How conservative links helped ACORN ‘pimp and hooker’ undercover videos became big news

LOS ANGELES — Much of America discovered James O’Keefe III and Hannah Giles through their hidden-camera, make-believe pimp and prostitute videos of ACORN employees giving advice about establishing a brothel with underage hookers.

Justice Dept. inspector general tells lawmaker he’s reviewing ACORN’s role with agency

WASHINGTON — An internal watchdog at the Justice Department said Monday he was reviewing the agency’s involvement with the activist group ACORN.

Obama: Actions in ACORN video ‘inappropriate,’ favors investigation into scandal

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says there should be an investigation into the hidden-camera video involving employees at the activist group ACORN and a couple posing as a prostitute and her pimp.

Obama: ACORN video ‘inappropriate,” favors investigation into community group’s activities

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says there should be an investigation into the hidden-camera video involving employees at the activist group ACORN and a couple posing as a prostitute and her pimp. The two ACORN workers are seen apparently advising the couple to lie about her profession and launder her earnings to get housing aid.

ACORN grew from local charity to national conglomerate with radio stations, schools

WASHINGTON — Activist group ACORN started in 1970 to help poor people in Arkansas and by decade’s end went national, expanding into a multimillion-dollar conglomerate with a mission so far-flung that schools now bear its name, two radio stations are affiliates and a man its political arm endorsed is the president. Oh yeah — and it’s the unwilling star of a hot Internet video featuring a couple dressed as a hooker and her pimp.

Fox News Channel ads taunting rival networks draws return fire; CNN’s Sanchez: ‘you lie’

LOS ANGELES — Fox News Channel’s competitors fired back Friday at the network over ads in three major newspapers claiming Fox alone covered last weekend’s protest in Washington, D.C.

House votes to deny all federal funds for ACORN in GOP-led strike on embattled group

WASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday to deny all federal funds for ACORN in a GOP-led strike against the scandal-tainted community organizing group that comes just three days after the Senate took similar action. “ACORN has violated serious federal laws, and today the House voted to ensure that taxpayer dollars would no longer be used to fund this corrupt organization,” said second-ranked House Republican Eric Cantor of Virginia.

House Roll Call: How they voted on ACORN defunding

The 345-75 roll call Thursday by which the House amended the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 to deny all federal funds to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, commonly known as ACORN.

House votes to cut off all federal funds to ACORN

WASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday to deny all federal funds for ACORN in a GOP-led strike against the scandal-tainted community organizing group that comes just three days after the Senate took similar action.

ACORN plans internal investigation, will suspend additions to service programs

WASHINGTON — The community organizing group ACORN said Wednesday it is ordering an independent investigation after its employees were caught on camera appearing to advise a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp to lie about the woman’s profession to get housing help.

Nebraska GOP Sen. Johanns calls for Justice probe of ACORN

WASHINGTON — A Republican lawmaker on Tuesday urged the Justice Department to investigate ACORN, a community organization under fire for several voter-registration fraud cases.

ACORN blasts video of 2 of its workers telling woman posing as prostitute to lie about her job

NEW YORK — Two employees of the advocacy group ACORN are shown on a hidden-camera video released Monday, apparently advising a couple posing as a prostitute and her pimp to lie about her profession and launder her earnings.

In wake of hidden camera scandal, Senate votes to deny funds to ACORN

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Monday to block the Housing and Urban Development Department from giving grants to ACORN, a community organization under fire in several voter-registration fraud cases.

Citing negative publicity, Census Bureau severs partnership with ACORN in 2010 head count

WASHINGTON — The Census Bureau on Friday severed its ties with ACORN, a community organization that has been hit with Republican accusations of voter-registration fraud.

ACORN fires 2 workers seen in hidden-camera footage advising woman posing as prostitute

BALTIMORE — The group ACORN has fired two employees who were seen on hidden-camera video giving tax advice to a man posing as a pimp and a woman who pretended to be a prostitute.

Report finds only 9 pct of homeowners getting help; 10 mortgage companies haven’t helped any

WASHINGTON — The government’s $50 billion program to ease the mortgage crisis is helping only a tiny fraction of struggling homeowners, and a list released Tuesday showed which lenders are laggards.

Can shame boost Obama administration’s effort to stem foreclosure crisis?

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration wants to shame the mortgage industry into doing a better job of helping borrowers avoid losing their homes to foreclosure.

Officials ramp up pressure on mortgage companies after sluggish start to foreclosure program

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, scrambling to get its main housing initiative on track, extracted a pledge from 25 mortgage company executives to improve their efforts to assist borrowers in danger of foreclosure.

Ants more rational than humans in taking decisions in groups

WASHINGTON - When it comes to decision-making in groups, ants turn out to be more rational than humans, according to a study conducted by researchers from Arizona State University and Princeton University.

ACORN, ACLU file federal lawsuit to strike down Pa. law regulating voter-registration workers

PITTSBURGH — The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to strike down a state law used to prosecute voter-registration workers who allegedly employed a quota system in the Pittsburgh area.

Senate confirms Obama’s nominee to lead the high-stakes 2010 census over GOP objections

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s nominee to be census director was approved Monday by the Senate, ending weeks of opposition from a pair of Republicans over his role in next year’s high-stakes count.

NYC Hispanic rights group’s links to Sotomayor fodder for GOP criticism before hearings

NEW YORK — Cesar Perales has fought his share of critics over the years, in legal battles for minorities denied jobs, bilingual classes in schools and more Latino police officers.

Advocacy groups sue in hopes of forcing states to increase low-income voter registration

WASHINGTON — States across the country are violating part of the federal “motor voter” law requiring voter registration help for low-income residents, according to a coalition of advocacy groups trying to force change through the courts.

AP sources: Puerto Rican advocacy group sends documents to Senate panel evaluating Sotomayor

WASHINGTON — A Puerto Rican legal advocacy group late Tuesday sent a trove of documents from Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s past to the Senate panel considering her nomination.

Small family-owned amusement parks offer affordable fun

MIDDLEBURY, Conn. — If you can’t afford to take the kids to one of the big theme parks this summer, find out if there are any smaller, family-owned parks nearby. You may be pleasantly surprised to find the ticket prices are lower than at the big parks, and lines may be shorter too.

4 former ACORN workers will face trial over voter fraud allegations in western Pennsylvania

PITTSBURGH — Four former ACORN workers in western Pennsylvania will face trial on charges that they forged, illegally solicited or illegally filled out voter registration cards before the November election.

AP News in Brief

Obama says he’ll accept Nobel Peace Prize as ‘call to action’ toward peace and prosperity

AP News in Brief

Iran test fires missiles amid global flap over its nuclear ambitions

7 ACORN workers charged with voter registration irregularities in Pa.

PITTSBURGH — Seven Pittsburgh-area ACORN workers were charged with falsifying voter registration forms, with six accused of doing so to meet the group’s alleged quota system before last year’s general election.

7 ACORN workers accused of voter-registration irregularities in western Pa.

PITTSBURGH — Authorities in western Pennsylvania have accused seven people who worked for the community group ACORN of falsifying voter-registration forms.