Granville police have arrested an employee of the Target store at University Town Centre on charged he embezzled more than $3,000 in merchandise over several months.

Target employees told the police they have surveillance video that shows Kenneth Toney, Jr. in the act.

Toney told the police he is a member of Omega Psi Phi, a fraternity at West Virginia University, and that he took the items as part of a pre-pledge process.

WVU says Toney is not enrolled as a student at the university and could not have joined a fraternity there.

A fraternity spokesman said he has talked to its attorney about the matter and says it will take appropriate action against anyone falsely claiming to be part of its organization.   more »

Enrollment on the rise at Xavier University

Educators from across the country joined with community leaders here on Friday for an education symposium aimed at closing the achievement gap among urban youth and tackling other critical issues affecting them.

"We believe it takes a village," said Dr. Louise A. Rice, national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., which hosted the three-day summit as part of its continued commitment to the rebuilding city. "We are so pleased that so many people have gathered for the same cause-the education of our children."

Rice said at least 300 people had registered for the conference, which concludsed on Sunday.   more »

Speechs is part of Voter Education Tour for Jobs, Peace and Justice

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rainbow PUSH Coalition representatives will stop at Clemson University as part of the Voter Education Tour for Jobs, Peace and Justice on Monday.

The event is to begin at 1 p.m. in the Hendrix Student Center ballrooms on the Clemson campus, school officials said Wednesday.

The tour will take Mr. Jackson to 12 cities around the state to encourage people to study the issues that are important to them and to motivate them to vote, according to a Clemson news release. People can register to vote at the event, which is free and open to the public.   more »

Pat Burrell? Loser. Smarty Jones? Loser. T.O.? Whiny loser.

The major-league sports teams in this city haven’t delivered a championship since 1983. Stepping is where it’s at, and this weekend Philly’s got no excuse for not bringing home the gold.

Of the nine fraternity and sorority teams competing in the Stomping on the Yard National Step Show Championship this Saturday at the Liacouras Center, four have home field advantage.

For any newbies, steppers make cheerleaders look like one-dimensional, sappy, simpering wimps (but be warned, steppers hate cheerleading comparisons). A predominantly African-American phenomenon, stepping is a cross between tap, hip-hop, percussive dance, spoken word and gymnastics, using techniques taken from marching bands, drill teams and 1960s R&B dance routines. And it’s a sport this city excels in.   more »

U of M members of Omega Psi Phi will show their moves after Classic

There's going to be some earth-shaking noise at the official after-party of the Southern Heritage Classic Saturday night.

Not that there'll be any lack of it before or after the annual match between Tennessee State and Jackson State, which begins this year at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, and ends with a fireworks show.   more »

Today ushers in a new era at Selma High School, even though the school's new principal got started a day earlier than his first day on the job.

Dr. Bruce O. Dozier Sr. spent Tuesday morning meeting with the former principal, Roosevelt Wilson, going over the finer points of administration, and even had his first discipline problem to deal with - a student with a cell phone in chemistry class.

But his first problem he doesn't see as a problem. In comparison to what he is facing, Dozier said he knows it's important to pace himself.

He is inheriting a Selma High School that did not make Adequate Yearly Progress, due to a questionable dropout rate, low reading levels, and a high percentage of seniors not passing the mandated exit exam, school officials reported.   more »

Some Albany State students came together Wednesday night to help out a fellow student in need.

Students paid $2.00 to watch a greek-organization-sponsored benefit basketball game.

They raised $500 for Finetra Chambers who lost her apartment when fire swept through the Hidden Oaks complex back in July.

"We do like to think of ourselves as a family so when we heard that one of our fellow rams was down and out after her apartment burned down, my fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi along with the rest of the Divine Nine   more »

Omega Psi Phi commemorated its 20th anniversary at Emory with cake-cutting and a hop show at the Dobbs University Center Friday.

Alumni clad in purple and gold, members of Delta Sigma Theta, and members of Alpha Phi Alpha and Alpha Kappa Alpha attended the ceremony.

After being suspended by Emory in 2000 for discrepancies over their rush process, Omega was chartered again last spring with four members.   more »