Good Morning All,
Well, I'm caught up now. WHEW! Today I'd like to highlight two cool articles for you. First is the article about the Man who won 97 Million in the Louisiana Powerball, and who had lost multiple homes during Hurricane Katrina. His good karma finally came. :) The second article is about an elderly man whose class ring was returned to him 51 years later. WOW! I think this guy must have had some good karma coming his way too!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy today's articles. I'll see you tomorrow! :)
Today's Top 5:
1. Baby for Myanmar Mother who Lost Seven Children (Telegraph UK)
2. Man Who Lost Homes in Hurricane Katrina Wins $97 Million Powerball Prize (Detroit News)
3. Tibetan Woman Carries Olympic Torch to the Top of Everest (Times Online UK)
4. Class ring, Memories Recovered 51 Years Later (Seattle Times)
5. Vietnam Bird Flu Vaccine Has 'Pleasing' Results (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Honorable Mentions:
1. Daring Rescue Saves 2 Men (The Olympian)
2. Bikes Save a Wad of Cash (Chicago Sun Times)
3. Pie Cherries Help Fight Arthritis (KOAA.com)
4. Brave B'day Boy's Gift of a Lifetime (New York Post)
5. Quiznos Donates 250 Deli Favorite Sandwiches to Homeless Families in Denver through America's Road Home (Earth Times)
Today's Top 5:
1. Baby for Myanmar Mother who Lost Seven Children
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/1939073/Myanmar-cyclone-Baby-for-Burmese-mother-who-lost-seven-children.html?source=rss
Last Updated: 8:04AM BST 09/05/2008
A Burmese woman who lost seven of her children in the cyclone has given birth to a baby boy after clinging to a tree to save her life.
Than Win, 41, lost seven of her 10 children to Cyclone Nargis in the town of Bogalay, which lies in the heart of the Irrawaddy delta, 50 miles south-west of Rangoon.
But she has now given birth to her 11th child, Chit Oo Mg, literally "First Love", amid the devastation of the delta.
Having survived the storm surge by clinging for two hours to a tree beside her house, Than Win went into labour at dusk, just as the first medical team arrived in the area.
Five medics rushed her into a makeshift clinic and attached her to an intravenous drip.
An hour later, by the half-light of a kerosene generator, Chit Oo Mg was born.
"After what happened, this is a beautiful present. I'm so happy he survived," she said, as she breast-fed the hour-old infant lying on a wooden table in one of the few houses left standing by the wall of water that was swept up by Saturday's storm.
Neighbours celebrated the baby's arrival, the first hint of good news in a town in which at least 10,000 people have been killed by the cyclone.
2. Man Who Lost Homes in Hurricane Katrina Claims $97M Powerball Prize
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080509/NATION/805090414/-1/rss
Melinda Deslatte / Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. -- A construction company owner who lost two homes in Hurricane Katrina claimed a $97 million Powerball prize, a jackpot won off a ticket he bought at a convenience store where he stopped to buy his wife a gallon of milk.
When he turned in the winning ticket, Carl Hunter became the largest Powerball winner in Louisiana's history. He won the jackpot in January, but the 73-year-old small businessman waited nearly four months to claim the prize.
An avid lottery player, Hunter said he already had bought a Powerball ticket on Jan. 16 at the gas station less than two blocks from his home in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie. But he stopped at the station again that day to buy milk -- at the request of his wife, Dianne -- and got a second "quick pick" ticket.
"I had some change, and one dollar was used to buy this ticket," Hunter said Thursday at the Louisiana Lottery Corp. headquarters in Baton Rouge, where he claimed his prize.
"It's all about milk," his wife said, smiling.
The couple, surrounded by cameras, was decidedly low-key about the multimillion dollar win, saying they didn't have specific plans for the money -- besides retirement and the rebuilding of a camp lost to Katrina.
"I'm retiring, you know, naturally," Carl Hunter said.
Hunter took a lump sum payment that will give him $33.9 million after taxes, according to lottery officials. Asked why he waited so long to turn in the winning ticket, Hunter said he wanted to wrap up some of his construction work and finish his outstanding contracts. In fact, Hunter's wife Dianne said he was still at work this week.
"I don't think about buying elaborate cars or homes," Carl Hunter said.
Hunter said he owned two homes that were destroyed in 2005 by Katrina, and he and his wife moved into a Metairie home she owned after the storm, the home that was near the gas station where he bought his winning ticket.
The multimillion dollar win wasn't Hunter's first winning lottery ticket. He said he won $5,000 off a ticket a few years ago.
