Public mistakes can sink promising political careers. Nobody can understand that better than former Obama advisor Van Jones, who had to step down from his White House position as the go-to guy on green jobs and environmental justice issues only months into his tenure. But now Princeton University has appointed Jones to a year-long fellowship in the Center for African American studies and the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democratic leaders Thursday walked their rank-and-file members through last-minute agreements that could move President Barack Obama's overhaul of the nation's health care system a step closer to reality...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats facing strong headwinds this election season have at least one reason for optimism, according to polling that found the party's large African-American voting bloc eager to stay involved even without Barack Obama on the ballot...

DETROIT (AP) – Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick turned himself into the court over an alleged probation violation. Prosecutors say he didn't make good on $79,011 he was ordered to pay by Feb. 19.

PHOENIX (NNPA) - February, Black History Month, held a special meaning for Charles F. Long II, and his family. The Arizona State Department of Corrections released him from behind prison walls.
Founder and president of America's Buffalo Soldiers Re-Enactors Association (ABSRA), Colonel Long, as he is fondly called, was convicted of reckless manslaughter and aggravated assault in January of 2005 by an all White jury, for the death of 14-year-old Anthony Haynes, at a tough love boot camp near Buckeye Arizona run by Long.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hispanic and Black businesses are receiving a disproportionately small number of federal stimulus contracts, creating a rising chorus of demands for the Obama administration to be more inclusive and more closely track who receives government-financed work.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- In private pitches to Democrats, President Barack Obama says he will persuade Congress to pass his health care overhaul even if it kills him and even if he has to ask deeply distrustful lawmakers to trust him on a promise the White House doesn't have the power to keep.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday that health care reform would have been ``dead on arrival'' if the White House had sent a finished proposal to Congress last year. The secretary also blamed delays in passing the measure on President Barack Obama having to spend ``far too much time talking about what's not in the bill'' and trying to counter ``wild accusations'' by Republicans.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Couples waited in line for hours Wednesday to apply for marriage licenses on the first day same-sex unions became legal in the nation's capital. Cheering erupted from the crowd when the first couple signed in at the city's marriage bureau inside the Moultrie courthouse, just blocks from the U.S. Capitol. By the afternoon, more than 100 couples had come to the bureau, and more than 50 had completed their applications. The rest stood in line in the courthouse corridor, checking e-mail, reading newspapers and exchanging stories with other couples.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- New York Rep. Charles Rangel temporarily stepped aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday as he struggled with mounting ethics woes that left his political future uncertain at best.