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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Fair Housing Act Turns 40

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Monday, April 21, 2008   

Bismarck, ND – The last piece of legislation championed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., before his death in 1968 was the federal "Fair Housing Act." Shortly after his assassination, it was passed in his honor. At first, it covered discrimination due to race, color, national origin or religion; it was later amended to include discrimination based on age, gender, family status or disability.

April marks the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. Today, says Amy Nelson, executive director of Fair Housing of the Dakotas (FHD), the highest number of housing-related discrimination complaints reported in the state are in Fargo, followed by Bismarck and Grand Forks. The most common allegation, she adds, is discrimination based on a disability.

"In our areas of North and South Dakota, we continue to see, each year, an increasing number of complaints filed by people with disabilities who feel they have been discriminated against solely because of their disability."

Although Nelson believes most landlords abide by the law, FHD received more than 1,700 complaints of alleged Fair Housing Act violations in 2007.

"There is a small group still out there who do actively discriminate or choose to ignore what the law says."

She says the cases closed in 2007 resulted in almost 300 housing units becoming available to people who had previously been denied tenancy because of prejudicial practices.

The FHD is hosting fair housing workshops in several North Dakota communities in coming months. Information is available at www.ndfhc.org.




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