West Metairie Shell, the gas station where Hunter bought his ticket, will get $25,000 for selling the winning ticket. The station, tucked among brick ranch homes and raised wooden houses in a middle-class neighborhood, lost its roof during Katrina, and the store was looted.
3. Tibetan Woman Carries Olympic Torch to the Top of Everest
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article3892047.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797093
May 9, 2008
The Olympic torch is lit in strong winds before being carried on its final leg to the summit of Everest
Jane Macartney in Beijing
A young Tibetan woman has carried the Olympic torch to the top of the world. Panting in the thin air at the top of Mount Everest, Tsering Wangmo was the last of five mountaineers battling high winds and freezing temperatures in a slow-moving mini-relay on the summit of the world’s highest peak — a trek that ended with jubilant shouts of “Beijing welcomes you!”.
The team of 19 climbers broke camp at 27,390ft (8,300m) before dawn to begin the laborious final leg. They left in the dark to take advantage of the calmer morning winds and firmer footholds on the packed ice before the heat of the sun caused it to shift. Six hours later they reached the top of the 29,035ft mountain in an achievement that was broadcast live on Chinese state television.
Just shy of the summit the team paused and took the Olympic flame out of a backpack. An ethnic Tibetan climber lit the first torch, which was carried by Ji Ji, a 39-year-old Tibetan woman. The propane-fuelled torch — designed by Chinese scientists to withstand winds of up to 65km/h, nearly 6cm of rain an hour and temperatures of minus 40C — was handed to four other mountaineers before reaching the peak. The second in the relay, the veteran Chinese mountaineer Wang Yongfeng, 46, appeared to have difficulty inching forward against the wind and handed the torch to a Tibetan colleague.
It fell to Tsering Wangmo, 21, an ethnic Tibetan mountaineering student and the youngest in the team, to hold the torch aloft at the summit at 9.16am. She stood solemn and silent, but the other climbers — who first scaled Everest as a team in 2006 — shouted “Long live Tibet!” and “Long live Beijing!” into a television camera after unfurling the Chinese national flag, the Olympic flag and a flag bearing the logo of the Beijing Olympics.
Some called out in English “One World, One Dream” — the slogan of the Games, which start on August 8. Others cried “Tashi delek”, a Tibetan greeting meaning “May everything be well”. A string of colourful Tibetan prayer flags stretching to the summit fluttered across the snow.
A day earlier an 11-man team of mountaineers cleared a path for the relay, setting up a rope to the summit to ease the task for the climbers.
The event was the most ambitious part of what has become the longest and most controversial Olympic torch relay in history.
Since the torch was ignited in Olympia, Greece, on March 24, its journey around the world has been dogged by protests over the Chinese rule of Tibet, its human rights record and support of Sudan’s pariah Government. The Everest plan became particularly controversial after China cracked down on violent unrest in Tibet that began in March with demonstrations against Chinese rule.
China surrounded the flame’s ascent with security to ensure no disruption of the torch journey. Climbing expeditions from the Tibetan and Nepalese sides of Everest were suspended for several weeks during the climbing season to prevent disturbances.
Li Zhixin, the team leader, said that even on a mountain cleared of all other climbers the torch carriers only just managed to avoid foes. He said: “Right up to now, there are still people trying to interfere with us. We were not afraid. We overcame these interferences.”
The Everest flame is separate from the main Olympic torch, which was in the southeastern province of Guangdong, the heart of Chinese manufacturing, yesterday. That relay leg in the boom town of Shenzhen was postponed until the afternoon to allow for the Everest ascent.
The main torch was not taken up Everest because of weather concerns. A delay because of bad weather would have thrown the schedule off for the whole torch relay.
The main flame will cross every region and province of China, including a planned relay through Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, on about June 20. It will return to Beijing on August 6.
The Everest leg has been held mainly amid secrecy, in part to deter protesters who have criticised the event as symbolising China’s domination over Tibet. China persuaded Nepal, a long-time recipient of Chinese aid, to keep climbers off its side of Everest for the first half of May to prevent surprise protests. Nepal reopened the mountain to climbers within hours of the torch reaching the summit.
4. Class ring, Memories Recovered 51 Years Later
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004402468_ring09m.html
By Haley Edwards
Seattle Times staff reporter
Jorge Balmori, left, and Dennis Rodrigues show the 1952 class ring that retired Boeing engineer David Perry lost 51 years ago.
