This morning NBC’s “Today” show aired a segment that featured the story of how NewsOne‘s Associate Editor, Terrell Jermaine Starr, found his father on Facebook while studying in Ukraine as a Fulbright Scholar.

If you remember, Starr wrote a poignant piece on the journey he and his father took once we found each on Sept. 15, 2009.

You can read the piece he wrote last year for NewsOne here: http://newsone.com/2020764/terrell-j-starr-fathers-day-2012/

Since that piece was written, Terrell and his father have been interviewed by local New York TV stations. Facebook even published a newer, more in-depth version of their story on its editorial platform, “Facebook Stories.” You can read it here: http://www.facebookstories.com/stories/21

For those of you who missed the live airing of the “Today” show segment, you can watch it on Today.com.

Two months after being shot in the head, a Detroit high school student surprised his classmates by walking across the stage during his graduation ceremony.

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Fox 2 News reports that Balaal Hollings was senior class president, student government president, homecoming king and a football star at Northwestern High School before trying to break up a fight at a house party on April 6. Hollings’ attempt at being peacemaker ended with him being shot in the head. He would not return to finish his senior year.

But Hollings earned had enough credits to earn his diploma and decided to attend the ceremony. His recovery is remarkable, given that doctors did not expect him to walk or speak again. His classmates certainly were not expecting to see him anytime soon–especially at graduation.

“They don’t know I’m coming,” Hollings told Fox 2 this week as he got out of a car outside the Millenium Centre in Southfield, Mich. “They think I’m dilapidated.”

He proved them wrong when he walked the stage, evoking tears, cheers and screams from the audience before addressing them.

Listen to some of Hollings’ remarks below:

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Though the shooting resulted in Hollings losing his football scholarship, he was presented a $50,000 scholarship at the ceremony. The former star athlete hoped to play in the NFL, but said God has another plan for him. “I’m going to take pre-law or criminal justice,” he said.

Speaking of justice, Hollings is not upset at the man who ended his sports career.

“People always ask me what would you say if you met the person, face-to-face, who shot you? And I would tell them, ‘I love you, and I forgive you,’” he said.

When Whitney Mitchell (pictured) lost her arms and legs to an illness two and a half years ago, she was pursuing a career in dance.

Her life has taken a different path since then, but she continues to dream big. Mitchell just took her first steps a few weeks ago with her new prosthetic legs. Her movements were small and paced, but the young woman plans on taking giant strides in the future, reports CBS Dallas.

“I really want to inspire people,” said Mitchell. “I want to tell them no matter what (their) circumstances (are) you can pull through and keep going.” The 21-year-old was celebrated at a fundraiser to cover her medical costs at the Chocolate Secrets and Wine Gardens in Dallas on Sunday night.

Her positive spirit has kept her forging ahead with new aspirations of becoming a fashion designer.

Mitchell developed flu-like symptoms back in 2010, that ended up being diagnosed as sepsis, a bacterial infection of the blood. The then-aspiring dancer and performing arts university student was given a twelve percent, one week survival rate. The bacteria in her body was causing alarming levels of inflammation. In order to survive, doctors would have to amputate her arms and legs.

Mitchell’s mom, Patricia Kirven, remembers how difficult it was to make the heart wrenching decision of allowing the doctors amputate her daughters limbs. “It was tough,” Kirven said. “I’m her mother and I watched her take her first (steps) and I remember counting her fingers and toes and so for her to lose all of that is hard. It was hard to swallow.”

While Mitchell admits to occasionally staring at old pictures of herself, she does not let what has happened to her put a damper on what’s to come. The young fighter plans on returning to college to complete her degree, which she will switch to fashion design.

She knows that it is unlikely that she will ever be a professional dancer, but it doesn’t keep her from believing it can happen someday. “It may not be the way everyone thinks dance should be, but I think I can dance again.”

Whitney, we wish you all the best!

With that amazing achievement, the 55 year-old Philadelphia mother and grandmother became the first in her family of ten to receive a degree.

“I have watched Jackie grow from being very tentative as an adult returning  to school to a whole different level of poise and grace,” said Karen Stout, president of the school who spoke to Philly.com.  “Hill’s story is like that of many other adult women,” Stout continues.  “They are women needing to find themselves and build confidence.”

Hill has endured such crushing hardship over the decades that if her life were a movie, not one soul would budge from their seats.

Growing up, Hill was daddy’s little girl and her father, a preacher, was her entire world.  He was her cheering squad and made her feel that she could do anything.  It was her father who bought her first Easy-Bake Oven and a chef was born. She fed her dad exquisite edible concoctions with that little oven and he promised to set her up in business one day.

Tragically, that was not to be.

Hill’s world spiraled out of control quickly when her father passed away.  The 16-year-old teen, stricken with grief, began “acting out.” She dropped out of high school, ran away from home, and then wound up pregnant.  Four more children would soon follow.

Trying to eke out a living with five children while residing in an impoverished Philadelphia housing project was no easy feat for Hill.  She held jobs as a security guard at a wholesale membership club, and cleaning offices.  When she turned 30, she met her first husband but, a few years later, he passed away.  Hill eventually remarried, but it ended when she discovered that her second husband already had a wife and family.

