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Bronx-born U.S. gymnast John Orozco performs on parallel bars during men's qualification round at Olympics last Saturday. |
A win for the Bronx, having John Orozco represent borough on the world stage
Olympic gymnast came from 'gritty neighborhood'
Did you watch John Orozco at the Olympics?
To see this Bronx son, with his amazing smile, his arms that look sculpted out of bronze, his gravity-defying balance as he performs feats that the human body was never designed to do, is to feel goosebumps at such skill, and that finally, someone from the Bronx is at the Olympics.
To see his joy last Saturday when the men’s gymnastics team qualified, thanks to him, and that of his mother, Damaris, a small American flag on a stick planted in the bun on her head, her bright red fingernails hiding her eyes at some of the daring swings on the bars and wiping happy tears, is to be thrilled for them and with them.
And to see Orozco fall so hard, make mistakes, and look shaken, shocked, his eyes brimming with tears, on Monday night, as the men’s gymnastics team fell to fifth place, made you almost cry along with him.
He had another chance to go for gold on Wednesday in the all-around event, but was no match for the Japanese wonder, Kohei Uchimura . Orozco’s teammate, Daniel Leyva, won bronze. He came in eighth.
Maybe Orozco will get onto the podium in an individual men’s event. But even if he brings no medal home, Orozco at the Olympics is one of the brightest moments of the summer.
He has been portrayed as coming from a “gritty neighborhood,” hardscrabble, etc. He told of times when he and his brothers had to fight off youths with knives while walking home.
The neighborhood where he lives, Harding Park, isn’t far from a tough neighborhood of housing projects, which the TV keeps showing when it mentions Orozco’s Bronx background, making you think he grew up in one.
But Harding Park is an out-of-the-way, small waterfront community along the East River as it flows to the Long Island Sound. There are 236 bungalows, some tiny, some ornately decorated — one has a life-size statue of a Greek god in front — and many with Stars and Stripes and the Puerto Rican flag.
Teacher admits to slapping teen after argument over saggy pants
wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |
ANSON COUNTY, NC (WBTV) -
An Anson County teacher, and decorated military veteran, is facing the possibility that she may not have a job much longer after she admits that she slapped a teen student after an argument over saggy pants.
Pat Frost is an English as a second language teacher for Anson County Schools.
Frost, who has been teaching for 13 years, says the confrontation happened back on June 5, 2012 at Anson High School.
She says an 18-year-old student, Jonathan Smith, was walking around with saggy pants and she asked him to pull up his pants.
When asked why she followed the teen outside of the school - why didn't she get the principal or the school resource officer, she replied "I didn't know where the principal was. All I wanted to do was get his name and that would have been it."
Suspect in SC death arrested in Virgin Islands
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- A man wanted in the shooting death of a college student in Spartanburg last year has been arrested in the Virgin Islands.The Spartanburg County sheriff's office says 21-year-old Sama Chaka Quinland has been arrested in St. Croix.
Low-paying jobs are here to stay
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Stuck in a job with lousy pay? Better get used to it.
Some 28% of workers are expected to hold low-wage jobs in 2020, roughly the same percentage as in 2010, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute.
Health Care Reform Will Remake Health Insurance Market For Young Adults
Kristin Bohacek was uninsured for three years because of a
bout with cancer. Under the health care reform law, health insurance
companies won't be able reject people with pre-existing conditions
starting in 2014.
A revolution may be on the way for the under-30 set: Thanks to the provisions put in place under the new health care law, the days of needing a job just to get affordable health insurance may be over.
The shift in how Americans can get health insurance, in some ways a little noticed effect of the sweeping 2010 law that will be in full force by 2014, could be particularly radical for young adults. They are uninsured at higher rates than any other age group and face a job market less likely to provide health benefits than the one their older siblings and parents entered in their 20s.
"If you want a career that doesn't tend to be associated with companies that provide health insurance coverage, you'll have more options," said Sara Collins, the vice president for affordable health insurance at the Commonwealth Fund. "It frees people's work-life decisions."
Adults under 30 are more likely to go without health insurance than children or older adults. Those just starting out are more likely to be unemployed, work in industries like retail and food service that don't provide health benefits, freelance, have part-time jobs or simply earn less because they're at the beginning of their careers.
The health insurance coverage expansions that take effect in 2014 will extend Medicaid benefits to as many as 8 million young adults who earn up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $14,856 this year. The law will also provide new tax credits for up to 9 million young adults with incomes up to four times the poverty level -- $44,680 in 2012 -- to help pay for private health insurance, according to census data analyzed by Young Invincibles, an advocacy organization.
The new law includes provisions specifically created for young adults. There will be low-cost health insurance solely for people under 30, sometimes called "young invincibles" coverage. The plan will have a high deductible, about $6,250, and can't be used with tax credits, but it may appeal to healthy people because it's expected to be the cheapest option for those who don't qualify for Medicaid or get health benefits at work. People up to age 26 have been allowed to stay on their parents' health plans since last year, a benefit that has provided coverage to 6.6 million young adults who otherwise would have been uninsured, according to the Commonwealth Fund.
Young adults who may choose to go without insurance because they don't believe they need it, because they would prefer to spend their money on other things, or because they simply can't afford it, also will be compelled to get coverage or face a financial penalty under the law's individual mandate.
Harlem retail rents are up more than 33%, spelling doom for small businesses
Harlem Lanes, Hue-Man Books among six shuttered in July
Casey Quinlan for News/Graphics by Debbie Ullman
Executive Fashions, a men's clothing store on 125th St., is closing its doors on Friday, one of more than a dozen businesses that have cited soaring rents and shuttered in 2012.
