?Volume 8, No. 33 Sunday, July 5, 2009 Price $1.00 Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announces that she is stepping down from her position as governor in Wasilla, Alaska, on Friday. ? AP PHOTO/THE MAT-SU VALLEY FRONTIERSMAN, ROBERT DEBERRY Editorials Business Food Comics Caribbean

Palin to resign as governor

She promised future details, reasons later

INSIDE

4-A 6-A 1-B 3-B 4-B Rachel D?oro WASILLA, Alaska ? Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a surprise announcement Friday that she is resigning from office at the end of the month without explaining why she plans to step down, raising speculation that she would focus on a run for the White House in the 2012 race. The former Republican vice presidential candidate hastily called a news conference Friday morning at her home in suburban Wasilla, giving such short notice that only a few reporters actually made it to the announcement. State troopers blocked late-arriving media outside her home, and her spokesman, Dave Murrow, finally emerged to confirm that Palin will step down July 26. He refused to give details about the governor?s future plans. ?Once I decided not to run for re-election, I also felt that to embrace the conventional lame Palin ? Page 5C

Holder sees disparity in sentencing

Larry Miller Tribune Staff Writer When crack cocaine made its entry into America?s cities, the impact was felt throughout the nation, and most acutely in the Black community, according to law enforcement and social service experts. Homicide numbers spiked in the 1980s and 1990s and as a result policy makers across the country pushed for the courts to impose stiffer mandatory sentences for selling the highly addictive drug, which resulted in longer prison stays for crack dealers. Experts say those longer sentences caused a huge racial disparity in America?s prisons, where research shows more than half of the incarcerated African Americans are behind bars for drug convictions. But with the ascent of the Obama administration, crack cocaine sentencing laws could be changing very soon. On June 23, at the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals, Attorney General Eric Holder acknowledged that the sentencing disparity is wrong and definitely needs addressing. Sentence ? Page 4B Sports Across America Classifieds Obituaries Leisure 1-C 4-C 5-C 6-C 1-D Eric Holder ACROSS AMERICA LEISURE D.C. Delegate Unrelenting on Voting Rights Plans new bill for House to take up. 6B

Lady Liberty

Iconic statue?s crown open to the masses, again, 1D

Opinions differ on how Supreme Court ruling affects equity in the workplace

Eric Mayes Tribune Staff Writer A Supreme Court decision that some say represents a significant shift in the court?s approach to racial discrimination has divided opinion among Black jurists, some saying it will have little impact over the long term and others calling it a tremendous blow for civil rights. In addition, it has highlighted the schism within many fire departments, including Philadelphia?s. The effects of the ruling are under particular scrutiny because it reversed a previous ruling by Supreme Court justice nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Just how the ruling will manifest itself across the country will be seen over time, but the Philadelphia Fire Department has already been involved in a similar case. The Supreme Court ruled Monday, in a 5-4 decision, against New Haven, Conn., saying that it discriminated against a group of white firefighters when it threw out a promotional test after all of the Blacks who took the exam failed to qualify for promotion. New Haven argued that it threw out the test fearing the results would prompt a lawsuit. Doing so was illegal, ruled the court. ?The city rejected the test results solely because the higher scoring

Strong sedative found in Jackson?s mansion

Michael R. Blood LOS ANGELES ? The powerful sedative Diprivan was found in Michael Jackson?s home, a law enforcement official said Friday as the city planned for a massive crowd at the singer?s memorial service. Diprivan is an anesthetic widely used in operating rooms to induce unconsciousness. Also known as Propofol, it?s given intravenously and is very unusual to have in a private home. The law enforcement official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak about the matter. A Los Angeles Police spokesman, Lt. John Romero, declined to discuss the case. ?It?s an ongoing investigation,? he said. At the downtown Staples Center, where Jackson?s memorial will be held Tuesday, Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger said up to 700,000 people could try to reach the arena, even Mark Scolforo HARRISBURG ? Pennsylvania?s state government began July mired in a partisan budget standoff, but its 500 school districts did not have the luxury of waiting out lawmakers ? even though they don?t know how much state support they will receive this year. Districts had to guess whether LEISURE Femi Kuti Speaks On father?s legacy, cultural efforts. 3D New Haven, Conn., firefighter Gary Tinney, one of a group of African-American firefighters who were at the center of a controversy over promotions, stands in front of the firehouse where he works ? AP PHOTO/BOB CHILD, FILE candidates were white,? Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote in his majority opinion. ?After the tests were completed, the raw racial results became the predominant rationale for the city?s refusal to certify the results.? The 5-4 ruling broke down along predictable lines, with conservatives following Kennedy. He was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and though only 17,500 free tickets will be available. City Councilwoman Jan Perry urged people to stay home and watch the memorial on TV. There will not be a funeral procession through the city. Free tickets to Jackson?s memorial service can be obtained by registering at Staplescenter.com. There will be 11,000 tickets for seats inside Staples Center and 6,500 for seats in the adjacent Nokia Theatre, where fans can watch a simulcast. After 6 p.m. Saturday, 8,750 names will be randomly selected to receive two tickets each. No details of the memorial service itself have been released. Authorities are investigating allegations that the 50-year-old Jackson had been consuming painkillers, sedatives and antidepressants. Any criminal charges would depend on whether Jackson had been overly prescribed medications, given drugs inappropri- Jackson ? Page 3C

School budgets set, but funding in doubt

what finally passes will be closer to what was proposed in a budget bill passed by Senate Republicans, or Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell?s budget, which calls for $418 million more in basic education subsidies. Some went with the Senate GOP numbers, some Rendell?s, and others made their own estimates. Once a state budget passes they will be able to adjust their spending, but Everything But Respect Jimmy Castor still has the fans, though. 4D Samuel A. Alito Jr. The law, wrote Kennedy, forbids intentional discrimination based on race. But he went a step further, saying that actions not based on race but that impact different races differently ? legally known as disparate impact ? are illegal, too. William Carter, a law professor at Temple University, said the decision essentially prohibits employers from considering race as a fac- not the all-important local property tax rates they have established for 2009-10. ?In most years you can have a reasonable assurance that at least you?re in the ballpark,? Jay Himes, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, said Thursday. ?This year, you?ve got a $418 million disparity, and that?s a very uncom-

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Nazarene Baptist is Church of the Week

Pastor strives to be an unwavering example, 6D

Challenging Diversity

Omega Optical expands into Center City tor in hiring, promoting or other actions. It also makes taking action to correct a perceived wrong considerably more difficult, he said. ?The implications of that are particularly broad,? he said. ?The court actually changed the prevailing standard on this issue. Prior to this, most lower courts and the Supreme Court itself said that an employer could take voluntary Firefighters ? Page 4B The shadow of a Magic Johnson statue looms outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Thursday. An executive with a concert promoter says Michael Jackson?s memorial service will be Tuesday at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles if that?s what Jackson?s mother wants. ? AP PHOTO/JAE C. HONG fortable position.? Districts were asked to send their budgets to the Senate Education Committee, and the 150 or so districts that have done so already are all over the map, said Aaron Shenck, a Republican committee aide. ?It?s been disappointing that many districts have chosen the State ? Page 4B The Philadelphia Tribune, a reflection of you. The Philadelphia Tribune

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