Daily News Feed 11.06.2009/Vocab: felicitous

Utah’s first African-American mayor
Saratoga Springs made history Tuesday night, becoming the first Utah city to elect a black woman as mayor. Councilwoman Mia Love defeated challenger Jeff Francom in the contest to replace outgoing Mayor Timothy Parker. “I am absolutely honored,” Love said. “I am so excited.” And in Provo, John Curtis beat Rep. Stephen D. Clark to become its next mayor. The election was the culmination of a campaign that saw Clark accused of bribery and the Utah County Republican Party charged with meddling. Curtis said much of the acrimony came from each candidate’s supporters, while he tried to keep his campaign issue-oriented. “One of my first agenda items is reuniting the divide created by this election,” Curtis said Tuesday night. In Provo’s Municipal Council District 5, Councilwoman Cindy Richards lost to Sterling Beck, wrapping up a race that saw Richards under heavy attack from a committee formed by Utah County GOP Chairman Taylor Oldroyd. (Continue Reading…)

Winfrey takes gospel singer BeBe Winans off her show
Oprah Winfrey says she’s keeping singer BeBe Winans off her show until domestic violence charges against him are resolved. The gospel singer had taped appearances on Winfrey’s “karaoke challenge” and was on last Friday. Following the show, some bloggers questioned whether Winfrey was guilty of a double standard by including Winans when she took a strong stand against domestic violence following Chris Brown’s assault of then-girl friend Rihanna. (Continue Reading…)

South Africa tries to enlist men in AIDS battle
“There is a new man in South Africa,” proclaims a new ad splashed across South African media, aiming to transform ideas about sexuality and to enlist the nation’s men in the fight against AIDS. This new South African man’s “self worth is not determined by the number of women he can have.” He “makes no excuse for unprotected sex” and “respects his woman”, the ad reads. The image of a hard-drinking, fearless seducer still holds powerful appeal for many South African men, posing a major problem to stopping AIDS in a country where 5.7 million of the 48 million population have HIV. Until now, most AIDS schemes have centred on health centres, which are used mainly by women. (Continue Reading…)