Saunja Mayfield, a clothing specialist with Summit County Children Services, talks about her involvement in the pilot program called Connecting the Dots, during an interview in her office on Wednesday, June 26, 2013, in Akron, Ohio. The program tries to help foster kids who are aging out of the system with real life situations. (AP Photo/Akron Beacon Journal, Ed Suba Jr.)HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A six-year effort by the state court system and child welfare agencies has reduced by a third the number of abused or neglected Pennsylvania children in foster care or similar settings, a process that officials say has improved the lives of some of the state's most vulnerable residents.
PublicSource asked Ben Schmitt, a born-and-bred Pittsburgher who spent 11 years in Detroit, to reflect on his former city’s bankruptcy. The American dream cliché came to mind when my wife and I settled in Detroit and purchased our first home. “Live here for five or six years, sell it at a profit, and move up in the world,” I thought in 2001. Five years later, I scoffed as my next-door neighbor packed up his belongings and solemnly warned me: “This neighborhood is gonna go.” Three years after that, the ex-neighbor’s home had changed hands several times and transformed into a drug house. I peered under a window blind at the traffic in and out of the driveway next door one night and thought: “I’m failing. I’m failing my children.” No more American dream; the cliché had evolved to fight or flight.
B. Todd Jones of Minnesota, President Barack Obama's nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Gun violence is the leading cause of death among Black children and teens, according to a new report by the Children’s Defense Fund, a nonprofit, child advocacy group. The report titled, “Protect Children, Not Guns 2013,” painted grim picture of the national gun violence epidemic that is the second-leading cause of death among all children ages 1-19. Only car accidents claim the lives of more children and teenagers than guns.
South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela is pictured outside of Westminster Abbey in 1962 — this trip, without permission from the South Africa government, led to his indictment and arrest on August 5, 1962; it was the beginning of 27 years of imprisonment. Today is Monday, Aug. 5, the 217th day of 2013. There are 148 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On August 5, 1953, Operation Big Switch began as remaining prisoners taken during the Korean War were exchanged at Panmunjom.
In this July 31, 2013, photo, Pardeep Kaleka, right, and Arno Michaelis pose for a photo at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, Wis. At left is a bullet hole from a shooting at the temple a year ago when a white supremacist shot and killed six temple members, including Kaleka's father, Satwant Singh Kaleka. (AP Photo/Morry Gash) by Dinesh RamdeAssociated Press Writer OAK CREEK, Wis. (AP) — Six weeks after a White supremacist gunned down Pardeep Kaleka's father and five others at a Sikh temple last year, Kaleka was skeptical when a former skinhead reached out and invited him to dinner. But Kaleka accepted, and he's grateful he did. Since then, the grieving son and repentant racist have formed an unlikely alliance, teaming up to preach a message of peace throughout Milwaukee. In fact, they've grown so close that they got matching tattoos on their palms — the numbers 8-5-12, the date the gunman opened fire at a Milwaukee-area Sikh temple before killing himself minutes later.
Proud parents Gerard and Wendy Talley delivered their son together in an SUV Saturday night. Talley says her water broke in the car as they tried to drop off their 2-year-old with family before heading to the University of Maryland hospital downtown. (AFRO Photo/Alexis Taylor) by Blair Adams (NNPA)--Three days past her due date, a Baltimore mother-to-be gave birth in the front seat of her SUV to her second child, while she and her husband attempted to make it to the hospital in the early hours of July 27.
Rep. Adrienne Wooten, D-Jackson addresses the House chamber during debate over a Medicaid reauthorization bill at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Wooten voted against a cord blood bill that says if a girl younger than 16 gives birth in Mississippi and won’t name the father authorities must collect umbilical cord blood and run DNA tests to prove paternity. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File) JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — If a girl younger than 16 gives birth and won't name the father, a new Mississippi law — likely the first of its kind in the country — says authorities must collect umbilical cord blood and run DNA tests to prove paternity as a step toward prosecuting statutory rape cases. Supporters say the law is intended to chip away at Mississippi's teen pregnancy rate, which has long been one of the highest in the nation. But critics say that though the procedure is painless, it invades the medical privacy of the mother, father and baby. And questions abound: At roughly $1,000 a pop, who will pay for the DNA tests in the country's poorest state? Even after test results arrive, can prosecutors compel a potential father to submit his own DNA and possibly implicate himself in a crime? How long will the state keep the DNA on file?
President Barack Obama leaves Andrews Air Force Base, Md., for a weekend in Camp David, Md., Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013. The President turns 52 Sunday and will be spending his birthday at Camp David. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) WASHINGTON (AP) — Instead of "Hail to the Chief," President Barack Obama is most likely hearing strains of "Happy Birthday" this weekend. Obama turns 52 on Sunday and is spending part of the day at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.
This image provided by the Glendora Police Department shows a group of student filmmakers Friday Aug. 2, 2013 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Glendora Police Department) LOS ANGELES (AP) — College filmmakers were using fake guns to shoot a robbery scene at a suburban Los Angeles coffee shop when the movie took a scary twist that wasn't in the script.
