Via: WRAL

North Carolina’s unemployment rate remained stuck around the 11 percent mark in January, according to statistics released Wednesday by the state Employment Security Commission.

The state jobless rate was 11.1 percent, or about 502,000 unemployed, in January, up from 10.9 percent in December.

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Via: The Urban Daily

Just when you didn’t think Howard Stern could get anymore disrespectful he calls Gabourey Sidibe, star of Precious, “the most enormous fat black chick I’ve ever seen!”

He claims she’s “going to die in two years” if she doesn’t lose weight and the only role she could ever play in Hollywood again would be in The Blind Side 2, as the linebacker. He even says Oprah should have an immediate intervention with Gabourey. Peep the video for the full rant:

Via: NewsOne

President Obama is likely to lay out a political road map Wednesday for passage of sweeping health care legislation, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

Gibbs said the president will talk about “the way forward” to pass a bill. Among other things, Obama is expected to advocate for an “up or down vote” in Congress if necessary, Gibbs said

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Via: WRAL

The City of Raleigh held a public open house Monday to discuss ways to unclog roads near Crabtree Valley Mall.

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Via: The Urban Daily

Ne-Yo and his entourage were detained in Oslo, Norway on Saturday, February 27th, after a member of Ne-Yo’s entourage punched a bus boy in the face.

The violence began after an unknown person grabbed one of the girls that was with Ne-Yo at a club and caused her to fall.  Although no one knew who was at fault, a member of Ne-Yo’s entourage punched a bus boy at the club.  The punch was apparently so intense that the bus boy was very dizzy and began vomiting.

Police are currently investigating the incident and if enough of a case can be made, Ne-Yo and his entourage will be required to return to Norway.

Via: WRAL

Authorities on Saturday were investigating an officer-involved shooting on Rosaline Lane, near Juliette Drive in southern Durham. Authorities on Saturday were investigating an officer-involved shooting on Rosaline Lane, near Juliette Drive in southern Durham.

Via: The Urban Daily

The Boondocks, the award-winning animated Adult Swim series based on Aaron McGruder’s comic strip by the same name, returns this spring for its third season.

After taking a two year hiatus, creative and executive producer McGruder announced on his twitterfeed (@aaronmcgruder) that the third season premiere of The Boondocks will air on Sunday, May 2nd at 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Adult Swim. The series, produced by Rebel Base in association with Sony Pictures Television, includes the vocal talents of Regina King (”Southland”) as Huey and Riley Freeman; John Witherspoon (”Friday After Next”) as Granddad; Gary Anthony Williams (”Boston Legal”) as Uncle Ruckus; Cedric Yarbrough (”Reno 911″) as Tom Dubois; Jill Talley (”American Dad”) as Sarah; and Gabby Soleil (”Johnson Family vacation”) as Jazmine.

The show will return to the small screen continuing to provide the touchy, and oftentimes controversial, humor and situations for which the show has become infamous for. The third season will cover various topics that range from politics and mainstream media, to social norms and pop culture.

VIA:  SmokeyRobinson.Com

The dictionary defines the popular term “comfort food” as “food prepared in a traditional style having a usually nostalgic or sentimental appeal.” It has been known to have a buffering effect as it soothes the soul and spurs memories of more “comforting” times. If that concept holds up in the kitchen, then it makes perfect sense that it should hold true in the living room with its aural equivalent. While it’s already a known fact that popular songs often connect with listeners in a highly personal way, often recalled alongside life’s more personal moments, only a few distinctive voices in popular music can achieve that same effect with instantaneous familiarity. With his eternally smooth and instantly recognizable falsetto alone – without the strings, bass, guitar or drums – legendary singer/songwriter/producer SMOKEY ROBINSON’s honey-coated voice absolutely is the audio equivalent of comfort food…comfort food for the soul…with soul. In following with the aforementioned definition, the Motown legend’s forthcoming ROBSO Records CD, Time Flies When You’re Having Fun has certainly been “prepared in a traditional style,” while that oh-so-familiar, highly identifiable crooning has an indisputable “nostalgic or sentimental appeal.”

