----Federal Court rules for Cracker Barrel in lawsuit: Judge rejects plaintiffs’ request for nationwide class action---A federal judge in the Northern District of Georgia has denied certification of a class action in a claimed $100 million lawsuit against Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., which alleged discrimination against African-American customers at the company's restaurants. "We are pleased the court's ruling supports what is, in fact, the truth," said Cracker Barrel President and Chief Operating Officer Donald M. Turner. "Since the day the lawsuit was announced, we have said there is no basis for a class claim that Cracker Barrel engages in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American customers or any other group of people. On the contrary, our success has been based on treating all customers with dignity and respect." "We are a large and successful company with a wide diversity of customers," Turner added. "For 12 years, we have been voted by a national consumer survey of consumers of all ethnic and racial backgrounds as the best family restaurant chain in America. You don't get that kind of ranking by mistreating any customers." Turner noted that pay raises, increases in fringe benefits and advancement for hourly employees at Cracker Barrel are all tied to treating customers well. Furthermore, about 23 percent of Cracker Barrel's more than 50,000 employees are minorities, he said. Some 13 percent are African-American. According to Turner, more than 7 percent of the company's store managers are African-American and the company's three top executives who handle human resources, employee training and purchasing also are African-Americans. "This simply isn't the profile of a business that engages in a pattern or practice of discrimination", said Turner. In a 64-page ruling dated October 1, 2002, U.S. District Court Judge Harold Murphy of the Northern District of Georgia, Rome Division, said the plaintiffs and their attorneys had failed to prove that a common set of circumstances existed to justify a national class action suit. In upholding a preliminary recommendation from a U.S. Magistrate that supported Cracker Barrel's position, Judge Murphy wrote, "In sum, the Court finds that the Report and Recommendation [denying class certification] is correct in law and in fact, and that all of Plaintiffs' Objections to the Report and Recommendation are without merit."

---New York: Carver Federal Savings Bank launches new 24/7 ATM Center---Carver Bancorp, Inc in Brooklyn NY, the holding company for Carver Federal Savings Bank, re-dedicated its Bedford-Stuyvesant Branch in a ceremony led by City Comptroller William Thompson, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, the Rev. Dr. Harry S. Wright, Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church, and Deborah C. Wright, President and CEO of Carver. The re-dedication ceremony celebrated three new enhancements for Carver customers: first, the opening of a new 24/7 ATM Center, located at the Bed-Stuy Branch on Fulton Street near Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn; second, the launch of www.CarverBank.com, Carver's new online banking website; and third, the unveiling of Carver's new corporate logo and advertising campaign. Carver’s new 24/7 ATM Center features three ATMs, each of which sells U.S. Postage Stamps and MTA MetroCards, in addition to offering a full range of convenient banking services 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The brand campaign will include print, radio, outdoor and in-branch advertising, and will feature the tagline: "Building Wealth Block by Block".

---Largest minority-owned bank in the Southeast to provide inclusive process for effective small business procurement--- Citizens Trust Bank, the largest African American owned bank in the Southeast, and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization of the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the development of a new short-term lending partnership that provides financial support to small, women and disadvantaged businesses in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The bank entered into the agreement to assist the DOT in providing working capital and revolving credit facilities to small organizations at attractive rates. The development of this program reinforces CTB's pledge to remain a leader in providing access to capital to small and medium sized businesses, while aiding in the creation of wealth for its customers. The Department of Transportation will guarantee up to seventy five percent of the each credit facility. The maximum loan size will be $500,000 per borrower.

---Minority children more likely to be evaluated for physical abuse---Minority children are more likely to be evaluated for physical abuse and reported to authorities than white children with comparable injuries, say researchers who studied hospital records at an urban pediatric hospital. Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia found that African-American and Latino toddlers with accidental injuries were over five times more likely than Caucasian toddlers to receive a skeletal survey, an examination ordered when a physician suspects abuse. Researchers, who studied hospital records for 388 children younger than age 3 who were hospitalized for fractures at Children's Hospital between 1994 and 2000, report their findings in the October 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia identifies and treats more victims of abuse and neglect than any medical institution in Pennsylvania.

---Events: National African American Parent Involvement Day Conference in Romulus, Michigan on October 16-19---"We Are the Village: Building on Our Strengths and Mobilizing Our Energies" is the theme for the Seventh Annual National African American Parent Involvement Day (NAAPID) Conference to be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (Detroit Metro location) in Romulus, Michigan on October 16-19, 2002. NAAPID, a national call to action for African American parents to increase their level of involvement in the educational lives of their children, has been received across the country with overwhelming success. Dr. Janice E. Hale, Professor of Early Childhood Education at Wayne State University in Detroit, is the keynote speaker for Thursday's luncheon. Dr. Hale is highly respected in her field and is the author of numerous books, most recently, "Learning While Black: Creating Educational Excellence for African American Children."

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