Category Archives: Daily News

Birthday Dare Turns Deadly In Dania Beach

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The Story: Written by: Lisa Bolivar
DANIA BEACH (CBS4) ―

Sep 27, 2010 12:25 am US/Eastern

Timothy Jordan took a deadly dare during his 46th birthday party Saturday night, and lost.

Jordan, who would have had his actual birthday on Sept. 28, took a $50 bet that he could swim across a canal near his Dania Beach home. He didn’t make it.

Witnesses say Jordan, who was drunk, made it half way across the canal before he began flailing his arms and then went under at about 2 a.m.

Friends gathered at the site told Broward Sheriff’s Office and Dania Beach Fire Rescue responders that Jordan had stripped down to his boxers before jumping into the canal.

It took a couple of hours to find his body. At 4:21 a.m. BSO Marine Unite divers found Jordan at the bottom of 10 feet of water.

While the Broward County Medical Examiner will confirm the cause of death, BSO homicide detectives currently are considering this an accidental drowning, according to BSO Spokesman Mike Jachles.

CBS4.com

My Thoughts:

These are the kind of things that make you stop and think before you do. Jordan was going to turn 46 years old, he was still young and vital and had a lot of more years to enjoy with friends and family, and because some people get drunk and think they can fly doesn’t really mean you can fly. My question here is “No one tried swimming out there when they saw him struggling to swim”? And why would you actually let him swim out there knowing he was drunk? There is one thing to dare someone and see them get ready to to actually do the dare and stopping them and there’s another – actually letting them do the stupid thing you came up with for them to do. Now Jordan lost his life, but now the friend who thought it would be funny to see their friend swim across a canal drunk is the one that has to live with the guilt of feeling like they killed their own friend.

Some people need to grow up. It’s okay to take dares, and live life on the edge and it’s also okay to back down when you really think it can end your life or end on a bad note.

Some people say life’s too short, take risks, but if taking risks ends your life, then life really will be too short, shorter than it really had to be.

xo,
kristin nicole

Madison Schafer – Baby with Brain Cancer

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Madison Schafer

I am not sure how old Madison Schafer is but she can’t be more than 2 years old. She looks really young, I was on my face-book account this morning when I saw an old co-workers post about a little girl in her daughters school who has brain cancer. I clicked on the link and began to read her story. They literally just found out that she had Brain Cancer yesterday. Before that it was only 5 days ago when they noticed something was wrong with the baby.

Brain Tumor/Cancer

On September 9th a CAT Scan resulted in a large tumor in the brain, they had an emergency surgery scheduled that same night to get it out, as they set out to take out the fleshy part of the tumor Madison’s heart stopped three times, so they had to stop the surgery. They later sent a sample to Harvard to a brain specialist to determine if in fact it was Cancer. An MRI later showed that the tumor is holding liquid around the brain and not draining on it’s own so they had to place a drain in her head to drain the liquid, they were hoping that the liquid would start draining on it’s own. Madison is starting to move her bowel and eating, so they took the catheter out and the family is waiting on the next step to cure the cancer.

My Thoughts:

This story touched my heart, it is scary and hard to live through something like this with such a small child. The school has a website where you can follow Madisons recovery at Kidsforkidsacademy.com. You can follow her recovery, and you can help the family by either donating money, food, or anything that will help them through this difficult time. Some people are donating Publix or Winn Dixie gift cards (CBS 4 News donated some gift cards to the family) and some are helping make home cooked meals and taking them to the hospital. You can help donate HERE.

In life we truly never know what will happen. Some of us live our lives healthy and content, others go through the hardest moments in life not knowing what to do. I couldn’t imagine what the Schafer family is going through and I think if we all say a prayer, if we all contribute just a little, that in a small way it will help them get through this horrible time one step at a time.

If you want to donate click on the link above, and you can also write a message to the family either here on this link (I have informed them that I have posted a blog post about Madison on Soapnights) and or you can leave a message HERE.