Even though life has thrown Hill some curve-balls, she never lost her desire to become a chef. She cultivated her love of cooking by providing meals and desserts for family, friends and church functions and quickly gained the reputation for being a master in the kitchen.

“She was the sibling in our family who always held the dinners to keep the  family together,” Tangie Avery, Hill’s daughter told Philly.com. “She cooked on holidays,  and everyone would come over and she would never ask anybody to bring anything.”

Hill also never missed the famous and extremely ornery chef Gordon Ramsay’s popular television show, “Hell’s Kitchen,” where he’d viciously belittle his culinary show’s contestants.  She also lived for pastry chef Gale Gand’s show “Sweet Dreams.”

Despite watching her favorite chefs on TV whip up their magic, what really gave Hill the kick in the pants she needed to actually go back to school to make things happen for her, was when President Barack Obama was elected president of the United States in 2008. “If a Black man could be president of the United States, I [knew I]could get my diploma,” Hill told Philly.com.

Since Hill enrolled at MCCC in 2008, she has been on the dean’s list six times, become a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, and joined the advisory board of the college’s Culinary Arts Institute.

Going through the entire graduation process has been a surreal experience  that has emotionally debilitated Hill.  The overwhelmed graduate cried when she picked up her cap and gown. She boo-hooed when she picked up her tickets. She bawled on the afternoon of the graduation with financial-aid  counselor Denise Nuccio (pictured above left), who had helped her find funds for tuition.

“I registered for four classes with no money. She made it happen,” Hill said of Nuccio.

Now the associate’s degree in culinary arts recipient has set her sights on going even further academically, so that she could one day return to MCCC to teach.

Keep on reaching Jackie!  Congratulations!

CLEVELAND — The man who famously put down his Big Mac to help rescue three women held captive for a decade in an Ohio house will never have to pay for another burger in his hometown.

Charles Ramsey has been promised free burgers for life at more than a dozen Cleveland-area restaurants.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reports that the restaurant where Ramsey worked as a dishwasher initially created a special burger in his honor, but eateries in the city decided a larger tribute was due.

Ramsey was called a hero after helping Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight break out of the house May 6. Ariel Castro is now facing charges.

The newspaper says Ramsey was traveling and would get his “Chuck Card” when he returns.

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During Fearce’s high school years, her and her family experienced multiple evictions because her mother, Reenita Shephard, had unsteady employment. 

Consequently, Fearce would often find herself having to read books in the dark with just her cell phone light illuminating the pages at local shelters. Fearce told WSBTV, “I just told myself to keep working, because the future will not be like this anymore,” she said. “You’re worried about your home life and then worried at school.”

But sometimes the shelters became too much, so that’s when the Clayton County, Ga., youth, Shephard; and her three siblings lived in their car.

Yet the experience didn’t stop Fearce, who also nailed her SAT’s with an impressive score of 1900 out of 2400, from achieving a GPA of 4.466. Her academic success empowered her to enroll in college courses for her last two years of high school, meaning when Fearce enters the prestigious Atlanta-based Spelman College in the fall, she will begin as a college junior.

Fearce’s success is especially significant when one considers that she maintained her stellar grades while dealing with hunger, “[You] worry about being a little hungry sometimes, [so you] go hungry sometimes. You just have to deal with it. You eat what you can, when you can.”

And Fearce isn’t the only shining star in her family; her sister is also graduating as her high school’s salutatorian.

Meanwhile, the proud Mom’s formula for her girl’s academic success is quite simple: books. Shephard says, “I read to them a lot, took them to the library. Everything was a learning experience.”

Watch Fearce talk about her experience and success here:

Fearce, in the meantime, has some pearls of wisdom to share for those peers who are in her shoes, “Don’t give up. Do what you have to do right now so that you can have the future that you want.”

Congratulations and keep reaching for those stars, Chelesa!

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Last February, a judge gave Richard Cerezo (pictured) and his family just a few months to move out of their Geneva, Ill., home. They were facing foreclosure.

As they packed for the fateful day they would be forced to leave their home, Cerezo and his wife stumbled upon a bunch of old lottery tickets in a glass cookie jar. When he took the tickets to a 7-Eleven to check them, one was worth $4.85 million, according to the Chicago Tribune.

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Upon finding the tickets, Cerezo’s wife warned him to either check the tickets or she would just throw them away. So he took the tickets to a local 7-Eleven in Aurora. After checking the first nine tickets, Cerezo says he came up empty. But his luck took an exciting turn.

“The following one was $3, so I was excited,” he said. “I get to pay for my Pepsi. And then the last one said file a claim,” which meant it was worth at least $600.

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The management consultant went online and found that his lotto ticket numbers matched the Feb. 2 drawing. As Cerezo began scanning the numbers one by one, he kept getting matches. With each match, Cerezo’s heartbeats intensified. The ecstatic husband and father told the Tribune, “When I realized we had all six numbers, it was that shocking moment of, ‘Whoa, can this really be?’ Fast forward to the next day, Monday: Called in sick from work, went down into Chicago. It’s one of those feelings where it’s OK if they fire me.”

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When Cerezo hightailed down to the Chicago lottery office, officials kept him waiting for about half an hour. Eventually, someone appeared to announce his windfall of $4.85 million. Upon hearing that he had won the money, all Cerezo could think about was that fretful day last February when the judge told him that he and his family would be evicted.

“That was on Feb. 12, so we were sitting on $4 million at that time in this jar,” he said. “We will have our home paid off.”

Besides February being the month when the ticket was purchased, the 28-day period has another special meaning for the Cerezo family. The Cerezo’s lost their 14-year-old daughter, Savannah, last year due to a sudden illness; February was her birth month.

According to Cerezo, his winnings made him realize one major thing, “I just thought, this is how God works.”

Ever since a wedding reception dance between a father and daughter at her 2011 wedding went viral, many more videos like it have since been uploaded to YouTube.

Some have been exceptional, while others have been, well, kind of dull and seemingly manufactured. Then comes the first dance at the wedding reception of Mark and Tosha Bedford at the Holiday Inn in College Park, Md., last week. Mark and Tosha met while they were graduate students at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign several years ago.

Mark works as a reporter and Tosha is a federal employee.

When the two became one on May 11, their wedding ceremony was followed by a entertaining reception where they broke out a number of impressive dance steps. Indeed, this wedding dance ranks high with the best ever.

Check it out below!

As a minimum wage-earning waitress, CeCe Bruce (pictured) moves from table to table at an Indianapolis, Ind., Steak ‘n Shake taking food orders from customers who leave tips ranging from good to nothing at all.  Never did the full-time server fathom that she would receive a whopping $500 tip for a meal that totaled $5.97, reports Wish TV 8.

Bruce waited on “Miss Jones” a regular customer who frequents the eatery for breakfast on Wednesdays. The woman observed CeCe going about her daily routine when she noticed some diners giving her a hard time. When Miss Jones spoke with CeCe about it, she merely replied, “You can’t let stuff get you down here because it will ruin your entire day and then there’s no point. You want to be happy and personable with your customers.”

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When CeCe gave Miss Jones her bill, the total came to $5.97. Instead of leaving a customary 20 percent tip on the bill, Miss Jones’ gratuity far exceeded Bruce’s wildest dreams.  The woman left the waitress, who also attends school part-time, a $500 tip.

The generous tip nearly floored the hardworking waitress who was overcome with emotion. At first, CeCe did not want to accept the tip but took it after Miss Jones insisted. According to her boss, Greer Gooley, who is the general manager of the popular chain and, CeCe stays late and comes in early.

“Whenever we need her, she’s here, so she deserves it more than anyone,” Gooley said. “It just lets servers know that you work hard and it does pay off. There are people out there that [if] you do your job people reward you for it.”

Meanwhile, CeCe did not spend the money frivolously; she used it to pay bills.

As far as Miss Jones’ generosity is concerned, the extra money CeCe received laid a few of her financial burdens to rest. “All the worries that I have are kind of like out the door for the day, you know? It makes you look at life a little more positively,” she said.

Retired postal worker Melvyn Wilson (pictured) is probably one of the luckiest men on earth, because on Wednesday, he picked up his fourth winning lottery check, and this time, it was for a whopping $500,000, reports The Washington Times.

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The Woodbridge, Va., resident, who has won more than $2 million, first hit the lotto jackpot back in 2004, when a scratch card fetched him $25,000.

Just one year later, Wilson struck it rich, yet again! 

Two more lottery scratch cards resulted in Wilson receiving a $1 million win on one and a $500,000 prize on the other.

Two years after his last lotto windfall, Wilson decided to call it quits at the post office.

Now nearly eight years since his last big win, Wilson remains cool as a cucumber and almost appears unfazed by the excitement that a fourth win should generate.  Wilson told lottery officials as he claimed his check for $500,000, “‘I’m just in the right place at the right time.”

Watch Wilson’s story here:

The 72-year-old retiree admits that he is “in it to win it’ and plans on continuing to play the lottery.  Wilson believes he has a chance at winning Thursday’s Powerball, which is now at a jackpot of $360 million.

The record high for a jackpot is $656 million.

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An Atlanta mother got a late Mother’s Day gift that was surely worth the wait.

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Former Atlanta Falcons running back Warrick Dunn gave Kimberly Kindel (pictured) and her three children their first home as part of his charity’s “Home for the Holidays” program on Tuesday, Fox 5 News Atlanta via All News 106.7 reports. In addition to the home being fully furnished, Dunn gave Kindel $5,000 to help with the down payment.

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The ex-NFL player gave Kindel the home through his charity, Warrick Dunn Charities. He has been helping single parents get into their first home since 1997. Atlanta Habitat for Humanity and Aaron’s, Inc. partnered with Dunn to get Kindel and her children into the house.

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While it brings Dunn joy to give Kindel this wonderful Mother’s Day, the holiday evokes bad memories for the former NFL star. His mother, Betty Smothers, was a Baton Rouge, La., police officer when she was killed in the line of duty. Dunn was just 18-years-old at the time.

Giving mothers a new home is therapy for him, he says.

“Losing my mom at that early age, I knew what her dream was, and to be able to share this moment with another single parent who’s providing, and putting her family in a position to be successful long-term for me is — I can’t truly describe the emotions,” Dunn said.

Jordan lived her seventeen years of life thinking she had no siblings. So did another young lady, Robin.

