Missing Chicago Teen Finally Found

Original Story Posted: March 03, 2010

A short disappearance was able to cause a stir for a South Side Englewood neighborhood as a 14-year-old girl had gone missing. 

The search, fortunately, has come to a close as the girl, Nieja Patterson, was finally found as she showed up for school on Tuesday.  A missing person's alert had been issued for the teen Monday. 

Nieja had last been seen on February 26, according to

TSA Looking to Implement Shoe Scanners At Airport

Original Story Posted: March 03, 2010

In an attempt to put an end to the frustration of trying to get cleared for a flight at the airport and make the trip through security a little smoother, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is looking to revive an old idea which would handle checking footwear.

Since 2001, the TSA has pushed to have passengers remove their shoes after Richard Reid tried to ignite explosives in his boots on a flight heading to the United States.  By 2006, show removal was mandatory after another failed attempt to blow up planes with liquid explosives.

With close to a dozen companies developing shoe scanning machines, the TSA has stated that it is in the process of buying 100 of these innovative pieces of technology by 2011.

Able to find metal weapons and explosives within shoes, the machines weren't able to

Eighth Graders Penalized for “Sexting” In School

Original Story Posted: March 04, 2010

As the Atlanta schooling system is looking to crack down on behavior and have more of a grip on conduct and what is expected within school, two students were made examples.

With one being suspended and the other withdrawing, The Lovett School felt such actions necessary after the two were engaging in improper cell phone communication.

Making the transition from dirty texts, the students were caught “sexting” in which they were sending inappropriate images back and forth and sending sexually explicit messages, which is deemed as being a violation of Lovett's Technology Code of Conduct and Use Agreement.

"The students, both eighth-graders, engaged in the electronic transmission of

Man Convicted Of Smashing Dog's Head With Sledgehammer; Canine Survives

Original Story Posted: March 04, 2010

As the owner felt he was doing the right thing, the court system saw things differently as a man was convicted of beating his dog.  

Not denying the fact that he smashed his dog in the head with a sledgehammer twice, Joe Waters told the DeKalb County Superior Court that he believed his dog was sick and putting him out of his misery would be the best resort. 

A case dating back to December 1, 2008, the almost lifeless body of the canine was found by Robert Kennedy in Murphey Candler Park in Atlanta the following day. 

The dog suffered from a severe skull fracture along with

Georgia's Unemployment Rate Hits Record High

Original Story Posted: March, 03 2010  

"Georgia's unemployment crisis is deepening," Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said in a statement released early Wednesday. 

With a financial crisis that is showing no signs of diminishing, some states are still feeling the blunt trauma as the job market has ceased to open up nationally. 

Last reported back in January, the unemployment rate in Georgia is steadily climbing and it was announced today, by the state's commissioner, that it had

Georgia Colleges May Have to Face Major Cuts to Balance State Budget

Original Story Posted: March, 10, 2010

The educational system for the state of Georgia might be running into a roadblock if there is any chance in balancing out its budget. 

In trying to cut close to $600 million from its budget, colleges and universities within the state would be forced to lay off thousands of employees, severely limit freshman classes and eradicate popular programs outside of the campus boundaries. 

Such a drastic move is in preparation for a hearing taking place Wednesday as the General Assembly is making efforts to find a means to fill a potential $1.1 billion budget deficit for the fiscal year that would start on July 1, according to sources at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. 

Stemming from a report that was put together by the University System of Georgia, there would be close to 2,500 faculty and staff jobs that would be cut at

Kendrick Lamar: good kid, m.A.A.d. city

As a Hip-Hop fan born in ’87, along with others fan born in the late eighties, we all grew up listening to music from the likes of Nas, Jay-Z, Wu-Tang Clan, Scarface, 2Pac, Biggie Smalls, etc.  These were the figures in music that older peers told us would teach us the groundwork of this art form.  This was “real Hip-Hop”. 

Unfortunately for us, while these artists did create epic pieces, it was only when we were older that we could truly understand exactly what type of impact they had made.  Along with this, we could only reflect on the past, but didn't have champion MCs of our own that could speak through our lenses and tell stories we could