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Small Businesses Put Ex-cons to Work

bakery worker is ex-con -Safer Foundation photo

bakery worker is ex-con -Safer Foundation photoTen years ago, Debbie Jakacki, owner of Jakacki Bag & Barrel in Chicago, a family business that’s been around since 1942, found herself continually frustrated by her employees. “We didn’t have a lot of people who had a great work ethic,” says Jakacki.

After learning about the Safer Foundation, a Chicago-based nonprofit that helps people with criminal records find gainful employment, she decided to give it a try.

It has worked out very well for Jakacki, who now figures she has hired over 100 former prisoners.

From Waterboy to War Hero, a Veterans Day Story

soldier Vietnam pilot-Ben Overstreet

soldier Vietnam pilot-Ben OverstreetBen Overstreet badly wanted to play football, but when he started his senior year at Gulf High School in 1949, he stood 5-feet-5 and weighed 105 pounds.

Ben made the team, but as equipment manager, not player. He cheered from the sidelines and brought the other boys water.

His time would come.

As a boy, Ben had dreamed of piloting airplanes so he joined the Air Force. At first, he was a clerk typist, but in 1953 he qualified for flight training and went on to become a war hero earning a Silver Star
.
(READ the full story in the Tampa Bay Times)

US Home Prices Increase Most in 6-year Period

homes in New Orleans

homes in New OrleansA measure of U.S. home prices jumped 5 percent in September compared with a year ago, the largest year-over-year increase since July 2006. Prices have risen in all but seven states.

The gain reported by the Associated Press on November 6 offered more evidence of a sustainable housing recovery.

Vietnamese Orphan Adopted by U.S. Airman Fulfills Father’s Hope Joining the Military he Loved

Naval commander Kimberly Mitchell

Naval commander Kimberly MitchellAir Force officer James Mitchell, overwhelmed by the hardship and destruction he witnessed in Vietnam, decided to visit the Sacred Heart Orphanage. When baby #889 was placed in his arms, he knew it was meant to be.

19 Years after her adoption from the Da Nang orphanage, Kimberly Mitchell chose a career in the Navy to fulfill her fathers wish.

Veteran Found His Way Back from the Streets, Now Helps Others Like Him

homeless-rewarded-for-good-deed

homeless-rewarded-for-good-deedFor 30 years, Gerard Thomas was among the 70,000 American veterans sleeping on the streets every night.

As a paranoid schizophrenic he was in and out of prison and mental institutions for decades. When out of trouble, he slept on park benches, in doorways or in the woods.

These days, the 62-year-old devotes his life to helping homeless veterans.

He now has an apartment, a bike, a desk and a three-computer workstation. He works as a certified peer counselor to homeless vets and mental-health patients.

(READ the full story from Washington Post)

Thanks to Craig Withers for submitting the link!

Veterans Volunteer for One More Mission, a Hurricane Sandy Response Team

Veterans Fire Corps photo

Veterans Fire Corps photoArmed simply with chainsaws, a corps of military veterans has arrived on the Jersey Shore to help Sandy-stricken residents trapped by a maze of downed trees and debris.

The team members, whose previous tours have included Iraq and Afghanistan, arrived in New Jersey this week from Arizona, where they were serving in the Veterans Fire Corps, a program that helps recent-era vets prepare for careers in conservation. Their recent training in chain saw operation and wildland firefighting made them perfectly suited for the mission at hand.

“We volunteered right away,” says Joseph LiCausi, a former Navy petty officer from Queens, New York. “Cleaning up roads, getting trees out of the way, helping displaced people get food. It feels good to help out.”

Veterans Retrained for Forest Service Grab Chainsaws to Help New Yorkers

Veterans Fire Corps photo

Veterans Fire Corps photoArmed simply with chainsaws, a corps of military veterans has arrived on the Jersey Shore to help Sandy-stricken residents trapped by a maze of downed trees and debris.

The team members, whose previous tours have included Iraq and Afghanistan, arrived in New Jersey this week from Arizona, where they were serving in the Veterans Fire Corps, a program that helps recent-era vets prepare for careers in conservation. Their recent training in chain saw operation and wildland firefighting made them perfectly suited for the mission at hand.

