Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Photo Source: The Tennessean
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The Tennessean splashes with an alarming story about Prince Bradley, 24, a 6-foot-1, 280-pound autistic man, disabled since birth, being beaten, allegedly by a caregiver on September 23, 2013, while under the supervision of Support Solutions of the Mid-South. The incident was captured on a cell phone camera. Bradley, it turns out, had been the victim of neglect on four separate occasions since December 2011.
Nnanyelu Nnodu, 33, Bradley's caretaker for more than two years was arrested and charged with the assault. The Tennessean reports that Nnodu was hired by Support Solutions even though he was found to have neglected another disabled person while employed with a different company.
According to the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD), Support Solutions, which cares for about 320 people across the state, has been investigated 121 times by state officials in the past four years, documenting 32 cases of neglect, five cases of physical abuse and three cases of psychological abuse at homes and programs the agency operates since 2010. http://is.gd/6Ai7hv
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Image Source: The Post-Crescent
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The Post-Crescent reports on the Kaukauna Center for Suicide Awareness and its plans to roll out a text-based service aimed at strengthening suicide prevention in the Fox Valley and across Wisconsin. Hopeline, which is expected to become available in March, will be the state’s first texting service of its kind.
Similar programs have been used in other states, including California, where a text service has been in place for a decade. http://is.gd/o1jQnx
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Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Photo Source: Times Picayune Archives.
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On the 50 year anniversary, The Times Picayune remembers the crash of Eastern Air Lines flight 304, a jetliner equipped to carry 126 passengers that tragically plunged into Lake Pontchartrain, five miles west of the Causeway, killing all 58 on board - Feb. 25, 1964. It was the first major DC-8 crash and the first in New Orleans.
45 days after the crash, investigators considered the cause of the crash a mystery; since then, new evidence emerged which became a defining moment in the history of Eastern Air Lines. In the wake of the crash, the company's new vice president of maintenance overhauled the entire program, hiring 300 new mechanics and leasing reserve aircrafts. http://is.gd/kvK1vQ
• Just a few days ago, The Oregonian splashed with alarming news that trains in Oregon carry the same type of flammable North Dakota oil involved in three high-profile explosions last year, including one that killed 47 people and leveled part of a Canadian town. Oil trains arriving in Oregon in late 2012, Rob Davis of The Oregonian reports, sharply increased the volume of hazardous materials moving on the state’s railroads with more potentially on its way. http://is.gd/YxSNo2
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In 2000, Louisiana led the country with the highest percentage of students enrolled in private schools.
The unforgiving destruction of Hurricane Katrina, however, combined with a national recession and the explosion of public magnet and charter schools has drastically changed such robust numbers.
Private school enrollment has fallen by 5 percent in the Bayou State with declines in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas falling by more than 17 percent across 10 parishes, reported Danielle Dreilinger of The Times-Picayune on February 13th. http://is.gd/TLRuq3
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If you’re aware of any outstanding works of journalism that you would like to see included at DailyNewsGems, send links to Bill Lucey at [email protected]
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