It was 1957. Eisenhower was president, Elvis Presley was taking the nation by storm, and David Perry — now 77 and living in Maple Valley — had just lost his gold college class ring, somewhere off the coast of Fort Lauderdale.
He'd been water skiing when it disappeared. Gone for good, he'd thought.
Fifty-one years later, Perry's ring is back.
"It's pretty unlikely. I can't believe it's found," said Perry, a retired U.S. Navy reservist and Boeing engineer who has lived in the Seattle area with his wife since 1982. "I remember the day I lost it. I always treasured that ring."
The ring's finders — or "treasure hunters," as they call themselves — are Jorge Balmori, 54, and his son, Jorge Jr., 20, of Davies, Fla.
They were treasure hunting Monday in Key Biscayne, about 100 feet from the shore, when their underwater metal detector began to beep.
"We dove down there and started digging," said Balmori, a social-studies teacher. "It was about 7 feet underwater and buried in a foot of sand. We just kept diving."
When they brought it to the surface, Perry's Georgia Tech 1952 class ring was in perfect condition. His initials, D. L. Perry, were inscribed on the inside, along with insignia for his fraternity, Sigma Chi.
Wednesday, the elder Balmori asked his friend, fellow social-studies teacher Dennis Rodrigues, to try to find the owner online. Rodrigues contacted the national chapter of Sigma Chi, and by dinner time, Balmori had received a phone call at home. It was Perry.
A Sigma Chi official had called him, told him the story and gave him Balmori's phone number.
"Those guys went through all this trouble to find me. Who would bother?" Perry said.
Balmori said he's happy to be able to help return something so valuable; the ring will be back on Perry's finger soon.
"It wasn't the gold that made it worth something," he said. "It was the memories of everything that ring represented. Think of all that's happened since 1957."
Haley Edwards: 206-464-2745 or hedwards@seattletimes.com
5. Vietnam Bird Flu Vaccine Has 'Pleasing' Results
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/09/2240317.htm
By Radio National's Sonja Heydeman
Posted 7 hours 41 minutes ago
Vietnam says it has had good results with the first stage of human testing of its locally developed bird flu vaccine.
The vaccine, produced by the health ministry's vaccine and biotechnology company, Vabiotech, has been trialed on a group of 30 students from the Military Medical Institute.
Vabiotech began its study in 2004, as avian flu began to spread throughout Vietnam, and was given the all-clear to conduct human trials after successful tests on animals last year.
Vabiotech Director Thu Van has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program that over the past two months, the vaccine has been tested on 10 volunteers close to the project, and now on another 30 people, and she is pleased with the process so far.
Further tests will be conducted on 300 medical students within the next eight months, and Vabiotech hopes to introduce its product in late 2009.
The vaccine has been developed using monkey kidney cells - something Dr Sean Tobin, from the World Health Organisation, says could make using the vaccine in other countries more difficult.
"Certainly there would be some extra level of scrutiny required, if they were to try and use this vaccine in other countries," he said.
"But Vabiotech do have a long experience with other kinds of vaccines using this monkey kidney cell technology, they feel, and the government here feels quite confident in those vaccines."
Honorable Mentions:
1. Daring Rescue Saves 2 Men
http://www.theolympian.com/news/story/442539.html
Jeremy Pawloski
The Olympian
Scott Ferris was on his back deck with his wife and 8-year-old son, enjoying the sunshine Wednesday afternoon, when he thought he heard faint voices yelling out for help out on Totten Inlet.
"I just heard some shouts, saw a lot of junk out on the water and two heads," said Ferris, who lives on Steamboat Island Point.
A 10-foot skiff carrying two men who were out harvesting geoducks had just sunk about 5:20 p.m., said Griffin Fire District 13 Deputy Chief Chuck Hennigan. Both suffered hypothermia after spending 40 minutes in the cold water wearing flotation devices, Hennigan said, but were saved by the quick actions of Ferris — who sprang into action on his kayak — and two commercial fishermen on a boat belonging to Taylor Shellfish.
Ferris rescued one of the men; the commercial fishermen rescued the other, Hennigan said. Both men were taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital, he said.
Taylor Shellfish's Totten Farm manager, Russ Walker, identified the two commercial fishermen who saved the second man as Lief Cofield and Jose Torres.
Story of a rescue
Ferris said that after hearing the yells for help, he looked out with his binoculars, saw two heads bobbing above the choppy waters and called 9-1-1. But he didn't wait for Griffin Fire to arrive; he grabbed his kayak and went out to try to make a rescue himself.
