Miles Allen

A Georgia judge sentenced a former Morehouse College Miles Allen to two life sentences plus 70 years Monday for torturing and murdering a classmate three years ago. A Clayton County jury convicted the 26-year-old theology student on 11 of 12 counts, including four counts of murder, aggravated assault and kidnapping. Allen is one of four men charged with kidnapping Morehouse junior Carlnell Walker before torturing him for eight straight hours. Prosecutors had charged them with beating, stabbing and dousing Walker with gasoline before dumping him in a car trunk outside Walker’s Riverdale home. Allen’s alleged accomplices will be tried later this month, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Allen’s sentence was the maximum under the law.

African Americans could help chip away at the wealth gap between Blacks and Whites if they would better educate themselves and “strengthen their financial literacy,” Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told students and faculty at historically Black Morehouse College Wednesday. “It’s absolutely right the difference between minority and White wealth is very significant, and part of that is related to income levels where whites have a higher average income,” Bernanke said. “But even if you control for income level, you find minorities have gathered less wealth.” Why? Because “financial education” is lacking, he said. “There needs to be a broader understanding in minority communities, which haven’t had that much exposure, about saving and building a credit record and being part of the mainstream economy,” Bernanke said, noting that far too many people of color do not have bank accounts, which compels them to rely on high-interest payday lenders and check-cashing services. “They would be better off in the mainstream banking system,” Bernanke said. “So one thing that could help would be to try to strengthen the financial literacy and financial education.” So, has the economic crisis forced the Fed chairman to alter his own economic philosophy. “That’s about the toughest question you could have asked,” Bernanke said. “I would say the jury’s still out on that.”

First Black Comic For Sale
A comic book believed to be the first ever created by Black artists for a Black audience might have sold for a paltry 15 cents back in the day, but it’s expected to fetch thousands on the auction block today. The comic, “All-Negro Comics No. 1,” is being sold by comic book salesman Stephen Fishler. The book, issued in 1947, is extremely rare, Fishler says. It was the brainchild of Black Philadelphia journalist Orrin C. Evans and featured such characters as detective Ace Harlem and Hep Chicks on Parade. The comic is being auctioned as part of the online Comic Connect Event Auction that began Feb. 27. The sale will last until March 15.

Black-college Police Chief Arrested

The police chief of historically Black Morehouse College in Atlanta has been indicted on charges that he held a deer hunter captive. The Lamar County, Ga., grand jury found that Police Chief Vernon Worthy falsely imprisoned the man, saying he believed the man was trespassing. Read more.

Ala. Shooter kills 9, Himself in Shooting Spree
Ten people are dead after a disgruntled metal worker went on a shooting spree in two neighboring south Alabama towns Tuesday, The Associated Press reports. This morning police are investigating at least four separate shootings that claimed nine lives before the lone gunman turned the weapon on himself and committed suicide at a metals plant. The Alabama Department of Safety did not release the name of the gunman. The first shootings took place in the town of Samson, when the shooter killed five people in one home and one each in two other homes, according to AP. He also fired repeatedly at the car of an Alabama state trooper, wounding the officer with shattered glass. His murdering rampage continued as he then killed someone at a Samson supply store and another person at a service station, the safety department said. Police chased him about a dozen miles, AP reports, cornering him at Reliable Metal Products just north of Geneva, where he had worked. The suspect fired off about 30 rounds at the officers, and one of the bullets hit Geneva Police Chief Frankie Lindsey, who was saved by his bullet proof vest, the safety department said. The gunman then went in the plant and shot himself, authorities said. State Sen. Harri Anne Smith (R-Slocomb), told AP that some of those killed in Samson were sitting outside. “He was just driving down the street shooting at people sitting on their porches,” she said. “A family was just sitting on the porch and they were shot.”