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God Is Good: Leah Still Marks One Year Of Cancer Remission!
Good news is always needed nowadays and here is one inspiring story that will put a smile on your face.
Houston Texans defensive lineman Devon Still took to Instagram to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of his 5-year-old daughter Leah being cancer free. Leah suffered from a form of pediatric cancer and
“I want to wish a Happy (2nd) Birthday to my baby, Leah,” Devon wrote. “Today, March 25th, marks a year of her being in remission! A day she was given a second chance at life. There’s not enough hours in a day, days in a month, or months in a year to tell you how much I love you and how proud of you I am.”
Leah was given a 50-50 chance of survival after being diagnosed with Stage IV neuroblastoma, Today wrote. And since then, the Stills took their fight public, raising millions of dollars for pediatric cancer and raising awareness, so much so that the little girl and ESPY award last year for her courage. (Today)
Boy Bye: New Jersey’s Chris Christie Wants Escaped Political Prisoner Assata Returned From Cuba
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For the second time, Chris Christie has demanded that former Black Panther Assata Shakur be returned from Cuba to the state of New Jersey. In an op-ed he wrote for NewJersey.com, Christie reminds readers that while we celebrate President Barack Obama’s recent trip to the Caribbean island that trip “doesn’t come without a price.”
He claims that allowing for Shakur to Cuba, who was convicted in 1977 of the 1972 killing of Werner Foerster on the New Jersey Turnpike, lets Shakur get away with being a “cop killer” while Foerster family goes without justice.
He wrote, “I urge the president to do what common sense and decency requires—that he demand the return of convicted murderer Joanne Chesimard, who stands remorseless and free after the cold-blooded, execution-style killing of a New Jersey State Trooper and the serious wounding of another.”
However Cuba has been clear that they are not going to hand over Shakur, who was sentenced to life in prison but escaped and fled to Cuba where then president Fidel Castro granted her political asylum in 1984.
Meanwhile, Christie has come under serious fire lately for endorsing Donald Trump for president, which has resulted in six New Jersey newspapers calling for Christie’s resignation. Translation: Worry about you boo. #HandsOffAssata (NewJersey.Com)
RIP: Sesame Street’s David Smyrl Dies At 80
Actor David Smyrl, who played happy store owner Mr. Handford on Sesame Street has died at the age of 80 from lung cancer, the Associated Press reports.
Before Smyrl started on the popular PBS long-running children’s show, he was a fixture on the Greenwich Village poetry scene in the 1960s and then moved to showbusiness with the show Express Yourself, appeared on Broadway and then moved to California where he was a staff writer for the comedy Benson and The Cosby Show, where he played contractor Sam Lucas a a few times.
It wasn’t until the 90s did Smyrl land his job at Sesame Street.
His wife Cheryl Smyrl told the Hollywood Reporter that her Emmy-winning husband “was funny. I could say so many good things about him. He was loved by so many people. He was a mentor to a lot of children. He was a family man, loyal, true and faithful.” (Vulture) (Hollywood Reporter)
Detroit College Students Getting Some Much-Needed Help To Pay For School
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We all know that paying for college isn’t easy, not to mention the serious burden of student loans that hangs over the heads of too many young people. But Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in hoping a new initiative in his city will help local high schoolers pay for some of their schooling.
On Wednesday, Duggan announced the launch of The Detroit Promise Zone, a program that will grant eligible high school students two free years of community college. The program is for students who have been accepted into one of the city’s five public community colleges, The Huffington Post wrote. Another requirement includes that the student must have spent their junior and senior years at a public, private or charter high school in Detroit.
Duggan says the program, which is paid by by tax dollars, is here to help students believe that college is within their grasp. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re a high school senior preparing for college now or a second-grader whose college career is years away. The Detroit Promise will be there to help make a college education a reality,” he said. (The Huffington Post)
