Florida Sentinel Bulletin

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama met with Black members of Congress about the economy and other issues Tuesday.

The White House says Pres. Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus discussed economic issues, immigration, implementation of Pres. Obama’s health care law and voting rights. It’s the first meeting between Pres. Obama and the Caucus since the Supreme Court last month stripped a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio, who chairs the Caucus, called it one of the worst days in U.S. history.

A caucus spokeswoman says all 43 members are scheduled to attend. The meeting comes as Pres. Obama is seeking to shift focus back to the economy and an immigration overhaul after two recent foreign trips and global crises that have diverted attention from his domestic priorities.

When Florida lawmakers recently voted to ban all Internet cafes, they worded the bill so poorly that they effectively outlawed every computer in the state, according to a recent lawsuit.

In April, Florida Governor Scott approved a ban on slot machines and Internet cafes after a charity tied to Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll was shut down on suspicion of being an Internet gambling front — forcing Carroll, who had consulted with the charity, to resign.

Florida’s 1,000 Internet cafes were shut down immediately, including Miami-Dade’s Incredible Investments, LLC, a café that provides online services to migrant workers. The owner, Consuelo Zapata, is now suing the state after her legal team found that the ban was so hastily worded that it can be applied to any computer or device connected to the Internet.

A teenager died after saving her younger siblings from drowning and was unable to save herself. Vaverlyn Dachbar, from Phoenix, Arizona, was on a family trip to Lake Pleasant on Friday when the tragedy took place.

Her twin brother and sister were out swimming and went under after they waded in too deep. Vaverlyn, who is said to be only an average swimmer, jumped in and managed to save them, but was unable to save herself. A Maricopa County Sheriff’s dive team found her body later in the day.

Vaverlyn was a sophomore at Thunderbird High School. Her family says she was an avid reader who was already taking extra classes to graduate early. Her dream was to be a pediatrician one day.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – Twin brothers, John and Eugene Meek, both 25 years of age and from Chicago, were recently found dead from an apparent drug overdose.

Their bodies were found with spoons and needles nearby. A friend went by to check on the pair after they were missing for 2-3 days, and found them in their home both unresponsive. He called police, and shortly after, the two were pronounced dead.

According to the family, the two brothers “did everything together,” and sadly they have also died together as a result of drug abuse. Despite their battle with drug addiction, the twins were quite accomplished. John attended culinary school, and Eugene was a phone technician. Janice Harty, their aunt, said that the twins were good men, and respectful toward others.

They also both loved bowling and golf. “They tried very hard,” she said.“It just was a very difficult battle to win. They just expressed a lot of interest in being happy and healthy.”

It was recently announced that a key portion of the Affordable Care Act that requires employers to provide health care to its employees will be pushed back until 2015.

The employer mandate, or as the White House calls it, the “shared responsibility” rules, will not require employers to cover their workers or penalize them for not doing so. The sudden change in the three-year-old law was a shock for some and gave fuel to critics of Obamacare.

The Administration is announcing that it will provide an additional year before the ACA mandatory employer and insurer reporting requirements begin.  This is designed to meet two goals.

First, it will allow us to consider ways to simplify the new reporting requirements consistent with the law.

Second, it will provide time to adapt health coverage and reporting systems while employers are moving toward making health coverage affordable and accessible for their employees.

JOHANNESBURG — A tribal king in South Africa on Saturday removed a grandson of Nelson Mandela from his post of traditional authority while the former president is hospitalized in critical condition.

King Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo of the Thembu tribe said Mandla Mandela was being expelled “from all rank of duties” over a family feud, which erupted after it was revealed that the grandson had moved the bodies of three of Nelson Mandela’s children to his village of Mvezo in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province in 2011.

The bodies were recently returned to their original burial site in Mandela’s hometown, Qunu, after Mandela family members went to court to force Mandla Mandela to relinquish control of the remains.

ATLANTA – The fight to keep Morris Brown College afloat continues with reports that the HBCU is proposing a $20 million plan to escape bankruptcy.

Morris Brown, Georgia’s first historically black college, has reached the multimillion dollar deal with FD LLC to restructure and reorganize the troubled school. Court papers filed Friday outline the proposed deal, according to reports in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution (AJC). It comes less than a month after trustees turned down an offer of nearly $10 million in taxpayer money from the City of Atlanta.

Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed offered the cash to try and eliminate the school’s huge debt. The campus is of interest because the city’s administration wants to regenerate the area to coincide with plans to develop a nearby Atlanta Falcons stadium. At the time of the mayor’s proposal the college’s lawyer, Anne Aaronson, said the city’s offer was rejected because though it covered the debt it did not provide for operating costs.

This new multimillion dollar deal would make FD LLC a partner in the school’s recovery by buying some of its property and settling its outstanding debt, while it seeks re-accreditation. The deal would also pay off the college’s creditors to the tune of $7.5 million. Another $7.5 million would be used to pay bond holders of the properties FD LLC plans to purchase.

The remaining $5 million would go toward the school’s operating costs after bankruptcy, which is crucial to Morris Brown’s to secure new accreditation from the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools.

LAGOS, Nigeria — A woman who could be considered Africa’s Oprah Winfrey is launching an entertainment network that will be beamed into nearly every country on the continent with programs showcasing its burgeoning middle class.

Mosunmola “Mo” Abudu wants EbonyLife TV to inspire Africans and the rest of the world, and change how viewers perceive the continent. The network’s programming tackles women’s daily life subjects — everything from sex tips to skin bleaching.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa  — President Barack Obama on Sunday will announce a new initiative to double access to electric power in sub-Saharan Africa, part of his effort to build on the legacy of equality and opportunity forged by his personal hero, Nelson Mandela.

Pres. Obama, who flew from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Sunday, is paying tribute to the ailing 94-year-old Mandela throughout the day. The president and his family visited Robben Island, where the anti-apartheid leader spent 18 years confined to a tiny cell, including a stop at the lime quarry where Mandela toiled and developed the lung problems that sent him to the hospital for most of the month.

The White House said Pres. Obama’s guide during the tour was 83-year-old South African politician Ahmed Kathrada, who also was held at the prison for nearly two decades and guided Pres. Obama on his 2006 visit to the prison as a U.S. senator. The president also saw the prison courtyard where Mandela planted grapevines that remain today, and where he and others in the dissident leadership would discuss politics, sneak notes to one another and hide writings.

After the tour, Pres. Obama visited with retired archbishop Desmond Tutu before delivering what the White House has billed as the signature speech of his weeklong trip, an address at the University of Cape Town that was infused with memories of Mandela.

Pictured: President Barack Obama walks from Section B, prison cell No. 5, on Robben Island, South Africa. This was former South African president Nelson Mandela’s cell, where he spent 18-years of his 27-year prison term on the island locked up by the former apartheid government.