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Looking over one of the worst crimes scenes in the history of downtown Indianapolis, state trooper Rod Russell was sad. “It’s just a few people who make it bad for everyone,” Russell said. But the “few” were thousands of blacks who roamed the streets of downtown in the aftermath of an Indianapolis Black Expo marred by fighting, vandalizing, assaulting and even shooting. Lots of shooting. Ten people were taken to local hospitals with bullet wounds. “Why did we find an AK-47 in the back of someone’s car,” asked Frank Straub, director of public safety, about the 2010 rampage. No one...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Police say eight people were wounded in a burst of gunfire in downtown Indianapolis during the Indiana Black Expo and two more in separate shootings that followed.....

Police Say They Didn't Know About Talent Show INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Black Expo representatives said Thursday that a preliminary round of a talent show after which shots were fired during a fight Wednesday night isn't an official event of IBE's Summer Celebration. Indianapolis police arrested a juvenile in connection with gunfire outside the Indiana Convention Center Wednesday night following a Star Quest talent show. About 1,500 people were leaving when shots rang out at about 11 p.m., police said. "Some people said, 'Somebody's got a gun,' and everybody's running every which way trying to get out of there," said witness...

Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman told the recent NAACP convention that he'd pull out all stops to woo black voters to the GOP tent. A few hundred miles away his boss was busy touting his program for jobs, minority business, and homeownership at the Indianapolis Black Expo. Bush and Mehlman got a listen at both places, and they should have. Blacks have gotten precious little in return for their blind loyalty to the Democratic Party. The black poor are more numerous. They live in crime and violence plagued neighborhoods. Their children attend miserably failing public schools. Public services in...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: The President and Mrs. Bush are spending the weekend in Washington according to assistant WH press secretary Trent Duffy (from yesterday's press gaggle aboard AF1). Here's an interesting tidbit from yesterday's day trip: Bob Johnson, Chairman of BET (Black Entertainment Television) was a guest of GWB aboard Air Force One and accompanied the President throughout the day. Mr. Johnson strongly supports the CAFTA legislation. He's also on the President's Commission To Save and Strengthen Social Security. He has ties to the North Carolina region. [Bu...bu...but...isn't this the Dims' locked-in solid voting block?!] THE WEEK AHEAD:...

President Discusses Education, Entrepreneurship & Home Ownership at Indiana Black Expo RCA Dome Indianapolis, Indiana 11:51 A.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thanks for the warm welcome. I appreciate it. It is an honor to be here. Thanks for having me. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be here with the men and women of the Indiana Black Expo, as you celebrate your 35th anniversary. You know, I was reading about this organization -- it is a -- it shows the entrepreneurial spirit deep within the hearts of the founders of this organization and...

President George W Bush addressed the Indiana Black Expo Corporate luncheon at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana First Lady Laura Bush concluded her African trip and was joined on the last leg by the Brtish Prime Minister's Wife Yesterday 13th July 2005 Vice President Dick Cheney swore in US Ambassador to NATO at the State Department Today he and the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will be handing out the awards to Capts. Phillip Atwood and Patrick Martin firefighters from Kansas City who have been awarded the Public Safety Medal of Valor along with some of their other colleagues The...

In a coordinated effort to reach black voters, President Bush heralded higher test scores among minorities on Thursday while his party's chairman, in an even more explicit overture, apologized for past Republican efforts to exploit racial friction. Mr. Bush spoke to business leaders at the Indiana Black Expo here, after declining an invitation to appear at the national convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for the fifth consecutive year because of what White House officials said was a scheduling conflict. "We're making big differences in the lives of African-Americans," the president told leaders at the...

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman told NAACP members Thursday the GOP was wrong for ignoring the black vote for decades and said he hoped the groups could restore their historic bond. "By the '70s and into the '80s and '90s, the Democrat Party solidified its support in the African-American community, and we Republicans did not effectively reach out," Mehlman told more than 500 NAACP members at their annual convention. "Some Republicans gave up on winning the African-American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization. I come here as Republican chairman...

President Bush argued Thursday that he has built a government that expands opportunities for black Americans as he tried to win more Republican votes from one of the most reliably Democratic groups. Bush told the Indiana Black Expo that he believes in an America where all people, including blacks, have the chance to own homes and businesses and share in the country's prosperity. He also took credit for narrowing the gap in test scores between black and white elementary school students, according to test results released Thursday by his Education Department. "I see an America where every citizen owns a...

WASHINGTON - President Bush is skipping this week's annual NAACP convention for the fifth straight year, but that isn't preventing the White House and Republican Party from waging a drive to woo African-American voters. The outreach effort, which began shortly after Bush's re-election, will be on display Thursday as the president addresses about 3,200 people at the Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration luncheon in Indianapolis and Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman speaks at the NAACP convention in Milwaukee. In Indianapolis, Bush will tout his "ownership society" theme, noting gains that African-Americans have made in homeownership and small business on...

INDIANAPOLIS -- President Bush's scheduled visit this week to Indiana Black Expo's Summer Celebration is a win-win opportunity for him and Black Expo, according to Expo officials and political observers.For Black Expo, it brings presidential prestige and national media exposure that no amount of in-house publicity could buy.Bush gains, too, by reaching a significant black audience the very week he is skipping the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Milwaukee. ... Bush will speak at Expo's Corporate Luncheon and Awards, where about 3,000 executives, managers and others are expected. Attendance at all Summer...

<p>Frustration over police treatment of people who attended Indiana Black Expo led to talk at a Sunday afternoon meeting of some sort of economic action against Downtown businesses.</p> <p>"Hit them where it hurts," said Cynthia Ransom, one of the 40 people at the meeting. "When you start hitting them in their pockets, you get their attention." There was no consensus on what to do, but the word "boycott" was mentioned often.</p>

<p>Frustration over police treatment of people who attended Indiana Black Expo led to talk at a Sunday afternoon meeting of some sort of economic action against Downtown businesses.</p> <p>"Hit them where it hurts," said Cynthia Ransom, one of the 40 people at the meeting. "When you start hitting them in their pockets, you get their attention." There was no consensus on what to do, but the word "boycott" was mentioned often.</p>