NAACP appoints its 17th president

BALTIMORE - The NAACP chose 35-year-old activist and former news executive Ben Jealous as its 17th president yesterday, making him the youngest leader in the 99-year history of the nation's largest civil rights organization. The 64-member board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People met for eight hours before selecting Jealous in the early morning. He was formally introduced yesterday afternoon and will take over as president in September. Though he is not a politician, minister, or civil rights icon, Jealous provides the organization with a young but connected chief familiar with black leadership and social justice issues. (AP)

LOS ANGELES - A man with a semiautomatic rifle opened fire at a church festival yesterday, wounding his former wife and two bystanders before festival-goers grabbed him and held him for police, authorities said. Gunfire rang out on a grassy field where the festival was being set up at the St. John Baptist de la Salle Roman Catholic parish shortly before 11 a.m., said police Captain Steven Ruiz. Father Robert Milbauer, the parish's pastor, said about 50 people were setting up food and game booths and carnival-style rides when the gunfire erupted. (AP)

A Democratic congressman yesterday urged Republicans to "step up to the plate" to help veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Representative Xavier Becerra, Democrat of California, pointed to the updated GI Bill, which the House passed Thursday, as one way "a grateful nation can repay its heroes." The new GI Bill essentially would guarantee a full scholarship at any in-state public university, along with a monthly housing stipend, for anyone who serves in the military for at least three years. To pay for it, the Democratic plan would impose a surtax on individuals with incomes above $500,000. Senators in both parties balked at the increase in tax rates, but 32 Republicans joined Democrats on the 256-166 vote in favor of the bill. (AP)