Florida Sentinel Bulletin

In a surprise move, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, 40, has announced that he is stepping down from the position in January, 2014.

“Leadership knows when to step up and when to step down,” Jealous said. “This day I can say with pride that I’m prepared to step down and make room for the next person who will lead this organization to its next chapter.”

Citing family reasons, Jealous said that his high-profile career has caused him to sacrifice time with his wife, Lia Epperson, and children, daughter, Morgan, 7, and son, Jack, 13 months, and that is something that he intends to change.

Still, the hum of the Civil Rights Movement still courses through Jealous’ veins: “I’m really going to miss the street fights we’ve been in.”

The civil rights leader said he’s satisfied that he will leave an organization in much better condition than it was when he took over five years ago.

Under Jealous, the donor base has grown from 16,422 in 2007, just before he started, to 132,543 last year. Revenue has grown from $25.7 million in 2008 to $46 million in 2012. Out of a total score of 70, independent non-profit reviewing organization Charity Navigator gives the NAACP 51.42 for finances and 70 for accountability and transparency.

HAZELWOOD, MO – Starting a business is a goal of many young entrepreneurs who hope to eventually own a multi-million dollar enterprise.

For Jaylen Bledsoe of Hazelwood, Mo., he achieved this goal at the age of 15.

The high school sophomore started his own tech company when he was 13-years-old and since then, the business has skyrocketed and transformed into a global corporation now worth $3.5 million.

The young teen is the CEO and founder of Bledsoe Technologies, LLC, a company he created in 2012 that is recognized as an IT consultancy firm which specializes in web development and graphics for local businesses in St. Louis.

It has since expanded and now serves corporations worldwide, continuing to grow in both profit and staff size. The company had only five workers when it first launched and has now contracted over 150 employees.

Meanwhile, Bledsoe’s worth has reached millionaire status.

SOUTH CAROLINA – Ayaanah Gibson, a pregnant student at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina, lost consciousness and bled to death in her dorm room after going into spontaneous labor.

The 19-year-old freshman from Sacramento was alone over the long Labor Day weekend when the incident occurred.

She was found dead late Tuesday night, along with her baby, which appeared to be stillborn, according to Richland County coroner, Gary Watts.

Watts said there was no indication of foul play. He said toxicology tests will be performed to determine whether Gibson was taking medication that might have interfered with her judgment or caused her to lose consciousness.

Gibson likely would have survived if she had received immediate medical attention, Watts said.

Gibson did not call 911 or otherwise seek help. She lived in a single-person dormitory room at Benedict, a small, private college in downtown Columbia. The school is located within 1½ miles of South Carolina’s three largest hospitals.

The debate over possible military strikes for Syria’s apparent use of chemical weapons is already overshadowing the G-20 conference this week.

The meeting in Russia will pit two leaders with polar opposite views on Syria — U. S. President Barack Obama, who wants to launch limited military strikes against the Syrian regime, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country stands by its longtime ally in the Middle East.

The views of the 18 other countries at the G-20 run the gamut — but could be influenced by whatever happens in St. Petersburg.

Calls for intervention in Syria intensified after an alleged chemical weapons attack in rebel strongholds last month left about 1,400 people dead, according to U. S. estimates. Pres. Obama has been at the forefront of calls for a military response, along with French President Francois Hollande.

But some world leaders took the summit spotlight to stump against military action.

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said that while the international community “cannot remain idle” in the face of Syria’s apparent chemical weapons use, “there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict.”

“Only a political solution can end the terrible bloodshed, grave violations of human rights and the far-reaching destruction of Syria” he said. “Too many lives have already been lost and too many people have suffered for too long and lost too much.”

Pope Francis also spoke out, sending a letter Thursday to Putin in his role as host of the G-20 summit, urging a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis and calling military intervention a “futile pursuit.”

 Pictured: President Obama shakes  hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Senate Committee Authorizes Limited Military Response In Syria

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday voted to give President Barack Obama the power to a launch a military attack to punish Syria for using chemical weapons.

The vote was 10-7. It marked the first time in more than a decade — since a 2002 resolution that preceded the Iraq war — that members of Congress have voted to authorize military action.

The resolution, which could be voted on by the full Senate as early as next week, forbids Pres. Obama from using ground troops in Syria and allows the military response to last no longer than three months.

CHICAGO  — A court document detailing terms of a $160 million discrimination settlement with Merrill Lynch says the brokerage giant has agreed to sweeping policy changes to address the concerns of black financial advisers.

