Introducing Computer Free E-mail
Computer-free email brings loved ones back in the loop. Now Grandma can keep in touch and share color photos through email, without a computer or Internet connection. This innovative system allows longhand letter writers to easily exchange email with computer savvy friends and family. It's called Celery, and it's the first and only service to allow non-computer users to both send and receive email. Celery scans handwritten letters and sends them as email, and automatically prints incoming email and color photos. It uses reliable, color fax technology to provide two-way email delivery 24-hours a day. This service is perfect for those who want to see the photos that are shared online and want to keep in closer touch, but that hate to use computers. Celery recently won the coveted 2006 "Best of What's New" award from Popular Science in recognition of its ingenuity and influence.
For more information, call 1-866-MY-CELERY or visit www.mycelery.com.

Clinton Receives Humanitarian Award
Africare awarded the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Award to former President William J. Clinton for his outstanding contributions to peace, justice, and economic opportunity in the United States, in Africa, and worldwide. The presentation was made at the 2006 Africare Bishop John T. Walker Dinner held Oct. 18 at the Hilton Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C. This year's Africare Bishop Walker Dinner raised over $1.1 million. These funds will provide very important support for Africare's critical mission of helping the people of Africa to improve their quality of life -- in areas of food production, health and HIV/AIDS, education, water and natural resource management, civil society and governance, and emergency humanitarian aid. Africare, founded in 1970 in response to the Sahelian drought, has delivered over $590 million in programs and services to 36 countries continent-wide.
For more information, call 202-328-5364 or visit www.africare.org.

Two Colorado Institutions Chosen For Grant Participation
The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded 72 community college partnerships $125 million for successfully competing under the President’s Community-Based Job Training Grants initiative, including Otero Junior College in La Junta, CO and Trinidad State Junior College in Trinidad, CO. The institutions selected will embark on projects in industries ranging from healthcare and construction to advanced manufacturing and energy. The Otero Junior College grant totals $998,453 and will concentrate on careers in healthcare. At Trinidad State Junior College, $1,496,673 will be used to further careers in the energy and construction fields. The primary purpose of Community-Based Job Training Grants is to build community colleges’ capacity to equip workers with the skills growing local industries require for success.
For more information, visit www.doleta.gov/business/Community-BasedJobTrainingGrants.

15th Annual Trumpet Awards In Las Vegas
The Trumpet Awards Foundation will host an array of events during the weekend of Jan. 19-21 in Las Vegas, NV. The weekend will culminate in the 2007 Trumpet Awards on Monday Jan. 22, which will be held at the AAA Five Diamond Award-Winning Bellagio Hotel, honors African-American achievement in diverse fields of endeavors including medicine, law, politics, public service, sports, religion and entertainment. Hosts for the Trumpet Awards Red Carpet are Jonathan Slocumb, comedian, and Vickie Winans, gospel recording artist.
For more information, visit www.trumpetfoundation.org.

New Multicultural Comic Books From UMI
UMI (Urban Ministries, Inc), the largest independent African American media firm providing positive content for the urban market, announces one of the biggest launches in comics history for the young multicultural audience—The Guardian Line. This series is the superbly styled result of the combined resources of UMI and creator of The Guardian Line Michael Davis. Davis is the co-creator of the Emmy winning animated show Static Shock! and one of the founders of the Black comic publishing phenomenon, Milestone Media. Davis has been looking for the perfect opportunity to produce a positive, multicultural comic series for ten years. He first conceived the idea in 1996 while serving as president and CEO of Motown Animation and Filmworks. The Guardian Line will be available to the general market through Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., the world’s largest distributor of English-language comics and related merchandise. The comics will then be released bi-monthly for a total of six issues of each series per year.
For more information, visit www.theguardianline.com or www.urbanministries.com.

