The head of the federal agency responsible for warning people about health effects of toxic pollution in their neighborhoods responded to complaints Thursday at a hearing in Washington by saying he's improving the agency's approach to investigating hazards and how the risks are explained.
Frumkin says the agency has found better ways to explain health risks to people wanting information about their neighborhoods' hazards. ...

MUTARE, Zimbabwe (AP) _ A prominent member of the prime minister's party, arrested last month on weapons charges, was released on bail Thursday.
"I am happy to be out. I will do anything to move this country forward,'' Roy Bennett told reporters after being released from prison in the eastern city of Mutare.
Bennett was unshaven and thinner. But he sounded determined as he spoke about harsh jail conditions in which prisoners survive on one meal a day and are given salty water. ...

The Department of Social and Health Services is holding a summit to teach minority businesses how to earn the agencies contracts.
Minority and women business owners can meet with Department's purchasing staff to learn about contracting with the agency at "Bridging the Gap," the 2009 Supplier Diversity Summit on March 30 in Pasco. ...

To honor the 30th anniversary of its founding, Sisters Of The Road has kicked off a campaign to collect one thousand $30 contributions by Sisters' birthday in November 2009.
Sisters was founded on Nov. 7, 1979. Their three original goals remain unchanged: to be a safe and welcoming environment to everyone, especially women and children; to offer nourishing meals at little cost or in exchange for work; and to provide job training and employment experience to local residents. ...

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Alexander Collins has two homes: a new one in the U.S. where he wants to stay and one in Africa he wants to leave for good.
Collins, 34, has lived in St. Paul, Minn. on a series of temporary extensions since coming to the U.S. from Liberia about eight years ago. Collins is among 3,600 Liberians granted temporary protected status to settle in the U.S. while civil war ravaged their homeland. The war has ended and a fledgling democracy is taking hold. So President George W. Bush granted a final 18-month extension, which ends March 31. ...

(NNPA) - The NAACP is accusing Wells Fargo and HSBC of forcing Blacks into subprime mortgages while Whites with identical qualifications got lower rates.
Class-action lawsuits were filed against the banks on Friday Mar. 13 in federal court in Los Angeles, said Austin Tighe, co-lead counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
A statement released by the civil rights organization says, "These lawsuits allege systematic, institutionalized racism in sub-prime home mortgage lending." ...

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- President Robert Mugabe and longtime political rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai sat side by side Saturday at a state funeral that was seen as a symbolic step for their parties' month-old coalition.
The funeral was for former defense forces commander and Mugabe loyalist Gen. Vitalis Zvinavashe and was Tsvangirai's first formal attendance at a shrine for fallen guerrillas and political leaders.

The Obama administration announced Monday that the 21 largest banks receiving government money must report monthly on how much lending they do to small businesses. All other banks getting taxpayer help are being asked to report quarterly on small business loans. Even banks that are not taking government funds are being told by the administration to "make an extra effort'' to increase small business lending. . . .

Nykita Hurt holds a photo of her daughter Brandi who became a child prostitute at the age of 14. Experts say more than 300,000 children are being sexually exploited in the United States. . . .

Seattle City Council members announced today a timeline to develop a publicly financed elections program for local campaigns in the city of Seattle. The plan proposes development of a proposal over 2009 and early 2010 with a possible ballot measure placed before voters in 2010. If voters approve a measure, candidates could participate in a program as early as the 2011 election cycle. 
Public financing, sometimes called "voter-owned" elections, allows a candidate to qualify for public funds to run an electoral campaign if he or she is able to demonstrate a broad base of community support. . . .