SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The nation's only professional group for active-duty gay military personnel is holding its first conference in Las Vegas this weekend, an event only made possible by the recent lifting of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibited gay and lesbian troops from serving openly in the armed forces.

2009-2010 data says that Black and Native American students are lagging 20 to 40 percentage points behind their white counterparts in terms of meeting state benchmarks. The same article also notes that at the 10th grade level, 79.7 percent of white students meet standards as opposed to 42.3 percent of black students.

Here, the former RNC Chairman reflects on his life and philosophy, on his hopes for the GOP, and on the party's prospects for attracting more African American voters in 2012. 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Education Departments says a majority of states have notified it that they intend to take President Barack Obama up on his offer to let them get around unpopular proficiency requirements in the education law "No Child Left Behind."

NEW YORK (AP) -- A former billionaire who was the primary target of what prosecutors called the biggest hedge fund insider trading case in U.S. history was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A 19-month civil rights investigation of the Los Angeles Unified School District found that the district failed to provide an equal education to English-learners and black students, resulting in wide academic disparities, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday.

DETROIT (AP) -- A Nigerian man said Wednesday he tried to bring down an international flight over Detroit with a bomb in his underwear in retaliation for the killing of Muslims worldwide, taking a federal court by surprise as he pleaded guilty on the second day of his trial.

BERGHOLZ, Ohio (AP) -- In an unusually public display of trouble among the traditionally guarded Amish, a breakaway group is accused of attacking mainstream members by cutting off their beards and hair, which carry spiritual significance in the faith.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The national Occupy Wall Street movement has been heating up again - resulting in about 50 arrests in Boston early Tuesday and plans for a Manhattan "Millionaires March" to the homes of some of New York City's wealthiest residents.

DETROIT (AP) -- A young Nigerian on a terrorist mission for al-Qaida prayed, washed and put on perfume moments before trying to detonate a bomb in his underwear to bring down an international jetliner on Christmas 2009, a prosecutor told jurors as the man's trial opened Tuesday.