That changed during a Jan. 9 track meet in Washington, D.C., where they were competing with their high school teams, WUSA 9 reports.

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“My team was like she looks just like you,” Jordan said referring to Robin. During their brief meeting, Jordan found out Robin’s last name was Jeter and immediately she started crying.

“I had already known about my adoption and I knew my last name was Jeter,” Jordan said.

That night, the two spoke on the phone constructing the past seventeen years of their lives.

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“I asked her what’s your mother’s name on your birth certificate, what’s her birthday, what does your birth certificate say at the bottom,” Robin said.

Jordan laughed as she recalled the conversation, saying “I was like ‘what is this? An interrogation?’”

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Jordan is a junior at Wilson High School. She was adopted shortly after her birth. Robin is a senior at Friendship Collegiate. At first, she was with her biological mother, but eventually went into foster care. Now, she is with a legal guardian. Though they have lived in the same city for seventeen years, they never crossed paths. Ironic, given that their high schools are a mere ten minutes away from each other.

At first I didn’t know I had any siblings,” said Robin.  ”As time went on, I only knew I had one sibling, I didn’t know I had anymore.”

The girls look very much alike. One can almost say they are twins. They share the ame shoe size, same double jointed thumbs and even sound alike.

“People can’t even tell us apart on the phone,” Robin said.  ”We’re always just playing around with people on the phone.”

Though, the sister’s reunion almost never happened. Jordan only tried out for the track team to stay in shape.  “If I wouldn’t have, I would have never met her,” Jordan said. “I’m so thankful I joined track.”

To be sure, Robin and Jordan know their relationship is in a honeymoon phase and that they will eventually have to tackle more serious issues down the road–including the possibility that there may be other siblings.

Annette Larkins (pictured) doesn’t look anywhere near 71 years old, and she knows it.

Looking more like her 80-year-old husband’s granddaughter and either of her children’s older sister, Annette credits her meatless diet of more than 40 years for her radiant youthfulness and her physical vitality. She doesn’t heat any of her food, preferring to eat all of it raw by making any number of meals out of nuts, beets, greens, or anything else she grows in her home garden in Miami.

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Sure, some of you may balk at the idea of passing up your mother’s fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and all the other delicacies that make you yearn for a home-cooked meal, but Annette would be quick to bring up the classic movie “Soul Food” and remind you of something you may not have ever considered: “You know what killed ‘Big Mama,’ don’t you? Soul food.”

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But there was a time in her life when she would have never turned up her nose at a piece of meat. That changed one Saturday morning in 1963 when she suddenly began to abhor the smell, taste, and touch of it.

Annette and Amos Larkins have been married for 54 years. Amos says strangers confuse his wife for his granddaughter.

Annette and her family were at the dinner table eating a traditional Southern breakfast: ham, bacon, sausage, jam, toast, butter, grits, and eggs. After the family had eaten, she went to the kitchen to prepare some frozen pork chops for the evening meal. When she returned to check on the thawing chops, “it seemed like, all of a sudden, it was so different,” she recalled in an interview with NewsOne. “I looked at meat entirely different.”

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Soon after that sudden emotional disdain for all things hog, she stopped eating any animal products altogether and became a vegetarian. She eventually moved on to eating only raw foods, which is ironic, given that her husband, Amos, was a butcher at the time.

Annette kept her drastic dietary transformation to herself for two weeks before saying a word to her husband and children. She simply prepared separate meals — one for herself and one for the rest of the family. She didn’t think it was fair to subject them to her change in eating habits. It worked out; no one noticed.

But when she told Amos, 80, about her decision to be a raw foodist, his face showed shock, then surprise, and eventually, concern.

“I thought she was ill,” he said. “I was going to take her to the doctor. I had never heard of nobody saying anything like that before. I asked her, Are you sick?”

She wasn’t.

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And because she takes care of her body, she rarely is.

But Annette wants everyone to age as well as she has — citing her raw-food-eating lifestyle of 27 years as the best example — so she began holding talks around town to explain how raw eating can lead to a longer life. Some of her raw meals include “Spicy Collard Greens,” “Wild Rice Superb,” and “Nut Patties” (pictured below).

In 1999, Annette said God told her it was time to write her first book on the subject, “I was lying on a slantboard at home and said, Lord, you made me do this, so you must make them listen. And so they did listen.”

While people of all races were seeking her advice, Annette remembers that Black people were the last to see the benefits of her lifestyle. “Our Black people weren’t ready for that at that time,” she says. But that changed over time, and now she says more Black people are seeking her advice than anyone else.

“I was taken aback [at the new response],” she said. “I was very pleasantly surprised. I said, Well, we got a Black president. Now we’ve got a sista here that people are proud of and they want to do something differently.”

(Annette was quick to clarify that the sista she was referring to was herself, not the other fit, health-conscience sista on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.: First Lady Michelle Obama. Though, of course, First Lady deserves praise too, she joked.)

Annette recalls an African-American woman telling her that she is no longer afraid of aging after meeting her. Mothers have called her to say that their sons in college learned of her raw food lifestyle and were eating healthier. And while she almost never accepts speaking requests, she did make an exception for a young woman in Atlanta.