"I figured I had a chance to get out there faster than anybody else," he said.
Ferris' wife, Gayle, said her husband "didn't hesitate at all" when he grabbed his kayak, wheeled it out to Totten Inlet and set out on the water. Ferris said the man he saved was about a quarter-mile from the shore.
He said the man held to the back of his kayak as he paddled back toward shore. Ferris said his only fear was that the man's weight might capsize him.
The man was turning "a little blue," and his speech was slurred, but "he kept saying 'help,' " Ferris said. The man also expressed concern for his buddy, Ferris added.
"He was having a hard time hanging on by the time I got to the beach," he said.
2. Bikes Save a Wad of Cash
http://www.suntimes.com/business/currency/940694,CST-NWS-saving09.article
May 9, 2008
BY FRANCINE KNOWLES fknowles@suntimes.com
Sky-high gas prices aren't giving Bill Figel the blues. He's managed to save money by navigating around them. Two years ago he gave the family van to charity and, instead of buying another second car, he invested in bicycles.
"I purchased three bikes from garage sales, fixed them up and use them to commute downtown by train," said the 53-year-old political consultant and president of Chicago-based Figel Public Relations. "After I walk my three kids to school, I bike to the 107th Street station on the Metra Rock Island line. The 9:17 is never on time, but still gets me to my desk downtown before 10 a.m."
He has 10 bikes in his garage now, used by him and his 11-year-old daughter and 10-year-old twins.
"I've never paid more than 10 bucks for a bike," he said. "I'm not ashamed to say that I've garbage-picked bikes, but I've got a pretty good eye for particularly Schwinn frames. People just put them out on the curb. I'll take them, fix them up."
Figel figures he's saved big: $10,000 by not replacing the van, $750 a year on insurance and $50 to $100 a week on gas that would be needed to get him back and forth to the train station and cover other outings.
How has the family reacted to having only one car?
"My wife gets frustrated," he said. "She'd rather have a second car. But the kids seamlessly just kind of bought into this lifestyle because that's how we go to the park, to the Beverly Arts Center for classes like violin classes, to the local grocery store to pick up things. That's how we go to the pool all summer, and so for them, it's just a lifestyle that they kind of were just swept into."
3. Pie Cherries Help Fight Arthritis
http://www.koaa.com/aaaa_top_stories/x1602042224
Andy Koen
Colorado Springs Published 1 day(s) ago
A spinach salad, some sweet potatoes, even a piece of cherry pie - all these foods have one thing in common. They can help people who suffer from arthritis.
Researchers at Michigan State University found that the chemicals that give tart “pie” cherries their color also help fight inflammation and pain associated with arthritis.
Roughly 23 percent of Colorado residents have arthritis and that number is expected to grow. Dietician Martha Rosenau of Peak Nutrition says you should eat the cherries on a regular basis to get the biggest benefit.
"You can take them in everyday in either the dry form, the juice form, or the frozen form and it really helps with managing your symptoms," Rosenau said.
Other foods that help relieve arthritis pain include green, leafy vegetables, sweet potatoes, green tea and the spice turmeric.
4. Brave B'day Boy's Gift of a Lifetime
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05092008/news/regionalnews/brave_bday_boys__gift_of_a_lifetime_110076.htm
By PHILIP MESSING
FOR YOU, YURI: Terminally ill Yuri Benefeld gets his birthday wish, and then some yesterday — a visit from big-hearted cops and firefighters.
May 9, 2008 -- His simple wish was their willing command.
Responding to terminally ill Yuri Benefeld's modest hope - that a cop and firefighter stop by to say hello on his 12th birthday - some 40 members of the NYPD and FDNY showed up yesterday for a surprise party beyond his wildest dreams.
The Midwood, Brooklyn, youngster, wheelchair-bound and ventilator-dependent, was serenaded with a chorus of "Happy Birthday" - and then chauffeured around in an NYPD Emergency Service truck.
"All the neighbors got scared. They came running out to see what's going on. Nobody was expecting anything like this," said Yuri's delighted mom, Debbie, referring to the maze of firetrucks and police vehicles that descended on their East 28th Street home.
Her son suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder marked by progressive muscle weakness that leads to paralysis and death. Most victims don't survive their teens, according to the Web site cureduchenne.org.
Steve Zakaheim, a community activist, and Raizy Goldberger, of Chai Lifeline, a charity that aids sick children and their families, teamed up to honor Yuri's birthday wish.