“We volunteered right away,” says Joseph LiCausi, a former Navy petty officer from Queens, New York. “Cleaning up roads, getting trees out of the way, helping displaced people get food. It feels good to help out.”

Girl of Nine Dominates Boys in Spectacular Football Highlight Reel

football peewee star Sam Gordon

football peewee star Sam GordonIt is unusual to see a highlight reel of a peewee football player whose stats are so impressive – 35 touchdowns, 65 tackles and nearly 2,000 rushing yards. Such numbers would make an NFL scout do a double-take.

What’s even more unusual is that this particular football player is a 9-year-old girl from Salt Lake City named “Sam” Gordon.

100 Milwaukee Area Salons to Hold Fundraiser for Spa Shooting Victims

hugging

huggingNearly 100 Milwaukee area salons and spas are expected to participate in a fundraising effort Tuesday to support victims of a shooting last month at Azana Spa & Salon in Brookfield, and to help raise awareness of domestic abuse.

The goal is to focus attention on the potential for tragedy when domestic abuse isn’t stopped, while donating a percentage of sales that day to help the victims of the spa shooting, said Jan Seybold, one of the organizers of Cut it Out Day.

Female Iraq War Vet Who Lost Legs is Elected to U.S. Congress

Tammy Duckworth walking on stage - Federal election Fair Use photo

Tammy Duckworth walking on stage - Federal election Fair Use photoNot only is she one of the historic class of 2012 women elected to the US Congress this week. Not only is she the first Thai-American woman to be sent to Capitol Hill. Tammy Duckworth is an Iraq War veteran, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot who lost both of her legs in combat.

The new Illinois congresswoman previously served as Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011, and as the Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs before that.

The impressive Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, to an American father, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who traced his family’s roots in America back to before the Revolutionary War. Her mother, a native of Thailand, is of Chinese ancestry. Because of her father’s work with the United Nations and international companies, the family moved around Southeast Asia and she became fluent in Thai, Indonesian, and English.

The Democratic congresswoman credits Republican Senator Bob Dole for inspiring her to pursue public service while she recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

Dole dedicated his biography One Soldier’s Story in part to Duckworth.

Female Iraq War Vet Who Lost Legs is Elected to U.S. Congress

Tammy Duckworth walking on stage - Federal election Fair Use photo

Tammy Duckworth walking on stage - Federal election Fair Use photoNot only is she one of the historic class of 2012 women elected to the US Congress this week. Not only is she the first Thai-American woman to be sent to Capitol Hill. Tammy Duckworth is an Iraq War veteran, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot who lost both of her legs in combat.

The new Illinois congresswoman previously served as Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011, and as the Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs before that.

Speedy NYC Subway Repairs Border on ‘Magic’ After Floods

Subway tracks underwater NYC - MTA photo

Subway tracks underwater NYC - MTA photoIt has been less than two weeks since the most devastating storm in the New York City subway system’s 108-year history. Seven tunnels beneath the East River flooded. Entire platforms were submerged. Underground equipment, some of it decades old, was destroyed.

The damage was the worst that the system had ever seen. And yet, the subways have come back — quicker than almost anyone could have imagined.

Baboon Adopts Stray Kitten, Carries it Everywhere (Video)

bamboon adopts kitten ABCvideo

bamboon adopts kitten ABCvideoAt a petting zoo in Israel, a baboon has adopted a tiny kitten who recently strayed into its cage and then refused to leave.

The baboon now cares for the kitten, rarely letting the feline out of her sight. Footage shot at the zoo shows that the baboon even checks the kitty for fleas.

Four Teenage Girls in Africa Have Invented a Generator Powered by Pee

African teens pee-powered machine

African teens pee-powered machinePeople pee a lot, and four African teenage girls have actually figured out a way to make pee useful.

They created a urine-powered generator — which can turn one liter of urine into six hours of electricity.

They presented their invention this week in Lagos, Nigeria, at the fourth annual Maker Faire Africa.

