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Dying Cancer Patient Gets Married Weeks Before She Is Expected To Die

Evonne Lee LOUISVILLE kentucky
Evonne Lee, a dying cancer patient, got her wish Tuesday when she married her longtime boyfriend at the hospital where she is expected to die, WAVE 3 reports.  Hospital staff at University Hospital in Louisville, Ky., consider Lee an inspiration for the way she is living the final days of her life; doctors have given her weeks to live. Lee and her new husband, Don Tyler, knew they would wed when they first first met some eight years ago. But when Lee was diagnosed with cancer last year, jumping the broom became a priority.
Tyler popped the question on Christmas Day. It was around that time that Lee’s health began to deteriorate. Here is some background on how Evonne has decided to make the best of the time she has left:

Happy 80th Birthday, Music Impresario Quincy Jones

Music producer and Ahmet Ertegun Award recipient Quincy Jones attends the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2013 Inductees announcement at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on December 11, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Music producer and Ahmet Ertegun Award recipient Quincy Jones attends the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2013 Inductees announcement at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on December 11, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Legendary producer and musician Quincy Jones was born 80 years ago today. Jones, known as “The Dude” or sometimes simply as “Q,” is an American music impresario. He brought black music to the forefront of popular culture through his long career as a conductor, producer, arranger, composer and performer.
Jones’ career began in 1956, when he toured as a trumpeter for the Dizzy Gillespie Band. For years, he dedicated his energies to performing jazz. His work as a film composer began in 1964, when he scored his first of 33 motion pictures. He would go on to compose scores for films like The Color PurpleThe Wiz and In the Heat of the Night.
His work has spanned media platforms as the composer of TV themes like Sanford and Son, producer of shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and the founder of VIBE magazine. Jones has won an astonishing 27 Grammy Awards in his career and shows no signs of slowing down.
article by Donovan X. Ramsey via thegrio.com
 
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Quincy Jones Creates Music Ed Application “Playground Sessions”
Quincy Jones Accepts Montblanc Lifetime Achievement Award

12-year-old Chef Haile Thomas "Living her Dream" Helping Kids Eat Healthy

Haile Thomas, 12, cooks on TODAY with Al Roker.

Most kids can’t even spell “quinoa,” let alone cook it; but most kids aren’t 12-year-old Haile Thomas. The Tucson, Ariz., native blew TODAY away Tuesday morning with her absolutely delicious black bean and corn quinoa salad with garlic shrimp and avocado, a dish she recently cooked up for first lady Michelle Obama as part of the first Kids’ State Dinner.
“That was very exciting to have the first lady enjoy my food!” she told Al.  As a tween, Haile’s credentials are more impressive than most 30-year-olds, and she’s hobnobbed with the likes of Tom Colicchio, Alice Waters and even Bill Clinton. Cooking since the age of five by helping her mother in the kitchen, Haile’s interest was piqued by watching food documentaries.

Delta Pilot Retires After 45 Years, Never Missed Day Of Work

calvin-flanigan
Captain Calvin “Cal” Flanigan (pictured) retired from Delta Airlines last Friday, after devoting 45 years of service to the airline. Thirty-seven of those years were served as a pilot for the company. And, to top off his incredible career, he never missing a day of work, according to KTFW-TV Fox 4 News.
Flanigan told Fox 4 that he knew from a very young age that he wanted to be a pilot. “Even as a little kid watching airplanes take off when I was 9 or 10 years old, I knew I wanted to fly,” he said.  When he began his career at Delta, Flanagan started from the ground floor as an airline mechanic back in 1968. But he knew that one day he would be sitting in the cockpit. Eight years later, Flanigan achieved his dream.

Tina Turner Poses for Vogue Germany Cover, Singer's First Time Gracing Glossy

tina turner vogue cover

The cover says it all: “Simply The Best!”  This April 2013 issue of Vogue marks Tina Turner’s first time gracing the iconic fashion magazine.  The legendary singer is seen rocking her signature honey blonde-highlighted hair, a silky navy blouse and what appears to be a black skirt for Vogue’s German edition, which was shot by Claudia Knoepfel and Stefan Indlekofer and styled by Nicola Knels.
Turner is 73 years old and looks like she just stepped on the stage at the “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1970 to perform “Proud Mary.”  Fashionista.com points out that the age-defying beauty might be the oldest Vogue cover star ever–snagging the title from Meryl Streep who covered American Vogue last year at the age of 62.  Either way, we’re just thrilled to see the Queen of Rock-n-Roll in all her glory. 
article by Julee Wilson via huffingtonpost.com
 
 

France’s Baby Dance Battle Features 6-Year-Old Dance Phenom B-Girl Terra (VIDEO)

baby bgirls and boys battle2013
The Hip-Hop community has influenced dance culture consistently for over 30 years and some of the best moves have been gleaned from the Eighties and are still celebrated in competition today.  If you see a dance battle, nine times out of ten, break dancing will be a part of the show.
France puts on an annual dance battle called  Chelles Battle Pro.  The competition took place Saturday and the baby with the most swag and skill of the B-Boy crew The Soul Mavericks, was the electrifying 6-year-old dance phenom, Terra.
She broke it down with every difficult move from the hesistant crawl, to headstands with hops, and endless spins holding her leg, all with bold bravado that should’ve sent her opponent running off the stage with his tail between his legs.  According to Digital Journal, she joined the all male dance crew last year along with her 8-year-old sister Eddie. Check her out for yourself.  You won’t believe her explosive character and moves.  You will be shocked that she didn’t win the competition.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5hQ-qOtPLU&w=560&h=315]
article by J.C. Brooks via eurthisnthat.com

