Florida Sentinel Bulletin

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll illustrates a racial polarization in the electorate that poses challenges for both candidates.

The poll showed Mitt Romney earning zero percent among blacks, compared to Obama’s 94 percent. And Romney trails among Hispanics by a margin of 63 to 28 to the president.

But Obama, who earned 43 percent of the white vote in 2008, is down to 40 percent now, according to the survey. And other polls have shown him hovering in the 38 percent range, a number that would make it very hard for him to win reelection.

These numbers explain both campaigns’ strategies. The Democrats’ intense focus on the controversial abortion comments of Rep. Todd Akin, the GOP’s candidate for the Senate seat in Missouri, could help them win white women, who favor Republicans slightly in most polls but are in some ways the swing voters of this election. The NBC poll showed Romney ahead by 19 points among white men, but only 8 among white women. (In 2010, when Republicans made huge gains, they won the white vote by 23 points, including white women by 19.)

Romney, on the other hand, has spent little time or money courting blacks or Hispanics after taking strongly anti-illegal immigration stands during the GOP primary.

George Zimmerman’s Facebook page is no more. Mike O’Mara, the 28-year-old’s lawyer, has disabled the page on the social networking site, which was used to update the public on the case—from the side of the defense.

Instead of being an outlet for reaching out to supporters, the page turned into a forum to blast Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, O’Mara announced Wednesday (Aug.22).

According to O’Mara the page gave Zimmerman a social media presence for three months, but was riddled with “diminishing returns” resulting in debates over the former neighborhood watch captain’s guilt or innocence.

After seeking out a “stand your ground” hearing in hopes of having his second-degree murder charge dismissed, Zimmerman’s defense team is now objecting to the state of Florida’s request for additional medical records because “there as been no showing of relevance, or that these records would lead to discoverable, relevant information.”

ATLANTA — One of the nation’s oldest black colleges is facing foreclosure next month, and an auction of assets is set for Sept. 4.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that enrollment at Morris Brown College in Atlanta is down to about 50 students. In the past, the university has served more than 3,000 students.

Officials said the college is facing foreclosure after investors called $13 million worth of bonds tied to the college.

Former Atlanta City Councilman and Morris Brown graduate Derrick Boazman called the development “heartbreaking.”

The school is planning a prayer vigil Saturday, where plans to move the school forward will be discussed.

Benjamin Harrison is a spokesman for the 6th District African Methodist Episcopal Church, which oversees the school. He says officials will talk about reorganizing and restructuring as well as finances.

Deanna Cook lost her life, as she begged for help via 911, and now police in Dallas are investigating the matter, after taking two days to find her body. Cook was killed last Friday (Aug. 17), and phoned the emergency number to get help. She was on the phone with 911 for 11 minutes, yet it took nine minutes for them to locate her address.

Once at the location, police knocked on the door and left when they got no response. Authorities were never informed that Cook spoke on the attack during the call, and were only told they were going to the residence over a domestic dispute.

Cook’s body was found in a bathtub by her teen daughter, after  she and other family members broke down the door to her home, when she didn’t show up to church. Once at her home, the family called 911 after seeing water leaking from Cook’s residence, but was instructed to call a local hospital to uncover her possible whereabouts before police could be sent out.

Her husband, Delvecchio Patrick, has been charged with her murder.

According to the Daily Mail, Casey Dickerson, 31, was arrested on federal sex charges for being the alleged ringleader in the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl. The girl claims Dickerson raped her on a Carnival Sensation cruise ship traveling from Florida to the Bahamas, and then encouraged four teenage boys to force themselves on her as well.

Dickerson denies the accusations, but admits to buying alcohol for a group of teens. The girl said the rape occurred in an extra cabin that Dickerson had a key to. Officials confirm Dickerson was given access to a spare room by the ship’s crew because his wife complained about excess noise.

The girl, whose identity hasn’t been revealed, told authorities that she entered the cabin where Dickinson and the teenage boys were partying with a friend. After being given some alcohol, one teenager held the victim’s friend in the bathroom as she was being sexually assaulted in the room.

The girls claim Dickerson and the group of teenage boys each took turns raping her while she was being pinned down. According to reports, after the attack she was allowed to get dressed and leave the room where she was treated for injuries and was provided with a rape kit aboard the ship’s medical center.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man police say shot himself in the head while his hands were cuffed behind him in the back of an Arkansas patrol car tested positive for methamphetamine, anti-anxiety medication and other drugs, according to an autopsy report released Monday that listed his death as a suicide.

The state crime lab report said the muzzle of a handgun that Chavis Carter apparently concealed from arresting officers was placed against his right temple when it was fired. The report, signed by three medical examiners, included a drug analysis showing Carter’s urine and blood indicated methamphetamine and other drug use.

The report, released to The Associated Press and other news organizations under a Freedom of Information Act request, said Carter’s blood also tested positive for at least trace amounts of the anti-anxiety medication diazepam and the painkiller oxycodone. His urine test also returned a positive result for marijuana.

The report said Carter’s death was ruled a suicide based on autopsy findings and investigative conclusions from the Jonesboro Police Department, which has faced questions from Carter’s family and community members about the circumstances surrounding the July 28 shooting.

“He was cuffed and placed into a police car, where apparently he produced a weapon, and despite being handcuffed, shot himself in the head,” the report said.

Benjamin Irwin, a Memphis, Tenn., lawyer representing Carter’s family, declined to comment on the specifics of the toxicology report, calling instead for police to release details of any gunpowder residue or other such tests.

“If those tests were taken … what were the results?” Irwin asked.

On Monday night dozens of Carter family supporters gathered outside the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn., for a candlelight vigil.

Carter’s mother, Teresa Carter, wiped her eyes as people spoke about her late son. “My heart is so heavy,” she said.

SEATTLE — George Hickman, one of the original Tuskegee airmen and a longtime usher at University of Washington and Seattle Seahawks game, has died at age 88.

His wife, Doris, confirmed Monday that he died early Sunday morning in Seattle.

Hickman was one of the country’s first Black military pilots and ground crew members who fought in World War II.

In 2007, he and other Tuskegee airmen traveled to Washington, D.C., to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor. In 2009, he attended President Barack Obama‘s inauguration as a special guest.

Hickman was a fixture at Seattle sporting events and greeted fans at Seahawks and Huskies games.

Doris Hickman says her husband was “just a wonderful man.”

When an intruder broke into 74-year-old Margaret Jackson’s home, he soon learned that he would be no match for the fork-wielding woman Houston cops have dubbed the “Gangsta Granny.”

Jackson says she was alerted to the intruder’s presence when her dog began barking. She peeked out of her window and found a teen in her backyard trying to break in. Figuring she had to get to him before he got to her, she grabbed a pair of scissors and a fork and confronted the intruder.

As he ran off, she struck the him in the neck with the knife.

“They want to learn how to use the fork, I can teach self defense in the fork,” said Jackson. “He was pushing on me. He turned around. And when he turned around, that’s when he messed up. I got him right in the neck!”

ST. LOUIS — Missouri Congressman Todd Akin, a conservative Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, sparked a furor and earned a rebuke from Mitt Romney’s campaign after saying that women’s bodies can prevent pregnancies in “a legitimate rape” and that conception is rare in such cases.

Akin, a six-term congressman running against incumbent Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill, was asked in an interview broadcast Sunday on St. Louis television station KTVI if he would support abortions for women who have been raped.

“It seems to me first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare,” Akin said. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin said of a rape victim’s chances of becoming pregnant.

Akin said in an emailed statement later Sunday that he “misspoke” during the interview, though the statement did not specify on which points or comments.

“In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year,” Akin’s statement said.