The Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network has been slapped with an $88,000 suit from the luxurious Peabody Hotel, charging the nonprofit with dodging bills from its national convention. The suit alleges that the civil rights organization left an unpaid tab of $70,000, as well as $17,000 in attorney’s costs and other fees, stemming from the April 2008 conference, The Memphis Daily News reports. Under the agreement between the Peabody and the network, the group was supposed to pay for any space it booked but did not use, according to the newspaper. Rachel Noerdlinger, Sharpton’s spokeswoman, admitted “some convention participants made unauthorized expenditures.” She did not specify the expenditures. “National Action Network looks forward to resolving all outstanding issues related to the convention with all parties amicably,” Noerdlinger said.

The controversial sheriff of Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, Ariz., has told the Rev. Al Sharpton to get straight on the facts before “you bring your circus to town” in a futile attempt to push him out of office. The civil rights leader and head of the National Action Network has threatened to show up in Arizona in June to march against longtime Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his policies against undocumented workers. Read the rest.

An unlikely trio descended upon President Obama at the White House Thursday, agreeing that the education problems facing this country are far greater than the traditional differences that divide Democrats and Republicans, African Americans and Whites. Read more.

 The Rev. Al Sharpton, the first Black leader to pounce on The New York Post for its controversial cartoon likening President Obama to an ape, says that the newspaper’s owner didn’t go far enough with his apology. The “apology leaves a lot more questions than it gives answers,” Sharpton said. “The question is what will guarantee that these kinds of things will not happen again. Let us make no mistake about it: We have seen two apologies in one week – really one and a half apologies – which is unprecedented, but clearly not far enough.” Read more here.

With the CrimeStoppers reward doubling to $50,000 in recent days, the Rev. Al Sharpton is hoping he can convince somebody in Miami to stand up to the thug who blasted nine people with an assault rifle, leaving two people dead. Sharpton, an outspoken critic of the whole “Stop-Snitchin’” campaign, said that anyone refusing to step forward with information is a “traitor to the race.” Sharpton, who heads the Harlem-based National Action Network, was joined at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church by other pastors, politicians and the parents of 16-year-old Brandon T. Mills and 18-year-old Derrick Gloster, who were killed last Thursday when the gunman shot up a crowded craps game in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood. “You saw who did it, Lord,” Sharpton said, noting that the ascension of Barack Obama to the White House should signal that it’s time to alter the course in the Black community. “‘Well, Rev. Al, we can’t talk to the man,’” Sharpton said mocking those who would allow killers to go free. “Maybe you didn’t get the news. We are the man now. … Because we’re the man, we got to do what a man does, clean up the community.” Is Sharpton right for encouraging people to tell on thugs?

Another Whole Family Shot to Death
For the second time in less than a week, an entire family has been found shot to death, apparently the victims of a murder-suicide by a distraught father. Whitehall, Ohio, Police responded to a call around 2 p.m. Wednesday and found the bodies of Mark Meeks, 51; his wife, Jennifer Dallas-Meeks, 40; and children Jimmy, 5, and Abbigail, 8. “We’re confirming all four victims had gunshot wounds, and a gun was found at the scene,” Sgt. Dan Kelso said. As in the Los Angeles murder-suicide case, authorities say this incident also involved a suicide note. They declined, however, to reveal the contents of the letter. Police believe that Meeks shot his wife and two children and then himself, Kelso said. “Out of respect for the family, detectives are not releasing the actual motive, but it’s not financial, and he was employed,” he said. Officials at Immke Northwest Honda, where Meeks was a service manager, confirmed that he was a current employee. “We as a dealership decline to comment on this devastating tragedy, except to say that all of us here at Immke Northwest Honda are very sad and our condolences go out to the family,” Tom Spicer, vice president of operations, said. On Tuesday, the bodies of Ervin Antonio Lupoe, his wife and five children were found in their Los Angeles-area home after Lupoe faxed a letter to a local television station explaining that he and his wife had lost their jobs and felt it was better to end their lives.

Rev. Al Urges Folks to Speak Out on Crime
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has been urging communities to stand strong against the bullies and thugs who terrorize neighborhoods, has launched a nationwide campaign against the “stop-snitching” mindset. All too often, says the president of the National Action Network, the people most likely to be victimized are the ones who fail to speak up about known suspects. Sharpton will join the families of two slain teenagers, 16-year-old Brandon Mills and 18-year-old Derrick ”Termite” Gloster. He will appear with Bishop Victory Curry and Rev. Gaston Smith at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Miami. The Harlem based Sharpton will add to a fund that was established to find Mills and Gaston’s killers. The “Stop Snitchin” slogan gained popularity in 2004, when producers Rodney Bethea and Ronnie “Skinny Suge” Thomas released a DVD by the same title, which featured drug dealers exposing various Baltimore, Maryland informants. The DVD also helped expose corrupt police in Baltimore, leading to the drug-dealing conviction of Baltimore PD officers William King and Antonio Murray, who were sentenced to 34 years in prison. Ironically, Thomas was also later sentenced to 15 years in prison for an alleged assault, drug conspiracy and extortion plot. Rap groups and their fans began sporting the “Stop Snitchin’” slogan on apparel. In a now infamous TV news segment, rapper Cam’ron appeared on 60 Minutes in April of 2007, where he explained his reasoning behind supporting the slogan. This is the type of mindset that keeps dangerous criminals on the streets, Sharpton says.  In the case of Mills and Gloster, police believe one or multiple gunmen sprayed a crowd of up to 50 people with an AK-47 assault rifle, leaving two dead and seriously wounding seven others. ”We are all hurting,” said Gloster’s grandmother, Caron Dixon, AP reports. “We are just so tired of these guns.”