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CHICAGO (AP) — George E. Johnson Sr., a pioneer in Black hair care whose multimillion dollar business was the first Black-owned company to be listed on the American Stock Exchange, has died at age 99, according to his family. Johnson died Monday at his home in downtown Chicago. A cause of death was not released. Johnson and his late wife, Joan, started Johnson Products in 1954 on Chicago’s South Side after securing a $250 loan. It grew into a hair care empire catering almost exclusively to Black people, with brands like Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen. Johnson Products also was a national sponsor of the hit 1970s music and dance television show “Soul Train.” “Johnson Products became a fixture in homes and salons around the world and a source of pride throughout Black America,” his family said in a statement. Johnson’s memoir, “Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street,” was published in 2024. “I had an epiphany,” Johnson said in a statement released by the book’s publisher, Little, Brown and Company. “In that experience, I clearly heard five words: ‘You must tell your story.’ I believed it was the voice of the Lord. I made a 180 degree turn and immediately sought a writer.” Johnson was born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi, and moved to Chicago as a child with his family. Their move occurred during what’s called the First Great Migration, between 1910 and 1940, when tens of thousands of southern Blacks moved to northern and midwestern cities for jobs and to escape racial oppression. To help the family financially, Johnson shined shoes, cleared tables in eateries and set up pins in a bowling alley. “Those early experiences shaped the values that guided him throughout his life: humility, determination, personal responsibility, and the golden rule: treating everyone the way he wished to be treated, with dignity and respect,” his family said. Johnson later would found Independence Bank, and he became the first Black person to serve on the board of directors of the Illinois electric utility Commonwealth Edison. The George E. Johnson Educational Fund awarded more than 1,000 college scholarships. ___ Williams reported from Detroit. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

DAPHNE, Ala. (AP) — Former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has been arrested on drug possession charges in Alabama after police say they pulled him over for erratic driving and found marijuana and meth in his vehicle. It’s the latest legal trouble for the ex-Tallahassee mayor, who narrowly lost to Republican Ron DeSantis for governor in 2018 and was once considered a rising star of the Democratic Party. Gillum, 46, was arrested on July 2 in Daphne, about 11 miles (17.7 kilometers) east of Mobile on Alabama’s Gulf Coast. He is charged with marijuana possession and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, the Daphne Police Department said. Jail records show he was released on July 3. Court records for Gillum’s case were not yet available, the Baldwin County Clerk of Court’s office said. Information on a lawyer who could speak on his behalf wasn’t immediately available. A message seeking comment was left for the local district attorney’s office. Gillum is a co-host of the politically themed Native Land Pod, which won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding News and Information Podcast in 2025. A message seeking comment was left for the podcast’s production company. In a news release, the Daphne Police Department said officers stopped Gillum’s vehicle around 10:45 p.m. and initiated a probable cause search after one of them noticed a glass pipe on the center console. They found several rolled marijuana cigarettes and three packages of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, police said. Gillum, who served as mayor of Florida’s capital from 2014 to 2018, came within less than a percentage point of being elected the state’s first Black governor, losing to DeSantis by fewer than 34,000 votes. In 2020, Gillum was found in a Miami Beach hotel room with a man who had apparently overdosed on drugs. Police said Gillum himself was too inebriated to talk about what happened. The man survived and no one was ever charged with a crime for the overdose, but Gillum withdrew from public life for months afterward while seeking treatment for alcohol abuse and depression. Months later, he told a TV interviewer that he had to come to grips with what he had done. “So much of my recovery has been about trying to get over shame,” Gillum said on the Tamron Hall talk show in September 2020. In 2022, Gillum was indicted on federal conspiracy and wire fraud charges for allegedly funneling tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations through third parties back to himself for personal use. A 2023 trial ended in a hung jury on those charges and an acquittal on charges that Gillum lied to undercover FBI agents posing as developers who paid for a 2016 trip he took with his brother to New York, including hotel rooms, meals, a boat tour and a ticket to the hit Broadway show “Hamilton.” Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

A new accusation that Graham Platner once sexually assaulted a woman he was dating has rocked the U.S. Senate race in Maine and cast fresh doubt on Democrats’ path to a Senate majority. Republicans currently have a 53-47 advantage in the Senate, and Maine is viewed as a necessary win for Democrats to gain the minimum of four new Senate seats. But now there’s a question of whether Platner, who denied the allegation, will remain on the ballot and, if he does, whether he can defeat five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Here’s a closer look at the top races that Democrats are targeting. ALASKA: Former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola’s candidacy against incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan has buoyed her party. Peltola, one of a handful of Democrats who’ve won in Republican dominated states, was the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, winning special and regular elections in 2022 for the state’s only House seat. At center stage for the state’s Aug. 18 primary is drama involving a man running with the same name and party affiliation as Sullivan. The state supreme court has said the challenger is qualified to be on the ballot. Peltola’s campaign and state Democrats have denied Sullivan’s allegation that they’re working with the challenger to cause confusion.. MAINE: Platner catapulted to the Democratic nomination despite earlier controversies. