Miami, FL - Songstress Donna Summer died Thursday morning after succumbing to a long battle with cancer.  She was 63.  It is not clear what kind of cancer since some reports are describing it as breast cancer while others are calling it lung cancer.

Summer came to define the sound of late '70s and early '80s radio with hits including "Last Dance", "Bad Girls" and "She Works Hard for The Money".

The five-time Grammy winner leaves behind two grown daughters, Brooklyn and Amanda, with her husband, songwriter Bruce Charles Sudano, as well as another daughter, Mimi, from a previous marriage. 

Sources told TMZ that the singer was trying to complete an album at the time of her death

Houston, TX - An all-white jury found a white former Houston police officer not guilty Wednesday in the videotaped beating of 15-year-old African-American burglary suspect Chad Holley, eliciting cries of outrage from community members.

The jury had deliberated for less than a day.

"The jury sent a message that the life of a black man don’t mean a damn thing in Houston," African-American community activist Quanell X told the Los Angeles Times. "I believe the prosecutor never truly intended to convict this cop. I believe that allowing an all-white jury to be impaneled in this case was absolutely wrong and a miscarriage of justice."

Houston is the country’s fourth-largest city and among the most diverse, with an African-American chief of police. But Quanell X, a Los Angeles native and leader of the local New Black Panther Party, noted that the jury in this case was chosen from surrounding conservative Harris County, represented by a white, Republican district attorney who began her career as a Houston police officer.

He also noted that the prosecutor in the case, Clint Greenwood, failed to convict another white police officer last year in the shooting of 23-year-old African-American waiter Robert Tolan, son of a former Major League Baseball player shot in the driveway of his home in Houston’s affluent Bellaire neighborhood in 2010.

"Black people must rise up and send a message to white people in this city and this town that our lives and the lives of our children do matter," Quanell X told the Times. "We’re at a boiling point where America is headed toward some real civil conflict because of cases like Trayvon Martin and Robbie Tolan and Chad Holley. Black people are sick and tired of being sick and tired."

He said Holley and his mother were expected to speak later Wednesday outside the local NAACP offices and a protest is planned Thursday outside the Harris County courthouse.

Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos released a statement Wednesday afternoon to the Times noting that she did not agree with the verdict.

"Although I respectfully disagree with the decision, I accept it and thank the jurors for their service," the statement said. "We have the best criminal justice system in the world. Our prosecutors conducted themselves with professionalism and dedication to the pursuit of justice. We are prepared to go to trial on the remaining three cases and request the court to set speedy trials."

Janice Evans, spokeswoman for Houston Mayor Annise Parker, tweeted that the mayor stands by the Houston police chief’s decision to fire Officer Andrew Blomberg for his role in the beating.

"I certainly don’t agree with the verdict, and I support the chief of police in his actions in relation to these officers," Parker told a news conference Wednesday morning. "They will never again be Houston police officers, whatever the verdict is in the criminal trial."

Blomberg, 29, was the first of four fired Houston police officers to stand trial in connection with the alleged beating of Holley in 2010. He had faced up to a year in jail if convicted of official oppression, a misdemeanor.

During the trial, Blomberg denied kicking or stomping the teenager during the March 2010 arrest, and his attorney argued he was simply subduing a suspected gang member. But Holley, now 18, testified that he did not belong to a gang, didn’t resist arrest and that the beating he received was so severe, he briefly lost consciousness.

In security video footage, Holley can be seen on the ground, surrounded by at least five officers who seem to be kicking and hitting him.

Nationwide, USA - For the first time, there are more black, Hispanic and other minority babies being born in the United States than white babies, according to government data released on Thursday that officially confirm what has been a long-growing trend.

U.S. Census Bureau data show the United States is on its way to becoming "majority minority," with almost half of all young children currently from minority groups, including Hispanic, black and Asian.

As of July 1, 2011, 50.4 percent of babies younger than age 1 were minorities or of more than one race, up from 49.5 percent in 2010, the data showed.

For children younger than age 5, 49.7 percent were a minority or mixed race last year, up from 49.0 percent in 2010, according to the agency, which tracks the U.S. population.

While the country has long been on course to see whites lose their majority, the latest figures make it clear that the next generations of Americans will look far different than today.

The figures are also likely to reignite debate over what it means to be an American in an election year where race, poverty and immigration are hot-button campaign issues.

More than half of all residents in Hawaii, California, New Mexico, Texas and Washington, D.C. were minorities as of last year, the agency found.

Overall, 36.6 percent of the U.S. population were minorities in 2011 compared to 36.1 percent in 2010. The 197.5 million whites still made up nearly two-thirds of the nation, the Census Bureau said.

The largest and fastest-growing minority group in the United States last year remained Hispanics at 52 million, or nearly 17 percent of the nation's population. The black population was 43.9 million.

Asians were the second-fastest growing population, growing 3 percent to 18 million.

There were 6.3 million American Indian and Alaska Native residents and 1.4 million Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders.

Some experts on race and ethnicity say current immigrants are far less likely to "melt" into U.S. culture, while others say today's minorities may soon see their heritage blend as whites did. Generations ago there were not "whites" but European groups that were identified as Irish, German, Italian and Greek, among others.

The growing Hispanic population and related immigration concerns, particularly in southern states that border Mexico, are expected to be major issues in November's presidential and congressional elections.

Port St. Lucie, FL - A Florida mom went on a murderous rampage, killing her four children early today before turning the gun on herself.

The murders happened around 4:30 a.m. in Port St. John, Fla. According to Lt. Tod Goodyear of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office identified the mother as Tanya Thomas, 33.

The children were identified as Joel Johnson, 12, Jazlin Johnson, 13, Jaxs Johnson, 15, and Pebbles Johnson, 17.

"This is a little bit different because they were older kids," Goodyear said. "To kill all four, I can't remember the last time a mom killed this many of her children."

The shootings are the worst homicides to take place in Brevard County since 1987.

Goodyear says Thomas sent a text message around 3 a.m. to a male coworker that Goodyear said, "Tell my mom what happened, I want to be cremated with my children."

The text is an indication that it was premeditated, Goodyear said. "A bad part of the investigation is that we may not get the why. Unless she left a note somewhere or told somebody, she may have taken it to the grave."

According to Goodyear, a neighbor heard gun shots. Minutes later two of the children arrived on his doorstep. One of the boys, police believe it was Joel, was covered in blood and told the neighbor his mom had shot them. The oldest child, Pebbles, could be seen walking back towards the family home, Goodyear said.

The children's mother came outside and lured the kids back into the house.

"She was very calm, called them in," Goodyear said. "She didn't seem to be stressed or mad, just stepped out. She walked out and said 'come home.'"

The neighbors say that they called out to the children, begging them not to go back to the house. That was the last time they saw the children.

The neighbors called police immediately who heard gunshots upon arrival.

Washington, DC - After making his historic remarks on same-sex unions last week, President Barack Obama led a conference call with black church pastors to explain his support for gay marriage, the New York Times reports. The call, which was held with "eight or so African-American ministers," occurred about two hours after the president's interview with ABC's Robin Roberts.

Obama explained to them that he struggled with the decision, pastors on the call told the paper, but several voiced their disapproval.

"They were wrestling with their ability to get over his theological position," the Rev. Delman Coates, a Maryland pastor who was on the call, told the Times.

The conference call was part of a quiet effort by the president to control potential political damage caused by his support of same-sex marriage.

According to the Times, Obama phoned "at least one [the Rev. Joel C. Hunter] of the five spiritual leaders he calls regularly for religious guidance, and his aides contacted other religious figures who have been supportive in the past."

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