Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer Signs Planned Parenthood Funding Ban

05/04/12 10:31 PM ET PHOENIX -- Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday signed into law a bill to cut off Planned Parenthood's access to taxpayer money funneled through the state for non-abortion services.
Arizona already bars use of public money for abortions except to save the life of the mother. But anti-abortion legislators and other supporters of the bill say the broader prohibition is needed to ensure no public money indirectly supports abortion services.

Planned Parenthood Arizona claims a funding ban would interrupt its preventive health care and family planning services for nearly 20,000 women served by the organization's clinics. The organization says it will consider a legal challenge.

Read more at the Huffington Post.

911 Tape Played as Jennifer Hudson Weeps

By Lynette Holloway
Updated 9:20 p.m. EDT April 23: Julia Hudson capped off an emotional day of testimony in Courtroom 500. Her sister, Jennifer, who sat next to her fiancé, David Otunga, in the courtroom, wept quietly as prosecutors played a recording of the 911 call her sister made after discovering their mother's body on the living room floor. At first Julia thought her mom had fallen after taking ill.

The dispatcher told a sobbing Julia to stop yelling because he could not understand her. She was crying for help and saying, "My mama, mama."

She portrayed Balfour as a jealous-hearted man who repeatedly made threats against her family. She alleged that he even became enraged when her son kissed her. She said he'd say, "Get off my wife."
Earlier in the day Jennifer Hudson, the prosecution's first witness, testified that the family did not want Julia to marry Balfour in the first place.

 "None of us wanted her to marry him," Hudson said. "I would tell her over and over again not to marry William. We didn't like the way he treated her."
Balfour grew up in the same Englewood neighborhood as the Hudsons and attended the same grade school as Jennifer, she testified.

When asked if she liked Balfour, Jennifer Hudson said, "Never. Not even in grammar school."
That was one of the few moments when Balfour looked at Hudson. Otherwise Balfour, who chewed gum, sat slumped in his chair and stared blankly toward the jury.

Prosecutors painted Balfour as a narcissist who worked as a drug dealer. They allege that he stalked Julia after she rebuffed him. While defense attorneys did not try to defend his character, they did say he is no murderer. In fact, public defender Amy Thompson raised the specter that the murders may have occurred as a result of Jason Hudson, who worked as a drug dealer.


Read the rest at The Root.

Obama 2012 Rallies Escalate Election Fight In Ohio, Virginia

By DAVID ESPO 05/05/12 05:36 PM ET AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Plunging into his campaign for a new term, President Barack Obama tore into Mitt Romney on Saturday as a willing and eager "rubber stamp" for conservative Republicans in Congress and an agenda to cut taxes for the rich, reduce spending on education and Medicare and enhance power that big banks and insurers hold over consumers.

Romney and his "friends in Congress think the same bad ideas will lead to a different result or they're just hoping you won't remember what happened the last time you tried it their way," the president told an audience estimated at over 10,000 partisans at what aides insisted was his first full-fledged political rally of the election year.

Six months before Election Day, the polls point to a close race between Obama and Romney, with the economy the overriding issue as the nation struggles to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s. Unemployment remains stubbornly high at 8.1 percent nationally, although it has receded slowly and unevenly since peaking several months into the president's term. The most recent dip was due to discouraged jobless giving up their search for work.

Read more at Huffington Post BlackVoices.

Finest: Rochelle Smith Trotter

By Lynette Holloway
Photography by Kipling Swehla
Rochelle Smith Trotter, the wife of Charlie Trotter–Chicago-based restaurateur and one of the nation’s top chefs–has tasted plenty of her own success. The former public relations exec is making big waves as owner of R’Culinaire, a culinary consulting firm that works with developers, hoteliers, and chefs throughout the world. Recently, she traveled to Abu Dhabi and Shanghai to help coordinate a food conference and investigate development options for television. The busy Trotter, who wed last year in the Maldives, takes time out to talk to UPTOWN about her fair city.
SEEN AND SCENE: Trotter loves live music; adores the opera (particularly the Lyric Opera of Chicago); enjoys listening to her friends, vocalist Dianne Reeves and pianist Andre Watts, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; hits summer shows at Ravinia Pavilion; and has a penchant for soulful, bluesy crooning . “Jazz is wonderful,” she says, “but let’s keep it real: Blues is what Chicago is all about!” Late night, she and Charlie can often be found at The Back Room jazz club.
STYLE PROFILE: A black Armani pantsuit, a white Oscar de la Renta blouse, Christian Louboutin pumps, black pearls, and vintage jewelry is a fashion formula that works for Trotter. “LuLu’s at the Bell Kay is my favorite vintage spot. I have a weakness for gorgeous earrings and bracelets.”
FLAIR NO MATTER WHAT YOU WEAR: “Having lived in Paris, I gained a new appreciation for everyday dressing,” says Trotter. “The women in Europe have a sense of confidence and femininity that is magnificent no matter what they wear. Style is as much about confidence as the actual pieces you wear. I’ve worn a dress from T.J.Maxx with a six-figure piece of jewelry and the look worked.”
CATCHING UP WITH ROCHELLE: Trotter is constantly on the go, but fitness is a key to her happiness. “You’ll find me working out at the 24-hour XSport Fitness, which [is perfect] for my busy, nontraditional schedule,” she says. And we wouldn’t expect the culinary insider to eat just anywhere. “For power breakfasts, you’ll find me at the Peninsula Hotel in The Lobby restaurant. When I have an important lunch meeting, I’ll go to RL restaurant off Michigan Avenue. Of course, for intimate dinners, I dine at my husband’s restaurant in Lincoln Park, Charlie Trotter’s.”