My prayers are with Madison a beautiful baby girl who doesn’t deserve to have such a horrible illness and to her family who needs to stay strong, and think positive that everything will be alright.

xo,
kristin nicole

PS

Dear Schafer family,

It breaks my heart to read a story like yours. I have posted links to this website (http://www.soapnights.com) about your daughter Madison and I will pray for her fast recovery back to a normal life. No one should have to go thorugh what you are going through, and we sometimes give up on hope when things like this happen. We turn our backs on our beliefs because we wonder why things like this happen to us. This is the time that you have to come together, keep your faith and your hopes up and think positive. My prayers are with Madison (that beautiful baby girl) and with you. Stay strong, Madison will pull through this.

xo,

kristin nicole

California woman earns college diploma at age 94

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The amazing story of a 94 year old women, finally getting her college diploma:

Wow I found this article on Yahoo.com, if this does not inspire a student to keep going for their dreams I do not know what will.

Read on….

It’s never too late to go back to college and get your college degree. I know you hear that a lot sometimes, but when you hear this story, you might just think I am right.

The story:

Hazel Soares is 94 years old and she was able to achieve what most of us do not or feel like we can not accomplish at our age.

Hazel Soares was one of 500 students to get their dipoma Saturday at Mills College.

“It’s taken me quite a long time because I’ve had a busy life,” said Soares. “I’m finally achieving it, and it makes me feel really good.” (yahoo.com)

Hazel Soares has six children and 40 grandchildren and great grandchildren. WOW I know, that is a lot of family, and with that she is the second oldest person in the world to graduate from college. Nola Ochs of Kansas was the oldest to graduate three years ago at the age of 95 and now topped that with a master’s degree in liberal studies from Fort Hays.

Hazel Soares said she always wanted to go to college but when she was younger the Great Depression was happening and only people who can afford college went. She never gave up on her dream though, and with all in all has managed to do just that. Dream and make it come true. Hazel Soares plans on working for the San Francisco museum after this. I say good for you Soares, GO FOR IT!

My thoughts:

This women amazes me in every sense of the word. Sometimes I sit and I complain that College is not for me, how hard it is, and how much sacrifice I have to make to continue working on my education. Why didn’t I finish when I was younger etc etc. You can not change time and you can not change the life you are in. If you want something go for it! Nothing in this world can stop you, if you do not let it. Hazel Soares is an inspiration to many, and I think she will continue to be an inspiration to the students that graduated with her. This just proves to so many of us that when you really put your mind to something, when you really dream about something you want, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

Whenever you feel like you can not do something, whenever you feel helpless or too old, think about this story and ask yourself, Is it really impossible? I think NOT!

xo,
kristin nicole

You can find the full story about Hazel Soares on News.Yahoo.com

Suspect in Miami shooting found in Panama

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The story:

A man by the name of Pablo Guzman, 34 is a suspect in a shooting that happened outside the Mia Biscayne Lounge on February 4th at 4:30 am. He shot multiple shots at another man (Nelson Puentes) over an argument. Police say Guzman fired “multiple” times, Nelson Puentes was later taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he is recovering. A police officer who was working at the restaurant fired at Guzman, but Guzman got away in a black four door Mercedes Benz. On February 11th U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents found Guzman getting off a flight from Cancún, Mexico. The next day ICE special agents with the help of the U.S Immigration and Border Protection took him from Panama back to the United States to face Attempted Murder charges.

My thoughts:

I’m happy they found this guy, especially since he had already left the country. I can’t say I’m shocked a shooting happened so close to home, I’ve been hearing and reading about stuff like this so much that it’s sad to say, it just doesn’t faze me as much anymore. It’s still a scary thought, I’ve been to MIA, and it’s a great lounge, and to think that you could be only a few feet away from a shooting is a scary thought. Thankfully no one else got hurt while he was firing shots. We at least now know he’s been caught, and hopefully, he’ll go to jail for a very long time.

If you want to read the full story go to Miamiherald.com

xo,
kristin nicole

Saints win Super Bowl XLIV

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The Saints vs The Colts….

The Saints win the Super Bowl for the first time. The game was incredible from beginning to end. The Colts brought a tough game to the field but the Saints came in and took over, taking on risky plays and making an interception in the 4th quarter. Wow this game was hot!

Oh when the Saints came marching in….

Personally I was going for the Colts, but only because I really wanted the Vikings to go to the Super Bowl and the Saints beat them so I went for the Colts and also because Manning is one of the best quarter backs right now, but not falling too far behind was Drew Brees with incredible plays that won the championship 31-17. Even though I was going for the Colts I was happy for the Saints, they deserved it.

Did you see the opening acts, commercials and half time?!?

