by David McCraryAP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The horrific massacre of 26 children and staff at a Connecticut elementary school, along with other mass shootings, was the top news story of 2012, narrowly edging out the U.S. election, according to The Associated Press' annual poll of U.S. editors and news directors. INTERFAITH VIGIL--President Barack Obama pauses as he delivers a speech during an interfaith vigil for the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Sunday, Dec. 16, at Newtown High School in Newtown, Conn. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
by Angela Delli SantiAssociated Press Writer TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Newark Mayor Cory Booker, perhaps New Jersey's highest-profile Democrat, has ruled out a bid for governor next year and is eyeing a run for U.S. Senate in 2014. The decision, announced Thursday on Twitter, seems to mean Booker has chosen a possible race against U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat who is now 88, over one with Republican Gov. Chris Christie. FILE—In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012 file photograph, Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker addresses a gathering in Willingboro Township, N.J. On Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012, Booker ruled out a bid for New Jersey governor and is eyeing a run for U.S. Senate in 2014. Booker's announcement on Twitter Thursday ended months of speculation over whether the Democratic Party's biggest draw would seek to challenge Gov. Chris Christie in next year's governor's race. (AP Photo/Mel Evans,file)
by Hannah DreierAssociated Press Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — The 20-year-old Rhode Islander who brought the Miss Universe crown back to the U.S. for the first time in 15 years is hoping that her quick rise through the beauty pageant ranks and an onstage stumble will show women that anything is possible. MISS UNIVERSE--Miss USA, Olivia Culpo, left, is crowned Miss Universe during the Miss Universe competition, Dec. 19, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
by Ted Anthony AP National Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pick a public elementary school somewhere in the continental United States and draw a half-mile circle around it. The odds are reasonable that you'll encounter some combination of the following: BACK TO SCHOOL--A returning student smiles as his bus school bus pulls into Hawley School, Dec. 18, in Newtown, Conn. Classes resumed Tuesday for Newtown schools except those at Sandy Hook. Buses ferrying students to schools were festooned with large green and white ribbons on the front grills, the colors of Sandy Hook. At Newtown High School, students in sweatshirts and jackets, many wearing headphones, betrayed mixed emotions. Adam (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow) A baseball field. A statue erected for war veterans. A municipal building. A community center. A polling place — probably the school itself. A library. A park. A basketball court crawling with kids playing pickup games.
NEW YORK (AP) — President Barack Obama has been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2012. "We are in the midst of historic cultural and demographic changes, and Obama is both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America," Time Editor Rick Stengel told NBC's "Today" show, where he announced the selection on Wednesday. PERSON OF THE YEAR--In this image released Dec. 19, in New York by Time Inc., President Barack Obama is Time Magazine's Person of the Year. (AP Photo/Time Magazine) The short list for the honor included Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was shot in the head for advocating for girls' education, as well as Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Italian physicist Fabiola Giannati.
(Target Market News)--At a recent press briefing, the NAACP, Latino Decisions, and pollsters at Silas Lee and Associates presented information from their exclusive polling data during the Nov. 6th Presidential election. The findings pointed out the significant -- and underreported -- role that African-Americans played in Barack Obama being elected to a second term. BEN JEALOUS "This data underscores the decisive role [African-Americans] played in key battleground states," said Benjamin Todd Jealous, President & CEO of the NAACP. "It reveals opportunities for the GOP to improve its relationship with our community, and suggests the Democratic Party should not assume it will see the 2008 and 2012 levels of Black turnout in 2016."
by Brady Combs Associated Press Writer SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The reaction to the Connecticut school shooting can be seen in gun stores and self-defense retailers across the nation: Anxious parents are fueling sales of armored backpacks for children while firearms enthusiasts are stocking up on assault rifles in anticipation of tighter gun control measures. BULLET PROOF BACKPACKS FOR KIDS--Rick Brand, Chief Operating Officer of Amendment II, holds a children's backpack, left, and anti-ballistic insert at the company's manufacturing facility in Salt Lake City, Dec. 19. Anxious parents reeling in the wake the Connecticut school shooting are fueling sales of armored backpacks for children emblazoned with Disney and Avengers logos, as firearms enthusiasts stock up on assault rifles nationwide amid fears of imminent gun control measures. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) A spike in gun sales is common after a mass shooting, but the Connecticut tragedy has generated record sales in many states. Colorado set a single-day record for gun background check requests the day after the Connecticut mass shootings, and some online retailers are removing assault rifles from websites in part because of diminishing supplies.
Week of Dec. 19-25 December 19 1875—The man who would become recognized as the “Father of Black History,” Carter Godwin Woodson, is born on this day in New Canton, Buckingham County, Va. Woodson founded the Washington, D.C.,-based Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History. He wrote hundreds of articles about Black history and published several books with the most widely circulated being “The Negro in Our History” and launched the information celebration now known as Black History Month. His famous warning to African-Americans about the need to know and study Black history was, “Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.” Woodson died suddenly on April 3, 1950.
by Elizabeth Landau (CNN) -- If you're wondering who else in the United States might fit a "profile" of becoming a mass killer, just look around: They are everywhere, and they're most likely harmless. KILLER--Photo of Sandy Hook Shooter Adam Lanza from approximately 2005. Frighteningly, we have little idea about what separates those who ponder committing slaughter from those who go through with it. Experts say that risk factors, such as social isolation and rejection, are found in many people across the United States, a country shaken by the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Friday, in which 20 children and six adults were killed.
by Ryan NakashimaAssociated Press Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The world's attention wavered between the tragic and the silly in 2012, and along the way, Web surfers searched in huge numbers to find out about a royal princess, the latest iPad, and a record-breaking skydiver. FILE—In this Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 picture, Whitney Houston accepts an award at the Warner Theatre during the 2010 BET Hip Hop Honors in Washington. Houston was the “top trending” search of the year, according to Google Inc. People around the globe searched en masse for news about the superstar singer's sad, accidental drowning (AP Photo/Nick Wass, file)
