Tornado Season Begins in Branson, MO

By: alex.chrum, February 29, 2012 in News. Closed Tags: , , .

For the first time this year, the Midwest received its first taste of the infamous storm systems that plague the area during the spring months. The storms hit around midnight this morning, wreaking havoc across the states of Kansas and Missouri and leaving at least one person dead and dozens injured. The tourist hub of Branson, Missouri was hit particularly hard, as an apparent tornado uprooted signs, scattered debris and tore roofs off of buildings in the city’s widely-popular downtown theater district.

Nature's Sunshine on Highway 76 in Branson, MO after the storm

Michelle Leroux, a spokeswoman for the Skaggs Regional Medical Centers in Branson, confirmed that the hospital treated 32 people in the hours after the storm, mostly for cuts and bruises. Jennifer Verhaalen, a resident at the Hillbilly Inn Motel in Branson, reported seeing a white funnel cloud as the storm moved in around 1 A.M, tearing the roofs off of several downtown hotels and strip malls.

Further north, one person was killed and 13 others injured after an apparent tornado hit a trailer park just south of Buffalo, Missouri. Brief tornado touchdowns were also reported in neighboring Kansas, and wall clouds were seen in Arkansas. The states of Oklahoma and Kentucky were also hit by the storms, suffering damage to homes and buildings.

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School Shooting in Ohio Injures Five

By: alex.chrum, February 27, 2012 in Crime, Education and News. Closed Tags: , .

Tragedy unfolded around 7:30 this morning in the small Ohio town of Chardon, as an armed gunman entered the city’s high school and began firing shots in the cafeteria. The suspect, believed to be a student at Chardon High School, is currently being held in police custody. Five people were injured, including at least four students, the names of whom have not yet been released. The suspect is currently in police custody.

Students evacuating Chardon High School after the shooting

Student Heather Ziska said she and other students began hearing popping noises in a nearby hallway shortly before the day’s classes were about to begin. Next, she said she saw a boy she recognized as a student enter the cafeteria with a gun and begin shooting. Students and teachers attempted to flee the school or find shelter in nearby buildings and classrooms. The suspect was chased from the school by a teacher before being apprehended by law enforcement officials.

An FBI SWAT team is currently on the scene at Chardon High, which remains on lockdown. The identity of the shooter has not yet been released, but students report that he posted a threatening message on Twitter before the shooting. “I think he said that he was going to bring a gun to school, and I think that everyone just blew it off like he was joking,” one said.

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Rihanna and Chris Brown Collaborate

By: alex.chrum, February 22, 2012 in Celebrities, Crime, Music and News. Closed Tags: , .

After a highly-publicized domestic violence incident in 2009, music stars Rihanna and Chris Brown have now released two remixes together. Monday, Brown tweeted a remix of his song “Turn Up the Music” featuring vocals from his ex-girlfriend. Rihanna retweeted the post, and also tweeted a remix of her own song, “Birthday Cake,” that features Brown.

Rihanna (left) after being attacked by Brown (right)

Many were outraged at this year’s Grammy Awards, as Brown, a convicted felon serving five years of probation for his attacks on Rihanna, was not only asked to perform twice, but was even awarded the prestige of Best R&B Album. In her widely shared piece “I’m Not OK With Chris Brown Performing at the Grammys, and I’m Not Sure Why You Are,” writer Sasha Pasulka makes a moving argument against the music industry’s endorsement of such an individual:

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Stephen Colbert Halts Show for Sick Mother

By: alex.chrum, February 17, 2012 in Celebrities and Television. Closed Tags: , .

Earlier this week, Comedy Central abruptly announced the temporary suspension of The Colbert Report.

Colbert has taken a hiatus from his show to be with his ill mother

“Due to unforeseen circumstances,” the network said, “the show will air repeat episodes on Wednesday, February 15 and Thursday, February 16.” No further information was released, leaving room for many rumors regarding the show’s unexpected and immediate hiatus. Some suspected a labor dispute or possible cancellation. Others assumed it might have something to do with Colbert’s supposed campaign for presidency.

Today, however, the New York Post finally offered some insight on the subject. Citing sources close to the show, the newspaper said host Stephen Colbert needed to take time off to be with his mother, Lorna Colbert, with whom he is extremely close.

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Heart Attack Grill Stays True to Its Name

By: alex.chrum, February 16, 2012 in Food and News. Closed Tags: , .