Wow Carrie Underwood, I can’t say it enough, she’s not only beautiful, but she has a tremendous voice, when she sang I think everyone had tears in their eyes. What a perfect opening to a great game. The commercials this year were incredibly funny, the Doritos commercials, Career Builders, and Oprah with David Letterman and Jay Leno; commercials that had us laughing all night long. The half time show, some say wasn’t that good, well if you don’t know ‘The Who’ then you may have not enjoyed it, this band has been around for a long time, and the song they sang if you watch the oh so famous CSI Miami, well that’s their intro, so I thought it fit perfect to a perfect night and a perfect game. The stage presence was the best part, it was just phenomenal. On top of that the night was just filled with great food, drinks and friends. My only wish, that Super Bowl would be on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, that would make it a lot better for us to keep partying and enjoy sleeping in the next day instead of having to come to work. Oh well…another enjoyable super bowl.

Congrats Saints!

xo,
kristin nicole

Sun Life Stadium – Super Bowl Weekend

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Colts vs. Saints

Colts vs. Saints

Okay first off I want to start off by saying, I know I’m a bit late on this but ‘why the hell’ did they change the stadium name to “SUN LIFE”….WHAT?!? I don’t like that name at all and I don’t understand why they need to keep changing the name.

On another note:

Did you hear about the stage that collapsed on Tuesday? Workers were setting it up and it collapsed on a few employees, Four people were injured and taken to Jackson Memorial hospital. Don’t worry they weren’t life threatening injuries, but it still did fall, this is a bit scary. Hopefully they fix it and we have no issues the day of the Super Bowl. (If you want to read more on this story go to www.cbs4.com)

Super Bowl:

The Colts vs. Saints, wow this game is going to be good. I have to admit though I’m a bit sad that the Vikings didn’t beat the Saints, I would have loved to see Favre in the Super Bowl. But it is what it is, and the Saints now have the chance to win the Super Bowl for the first time. I’m kind of on the fence with these two teams for the Saints to win would be a huge deal since they have never won a Super Bowl, EVER! As for the Colts well, I just love Manning and my first choice really is for the Colts to win. I can’t wait for Sunday to find out who’s going to win this year.

What do you do for the Super Bowl?

This year I’m not sure what we are going to do, we might go to a friends house or just stay at home and watch it on our TV, if we do that I might just have to make some goodies, like loaded nachos, and cheese sticks, and more…

Who are you going for this Super Bowl? The Saints or the Colts?

xo,
kristin nicole

Stars gather to cover `We Are the World’ for Haiti

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The story:

I think it is absolutely incredible all these wonderful stars coming together to re do the song “We Are the World”. I was watching the original on youtube.com , and these new and older artist really have to bring it to the table. 80 Artist have come together in the same studio where the original was shot in Hollywood, 25 years ago. They say “We Are the World — 25 for Haiti” will premiere this month during coverage of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics on NBC, according to a release from promoter AEG Live. To read more on this story click Here

My thoughts:

Wow, I just find this so incredible, New Artist paired up with some of the legends of music, to come together to sing a song that Michael Jackson did 25 years ago, it is sad he can’t be here with us to sing it, I hope they put footage of Michael in the video as well, it wouldn’t be the same without Micheal’s vocals and presence (even if it is only in a video). I love this song, I always have, it reminds me of my 5th grade graduation, we sang this song on stage that night. Although I was only 3 years old when they made this song for USA for Africa and I didn’t know what it was made for or why, the words alone just melt your heart. It’s an incredible song, and I can’t wait to see the New Re-make of it.

xo,
kristin nicole

New Apple – iPad

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Have you seen the new Apple iPad? It’s gorgeous, it’s almost like a bigger iPhone, just better on the eyes to read.


Features:

It features Safari (Wi-Fi) – Email (where you can turn the iPad to portrait like you do the iPhone to fill in the screen better), Photos, Videos, Youtube, iPod, iTunes, App Store, iBooks (This one is my personal favorite, I love to read books, and even though I can do it on my iPhone, the screen sometimes is just too small, and my eyes begin to hurt, my only concern is how much do the books cost on iBooks?), Maps, Notes, Calendar, Contacts and Home Screen & Spot Light Search. Whoa, is that it? Do you need more? Did I mention that any apps you bought on your iPhone can also be placed on the iPad? Well they can!

