RENO, Nev. — Burning Man organizers sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to recover millions of dollars they say the government has overcharged them in fees over the past seven years at the counter-culture celebration in the Nevada desert. Black Rock City LLC, the nonprofit that produces the annual...
Why Samoans Are 40 Times More Likely to Play in the NFL
With training camp in full swing, quarterback Marcus Mariota, the first Samoan Heisman Trophy winner, will be the signal caller for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, a pre-season favorite to become the second Samoan Heisman winner, is entering his junior year. His younger brother, Taulia,...
Is Ethnic Studies Plan Too Politically Correct Even for California?
As Americans grapple with shifts in culture and demographics, majority-minority California is developing a high school curriculum in ethnic studies, one of the first nationally. Not long ago — while managing his extracurriculars and winnowing his college choices — Eli Safaie-Kia, 17, found time to discover a draft of it. Its contents were, in some...
Alaska Native Girl Leads Animated Kids TV Show in US First
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Princess Daazhraii Johnson grew up eating dried salmon and moose-head soup — foods labeled weird by other kids who had no understanding of her culture and traditions. Now the Fairbanks woman and other Alaska Natives are presenting their world to a general audience with "Molly of Denali,"...
Grammy-Nominated Rapper Nipsey Hussle Shot and Killed
LOS ANGELES — Rapper Nipsey Hussle was fatally shot outside the clothing store he founded to help rebuild his troubled South Los Angeles neighborhood, police said, cutting short a career that earned him a Grammy nomination this year for his major-label debut. He was 33. Police said Hussle was one...
Brokaw Says He Feels Terrible About Commentary Offending Hispanics
NEW YORK — NBC's Tom Brokaw says he feels terrible that his comments on "Meet the Press" Sunday that Hispanics should work harder at assimilation "offended some members of that proud culture." The former "NBC Nightly News" anchor tweeted in response to a social media backlash to what he had...
Can This Retired Marine Whip Fresno Unified into Shape?
The biggest culture collision in the history of Fresno Unified School District is underway. On one side is retired Marine Maj. Terry Slatic, who was elected to succeed trustee Brooke Ashjian in November. I've spent a good part of the past 45 years interviewing serious men and women —college and NFL...