Across the nation

campaign to end disease

in black community

LOS ANGELES — Fifteen years after disclosing he was HIV-positive, wide-smiling former basketball star Earvin "Magic” Johnson marked World AIDS day Friday by unveiling a campaign to end the disease within the black community.

"I Stand with Magic: Campaign to End Black AIDS” is a joint effort between the Magic Johnson Foundation and Illinois-based HIV research leader Abbott Laboratories, Inc. that aims to help reduce new HIV infections in the black community by 50 percent over five years.

"I have seen the numbers of HIV infections continue to rise in the minority community and the time is now to take action in helping to lower those numbers,” Johnson, 47, said in a news release.

The program "encourages African-Americans of all ages to stand with me and fight HIV/AIDS by getting tested, getting test results and encouraging at least four friends or family members to do the same,” Johnson said.

Experimental ultrasound method could mean

fewer biopsies for

women with breast lumps

CHICAGO — An experimental ultrasound technique that measures how easily breast lumps compress and bounce back could enable doctors to determine instantly whether a woman has cancer or not — without having to do a biopsy.

In a small study of 80 women, the technique, called "elastography,” distinguished harmless lumps from malignant ones with nearly 100 percent accuracy. Cancerous tumors are firmer than benign ones. If the results hold up in a larger study, elastography could save thousands of women from the waiting, cost, discomfort and anxiety of a biopsy, in which cells are removed from the breast — sometimes with a needle, sometimes with a scalpel — and examined under a microscope.

U.S. troops who threw themselves on grenades in Iraq could get awarded

GARDEN GROVE — Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had just an instant to react when a hand grenade was tossed into his rooftop hideout in Iraq.

Michael Monsoor, a 25-year-old Southern Californian who liked fast cars and snowboarding, was part of a sniper security team that day in Ramadi with three other SEALs and eight Iraqi soldiers, according to a Navy account.

Supreme Court takes ’Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ free speech case

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court stepped into a dispute over free speech Friday involving a suspended high school student and his banner that proclaimed "Bong Hits 4 Jesus.”

The justices agreed to hear the appeal by the Juneau, Alaska, school board and principal Deborah Morse of a lower court ruling that allowed the student’s civil rights lawsuit to proceed. The school board hired former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr to argue its case to the high court.

Bayh to take first step toward 2008 presidential bid

WASHINGTON — Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, a Democrat with a record of political success in a Republican-leaning state, intends to take the first official step toward a 2008 presidential campaign early next week, officials said Friday.

Bayh’s plans include creation of a presidential exploratory committee, as well as appearances Monday in Iowa and next weekend in New Hampshire, two early states on the campaign calendar. Bayh would be the second Democrat to take a formal step toward a presidential campaign. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is already in the race.

Texas Democrat Reyes, a former Border Patrol agent, to head House Intelligence Committee next month

WASHINGTON — A Border Patrol agent-turned-congressman will take over as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee next month, pledging to keep a closer eye on the nation’s spy agencies and the Bush administration. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, chosen Friday by House Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi, said in El Paso, "For the first time in about six years, there’s going to be some checks and balances. ... We will see true oversight, real consequences.”

Pelosi’s announcement ended weeks of speculation within the party about who would get the key position, a question that had created political turmoil for her before she takes her new leadership post.