My thoughts:

I think that Apple as created another monster, I think this is a beautiful design and I know one thing for sure, my boyfriend is trying to find reasons to buy one. My only problem the price, but like any Apple Device it’s always a little more expensive then others. It starts at $499 with just the Wi-Fi, but if you want Wi-Fi + 3G it bumps itself up to $629 (GEEZE, $130 dollars more, OUCH Apple, and that’s only for the 16GB). If you want the one with the most GB, they offer 64GB Wi-Fi only for $699 Wi-Fi + 3G = $829. Is it worth it? Do you think it’s worth it?

If you want to read more about the iPad go to www.apple.com/ipad

xo,
kristin nicole

Miami-Dade shooting kills 15-year-old girl, wounds 3 others

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Stop the Violence

Stop the Violence

The story:

Another shooting another day it seems. Sunday evening there was a drive by shooting at Annie Coleman apartment complex at 2135 NW 52nd St. Witness say they didn’t get a good look at the men in the car but there was at least four men riding in a gray Nissan Maxima or Altima. Neighbors say the 15 year old girl who is not yet identified was only playing outside with her friends when shots were fired and she was shot in the head. She was pronounced dead on the scene. The other 3 victims who have not been identified were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. (to read more on this story click on link miamiherald.com ).

My thoughts:

These people who live in these areas are scared, I don’t think they know what else to do. I’m not sure they can do anything, but hope that they catch these kids and put them away for life. I can not imagine what this 15 year old girls parents and family is going through right now. To know that your children can’t even play in the front yard, to know that your home is not safe, it’s just wrong! I don’t understand the kind of violence that these people portray on others, why they think this is a way out of whatever they are trying to accomplish. What is going through their minds, and if they think what they did was right?

Police spokeswoman Det. Rebeca Perez urged anyone with information to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

Speaking of the teenage victim, Perez lamented, “What could she have possibly done to deserve this?”

xo,
kristin nicole

Haiti needs our HELP! Help donate what you can.

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CONTINUE 01/15/10
Thank you all who have read my post and have tried to contribute to one of the areas below. I have more information if you need it and if you can please pass it around:

all fire stations will be collecting these 5 items

Canned Meat
Canned Fish
Canned Milk (Evaporated)
Canned Milk (Condensed)
Bottled Water

Do not forget that they also need baby supplies, they need clothes and toothbrushes, toothpaste, anything that also has to do with hygiene. Anything can help.

Haiti has suffered tremendously in this earthquake and we are asking that everyone get together and help. You don’t need money to help, you can help donate clothes, canned foods whatever might be helpful.

I have come across a few places here in Miami that are asking for your help:

3555 NW 7th Street, MIAMI FL 33125 – At Life Skills Center from 7AM TO 4PM. 1st Charter leaves Friday. Looking for Food, Clothes, Water, Necessities. Accepting Donations at the school. – PLEASE HELP HAITI!

Haiti Relief——->Large truck that will be on the corner of 1st & Alton Rd. South Beach, FL 33139 –beginning at 6:00 pm today (01/13/10) and will be there 24/7 until it is filled. Items most needed: blankets, tents, batteries, candles, clothing, medicine and canned food.

Publix is collecting donations for Haiti. They have teamed up with American Red Cross to help. Also, Power 96 will be at Calder Race Course from 6-6 tomorrow collecting food, water, etc. PLEASE HELP these people. Every little bit matters. Spread the word.

AMERICAN AIRLINES is taking doctors and nurses to Haiti for free. Please call 212-697-9767. Spread the word. Thank you.

If anyone knows of any other donation locations that I can post, PLEASE let me know.

For Donations (Please help Haiti) Click on one of the links below:

AmericanRedCross.com

Americares.org

More Places to Donate here

Wyclef Jean Haiti

This didn’t only happen to people in Haiti, it’s happening to us. We have people that live among us that have family there, and I send my prayers out to those families. In the Miami Herald this morning I read that two journalist from UF were there working on a documentary there names Jon Bougher and Roman Safiullin, we are still waiting to hear from them. No one has heard from them since this devastating disaster. Safiullin last posted a note on his Facebook page on Jan. 9, saying he was in Port-au-Prince. This means it was most likely that they were still there when the earthquake hit. I hope they are okay, and I hope their families hear back from them soon. UPDATE: I heard in the news last night that they were able to find out that Jon & Roman are in fact okay. I’m sure their parents are now relieved and can breath.

I heard on the radio that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt gave 1 million to help in the relief. I want to say thank you and I hope there are others who have the money like they do to help in this way, in any way.

Please help however you can.

xo,
kristin nicole