Arthur Ashe: A Security Threat?

Oh, for the days when writing a measly check to the Black Panther Party would cause such a commotion inside the FBI. Well, tennis great Arthur Ashe once gave the Panthers 200 clams and, since the bureau happened to then be monitoring the group's bank account, became the subject of an FBI inquiry. Ashe, who died in 1993, surely was unaware that his innocent donation triggered the feds to run a credit check on him, contact four law enforcement agencies near his home, and reach out to a dozen snitches to seek dirt on the athlete. While the Ashe probe ended with"negative results," the donation details were"furnished to the Internal Security Section and Litigations Unit of the General Crimes Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice." Phew! TSG feels safer just knowing that. (3 pages)

We get tons of press releases. Few are as entertaining as this recent California beaut. (1 page)