has received, The Plain Dealer newspaper reported Tuesday. He had been shot three times in the abdomen while his son was pumping gas. The video led to the arrest of 18-year-old William Neal of Cleveland, who’s charged with felonious assault and attempted murder. He’s being held in a Cuyahoga County jail on $250,000 bond.

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Texas GOP bans vendor for racist buttons.

Texas Republicans have banned a vendor that hawked racist campaign buttons at their recent state convention. Officials say they were shocked that Republicanmarket.com would sell a pin that read: “If Obama is President … will we still call it The White House?”Said state GOP spokesman Hans Klingler: “We were stunned. That vendor will never be at another Republican convention again.” Speaking to The Dallas Morning News, Klingler added that his party screens vendors to make sure they do not sell objectionable merchandise, but “we don’t have a chance to go by and look at the merchandise they’re selling.”

SCLC calls for boycott of big gas companies. One of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organizations, which announced a boycott of five of the biggest oil suppliers in May is shifting its target from Exxon Mobile to Shell Oil. Before the boycott is over, the SCLC says it will also focus its attention on BP, Chevron Corp., and ConocoPhillips Co., for 30 days apiece. Others joining the SCLC in support of the boycott are Concerned Black Clergy of Metro Atlanta, the AFL-CIO, the Nation of Islam, Ghandi Foundation and the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials. The boycotts are slated to last through mid-October. This is one way to tackle the “greed”of the major oil companies, SCLC President Charles Steele told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We understand the free market system,” Steele said. “We’re saying it’s a difference between making a profit and greed.” He says he hopes the boycott will force oil to cease with their multi-billion-dollar profits and lower prices.