First, a small entourage of firefighters came by with a birthday cake, a fire hat and an ax - and their firehouse Dalmatian, who gladly lapped up Yuri's attention.
When the firefighters realized the youngster had a blanket with various police and fire patches sewn on, James Breslin, of Engine Co. 309 took off his own to add to the collection, witnesses told The Post.
Soon more celebrants stopped in, including cops from the 70th Precinct, NYPD Canine Unit and Emergency Service Squad Truck 6.
"Everybody was shocked to the extent that everyone went just to bring a smile to this kid's face," said Jack Meyer, a community resident who serves as a liaison to the NYPD.
Yuri's mom called the impromptu party a "bittersweet" experience for her, but noted her son was "emanating a glow of happiness."
"He was happy," she said.
Added dad Michael Benefeld, "I feel that something like this was above and beyond what anyone could have expected.
"You don't see something like this, of this magnitude, every day."
philip.messing@nypost.com
5. Quiznos Donates 250 Deli Favorite Sandwiches to Homeless Families in Denver through America's Road Home
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/quiznos-donates-250-deli-favorite,386972.shtml
Posted : Fri, 09 May 2008 12:09:27 GMT
Author : CO-QUIZNOS
Category : Press Release
DENVER - (Business Wire) Quiznos, one of the nation’s fastest-growing quick service restaurant chains, today announced it is partnering with America’s Road Home to donate Quiznos’ $5 Deli Favorites sandwiches to 250 homeless families in the Denver area. Quiznos president David Deno will make the announcement today at the University of Denver during Denver’s Project Homeless Connect 6 public services fair for alleviating homelessness.
“We are pleased to donate the newly priced $5 large Deli Favorites to 250 families through America’s Road Home in Denver,” said David Deno, Quiznos President. “This is just another way that Quiznos is committed to being at the table and involved with this important initiative that Mayor Hickenlooper is advancing in this community.”
Deno will make a presentation to a family representing the Family and Seniors Homeless Initiative, a Denver family support organization, which will distribute the Quiznos sandwiches on behalf of Quiznos and America’s Road Home.
“Today’s announcement is an example of our strategy at America’s Road Home to leverage key relationships in the private and public sectors to create sustainable streams of revenue and resources for entities addressing family homelessness, allowing these organizations to focus on their core activities and less on fundraising,” said Richard E. Schaden, who founded America’s Road Home with his wife Cheryl, and who is also Chairman and founder of Quiznos and Consumer Capital Partners. “We are grateful to Quiznos team for having the vision to support these efforts.”
America's Road Home, with the help of talent and expertise from Consumer Capital Partners, takes disciplines of commerce and applies them to philanthropic causes, putting private-sector strategies and return-on-investment discipline to work for the common good.
About Quiznos
Celebrating its 27th anniversary, Denver-based Quiznos is a national chain designed for today's busy consumers who are looking for a tasty, fresher alternative to traditional fast food restaurants. Using only premium quality real ingredients, Quiznos restaurants offer creative, chef-inspired recipes for sandwiches, soups and salads. With more than 5,000 franchise restaurants, Quiznos is one of the fastest growing quick service restaurant chains.
In December, the Quiznos management team was named the “Best New Class” by QSR Magazine. In October 2007, Quiznos was recognized for leading the QSR industry in wait time performance by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association's (MSPA) 2007 Wait Time Study. In May 2007, Zagat's consumer surveys listed Quiznos in the top 5 for Top Food, Top Facilities, Top Service and Top Overall, ahead of its direct competitors. In June 2006, Nation's Restaurant News ranked Quiznos in its Top 100 Restaurant Chains as the #1 restaurant chain in growth in number of units--five years in a row. Entrepreneur magazine in January, 2006 ranked Quiznos in its annual Top Franchise 500 as the #2 Best Overall Franchise and QSR magazine ranked the chain in its Top 50 Chains in August, 2005 as #3 by change in system-wide sales.
For further information, please visit www.quiznos.com
About America’s Road Home
America’s Road Home is a new 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on ending family homelessness. The core of ARH is connecting the cause to consumers. ARH takes the tools of capitalism and applies them to the family homelessness cause by using traditional marketing techniques to connect consumers to family homelessness – to build the bridge from awareness to caring to giving. ARH uses private sector strategies, processes and ROI discipline and puts them to work for the common good, a paradigm shift they term “Causal Capitalism.”
For further information, please visit www.americasroadhome.org
Coltrin & Associates
Angela Redding, 212-221-1616
Angela_Redding@coltrin.com
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