The unopposed motion filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago Thursday comes after attorneys for around 1,200 plaintiffs announced the payout. If approved by a federal judge, the settlement will be one of the largest ever in a discrimination suit.

The document says Merrill Lynch will create a “leadership council” to recommend ways to improve opportunities for African-Americans employees. It also commits to interviewing at least one minority candidate when selecting new executives. And it will consider diversity issues when assessing directors’ job performances.

The approval process will likely take several months.

NEW YORK  — Police investigating the death of a 1-year-old boy shot in the head in his stroller said Monday they believe his father, Anthony Hennis, was the target.

Authorities have some leads in the killing of Antiq Hennis on a Brooklyn street on Sunday night and believe his death may be gang-related.

Hennis, 21, had just gone to pick up Antiq at the home of the baby’s mother, Cherise Miller to take him to visit Hennis’ grandmother, police said. Hennis put the boy in the stroller and was pushing him across a street in the Brownsville neighborhood when shots rang out, police said.

Grief and outrage over Antiq’s shooting loomed over the annual West Indian Day Parade about a mile and a half away, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the killing “a tragedy for his family, for this community, for the entire city” and political candidates talked about gun violence.

Four shots were fired, and one hit Antiq in the left side of his head; he was declared dead on arrival at a hospital.

Two attempted armed robbery suspects were badly beaten by the victims they targeted in Charlottesville, according to police.

Police say Johnny Calderon, Jr., 19, and Gerald Allen, 18, of Charlottesville tried to rob two University of Virginia students.

When officers arrived on scene, they found the suspects with severe injuries. Police say they were beaten by the victims and were transported to the hospital for treatment.

Both were charged with two counts of attempted robbery. Calderon was also charged with pointing a firearm and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

WASHINGTON  — Short on support at home and allies abroad, President Barack Obama unexpectedly stepped back from a missile attack against Syria on Saturday and instead asked Congress to support a strike punishing Bashar Assad’s regime for the alleged use of chemical weapons.

With Navy ships on standby in the Mediterranean Sea ready to launch their cruise missiles, Pres. Obama said he had decided the United States should take military action and that he believes that as commander in chief, he has “the authority to carry out this military action without specific congressional authorization.”

Congress ‘Evenly Divided’ On Obama’s Next Move In Syria

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and his top aides launched a full-scale political offensive on Sunday to persuade a skeptical Congress to approve a military strike against Syria, but faced an uphill struggle to win over many lawmakers and a war-weary American public.

Pres. Obama made a series of calls to members of the House of Representatives and Senate, with more scheduled for Monday, underscoring the task confronting the administration before it can go ahead with using force in response to a deadly chemical attack blamed on the Syrian government.

Dozens of lawmakers, some in tennis shirts or shirtsleeves, cut short their vacations and streamed into the corridors of the Capitol building for a Sunday afternoon intelligence briefing on Syria with Obama’s national security team.

When they emerged nearly three hours later, there was no immediate sign that the many skeptics in Congress had changed their minds.

A New York maintenance man is “elated” to have hit a $5 million lottery jackpot — though it took seven years, and a criminal trial to finally cash in.

New York State Lottery officials on Wednesday verified that Robert Miles of Syracuse is the rightful winner of a 2006 scratch-off jackpot after it was determined a family of convenience store workers tried to bag the winnings for themselves.

In October 2006, Miles turned the winning scratch-off lottery ticket into The Green Ale Market in Syracuse where, according to Miles’ testimony in court, Andy and Nayel Ashkar convinced him the ticket was only worth $5,000.

The brothers, sons of the store’s owner, paid him $4,000 for it and kept $1,000.

Last year, the brothers tried to claim the multi-million dollar jackpot, triggering an investigation by state gaming officials and a criminal trial in Onondaga County.

Andy Ashkar, 35, who was working behind the counter at the store that day, was convicted in May of possessing the stolen ticket and received up to 25 years in prison, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported. It was determined there was not enough evidence to convict his brother, Nafel, of possession of stolen property. Both were cleared of conspiracy charges.

Their father, Nayef Ashkar, pleaded guilty to filing a false instrument and admitted he lied in a state lottery affidavit. He is expected to go to trial in September on conspiracy charges.

At trial Miles, who works a Syracuse apartment complex, testified he was addicted to crack cocaine at the time he bought the ticket and was confused by the Ashkar brother’s actions when they took it from him.

Originally the $5 million Extravaganza scratch-off winnings would have been paid out as a $250,000 annuity over 20 years, lottery officials said. But the rules have changed, and Miles will have the option of receiving a lump sum payment of $3.2 million, or $2.1 million after taxes.