Outside Executive Fashions, a men’s clothing store in Harlem, the windows are covered with banners.“Everything Must Go! Last Two Weeks!!!” says one sign; inside the W. 125th St. store, suits once labeled $395 are being offered for $99. The store will close on Friday, and its owners say they have been forced out by skyrocketing rent.
As retail rents in Harlem have increased from $50 to $75 per square-foot last year to upwards of $75 to $100, small businesses are struggling to survive. Faith Hope Consolo, the head of retail leasing and sales at Prudential Douglas Elliman, said she expects retail rents to reach $175 by year end.
Other independently owned businesses — including Harlem Lanes, Hue-Man Bookstore and MoBay Uptown Restaurant — were slated to close this week.
Harlem’s commercial landscape is changing as big-box stores and chain restaurants move in. Red Lobster will open next to the Apollo Theater by the end of the year, and Whole Foods is shopping for a location on 125th St., Consolo said.
Robert D. Pair, the president of Harlem Lofts, said the changes in Harlem’s retail climate are an effect of its changing residential demographics.
After the 2008 downturn, the government upped the limit for a Federal Housing Administration loan to help struggling homeowners. Pair said it began to seem more attractive for people to buy in Harlem, where families could get more bang for their buck.
The residential boom carried over to the rental market. While rents bottomed out across the city during the second quarter, per-square-foot prices rose 11% in Harlem and outpaced all other neighborhoods, according to Zillow Real Estate Network.
Businesses are moving in to cater to a more affluent demographic.
“The coffee shops and restaurants realized they needed to serve these people and the community went on steroids in 2010,” Pair said. “And now, it’s a flat-out desirable place to live.”
Now that the demand is there, it’s not going away. Consolo said she has two dozen Harlem real estate deals in the works, including four deals in one building on Lenox Ave.
“It’s happening on 125th St., Frederick Douglass Blvd. and Lenox Ave. as well as Sugar Hill and on 145th St.,” Consolo said. “The only place that is lagging is Spanish Harlem, because there is no influx of anything new or special there.”
The cycle has spelled trouble for Harlem’s traditional merchants.
Read more of this article - Click on headline titlle, or here.
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Well, you can thank former President Bill Clinton for helping to change Harlem's changing demographics. He was welcomed into the Harlem neighborhood with open arms while their residential and business environments were covertly planned out by very smart and unscrupulous individuals and groups who sought an opportunity . . . a real estate opportunity. You mean to tell me that no one saw this coming? And believe me, what is going on in Harlem today has been on the 'books' for a long time. Stuff like this do not happen overnight. It takes years of calculative planning. As for the rest of the remaining boroughs, give it some time. It's happening while you are reading at this moment!
U.S. Drought 2012: Half Of Nation's Counties Now Considered Disaster Areas
Grass begins to grown on the cracked bottom at Morse
Reservoir in Noblesville, Ind., Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The reservoir
is six feet below normal levels. More than half of U.S. counties now are
classified by the federal government as natural disaster areas mostly
because of the drought. The U.S. Agriculture Department on Wednesday
added 218 counties in a dozen states as disaster areas. That brings this
year's total to 1,584 in 32 states, more than 90 percent of them
because of the drought. (A
ST. LOUIS — Nearly 220 counties in a dozen drought-stricken states were added Wednesday to the U.S. government's list of natural disaster areas as the nation's agriculture chief unveiled new help for frustrated, cash-strapped farmers and ranchers grappling with extreme dryness and heat.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's addition of the 218 counties means that more than half of all U.S. counties – 1,584 in 32 states – have been designated primary disaster areas this growing season, the vast majority of them mired in a drought that's considered the worst in decades.
Counties in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming were included in Wednesday's announcement. The USDA uses the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor to help decide which counties to deem disaster areas, which makes farmers and ranchers eligible for federal aid, including low-interest emergency loans.
SalsaFest returns to the Bronx with free film screenings, tributes, dancing & music performances
Events throughout borough, from Woodlawn Cemetery to Orchard Beach
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Courtesy Bronx Tourism CouncilDrummer Angel Rodriquez (right) performs as part of last year’s SalsaFest in the Bronx. |
“This is the borough that gave birth to what has become an international phenomenon, and it is only fitting that we celebrate ‘El Condado de la Salsa’ together,” said Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
This marks the second year of the festival. The opening weekend will include a screening of the documentary,
“From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale” at Pregones Theater, a block party at Casita Maria and a special tribute to the “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Each Sunday will bring a free concert at Orchard Beach. by such acts as Nelson Gonzalez, a former member of the Fania All-Stars, and Papo Vázquez Mighty Pirates Troubadours.
Iran's Supreme Leader Joined Instagram—Here's His First Photo
Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran since 1989, may or may not have some interest in nuclear technology, but he is not especially known as an early adopter when it comes to social media tech. And yet the unelected septuagenarian, after successfully launching his Twitter account (almost 3,000 tweets, over 4,000 followers, and not following a soul), has taken to Instagram. Instagram!
The
bearded, spectacled dictator has sent out four photos of himself in the
week since joining. They're pretty banal, as far as propaganda goes --
praying, standing around with officials, sitting over a Koran -- which
somehow makes them even more surreal. Three years after shutting down
Internet service after Iranians used Twitter and photo-sharing services
to coordinate mass protests and tell the word about the Iranian
regime's brutal crackdown, that same regime is getting in on the Twitter
and photo-sharing action themselves.
Here's Khamenei's first Instagram photo. It shows Action Ali, apparently sitting at a religious gathering, probably pertaining to Ramadan, which began a couple of days before. Yes, this is the sort of excitement we follow @khamenei_ir for.
Read more of this article and for more photos, click on headline title, or here.
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