Week In Review

ABOVE PHOTO:  President Barack Obama By Julie Pace and Suzan Fraser Associated Press  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and military chiefs from more than 20 nations gathered Tuesday in a show of strength against Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria. But the alliance faced a fresh test as Turkey launched airstrikes against Kurdish rebels…

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By Jim Vertuno Associated Press  AUSTIN, Texas — A federal appeals court on Tuesday temporarily reinstated Texas’ tough voter ID law, which the U.S. Justice Department had condemned as the state’s latest means of suppressing minority voter turnout. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals allows the…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Geoffrey Holder   By Mark Kennedy  ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK —Geoffrey Holder, a Tony Award-winning director, actor, painter, dancer and choreographer who during an eclectic show business career led the groundbreaking show “The Wiz” to Broadway, pitched 7-Up on TV and played a scary villain in a James Bond film, has died. He…

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By Lolita C. Baldor and  Lauran Neergaard ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is seeking to allay fear about the single confirmed case of Ebola in the United States, saying that despite some initial missteps the health care system is doing what needs to be done to prevent an outbreak. “Our health care infrastructure…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Thomas Eric Duncan  (AP Photo/Wilmot Chayee)   By Nomaan Merchant Associated Press DALLAS — The first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States died Wednesday morning in a Dallas hospital, according to a hospital spokesman. Thomas Eric Duncan was pronounced dead at 7:51 AM at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, where he was…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Michael Dunn  (AP photo)   Associated Press  JACKSONVILLE, Florida — A jury has found a man guilty of first-degree murder for fatally shooting a teenager after an argument over loud music outside a Florida convenience store. The jury reached its verdict Wednesday after more than five hours of deliberations. Prosecutors say Michael Dunn…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Julia Pierson   By Alicia A. Caldwell and Josh Lederman Associated Press WASHINGTON — One lesson from Julia Pierson’s short tenure as director of the agency that protects the first family: The Secret Service can’t keep secrets from the president. Pierson’s undoing was not telling the president about a Sept. 16 incident in…

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associated press NEW YORK — Actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee was memorialized Saturday in poetry, dance and song at a packed Harlem cathedral where Alicia Keys sang her song “Superwoman,” Wynton Marsalis performed a stirring trumpet solo, and well-wishes were sent from Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and the White House. The three-hour celebration…

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ABOVE PHOTO: Eric Holder  (AP photo) By Nedra Pickler and Jim Kuhnhenn Associated Press WASHINGTON– Eric Holder, who served as the public face of the Obama administration’s legal fight against terrorism and pushed to make the criminal justice system more even-handed, is resigning after six years on the job. He is the nation’s first black attorney…

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ABOVE PHOTO: Joe Sample   By Charles J. Gans Associated Press Pianist and composer Joe Sample, a founding member of the genre-crossing Jazz Crusaders who helped pioneer the electronic jazz-funk fusion style, has died. He was 75. Sample died of complications due to lung cancer Friday evening at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, his…

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