Indeed, the “traditional” element of Time Flies When You’re Having Fun had already been determined while Robinson was recording his last CD, 2006’s pop/jazz standards collection Timeless Love. Just as that particular project had been recorded live in the studio with musicians – the first time he had recorded a full LP that way in years – Smokey knew he wanted to record his newly-written contemporary R&B songs in the very same fashion. In fact, he was so inspired by recording the “old school way” that the recording schedule for both projects actually overlapped. “I was having such a ball making that project (Timeless Love),” he explains. “I hadn’t intended on doing them simultaneously because I knew that Timeless Love was the one I was going to come out with. But things were going so well with that project that I said, ‘I’m gonna start putting in some of the original material I’d written for my new CD (Time Flies When You’re Having Fun) and record it this way too.’ I knew I was going to do these particular songs, but I didn’t realize I was going to wind up recording them live like I did with Timeless Love. So I did and we had a ball.” Though he’s the first to acknowledge and appreciate the technologically advanced way that recording for most releases are done today, like the cleaner sound and creative lee-way afforded by ProTools, Robinson was steadfast in his penchant for live instrumentation for this CD. “I think that you still don’t get that feeling that you used to get in the old days when everybody was in the studio together,” says Robinson, whose early Motown classics were recorded in this fashion. “That way was like doing a concert, because everybody was feeding off of each other. It’s just that live vibe.”

Click here to read more on Smokey Robinson…

Check out “Ebony Eyes” by Smokey Robinson and Rick James:

Via: NewsOne

In Hurricane Katrina’s chaotic aftermath, police shot six people – killing two – as they crossed a bridge in search of food. For years the case was a shocking symbol of the confusion and violence that swept through the flooded city. On Wednesday it became a mark of shame for the police department.

As victims’ relatives watched from the courtroom gallery, a retired lieutenant who supervised the department’s probe of the shootings pleaded guilty to orchestrating a cover-up to conceal that police gunned down unarmed civilians.

Michael Lohman, a 21-year veteran of the force, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Prosecutors said Lohman and other unidentified officers conspired to fabricate witness statements, falsify reports of the incident and plant a gun in an attempt to make it appear the killings were justified.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the investigation is continuing and would not say whether higher-ranking officials of the police department might be involved.

Lohman’s plea brought at least some closure to families of victims in the best-known of several violent incidents that raised questions about police conduct immediately after Katrina. The shootings happened on Sept. 4, 2005, six days after the storm smashed levees and flooded 80 percent of the city.

Survivors have said the officers fired at unarmed people who were crossing to get food at a grocery store. The officers claimed they opened fire only after being shot at. Ronald Madison, 40 and mentally disabled, and James Brissette, 19, were killed and four others were wounded.

“We are very, very happy about the progress that the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department have made,” said Romell Madison, Ronald’s brother. “The people of New Orleans should be relieved that there is still justice for everybody here.”

Lohman’s plea marked the first conviction in the case. Seven officers were charged with murder or attempted murder but a state judge threw out all the charges. Federal authorities then stepped in to investigate.

The federal prosecutor said Lohman is cooperating with investigators who want to know more about the police department’s actions.

Dylan Utley, Lohman’s lawyer, said his client “did what’s right for him and what’s right for his situation” and hopes to “make amends.”

During Wednesday’s hearing, Lohman, 42, answered U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle’s questions in a soft voice but didn’t interact with the victims’ relatives. He is free on $50,000 bond and the maximum sentence he faces is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled May 26.

Described by fellow officers as a straight-shooter and hardworking, by-the-book cop, Lohman’s cooperation is expected to be helpful as authorities examine a wide range of problems in the police department after Katrina.

The department’s reputation – never sterling in a city where violent crime is a daily fact of life – was hammered after Katrina with charges that officers were involved with shootings, deserted their posts, looted shops and made off with cars from a Cadillac dealership.

“It looks like the blue code has been broken,” former U.S. Attorney Harry Rosenberg said. “Remember, those officers stood shoulder to shoulder when it was in state court. Nobody said anything.”

Via: The Urban Daily

Juelz Santana was seen showing off  his new beauty Kim Bella at M2 this week!