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April 22, 2010

Dorothy Height, a leading civil rights pioneer of the 1960s, died Tuesday at the age of 98, Howard University Hospital confirmed.

Hospital spokesman Ron Harris said Height died at 3:41 a.m. No cause of death was given.

Height, who had been chair and president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women, worked in the 1960s alongside civil rights pioneers, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., future U.S. Rep. John Lewis and A. Philip Randolph. She was on the platform when King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech at the 1963 March on Washington.


April 16, 2010

by JIM ABRAMS

Many people trying to buy a house with a riverfront view were up a creek the past few weeks because of the temporary shutdown of the federal program that provides flood insurance.

Much was made of the thousands of workers losing their unemployment checks or their access to a federal health care program while the Senate took weeks to act on an $18 billion bill to extend, through the end of May or early June, several benefits programs that had expired.


April 15, 2010

by Alan Zibel

The number of homeowners in the Obama administration's flagship foreclosure prevention program is growing, data released Wednesday show. Yet it's not all good news.

About 231,000 homeowners have completed loan modifications through March. That's about 21 percent of the 1.2 million borrowers who began the program over the past year.

But another 158,000 homeowners who signed up have dropped out -- either because they didn't make payments or failed to return the necessary documents. That's up from about 90,000 just a month earlier.

Issues:Housing

April 14, 2010

By JIM ABRAMS (AP)

Congress is calling for the United States to take the lead in relieving earthquake-shattered Haiti of its estimated $828 million debt to international institutions.

The House approved by voice vote Wednesday and sent to President Barack Obama legislation that instructs U.S. directors at the International Monetary Fund and other global development institutions to use their votes and influence to cancel Haiti's debt.

Debt relief is one of several approaches to helping Haiti recover from the January earthquake that took an estimated 230,000 lives.

Issues:Haiti

April 14, 2010

By Juliana Gruenwald

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, has called on the FCC to extend the comment period on whether the commission should approve Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal.

In a letter Monday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Waters voiced concern with the FCC's refusal to agree to public interest groups' request for a 45-day extension in the comment period. Stakeholders currently have until May 3 to file initial comments and June 17 to file final reply comments.


April 13, 2010

By Tony Romm

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) on Monday asked FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to extend the period during which the public may comment on the proposed mega-merger of Comcast and NBC.

The commission announced in early March that it would accept initial input from consumers and interest groups up to May 3, with responses and replies due to the agency by June 2 and June 17, respectively. While public interest groups later sought a 45-day extension to that time frame, the FCC's Media Bureau ultimately denied their request.


April 7, 2010

by Tanu Henry

For more than two decades now, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has been a diehard supporter of Haiti.

In the United States Congress, and beyond those halls, she has been one of the few consistent voices speaking out about the problems of Haiti and on behalf of Haitians at home and those living in, or immigrating to, the U.S.


March 12, 2010

by Cynthia Gordy

Los Angeles Representative Maxine Waters was one of the first members of Congress to visit Haiti in January after a major earthquake ravaged the island nation. As stories have faded from headlines, she has stayed focused on relief. White House correspondent Cynthia Gordy spoke with Waters days before her second mission to Port-au-Prince, about challenges in the recovery, criticism of the official in charge of U.S. aid and her goal to wipe out Haiti's debt.

Issues:Haiti