The infamous Heart Attack Grill is flooding headlines this morning after a customer suffered a heart attack while indulging in the restaurant’s signature 6,000-calorie Triple Bypass Burger.

The Heart Attack Grill, a Las Vegas restaurant featured on shows such as the Travel Channel’s “Extreme Pig Outs,” prides itself on serving food “so bad for you it’s shocking.” Quite ironically, the hospital-themed establishment features “nurses” (waitresses) who take “prescriptions” (orders) from the “patients” (customers).

A publicity photo for the Heart Attack Grill featuring their Quadruple Bypass Burger

Their menu contains four items: the Single, Double, Triple and Quadruple Bypass Burgers. “Patients” have the option of adding slices of “unadulterated” bacon, bacon that has not been drained of the grease from cooking fat. Each burger has, respectively, five, ten, fifteen and twenty slices of bacon, along with American cheese, red onion, tomato and special sauce. Their “Flatliner Fries” are deep fried in pure lard, and their “Butter-fat Shakes” are made from high-calorie butter fat cream.

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Whitney Houston Honored at 54th Annual Grammy Awards

By: alex.chrum, February 13, 2012 in Celebrities, Music and Passings. Closed Tags: , , .

This Saturday, the world was rocked with the unexpected news of music legend Whitney Houston’s death. The unfortunate accident occurred just one day before the 54th annual Grammy Awards, a ceremony that has honored the diva for her achievements numerous times. Last night, singer Jennifer Hudson and host LL Cool J led the audience in paying homage to the pop star for what may be the very last time, with a musical tribute and a heartfelt prayer, respectively.

Hudson and Houston at the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009

Saturday evening, the social media landscape was on fire with the breaking news of Houston’s death. Before most major news outlets had reported the story, Facebook and Twitter were ablaze with “R.I.P. Whitney Houston” messages. For the remainder of the evening, the cause of death eluded the public, though most were quick to assume a drug overdose due to the singer’s troubled past. By Sunday, reports had surfaced that Houston had ingested a mixture of the anti-anxiety medication Xanax with alcoholic cocktails, causing her to fall asleep in the bathtub and ultimately drown.

Today, however, a recent statement from law enforcement has been released suggesting that Houston died before she was even underwater. “It looks like it was a lethal combination of prescription drugs and alcohol, but it’s still too early to rule out other causes. That’s just what it’s looking like now,” an official told Fox News. According to the superstar’s relatives, Houston did not have enough water in her lungs to have drowned.

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California’s Ruling on Prop 8: The Day in Quotes

By: alex.chrum, February 8, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , .

Yesterday, February 7, 2012, marked a huge victory for both human rights activists and non-heterosexual couples in California and the U.S. at large. (If you are curious as to why I chose the term “non-heterosexual” rather than “gay” or “homosexual,” it is because not everyone who enters into a relationship with someone of the same gender identifies as “gay;” some identify as queer, bisexual, pansexual or do not identify at all. “Non-heterosexual,” then, encompasses everything that simply isn’t “straight.”)

California residents celebrate the Prop 8 ruling outside of City Hall yesterday

In a momentous 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared Proposition 8, the California amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, to be unconstitutional, serving no purpose other than to “lessen the status and human dignity” of the LGBTQ community.

Proposition 8, or the “Marriage Protection Act,” was passed by California state voters in November of 2008, adding a new provision to the California Constitution which upholds that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Both proponents and opponents of Prop 8 worked tirelessly for the months leading up to Election Day to get their messages to voters, and actually managed to set a record with the contributions they received. Contributions totaled over $83 million, $39.9 million for those in favor, $43.3 million for those against, and came from over 64,000 people in all fifty states and more than twenty foreign countries, setting a new national record for a social policy initiative and trumping every other race in the country in spending except the presidential contest. In the end, however, Prop 8 was passed.

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Bradshaw Takes a Seat, M.I.A. Flips the Bird: Super Bowl XLVI

By: alex.chrum, February 6, 2012 in Celebrities and Sports. Closed Tags: , , .

Yesterday, February 5, marked the 46th annual Super Bowl, the end-of-the-season showdown between the two best teams in the NFL. If you live in America (or even if you don’t), this probably isn’t news to you; the Super Bowl (and football in general) is the Holy Grail of U.S. sports. Super Bowl Sunday is treated like a national holiday, second in importance only perhaps to Christmas, and is celebrated by nearly every citizen, regardless of whether or not their home team is playing (and, oftentimes, regardless of whether or not they had watched any other football game all year).

