'Memphis' on Broadway recaptures 1950s soul
New York - Last year, the late pioneer D.J. Dewey Phillips (who died of heart failure in 1968 at the age of 42) was rewarded with a brass note on famed Beale Street in Memphis. A white disc jockey who loved all music, Phillips - also known as "Daddy-O-Dewey" - played an eclectic mix of blues, R&B, country and dance records on WHBQ radio and WHBQ-TV/13 that helped to integrate American radio and television music in the late 1940s and all through the 1950s. More »
Some job-screening tactics challenged as illegal
WASHINGTON - Companies using criminal records or bad credit reports to screen out job applicants might land afoul of anti-discrimination laws as the government steps up scrutiny of hiring policies that can hurt blacks and Hispanics. A blanket refusal to hire workers based on criminal records or credit problems can be illegal if it has a disparate impact on racial minorities, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. More »
Obama backs mosque near Ground Zero
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama, after skirting the controversy for weeks, is weighing in forcefully on the planned mosque near the site of the destroyed World Trade Center, saying a nation built on religious freedom must allow it. More »
Obama says he'll protect Social Security program
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is using the anniversary of Social Security, the federal pension entitlement for the elderly, to trumpet Democrats? support for the popular program and accuse Republicans of trying to destroy it. More »