When her husband asked what motivated her to make the exception, she told him, “That girl is 14 years old. You think I’m going to refuse her. It was just so exciting to me. She is a raw chef. She is 14, so they [those interested] are getting younger.”

And the requests are becoming more frequent and global. Over the years, Annette has been invited to travel the world as a guest speaker on raw eating but has graciously declined all requests to do so. “I don’t want to do it as a job,” she said. A former receptionist at an airline, she says that her job empowered her and her family to see much of the world. She doesn’t want to travel for any other reason than that, she says, even though she has accepted the occasional television request.

During an appearance on “The Drs,” last year, one of the four co-hosts, Dr. Travis Stork, started off the segment by assuring viewers that Annette did not undergo Botox to achieve her looks. An image of her driver’s license appeared across the screen later in the segment to remove all doubt. Telling the audience that “health is wealth,” Annette discussed some of her raw-cooked meals that were displayed on-set. Next to one of the hosts was a dish full of Noni fruit, the juice of which she jokingly says she drinks “like a tequila shot.”

Co-host Dr. Lisa Masterson asked a question that was likely on the minds of many in the audience. “When you’re with your husband, he doesn’t mind [that] you look that much younger,” she asked.

“He doesn’t mind at all,” Annette replied. “He’s very proud of me. After 54 years of marriage come Sept. 5th, the man still treats me like a queen. What more can I ask for?

While that sounds nice, it takes a very strong man to have people marvel at your wife’s looks then take one look at you and wonder silently, “Well, what’s your problem?“

Amos knows people think that and admitted as much during an interview with NewsOne. Indeed, he credits his wife for his improved eating habits over the years, but wishes he had started sooner. And while his wife can easily walk flights of stairs without losing her breath, he has to take the elevator. He actually pokes fun at himself over his and his wife’s physical appearances.

Recalling an outing he and Annette made some time ago, Amos said they went to a museum where a man complemented his wife…sort of. When Annette along with other visitors wanted to explore the area outside the museum, Amos decided to stay behind. “They went out there and this old guy walked up to my wife and said,’ Ma’am, I have to tell you, I think it’s great you push your grandfather around and spend time with your grand daddy.’” Annette burst out laughing, telling the well-meaning gentleman “that grandfather in the wheelchair is my husband.”

And whenever they go shopping together, Amos says, “I don’t even walk with her. I fall back because we get better service that way. Everybody wants to wait on her.”

At 71 years old, everyone would surely like to look like her too, and such a goal is not out of reach, Annette says. She feels the food we put in to our bodies can help us live longer or shorter lives, depending on the choices we make. Annette believes God put her on Earth to help people make better choices, especially Black people.

“During slavery time, our people did the best that they could with what they had, so they are not to be blamed,” she said. “But that soul food has been killing so many of us. Now the shackles have been removed from our ankles and our wrists. Now it’s time to remove them from our minds.”

Shardae Simmonds of Sandy Springs, Ga., took the expression “Daddy’s little girl” to greater heights when she performed life-saving CPR on him after he passed out back in February.

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Fox News 5 in Atlanta reports that the 13-year-old girl took a CPR course three years ago. She was just 10-years-old.

Scroll down to watch the video of this story

“I thought all those people that die because no one’s able to do CPR– I thought it would come in handy one of these days when I  was older,” Shardae told FOX 5.

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But she likely had no idea she would have to use it to save a family member. On Feb. 15, Shardae’s mother

Shardae Simmonds with her mother and father in an undated photo.

told her that her father, Glen Simmonds, had passed out in their bedroom and wasn’t breathing.

Though she was worried for her father’s safety, she knew what to do and jumped to action. She called 911, then began performing CPR.

She did not know it, but her father had suffered a massive heart attack. Here’s more from Fox 5 News:

“It was a situation where seconds counted, and if I had not received help immediately from my daughter and my wife, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.

Shardae was able to keep her father alive until Puckett EMS and Cobb County firefighters arrived.

“The things that she learned, she had an advantage in this case,” said Cobb Co. Fire spokesperson Mike Parrish. “We are grateful for her.”

Through it all, Shardae stayed calm, but her mind was racing.

“I was thinking everything’s going to be fine, but my mind was thinking what it would be like without my father,” she said.  “I’m just happy that he is here with me.”

Glen Simmonds says he’s thankful to be alive, and very grateful to his daughter.

“I always knew that I was important to her, in her life, that she loved me– but just to hear her talk, what was going through her mind, it’s really, really touching and makes me love her even more,” he said.

Shaedra was honored by the mayor of Sandy Springs and her classmates at Tapp Middle School for her bravery.

A 5-year-old Detroit girl who went missing early Monday morning has been located and is safe and sound, according to Channel 7 Action News.

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Iyana Oldham (pictured) was initially reported missing around 12:15 a.m. Monday. According to local officials, the ex-boyfriend of Oldham’s mother was the prime suspect. Desmond Johnson allegedly called her mother and threatened to kill the young girl.

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However, the relative who brought Oldham to a Detroit police station around 6:45 a.m. denied those claims. She said she was Johnson’s cousin and that Oldham’s mother is lying about the threats and that she filed a false police report against him.

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“It was all a lie,” the woman told WWJ City Beat Reporter Vickie Thomas. “She lied. She was mad. She lied.” When asked why Oldham’s mother would make false allegations, the woman said, “Because she want him and she can’t have him. You know how some women get salty over men. She salty.”

The woman also noted that Johnson had thrown a party for Oldham, even though he isn’t the child’s father. The FBI took over the investigation shortly after an Amber Alert was issued, and authorities are searching for Johnson.

This video frame grab image shows Bienvenido Reynoso, 38 holding his belt buckle and a screen shot of the buckle with a stray bullet, Thursday, April 11, 2013, in Philadelphia. The belt buckle saved a supermarket employee by stopping a stray bullet from a shootout outside a Philadelphia grocery store, police said. Reynoso said he was about to take a hand truck outside late Wednesday afternoon when shots started flying, so he hit the ground inside the store. (AP Photo/Kathy Matheson)

PHILADELPHIA — A grocery store employee said Thursday that he is thanking God and his belt buckle for saving him from a stray bullet that smashed through the market’s front door.

SEE ALSO: Stars You May Not Know Are Black And Latino

The bullet lodged in the metal buckle worn by Bienvenido Reynoso, who had only recently started his job at 8 Brothers Supermarket in Philadelphia.

SEE ALSO: Street Harassment: Catcalling Rape Culture

“It saved my life,” Reynoso said of the belt. “I keep it for (my) whole life now.”

Reynoso, 38, said he was about to wheel a hand truck outside the market in the city’s Grays Ferry section when he heard gunshots around 4 p.m. Wednesday. He hit the floor.

Surveillance footage shows a man on a bike firing a gun outside the market. One person outside the store was hit in the abdomen and was hospitalized in critical condition, police said.

At first, Reynoso didn’t realize he could have been a second victim.

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“When I check my body, I don’t see nothing, no blood, nothing,” he said in an interview at his home Thursday. “And I said I’m going to be OK.”

Then someone noticed a hole at the bottom of Reynoso’s shirt. That’s when he found the bullet stuck to his belt buckle.

Police took the bullet and shirt as evidence. But Reynoso, the father of a young daughter, got to keep the belt, which he said he got in New York three years ago.

Christian Vinas, 21, was working behind the counter and also dived to the ground when the shooting began. Reynoso had perfect timing in dropping to the floor, he said.

“That has to be God,” Vinas said. “Out of all the places you could get hit in the body, you get hit right there. It was truly amazing.”

Police arrested a 24-year-old suspect and charged him with attempted murder and aggravated assault.

SEE ALSO: The Rock Is Ready To Roll As Wrestlemania Nears

The 50-year-old actor was convicted of three misdemeanor counts back in 2008 for failing to file tax returns. He lost an appeal for a retrial in 2010 which resulted in his being sentenced to 3 years at a Pennsylvania minimum security correctional institution, where he was housed with roughly 290 white-collar inmates.

SEE ALSO: Beyonce Looks Into Her Past For Pepsi

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Throughout his tax troubles, the married father of five had maintained his innocence, insisting that he was misled by his tax advisers.

In the past, Snipes has cared immensely about the release dates of his numerous films. But now the most important release date will take place on July 19: the day he will be set totally free.

Snipes is being released smack dab during the last days of tax filing season. Talk about irony!

Brian Banks (pictured), the high school football prodigy whose career was derailed by false rape accusations, has finally succeeded in achieving his NFL dreams: the Atlanta Falcons have signed him to a contract.

RELATED: YES! Brian Banks Signs With Pro Team

“The kid will get a second chance that he deserves,” a team official told ESPN.com.  Banks will participate in the team’s offseason workouts.

RELATED: Brian Banks Shortlisted For Several NFL Teams!

While a student at Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, Calif., a female acquaintance accused Banks of sexual assault. He was charged with rape and kidnapping, agreeing to a plea deal that put him in prison for five years. The California Innocence Project, a law school program, helped exonerate him after the women recanted her claims in a staged video sting.

Watch a video about Banks’ journey:

After his release, the 27-year-old resumed following his NFL dreams. He received tryouts with the Seattle Seahawks, San Diego Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs last year. Eventually, Banks signed with the United Football League’s Las Vegas Locomotives and played in two games before the UFL suspended its season in October.

Through it all, Banks has achieved his ultimate goal: becoming an NFL player.

“We are pleased to have Brian join our team,” said Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff. “We had a chance to work him out last year and have been monitoring his progress since then. He has worked extremely hard for this chance over the last year and he has shown us that he is prepared for this opportunity. We are happy that Brian will have a chance to live out his dream of playing in the NFL and we look forward to seeing him on the field.”

Congrats again, Brian!

When mom of five Starlie Becote (pictured with her children) was interviewed by USA Today back in December about how she lacked the funds to buy her children Christmas gifts, an anonymous donor came to the rescue in a major way.

The Rhode Island single mother, who only makes $13.65 an hours as a case manager for a community mental health facility, was deep in debt. Becote owed $35,000 in student loans and just could not afford to pay the whopping $400 a month loan payment with incurring $6-per-day interest, in addition to her other monthly expenses.

As a matter of fact, when Becote was on her way to the USA Today interview, she ran out of gas and had to borrow money in order to fill her tank.