Bradshaw takes a seat to score the gamewinning touchdown

The halftime show is perhaps as big of a spectacle as the game itself, with the hottest names in music taking the stage to entertain a massive national audience. In addition, the commercials, which cost roughly $6 million per minute to air, garner quite a bit of attention themselves. All in all, Super Bowl Sunday is probably the biggest televised event in the country.

I, however, haven’t watched the Super Bowl in years, ever since my dad used to drag me to parties as a child. Once I hit high school, however, my Sundays were dedicated to homework and/or work, and football was the last of my priorities. Yesterday was no different, although I happened to catch two of the most talked-about points of the evening. While mooching some food off of my dad at his Super Bowl party, I was drawn to Miss Kelly Clarkson, winner of the very first season of American Idol, who had the prestigious honor of performing the National Anthem. Miss Clarkson looked absolutely stunning, keeping it classy (rather than trashy) in the typical Clarkson fashion, and delivering a flawless and moving vocal performance of the Star Spangled Banner.

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Shaun White Scores Perfect 100 in Winter X Games

By: alex.chrum, January 30, 2012 in Sports. Closed Tags: , , .

Undoubtedly the country’s most recognizable ginger, Shaun White has established himself as a household name in the sport of snowboarding. Like Tony Hawk and skateboarding, White was undoubtedly the first athlete from his sport to gain major celebrity and global notoriety. He quickly became a media staple, appearing in numerous commercials for Target, Red Bull, HP and others. Receiving his first snowboarding sponsorship at the ripe age of seven, he went pro in skateboarding at 17, and won his first gold medal (for snowboarding) at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

White seizes the Winter X gold late last night

Now only 25 years old, White continues to impress with his unprecedented snowboarding talent, stunning audiences this past weekend with a perfect performance at the Winter X Games. On Friday, White suffered an ankle sprain, missing Saturday’s pipe practice and leaving many to wonder if he would even be able to compete in his signature event, Sunday’s superpipe final. He has won the Winter X gold medal for this event the past four years in a row, the first athlete ever to have done so.

Despite these worries, however, White came through to deliver a performance yesterday that was extraordinary even for him. Setting records for amplitude and exhibiting technical difficulty never before seen, he delivered the first truly perfect performance in Winter X Games history, with an 18-foot backside air, a 17-foot frontside double cork 1080, an 11-foot switch frontside double cork 1080, a 14-foot frontside cork 540, a 13-foot backside double cork 1260 and a 12-foot frontside double cork 1260—the first back-to-back double cork ever performed at the Winter X Games.

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ADAPT4Autism Changes Lives, Will Hold 5K Fundraiser

By: alex.chrum, January 27, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , .

Autism remains one of the most highly complex and least understood developmental disorders of all time. With such a varying spectrum of severity, it can leave a person completely unable to function socially or barely inhibit their daily life at all. Those unfamiliar with autism often confuse it with mental retardation. However, the disorders are quite different. Autistic people are typically highly intelligent, often exceptionally, and their difficulties come not in mental capacity but in the ability to communicate. Depending on the severity of the condition, an autistic person could be a certified genius but not be able to hold a conversation. This results in great frustration and often anger for the sufferer and those close to him or her. The origin of this disorder is as of yet unknown; some suspect there is a genetic cause, while others cite environmental factors, such as childhood vaccines, heavy metals and pesticides.

Children enjoying lunch at ADAPT4Autism's summer camp

A local nonprofit organization in Southern Illinois, ADAPT4Autism, has dedicated its efforts to making life both easier and more enjoyable for autistic children and their families. Since 2010, they have provided educational programs and pro-social therapy for autistic children, including summer and winter camps, private in-home therapy and social skills training. Their camps and programs give autistic children a chance to participate in outdoor activities and social outings, things that would normally be next to impossible given their condition. Perhaps more importantly than providing opportunities for fun, however, the program also teaches autistic children skills to make day-to-day life easier to navigate. “Now that school has started,” one parent said after the camp, “Travis is adjusting better than ever to his new classroom and new teachers. I’ll ask him each day, ‘How was school?’ He will always respond now to my questions.”

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