Flagstar

Maryland NAACP officials are calling on their national leadership to admit a mistake and apologize for endorsing rival Charlotte, N.C.'s, bid for a National Football League franchise.George N. Buntin Jr., executive director of the NAACP's city branch, said he told a representative of the national civil rights organization yesterday that "local membership is incensed" and that the matter has been "handled poorly.""I told him nothing short of an out-and-out admittance that they made a mistake and that they owe this city and this state and this chapter an apology will do," Mr. Buntin said.

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Two days after it riled Baltimore by endorsing a National Football League franchise for rival Charlotte, N.C., the NAACP issued a new statement yesterday that neither apologized to Baltimore nor backed away from Charlotte."

WASHINGTON -- Six black Secret Service officers who sued the Denny's restaurant chain last year for discriminatory treatment at an Annapolis restaurant are among 58 plaintiffs nationwide who will collect between $15,000 and $35,000 each under a settlement announced yesterday by the Justice Department.The $46 million agreement, in which Denny's also promised to try to prevent any future racial bias against customers, amounts to the largest corporate program ever to avert discrimination in public places.

The Baltimore-based NAACP, disregarding a hometown bid for a National Football League franchise, endorsed yesterday the rival effort of Charlotte, N.C.The two cities are considered front-running competitors for an NFL franchise, but Charlotte's effort has been rocked by accusations of racism lodged against a company operated by the proposed team owner, Jerry Richardson.Yesterday, however, officials of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced they had reached a "fair-share agreement" with Richardson's NFL group and Flagstar Corp.

ATLANTA -- The NFL can legally block teams from moving, commissioner Paul Tagliabue said at his annual Super Bowl news conference yesterday.The issue arose when Tagliabue was asked about the possibility of the Los Angeles Rams moving. The team is exploring the possibility of relocating, and Rams executive vice president John Shaw has expressed interest in Baltimore."I don't want to comment specifically on the Rams or any other possible team move," Tagliabue said. "We have policies which are designed to encourage continuity.

Rebounding from his first embarrassment as NAACP executive director, the Rev. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. will try to put his stamp on the nation's oldest civil rights organization in Indianapolis this weekend at the group's annual convention.Since taking over the helm of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People three months ago from the Rev. Benjamin L. Hooks, Dr. Chavis, 45, has injected renewed vigor into an 84-year-old group sometimes criticized as ineffectual.Moving quickly to establish his leadership, Dr. Chavis stumbled into his first gaffe last week.

They're all out to get us -- the NFL, the NAACP, probably the NBA and NBC, too. The entire world is gathering in a smoke-filled room to prevent Baltimore from getting a football team.Alas, the conspiracy theory has no merit.They're all just out for themselves.So, sports fans, how do you win an endorsement from the NAACP? Get accused of discrimination, then sign "fair-share" agreements to make everything all better.Of course, now it's not an endorsement. The NAACP backtracked feverishly yesterday, trying to appease the city and state that gave it $1.1 million to help buy its Baltimore headquarters.

WASHINGTON -- Picture this: You pull all your financial records together to apply for a new mortgage. You tote up your monthly income and stack it against your total monthly payments for debts.Turns out that your overall debt-to-income ratio a critical factor in whether you get a home loan or not is off the charts: 60 percent of your income goes to pay regular monthly debts. Since the mortgage industry typically sets a 33 percent to 36 percent ratio as the maximum permissible for conventional loans, you figure your application is going nowhere.

Stung by criticism in Baltimore and beyond of its endorsement of a professional football franchise for Charlotte, N.C., the NAACP yesterday recast its statement of support for Baltimore's National Football League rival suitor and set up a meeting today with the city's top black politicians.After nearly a week of controversy, NAACP officials still seemed taken aback by the emotional reaction in Baltimore to the endorsement and rumblings of discontent from NAACP insiders elsewhere in the country.