Last month, a businessman who had read the USA feature on Becote was so touched by her story that he decided to not only pay off her student loans; he wired her an additional $5,000 to help with her financial difficulties. The man asked that his name not be released, as he wanted to remain anonymous.

Paying off the loans turned into somewhat of a nightmare in that the U.S. Department of Education does not accept foreign currency. The donor’s first check was drawn from a Canadian bank, so it was returned to him. The man then sent a money order, which was also sent back to him because the monies were connected to, again, a Canadian bank. The third time was a charm because the man sent the money to a relative living in the U.S. The relative was then able to write a check and paid off Becote’s student loans.

Becote, who had hoped to put away the extra $5,000 for a rainy day, had to use much of the funds sooner than expected when her 2-year-old son contracted pneumonia and the potentially deadly staph bacteria, MRSA.

The child remained in intensive care for two months and has recovered.

Becote would have had to default on the loan if she could not pay it.  The loan’s nonpayment would have put the kibosh on her chances of ever enrolling in grad school.  Since Becote wants to become a licensed social worker, grad school is mandatory and thanks to the generous stranger with the huge heart, she is on her way to realizing her dream.

A fitness instructor who lost her wallet filled with $1,000 at a Philadelphia mall last month received a nice surprise when a young woman returned it–with all the money still inside.

SEE ALSO: Texas District Attorney, Wife Found Dead At Home

Ireland native Angela Mohan was visiting the King Of Prussia mall to purchase a new kettle. But when she returned home, she quickly realized the wallet and the $1,000 her sister wired to pay off bills were missing. “I jumped in my car” and drove back to the mall,” Mohan told Philly.com. But it was long gone.

The lost money wasn’t the only thing keeping her on edge.

“I said, ‘OK, I’m down a thousand. But my credit cards, my license. My life is in that wallet.’”

SEE ALSO: India.Arie Denies Bleaching Skin [VIDEO]

Fortunately, a Good Samaritan was also in the mall that Friday. Angelise Alba was celebrating her 20th birthday with her mother at the mall’s Cheesecake Factory store. While returning home, Alba noticed the wallet in the mall’s parking lot. After searching it for a contact, Alba found the money.

“I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of money. Someone must be freaking out by now,’” she said. Once she found Mohan’s license, she sent her a message through Facebook and left a phone message.

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Alba then gave the wallet to her mother and returned to her dorm at West Chester University. Mohan heard Alba’s messages on her phone and rushed to the Alba residence the next morning, where Alba’s mother was waiting with the wallet.

“Everything was in the wallet,” Mohan said. “I gave her a big hug.” Then she took $100 from the wallet and insisted Wanda Alba give it to her daughter.

“There wasn’t a moment’s thought about keeping it,” Wanda Alba said. “Her [Angelise's] concentration was, I need to find this lady and give her back her money.”

Mohan continued heaping praise on Alba for returning the money. She sent a letter to the President of West Chester University to say that “this kid is amazing.” And Alba will be in for another treat when she travels to Ireland this summer for a study abroad program.

Mohan’s sister will be meeting Alba, with Mohan saying that “we’re going to give her any help we can.”

Ryan Cornelissen has dreams of becoming a police officer someday, but the 21-year-old got some impromptu life-saving training when he least expected it.

“I was driving down the road and a man flagged me down.” Cornelissen told Fox 2. “I pulled over and he ran up to me talking in a different language. All I understood was, ‘my wife, my wife.’”

The man’s wife has just delivered a baby in the front seat of the family’s car while driving down the road; the baby girl was two months premature and wasn’t breathing.

But neither Macomb county dispatcher Steven Kukuk nor Cornelissen panicked. Kukuk walked the 21-year-old through exactly how to give the little girl CPR.

911 call:

Dispatcher: You are gonna cover the babies mouth and nose with your mouth.

Cornelissen: Ok.

Dispatcher: Just blow two puffs of air in her mouth. Ok. Two slow breaths.

Cornelissen: Two slow breaths?

Dispatcher: Two slow breaths. You should be able to see the chest rise.

Eventually, the baby started breathing.

It was the longest 6 minutes of Cornelissen’s life, but he is happy he was there when the newborn needed him most. He also says he would love to meet the dispatcher who helped him to save the newborn.

Cornelissen told Fox 2 the parents are very grateful for his help and want him to be involved in the baby’s life. “They want me and my family to come over when the baby comes home (from the hospital and be there) for the baby shower,” he said. “They want me around for good, I’m guessing.”

He is expected to get an award from the Macomb County Sheriffs Department in May for being a civilian who went above and beyond to help his fellow citizen.

The mom and baby are doing fine.

Ron Finley (pictured) is concerned that drive-thrus in South Central Los Angeles are killing Blacks moreso than drive-bys, so he decided to wage his own personal crusade by combating those greasy burgers and fries with healthy vegetable gardens that he plants himself, reports the Los Angeles Times.

SEE ALSO: ‘House Of Horrors’ Trial Begins, Medical Assistant Says She Killed At Least 10 Babies

Finley is an artist by trade who decided to take up gardening in order to provide his community with fresh organic vegetables. The “guerilla gardener” felt compelled to somehow counteract the damage that was being caused by the fast-food eateries in his area of the city that, he says, are contributing to the high-mortality and poor-health rates that plague the Black community.

