Kelvin Cochran grew up in Louisiana with one goal in life: to become a firefighter. He realized that dream in 1981 in his native Shreveport. He rose through the ranks, and in 1999 became the fire chief there, the first African-American to serve in that capacity. In 2008, he was appointed fire chief for the city of Atlanta, and a year later President Barack Obama tapped him for the position of U.S. fire administrator. In 2010, Mayor Kasim Reed encouraged him to come back to Atlanta and re-assume his position as fire chief, which he did.
Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo supported the liberal agenda 77 percent of the time in key votes during the current legislative session, a left-wing organization said.
The powerful House Speaker is widely considered a brake on left-wing legislation in the state Legislature, but his voting record shows he's with the left the vast majority of the time.
