USA TODAY, March 2, 2012

By Yamiche Alcindor

Getting welfare and food stamps may become tougher as 23 states around the USA seek to adopt stricter laws that would require public aid recipients to take drug tests.

Florida law now requires all aid applicants to be drug tested while Arizona and Missouri require testing for anyone they “reasonably” suspect of illegal drug use.

For many, the proposed changes in states such as Wyoming, Illinois and Maryland will mean taking extra steps before receiving aid, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Resistance is likely to be heated, and the American Civil Liberties Union has already filed a challenge in Florida.

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USA TODAY, Dec. 16, 2011

By Yamiche Alcindor

Michael Morgan only groans as his wife bathes his body, shaves his face and gently kisses his lips.

A retired physician diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 14 years ago, Morgan, 72, no longer walks or talks. His wife and full-time caregiver, Linda Morgan, makes sure he’s fed and clothed, and that $25,200 in annual alimony is handed over to his ex-wife, a college professor he divorced in 1997.

“What’s sad is that this man who can’t get out of bed is paying a woman who is working,” says Linda Morgan, 61, of Lehigh Acres, Fla.

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USA TODAY, Dec. 16, 2011

By Larry Copeland and Yamiche Alcindor

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida A&M University marching band just might be the nation’s best.

The band’s high-energy performances, marked by precise, high-stepping drill routines, have thrilled crowds since 1946. The Marching 100 has performed at major college bowl games, at Super Bowls and at presidential inaugurations.

Its reach is international: In 1989, the French government invited the band to represent the USA in a parade for the bicentennial of the French Revolution.

Far away from its dazzling moves, soaring musical scores and adoring public, though, the FAMU band has long had a darker side: For more than two decades, the Marching 100 has been dogged by a persistent culture of hazing. Band members have been paddled, kicked, beaten — so severely in one case it resulted in kidney failure.

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