Was Romney's NAACP speech almost good?

Give Mitt Romney credit. He addressed the NAACP's 103rd annual convention last week in Houston, made his case and gave African American voters -- who will still undoubtedly support President Barack Obama -- something to think about. Telling the members of the nation's oldest civil rights organization that "support is asked for and earned," Romney acknowledged the trust deficit between the GOP and many black voters, but he also argued that his campaign is "about helping the middle class in America" and that "the course the president has set won't do that." More »

Steve Harvey in town to promote new TV show

Comedian Steve Harvey knew a long time ago what he wanted to do with his life. "I decided when I was 9 years old [to be a comedian], but my parents never came to that decision," he said to the audience at Darryl's Corner Bar & Kitchen on Columbus Avenue. More »

'Three strikes' bill up for vote this month

Thirteen years to the day after his 27-year-old daughter, Melissa, was murdered, Les Gosule stood in front of the Massachusetts State House, pleading for the passage of a bill that aims to keep repeat violent criminals off the streets. "She ended up being kidnapped, taken to the woods in Halifax, tied to a tree, stripped, raped and stabbed by a person who had 27 convictions," said Gosule at last week's press conference. "Why did something like that happen?" More »

'Endgame' explores impact of HIV/AIDS

For the first time in two decades, the United States will host this year's International AIDS Conference, to be held next week in the nation's capital. Despite having a large number of new cases of HIV/AIDS, America has seemingly turned a blind eye to an epidemic that's been crippling communities within many of the country's biggest cities for nearly a quarter century. More »