In the weeks since an explosive lawsuit was filed against the leadership of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s oldest black sorority, the organization’s embattled president, Barbara McKinzie, allegedly received nearly $500,000 in checks from the sorority’s general funds, according to an attorney for the members seeking to depose the current leadership.

With the tally of H1N1 swine flu cases in Colorado at 75, the World Health Organization Thursday declared a swine-flu pandemic — the first pandemic declaration by the agency in 41 years.