Host Kristin Chenoweth Presents Hero Dog Awards Tonight on Hallmark Channel

Kristen Chenoweth hosts Hero Dog Awards-hallmarkphoto

Kristen Chenoweth hosts Hero Dog Awards-hallmarkphotoThe American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards will be broadcast tonight, Thursday, Nov. 8, with the usual pomp and Hollywood stars — like Betty White and Whoopi Goldberg — found at a regular awards show, but with the winners leaving a lot more hair on the red carpet.

“It celebrates our beloved animals, who go above and beyond what they are called to do,” said Chenoweth. “I encourage people to watch it and [challenge] them to not be moved by it.”

The stories focus on the eight dogs that won in different categories, like service dog and family pet. But it was Gabe, a big yellow lab in the military dog category, that took home the grand prize. His handler, Sgt. Charles Shuck, began working with Gabe in 2006 when, believe it or not, he was told to go to the local shelter and pick a dog. After training, he completed 210 missions in Iraq sniffing out explosives and ammunition.

Hero Dog 2012 GabeGabe is now retired along with Sgt. Shuck and they live — and mostly play — in South Carolina.

Among the other winning stories is that of the law enforcement dog winner, Jynx of Shillington, Pa., who tried to pull his handler, Sgt. Kyle Pagerly, and another officer to safety when a criminal shot at them.

The Gala in Beverly Hills was taped last month by the Hallmark Channel for broadcast on cable. Find a channel near you at this link.

(READ the full story from Zap2it.com)


Dying Wife Gives Husband a Final Gift, 29 Cobra Sports Cars Show Up to Give Him a Ride

Cobra owner gives ride to dying man-VID

Cobra owner gives ride to dying man-VIDThey both have terminal cancer but Kathleen Rinard has only days to live and wanted to give her husband one final gift.

He always wanted to ride in a Cobra convertible sports car, so Kathleen called an auto club to see if they could help.

Instead of a single convertible rolling up to their Mesa, Arizona hospice, 29 Cobras arrived revving their engines along a neat row outside.

Of all the gorgeous cars, her husband, Dayton, recently diagnosed with fatal prostate cancer, chose a blue one with a big white racing stripe down the hood.

This story was produced in February by Phoenix’s ABC affiliate, but recently earned renewed attention when it was added to the Fark website. Thanks to Chris Cloud for telling the Good News Network about it.

(WATCH the video from TV-15)

Dying Wife Gives Husband a Final Gift, 29 Cobra Sports Cars Show Up to Give Him a Ride

Cobra owner gives ride to dying man-VID

Cobra owner gives ride to dying man-VIDThey both have terminal cancer but Kathleen Rinard has only days to live and wanted to give her husband one final gift.

He always wanted to ride in a Cobra convertible sports car, so Kathleen called an auto club to see if they could help.

Instead of a single convertible rolling up to their Mesa, Arizona hospice, 29 Cobras arrived revving their engines along a neat row outside.

GOP House Speaker Boehner Says He Wants to Help President Succeed

Speaker Boehner and Obama in Congress, 2011 -WHphoto

Speaker Boehner and Obama in Congress, 2011 -WHphotoCongressional leaders unveiled a more conciliatory tone of cooperation in the face of a new Washington landscape that is suddenly more Democratic.

In an 11-minute speech, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) hinted that the days of partisan “my way or the highway” may be over. Reading from a teleprompter, he suggested that he would work with Obama on the imminent fiscal issues.

Kenyan Mom Names Twins Barack and Mitt After Giving Birth on Election Day

Mother with twins Kenya-TVvideo

Mother with twins Kenya-TVvideoIn the spirit of bipartisanship, a mother in Kenya named her twins after the two U.S. presidential candidates. Giving birth on election day, Millicent Awuor, a 20 year-old housewife said, “I named the first twin Barack and the second one Mitt.”

She said she wanted to remember the day of the vote, Kenya’s Standard newspaper reports.

Kenyan Mom Names Twins Barack and Mitt After Giving Birth on Election Day

Mother with twins Kenya-TVvideo

Mother with twins Kenya-TVvideoIn the spirit of bipartisanship, a mother in Kenya named her twins after the two U.S. presidential candidates. Giving birth on election day, Millicent Awuor, a 20 year-old housewife said, “I named the first twin Barack and the second one Mitt.”

She said she wanted to remember the day of the vote, Kenya’s Standard newspaper reports.