Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder suspended two state workers Friday over Flint’s toxic water scandal, which also threatens his governorship, Reuters reports.   The two unidentified Department of Environmental Quality managers have been suspended without pay. But under civil service rules, they will return to the payroll after seven days, according to the Detroit Free Press.…

Two high school seniors sent an email from a Muslim student’s account that announced a bomb threat, the Washington Post reports. More than 600 current and former students received the message. A The subject said “Bomb.” And the brief message stated: “Friday there will be a big boom.” It turned out to be a hoax.…

Another black celebrity has decided to sit out the Oscars in February. Director Spike Lee joins actress Jada Pinkett Smith in protest against the lack of racial diversity among Oscar nominees. For the second consecutive year, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science nominated only whites for its major categories. The Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite…

The family of Samuel Dubose, a black Ohio man killed by a University of Cincinnati police officer, agreed to settle their wrongful death lawsuit out of court for a package valued at $5.3 million, CBS News reports. Under the settlement announced Monday, the university will pay the family $4.85 million in monetary compensation. It will…

The Rev. Jesse Jackson told a church congregation in Flint, Mich., Sunday that the city’s water crisis “is a disaster, not just an emergency,” the Detroit Free Press reports. His comments came one day after President Barack Obama declared a federal emergency and authorized the release of federal resources to alleviate Flint’s lead-contaminated water crisis.…

Hope is getting slim for a Tennessee woman trying to recoup the money she spent on Powerball tickets. GoFundMe, the online crowdfunding site, shut down her lucrative fundraising campaign, the New York Daily News reports. Cinnamon Nicole claimed that she blew all her money on the lottery in hopes of winning last week’s $1.6 billion…

Hillary Clinton defended President Barack Obama’s political legacy and appealed to African-American voters during last night’s debate in Charleston, S.C., sponsored in part by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute.   She called out systemic racism when asked whether black lives are seen as “cheap.” “It’s been heartbreaking and increasingly outraging to see stories of young…

Updated Monday, Jan. 18, 2016: Jada Pinkett Smith posted a Facebook video on this Martin Luther King Jr. Day that shares her thoughts on how to address the Academy Awards’ snub of people of color. Smith says that black people need to recognize the power and influence they have. Out of self-respect, African Americans do…

A homeless man is being hailed a hero for saving a Houston family from their burning home, KHOU-TV reports. Thomas Smith, who was invited to stay at the house, thought that someone was breaking in when he heard a loud noise at 1:30 a.m. Friday. He discovered that the house was on fire and went…

Prominent black pastors boycotted the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Interfaith Breakfast hosted by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago Tribune reports. A small group of the ministers, standing outside the venue, said that more than 100 pastors chose to boycott the breakfast. They were protesting Emanuel’s alleged role in an attempt to cover up the…