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer initially backed sitting Gov. Janet Mills but reluctantly aligned behind Platner — until Monday’s latest bombshell accusation. Now, Schumer and many Democrats are pushing for Platner to withdraw. If he does that by July 13, Maine Democrats can put a replacement on the ballot. If not, Platner could have to face Collins with little to no national party support. If Platner drops out, his replacement could meet a similar challenge to what presidential candidate Kamala Harris faced in 2024, when she had a late start to appeal to a general election audience without having won the nomination in a competitive primary. Meanwhile, Collins has won elections for 30 years despite no Republican presidential nominee, including President Donald Trump, winning Maine since 1988. NORTH CAROLINA: Democrats landed one of their prize recruits with former Gov. Roy Cooper, who has never lost a statewide election through four terms as attorney general and two terms as governor. Republicans answered with Trump’s handpicked candidate, Michael Whatley, who’d previously served as state GOP chairman and as the Republican National Committee chairman. Whatley was viewed as a prodigious fundraiser and ideal Trump surrogate in a state the president carried three times, and he has history on his side — Democrats have won just two U.S. Senate races and one presidential contest in North Carolina in the last three decades. Yet Cooper won governors races in two of Trump’s three presidential cycles and is leveraging his centrist image at a time when independents have soured on Trump. That leaves Whatley with the difficult tasks of satisfying Trump’s core supporters without alienating other voters; introducing himself to voters who don’t know him; and convincing enough North Carolina voters that they’ve been wrong about Cooper for decades. OHIO: Democrats are counting on former Sen. Sherrod Brown to unseat Republican incumbent Jon Husted in what’s shaping up to be another expensive contest in the state — its third in four years. The Senate Leadership Fund, a GOP super PAC, has pledged $79 million to defend Husted’s seat. Brown served three terms in the Senate before losing a tough reelection contest in 2024. Ohio has steadily trended Republican. But Brown won previously as an advocate of unions and the working class, and Democrats believe he can attract some of the voters who’ve helped Trump win the state three times. Husted, a former lieutenant governor, was appointed to fill the vacancy created when JD Vance became vice president. IOWA: The state, which Trump won three times gives Democrats an opportunity to flip a Senate seat with two-term Republican Sen. Joni Ernst’s retirement. Democratic Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek faces Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who has been endorsed by Trump. Turek is a relative newcomer to elected office and has pointed to his experience winning in a red, Trump-won state House district as proof he could appeal to independent and moderate Republican voters in November. Hinson is a three-term House incumbent representing northeastern Iowa, and claims Trump needs a fighter who would “always have his back.” TEXAS: State Rep. James Talarico, a 37-year-old seminarian, has become a national fundraising phenomenon. Talarico faces the scandal-ridden Republican nominee Ken Paxton. The Texas attorney general has weathered an impeachment attempt by his own party, a yearslong corruption investigation and public airing of his martial difficulties. Through all that, Paxton has won multiple reelections. Democrats were buoyed by their primary turnout of about 2.3 million eclipsing Republicans’ 2.2 million, something that hasn’t happened since the state flipped to Republicans in the 1990s. But the challenge for Talarico is turning that momentum into a racially, ethnically and geographically diverse coalition in November. GEORGIA: Sen. Jon Ossoff is the only Democratic senator running for reelection this year in a state Trump won in 2024. He had no primary opposition, and he’s been a fundraising force with more than $30 million cash-on-hand as he entered the general election campaign. Ossof has attracted national attention with his unapologetic broadsides against Trump. Republican Rep. Mike Collins is playing catchup after winning a bruising GOP primary runoff. He must navigate skeptical Republicans who believe he’s too conservative or controversial for this battleground state. Collins repeats Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged, and he’s also facing a House ethics inquiry over allegations that he misused taxpayer money to pay the girlfriend of a former top aide. Collins’ strongest line of attack against Ossoff comes on immigration. Collins sponsored the Laken Riley Act, named for a Georgia nursing student killed by a Venezuelan man in the U.S. illegally. The law, among other provisions, requires immigrants accused of certain crimes to be held without bond. Ossoff voted against the measure before reversing his vote after Trump returned to the White House. MICHIGAN: Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ retirement opens up a seat the party must hold in a key presidential battleground that Trump won twice and former President Joe Biden carried in 2020. The Aug. 4 Democratic primary is a contest between moderate Haley Stevens and progressive Abdul El-Sayed. It was a three-way contest until Mallory McMorrow, who had backing from some progressive Democratic senators, suspended her campaign. Stevens and El-Sayed have split support among Democratic senators. Stevens has the support of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, while El-Sayed has support from Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressives. Stevens has also benefited from heavy outside spending, including nearly $8 million from a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director, has run on issues like Medicare for All and halting all U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. He has campaigned with popular-yet-controversial streamer Hasan Piker, who has millions of followers online and has said things such as that “America deserved 9/11.” The winner is expected to face Republican Mike Rogers, who lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, in 2024. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, who died by suicide in November 2025 after a high-speed chase with police, had early stage chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain abnormality linked to repeated concussions, his family announced Tuesday. The Boston University CTE Center, which investigates the long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma in athletes and others, analyzed Kneeland’s brain tissue after his death. Researchers determined Kneeland, who was 24, was in stage one of four of CTE. ___ EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org ___ CTE is a degenerative brain disease that has been found in athletes in contact sports, combat veterans and others who experience repetitive head trauma. It has been known to cause violent mood swings, impulsive behavior and depression. It can be diagnosed only after death. “While this diagnosis does not change the tragedy of his passing, it provides important context about some of the struggles he may have been facing. We share this information to help people understand what NFL and other high contact sport athletes might be struggling with,” Kneeland’s family, including his girlfriend, Catalina Mancera, said in a statement issued through the Concussion and CTE Foundation. “Raising awareness is important to us. We continue to remember Marshawn with compassion for the person he was, rather than defining him by the final moments of his life. One Love,” the family said. The abnormality has also been linked to deaths in the National Football League, as well as in hockey and soccer. Kneeland shot himself after evading authorities in his vehicle and fleeing a car crash on foot. The chase happened after police said Kneeland didn’t stop for Texas Department of Public Safety troopers over a traffic violation. Authorities lost sight of the vehicle before locating it crashed minutes later. As authorities were looking for Kneeland after he fled the crash site on foot, a dispatcher told officers that people who knew him had received a group text from Kneeland “saying goodbye,” indicating he might be suicidal. According to a 2021 study by the Harvard Medical School and the Boston University CTE Center, NFL players are more than four times more likely to develop ALS than other men. Dr. Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion & CTE Foundation, noted Kneeland’s diagnosis comes even amid a modern era of concussion protocols in professional and college athletics and better safety equipment. Kneeland started playing tackle football when he was 7 years old. He played at Western Michigan University before he was selected by the Cowboys in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft. “We have no reason to believe the current generation is at a lower risk of CTE than previous generations. Concussion protocols do not prevent CTE, because CTE is caused by repeated head impacts, not just concussions,” Nowinski said. “If we want to reduce CTE risk, we must implement CTE prevention protocols and aggressively reduce the number and strength of head impacts at every level of the game.” ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street banks have high hopes for SpaceX but at the moment shares of Elon Musk’s rocket market appear to be earthbound. Many of the investment firms that underwrote SpaceX’s initial public offering issued their first research notes about the company Tuesday, and almost all recommended that investors buy the stock and forecast it to trade above $200 in the next 12 to 18 months. But after topping $200 in its first week of trading, the stock is trading around $152 per share, just above where it opened on June 12, its IPO day. Investors may be looking cautiously at the same factors that have Wall Street so enthusiastic about the stock. Analysts are focused on SpaceX’s potential to lead the market for space transportation and infrastructure. The company’s reusable rockets allow it to transport people and cargo into Earth’s orbit and it is aiming for deeper exploration of the solar system. Most of the company’s revenue currently comes from its Starlink satellites, and AI innovations are expected to advance that technology. “SpaceX’s ambitions, and potential impact on humanity, are bigger than any company’s we’ve ever seen,” said a analysts from J.P. Morgan, in a research report. The bank expects the stock price to reach $225 by the end of 2027. It cited the company’s competitive advantage in space transportation, with about 670 orbital launches and a nearly 99% success rate with its Falcon rockets. Most payloads launched into orbit since 2023 were through SpaceX. The company has dominated the reusable space rocket market with its Falcon 9, but its gigantic Starship rocket is the key to launching bigger pieces of cargo, including data centers. Investment bank Raymond James is by far the most optimistic. Its analysts expect the stock to eventually reach $800 per share and consider SpaceX a key industrial company for the 21st century. “Just as railroads, electric grids, and the Internet reshaped prior economic eras, we believe SpaceX is building the foundational platform for the next generation of industrial capacity,” the analysts wrote in a research report. SpaceX founder Elon Musk decided to take the company public because it needs money to fund its ambitions, including putting more satellites and eventually data centers into space. It’s more ambitious goals include establishing a colony on Mars. For now, Starship is still in the test phase and no technology exists to put data centers in space or send people to Mars. Wall Street analysts acknowledge that a delay or failure to establish a steady schedule of launches for Starship is a risk that could torpedo their forecasts. SpaceX ended its first day on Wall Street in June with a market value of more than $2 trillion and is still sitting around that level. That made Musk the world’s first trillionaire, though his net worth has since fallen back below $1 trillion, according to Forbes. A few banks on Wall Street are more cautious about the company’s prospects. Equity research firm MoffettNathanson said it sees the potential, but has given the company a more “neutral” rating and sees the stock eventually sitting at $131 per share. The concerns are over many of the unknowns related to regulatory issues, technology and demand. “It is, in short, a bet on any and all things made possible by a virtual lock on rocket manufacturing and launch,” MoffettNathanson said in a report. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com