Humans Killing America’s Lion In Record Numbers
How many mountain lions are there in the United States?  No one can answer this question.  On the other hand, the question of how many mountain lions are killed by humans in the United States can and is answered in a report released by the Mountain Lion Foundation. This report documents the extent, causes and distribution of human-caused mountain lion deaths in the American West from 1997 to 2004. During this period, in eleven western states, nearly 30,000 mountain lions were killed or an average of 10 mountain lions killed each day by humans. Further analysis of where mountain lion deaths occur reveals a number of “mortality hotspots” in the northern Rocky Mountains and in Utah, where mountain lion population declines are being reported by state wildlife agencies and independent researchers.
For more information, visit www.pumaconservation.org

Duke Rises African American Studies To Department
Duke University’s Board of Trustees approved elevating Duke’s African and African American Studies (AAAS) Program to departmental status. Academic departments at Duke offer undergraduate and graduate degrees. Because the AAAS program currently offers an undergraduate degree and a graduate certificate, it already functions much like a department, said Arts & Sciences Dean of the Social Sciences Sarah Deutsch. The university’s Academic Programs Committee unanimously approved the change at its Oct. 25 meeting, and in a resolution commended AAAS for its quality research and undergraduate programs. The Academic Programs Committee also encouraged AAAS to consider establishing a Ph.D. program in the future.
For more information, visit www.duke.edu.

DHA Presents Final Payment Of $2.2 Million For City Loan Of Hope Vi Redevelopment
On Monday Dec. 18, the Denver Housing Authority (DHA) presented a final loan payment in the amount of $2.2 million to Mayor Hickenlooper and other senior city officials. This DHA payment is six months before the loan obligation to the City was due. In 2001, the DHA received a $2.5 million loan from the City and County of Denver and provided gap financing for the acquisition and redevelopment of East Village. The loan was evidence of the City’s commitment to DHA’s $20 million HUD HOPE VI grant, and leveraged over $200 million in the redevelopment of 14.87 acres adjacent to Downtown Denver. The new mixed finance redevelopment project will result in comprehensive community revitalization and 873 new mixed income housing units.

Alston Declares Candidacy For District 8 City Council Seat
Wil Alston has announced that he will pursue the District 8 seat on Denver City Council, which will be vacated by current Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth who will be facing term limits. A thirteen-year resident of Park Hill and a twenty-year marketing and public relations professional, Alston will be looking to leverage his experience as an entrepreneur, a professional, and a community leader on behalf of the more than 50,000 residents and business owners in District 8. The election for the council seat will be determined in a May 2007 election. While most recently recognized for his work with Manual High School, the Denver Juneteenth Festival, and the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce, Alston is currently the president/founder of The PR Shop, LLC, a public relations and event planning firm created in 2000. Over the last twenty years, he has held a number of respected positions throughout Denver, including the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce, the Universities of Denver and Colorado, and the Community College of Denver.
For more information, visit www.alstonfordenver.com.

CU Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity Leaves Mark
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity issued its final recommendations to help improve diversity across the University of Colorado system. The commission recommended ongoing engagement of its members, including select members to serve as an advisory board. It also requested that the university issue progress reports on diversity efforts and create a plan to resolve student access issues under CCHE’s purview. University of Colorado President Hank Brown initiated the Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity in August 2005. As one of his first priorities becoming president, Brown invited forty-six business and civic leaders to participate in the commission, along with student representatives from each university in the system. After 13 months of meetings and deliberations, it wrapped up its work by issuing a set of final recommendations, with the key outcome being explicit accountability by the university to make progress with the commission’s recommendations.
For more information, call 303-860-5627 or visit www.colorado.edu.

CSU Cooperative Extension Project Receives $2.3 million HHS Grant
Colorado State University (CSU) Cooperative Extension in Adams County has received a demonstration grant that could total $2.3 million over five years from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children and Families. The grant will be used to show the ways in which classes and programs that support strong families help to improve parent-child communication, reduce violent behavior and increase household incomes. Partnering agencies include Adams County Social Services Department, Tri- County Health Department and Alternatives to Family Violence, with additional help from secondary partners Goodwill Industries, Partnerships for Healthy Communities and Adams County Head Start. The grant amount of $488,067 a year is renewable for five years and is part of more than $118 million HHS awarded recently to 225 organizations across the country to promote healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood.
For more information, call 303-637-8100, or visit www.adamscountyextension.org.