Jill Scott is Pregnant
R&B singer/actress Jill Scott is pregnant with her first child. She revealed the news to reporters at the Television Critics Association conference in Los Angeles on Friday, People magazine reports. “The first trimester I spent in Botswana,” said Scott, who is due April 25. “That was one of the biggest challenges of my life. First trimester! You’re sick every morning. It was seven hours time difference, the heat, the bugs, the 14 hour days.” Scott said she discovered that she was pregnant just before leaving for Botswana where she filmed the show. The three-time Grammy Award winner, who is engaged to drummer Lil’ John Roberts, says she’s glad she went through with the plans to film. “My doctors gave me a clean bill of health and said you can do this, so I did it,” said Scott, 36.

Fantasia’s N.C. Home is Saved 
American Idol winner and Broadway star Fantasia Barrino was able to hang onto one of her North Carolina homes, after a last-minute agreement was reached between the mortgage company and the singer’s representatives, People magazine reports.  The details of the arrangement were not disclosed. The million-dollar, Charlotte-area home would have hit the auction block Monday, to be sold by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office. The money would have been used to compensate Broward Energy Partners for the $68,000 loan it advanced Barrino to pay taxes, the magazine reports.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young is safe and sound after a brief incident when his family reported him missing. Young’s relatives were concerned that the recently injured star “abruptly” left home Monday evening without his cell phone, says Nashville Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron. The Titans also requested police assistance after the family showed concern about Young’s “emotional well-being,” Aaron says. The player was found later the same evening at a friend’s house. He spoke with police and team reps, telling them he was OK. Young was booed this past weekend after throwing his second interception in the Titans’ season-opening win versus Jacksonville. He injured his knee in the game and is expected to miss two to four weeks of play while recovering.

Days after it was reported that he hadn’t made himself available to investigators, 50 Cent reportedly has discussed the fire that claimed his home. Lawyers for the rapper’s ex, Shaniqua Tompkins, recently put out word that Tompkins had been questioned about the spring blaze on multiple occasions, but that Fiddy wasn’t talking. Tompkins, who lived with their son at the home the rapper owned, suggested that 50 was behind the fire. The house was the subject of a heated legal dispute between the rapper and his son’s mom. No charges have been issued in connection with the blaze, but investigators called it suspicious.

Rapper attacked before annual “Summer Jamz” concert.

It’s been a heck of a year for Yung Berg. After suffering the apparent fan backlash from his public dis of dark-skinned women – for which he apologized – Berg was recently charged with threatening his limo driver, and now is the rumored victim of an assault. Detroit rapper Trick Trick is alleged to have jumped Berg while the performer was in Michigan for a Radio One station’s annual “Summer Jamz” concert. Trick Trick is developing quite the reputation for his temper after jumping Miami rapper Trick Daddy in Detroit a few years ago. Maybe they got a little territorial about that “trick” thing.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved by a veto-proof 326-102 vote legislation (HR 1108) that would give FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products, The New York Times reports. The measure, introduced by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and approved on Wednesday, would allow the FDA to ban flavored additives, with an exemption for menthol flavoring, The Wall Street Journal, reported Friday. Some Black anti-smoking advocates criticized the exemption, noting that as many as three-quarters of Black smokers use mentholated cigarettes. The National African American Tobacco Prevention Network withdrew its support for the bill because of the menthol exemption. Menthol brands account for about 28 percent of the $70 billion U.S. cigarette market. Scientists believe menthol and other additives might mask the harshness of tobacco, which could make it easier for teenagers to begin smoking. Researchers also have questioned whether menthol plays a role in disproportionate rates of cancer related to smoking among Blacks. A recent study from Harvard University found that some cigarette makers intentionally “manipulated menthol levels to attract young people.”

The UNCF praises Congress. The United Negro College Fund on Friday praised Congress for working across party lines to reauthorize the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which it said will enable more African Americans to get a higher education at a time when a degree is more important than ever for getting a leg up in society. “This reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965, the first in ten years, could not have come at a more critical time,” UNCF officials said in a statement. ”Getting a college education is more important than ever.  This legislation will enable more students to attend college, graduate and launch their careers, and will thus take the country an important step closer to realizing the ideal expressed in UNCF’s motto, ‘A mind is a terrible thing to waste.’”  Currently, there are about 8,000 students who attend 900 colleges and universities with UNCF scholarships, and 39 historically Black colleges and universities comprise UNCF and their 55,000 students. Where does higher education rank among the nation’s priorities? Why?