Security Officer Wins $13.2 Million Verdict for Civil Rights Violations by Cleveland Detectives

davidayers.jpg
David Ayers, center, walks out of the Cuyahoga County Justice Center a free man in 2011 after serving 11 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Ayers won a $13.2 million verdict in federal court Friday. At right is Carrie Wood of the Innonence Project. (Plain Dealer file photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A federal jury awarded $13.2 million to a former housing authority security officer Friday after finding two Cleveland detectives fabricated or withheld evidence at his 2000 murder trial.
David Ayers, 56, who spent 11 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, and several jurors wept as the verdict against detectives Denise Kovach and Michael Cipo was read in U.S. District Court.
“These detectives didn’t do their jobs at all,” juror Stephanie Kocian told The Plain Dealer in an interview. “They manipulated the evidence, and didn’t look at anyone else except the most convenient suspect to convict. The word ‘railroaded’ was thrown around the jury room during deliberations.”
At the time of his 1999 arrest, Ayers had been working for more than eight years as a security officer with the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority. He was accused and eventually convicted of the beating death 76-year-old Dorothy Brown, who lived in a CMHA high rise in Cleveland.
Ayers continued to maintain his innocence, filing appeals while serving a life prison term for aggravated murder. He finally prevailed in 2011, when DNA tests proved that a single pubic hair found in Brown’s mouth did not come from him.

High School Wrestler Without Arms And Legs Defies Odds And Wins First Match

Caleb Smith wrestling

High schooler Caleb Smith (pictured) recently defied his disability by winning his first wrestling bout for his St. Paul Minnesota high school, according to CBS Minnesota.  Smith lost his limbs when he contracted a rare meningitis blood disorder at the age of 3-years-old that caused his blood vessels to burn.
Due to his illness, the Harding senior’s parents were forced to make the heart-ripping decision to have their son’s arms and legs removed at their respective joints.  “I was 3, so I hadn’t developed writing and walking skills completely, so it was pretty easy getting used to it, Smith said of his experience.
Fifth grade was when Smith began to dabble in the highly aggressive sport of wrestling, and hiscaleb positive attitude about himself allowed him to take part in his first match.
As far as the sport goes, even though Smith weighs a feathery 120 pounds, don’t let his size fool you; the teen has learned to use his physique to help him maintain a competitive edge against his opponents. According to his high school coaches, Smith moves better than his rivals and has led his school in escapes this year.
“He’s got the kind of strength people don’t normally see at 120,” coach Otto Kraus told CBS Minnesota. “Plus, the way he can move makes it hard to wrestle him.”
The young dynamo does have one drawback, though: he gets winded more easily than his opponents.  In order to combat this Smith says he trains tirelessly so that he can overcome wrestling’s physical challenges.  “For them to run 10 yards or whatever, it takes them like 20 steps,” he said. “But it takes me like 30 because my legs can only move so far,” he told CBS Minnesota.

Homeless Man Who Returned Ring Gets Over $175K in Donations, Reconnects with Family

Billy Ray Harris’ story has inspired a windfall of donations.
When Kansas City homeless man Billy Ray Harris returned Sarah Darling’s engagement ring last month after she accidentally dropped it in his cup, it could have been the end of the story.  Instead, the experience has changed his life.  In the weeks since his good deed went viral, Harris has gained national attention, and supporters have raised over $175,000 for him to find a new home.
Something even more valuable happened: Harris is back in touch with his family, from whom he was estranged for the last 16 years.  Amid the media storm around the engagement ring episode, Robin Harris, Billy Ray’s younger sister, happened to come across an article about her brother, and reached out to the local news station that first reported the story for help tracking him down.
“When I turned my head, I recognized the name, and I turned back around and I looked at the picture again, and it was my brother,” Robin told TODAY.com. “I called and I said, ‘that’s my brother. I’ve been looking for him for 16 years.'”  Robin, who still lives in Texas where the family grew up, said she made repeated efforts to find her brother over the years, but had heard varying reports about his whereabouts, and was even once told that he had died.

Montgomery Police Chief Apologizes To Freedom Rider Rep. John Lewis

LEWIS
The civil rights era Freedom Riders, who risked their lives and limbs by riding various forms of public transportation in the South to challenge local laws that sanctioned segregation during the turbulent ’60s, have finally received an apology — albeit decades overdue — from the Montgomery, Ala., police chief, according to NBC News.
Police chief Kevin Murphy’s (pictured right) apology was made at the historic First Baptist Church on Saturday not only to the famed Freedom Riders but also, personally, to U.S. Representative of Georgia, John Lewis (pictured left), who was a member of the historical civil rights crusaders. Lewis was in town as part for the 13th Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama.