LA authorities offer $500,000 for info on serial killer. Somebody’s killing a lot of Black people in Los Angeles, and authorities are offering a half-million to anyone who can help them catch the murderer. The killings, which date back to 1985, occurred during two separate periods in the same South Los Angeles neighborhood, according to police. Many of the women are believed to have been prostitutes, police say. Ballistics reports show that seven women and a man were slain by the same weapon between 1985 and 1988. The women had been raped and dumped in the same alley, police say. On Wednesday, the City Council approved the $500,000 reward, proposed by Councilman Bernard Parks, an African American. Parks was the Los Angeles Police Chief in 2001 who ordered his department to investigate the unsolved murder cases. Porter Alexander, whose youngest daughter, Alicia Monique Alexander, was the last known victim in the first round of killings, told The Associated Press that he never saw her again after she left for a quick trip to the store in September 1988. “I said make sure you go to the store and come back. She says, ‘OK,’” Porter Alexander said. “She left, and that was the last time I saw my baby.” Four days later, police found the body of the 18-year-old in a nearby alley with a gunshot wound in the chest, according to AP. It took 13 years before the next related case. “What accounted for that gap, we still don’t know,” police Capt. Denis Cremins said at a news conference Wednesday. “We try not to engage in conjecture.” In March 2002, Princess Berthomieux was found beaten and strangled in an alley in the city of Inglewood. DNA samples linked her to the suspect in the earlier murders, AP reports. The next year marked another killing. Most recently was the 2007 murder of Janecia Peters, a 25-year-old who was shot to death and found in a garbage bag in an alley. Only one description of the so-called “Grim Sleeper” exists. A victim who survived a 1988 attack described her attacker as a Black man in his 30s, driving an orange Pinto, according to AP. “But that’s one person’s account who was traumatized,” Cremins said.

Md. Lawmakers skeptical about new DNA law. Members of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus are skeptical about a new law that permits authorities to collect DNA samples from suspects charged with anything from a violent crime, such as murder or rape, to a burglary. But caucus members, joined by the American Civil Liberties Union, are concerned that the DNA gatherers are not being properly monitored. The members say that when they negotiated with the governor to enact the law, he guaranteed certain protections to ensure that DNA would not be mishandled, and that samples would be destroyed and records expunged when appropriate. The Baltimore County Crime Lab, the State Police Crime Lab and the Baltimore City crime lab have all had serious problems over the past decade when it comes to handling DNA evidence. Maryland Sen. Delores Goodwin Kelley of Baltimore County is one of the lawmakers who says the law is flawed. But Assistant Attorney General Sharon Benzil contends that “if the law is sort of the blue print, then the regulations are the instruction manual that provides the specifics to the local jurisdiction about how, when, where and what the law requires.”

South African dog fights another dog to save boy. In South Africa, a Rottweiler fought off a pit bull who was mauling a little boy, reports the BBC. Two-year-old Tshepang Taeli and his grandmother were walking down the street when the pit bull attacked him, viciously dragging him down the road. Several residents kicked the dog to try to get him off of the child but he would not let go. “I have never felt so much pain in my life. The dog was attacking him and I was trying to release him and I could not,” said the boy’s grandmother. That’s when one neighbor went to get his Rottweiler, Blade, who helped save the boy’s life. “He fought the other dog to free the child. Blade is very protective,” Blade’s owner, Ricky Veludo told a local newspaper. The child was taken to the hospital, where he is now recovering from suffering bites on his face, legs and stomach. Police are investigating the attack.

Zimbabwe police arrest opposition lawmakers

Zimbabwe police arrested more opposition members Wednesday, saying they were connected to the violence before the country’s runoff election in June, reports CNN. Police insist the arrests of Movement for Democratic Change members, five in total, are not politically motivated. “These (parliament members) have been on the police wanted list which we made public. We have been looking for them for a long time since the offenses were committed,” a police spokesman said. But MDC officials are not buying it. They think the government along with longtime leader Robert Mugabe is just trying to cut down on the number of opposition members in parliament. “The arrests are harassment and an attempt to undermine our parliamentary majority,” MDC’s information director said. “We expected that retribution after having shown Mugabe that he is not welcome in parliament.” Mugabe was booed and heckled when he spoke in front of the body Tuesday. He still remains optimistic that a power sharing agreement, between himself and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai can be reached. The two are set to resume talks, mediated by South African president Thabo Mbeki, this week.

Detroit’s mayor could face new felony charges after confrontation with deputy
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has potentially added new problems to his list of felony charges stemming from a perjury case: A Wayne County sheriff’s deputy says the mayor assaulted him Tuesday while the deputy and an investigator were trying to serve a warrant. More details at BET.com/News.

The Army honors wrongly convicted Black soldiers
The U.S. Army will apologize to Black soldiers who were framed in 1944 for rioting and lynching an Italian POW in Seattle. Almost 65 years ago, 28 African-American soldiers were court-martialed after being falsely accused, but an Army appeals court found last year that the process was patently unfair. This week, the grandchildren and other relatives of the wrongly accused are descending upon Seattle to participate in tributes to the men. “We’re a little nervous to see where it all began, and we’re all wondering what kind of emotions will be elicited by coming to see where it all happened,” Lashell Drake told The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The Milwaukee woman’s deceased grandfather, Booker Townsell, was among those wrongly convicted, according to the newspaper. A book by author Jack Hamann uncovered the fact that the accused men weren’t even present at the time the Italian prisoner was lynched. Sadly, Hamann learned, Army investigators discovered this truth during the largest and longest court-martial of World War II but kept that crucial information on the down-low. According to the author, White soldiers resented Italian POWs because high school girls adored them. Among the prosecutors in the infamous case was Leon Jaworski, who later became a Watergate special prosecutor, according to the Post-Intelligencer.

Urban League praises lawmakers for housing-crisis bill
Urban League President Marc Morial gave Congress props on Thursday for working to give struggling homeowners a leg up during the current severe housing crisis, which disproportionately affects Black Americans. The landmark “American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008,” is now under consideration by the House of Representatives. In particular, Morial praised the following lawmakers for their involvement on the legislation: Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Rep. Barney Frank; chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, Rep. Maxine Waters; chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick; chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles Rangel; and the entire Congressional Black Caucus. “These congressional leaders have ensured that the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention of Act 2008 not only addresses the larger problems of industry giants like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but also specifically targets urban, low-income and minority communities and homeowners who have been affected by unscrupulous sub-prime and predatory loans.” In its 2008 State of Black America Report, the National Urban League noted that Blacks hold nearly five times more installment debt than Whites, and the median net worth for African Americans is $11,800, versus $118,300 for Whites. The National Urban League has been in the housing counseling business for more than 40 years and currently serves over 40,000 homeowners per year.