The visionary began his “food forest” efforts by planting a curbside veggie garden in front of his own home, which the city tried to put an end to but failed.  Finley fought the system, won, and now his vision has expanded with a movement that includes not only planting but education and empowerment techniques that he teaches to community residents.

Finley took his vision even further by creating L.A. Green Grounds, a grass-roots organization whose motto is “growing, working, teaching: changing turf  into edible gardens in South Central L.A.”  According to the green-thumbed urban gardener, who appeared on TED Talk, “If kids grow kale, kids eat kale. If they grow tomatoes, they eat tomatoes. But when none of this is presented to them, if they’re not shown how food affects the mind and the body, they blindly eat whatever you put in front of them.”

Finley has a message for those people in his community: Put down that Big Mac and “Get gangster wit’ yo’ shovel!”

Go here for more information on L.A. Green Grounds.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A 106-year-old central Ohio woman who completed classes but didn’t graduate in a dispute over a book has received her high school diploma.

The News Journal in Mansfield ( http://ohne.ws/15OcL2x ) reports the Mount Vernon superintendent presented Reba Williams with the diploma Wednesday at her apartment in Columbus. She even got to wear a traditional graduation cap brought by the retired Mount Vernon English teacher who urged the school board to award the diploma.

Williams has said she completed high school in Mount Vernon but was denied her diploma because she refused to read a final book assigned by a teacher. She’d read the book once and didn’t want to read it again.

Williams says she hopes current students realize that learning is important and that they probably shouldn’t follow her example.

A Georgia man is alive today because of the quick thinking of his mother and the heroic actions of a local police officer, WXIA-TV reports.

On Tuesday night, 41-year-old Keith Haynes, of Forest Park, Ga., woke up complaining of breathing problems. Lynda Tyler said her son called her and she picked him up and immediately rushed him towards Southern Regional Medical Center. “He said mom, please drive fast,” she said. “He said mom, I can’t breathe.”

Her son collapsed against the dashboard before she could get to the hospital.

“While I was driving he got stiff, he seized and he just went limp,” she said. “He stopped breathing on me.” Tyler was still miles away from the hospital and was unsure of how to help her dying son. But she saw a parked police car at a BP gas station. She pulled into the BP station and ran inside where she found Forest Park officer Christopher Simmons who happened to be on his coffee break.

He followed Tyler and her brother, who also was in the vehicle, out to her pick up truck where Haynes was found passed out. It was raining heavily outside, so officer Simmons, Tyler and her brother brought Haynes inside of the station. At first, the officer tried to wake Haynes up because he thought he was asleep. After he got nothing, Simmons began CPR on the man. His mother is seen on surveillance video walking around hysterically, praying to God that her son would eventually wake up.

“You see on the file, I was just walking up and down saying, ‘Jesus! Jesus, help him,’” she said. “And I kept asking the officer, ‘is he breathing yet, is he breathing.’”

After several minutes, the officer was able to get a good pulse on Haynes. A police officer in the right place, at the right time, was able to son a dying man. “I think him so much from the bottom of my heart for helping him,” Tyler said. “I really do. I really do.”

Officer Simmons is equally touched by the experience.

“It’s an incredible feeling I can’t describe to be able to help someone, to save a human life. Absolutely humbling.

This Jan. 24, 2013 photo released by ABC shows Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America,” in New York. Roberts will be back on the job at the “Good Morning America” anchor desk on Feb. 20. Her return will be five months to the day since her bone marrow transplant to treat a rare blood disorder. (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)

NEW YORK — Five months after undergoing a bone marrow transplant, Robin Roberts is back on television in the morning.

Roberts said Wednesday she’d been waiting 174 days “to say this, good morning America.”

The morning-show host is recovering from MDS, a blood and bone marrow disease. She looked thin with close-cropped hair but was smiling broadly, back at work on “Good Morning America” at ABC’s studio in New York City.

Roberts was welcomed back in a taped message from President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, former ESPN colleagues and Magic Johnson.

Watch Robin Roberts Return Below:

ABC announced Roberts will interview the first lady later this week, to be shown next Tuesday.

ABC News President Ben Sherwood came into the studio to give fist bumps to the anchors at the 7:25 a.m. break. He said Roberts’ health will be closely monitored to make sure she doesn’t overdo it at the beginning.

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“This was up to Robin, her doctors and God,” Sherwood said. “It’s a day that we all rejoice.”

ABC didn’t miss a beat with her absence, continuing in first place in the ratings after first overcoming NBC’s “Today” show last spring. Sherwood said the success with Roberts’ absence surprised him.

Vintage Oprah Through The Years Start Gallery

John McNeil, a Cobb County Ga., man who was convicted of killing a contractor in the driveway of his home, was released from jail today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

SEE ALSO: Are Blacks More Vulnerable To Climate Change?

McNeil was convicted of murdering Brian Epp in December of 2005 but today he entered a guilty plea to a manslaughter charge to end an appeal pending before the Georgia Supreme Court. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and 13 years probation on the the manslaughter charge but he was credited for time served and released.

“While we would have preferred John to be exonerated based on self-defense, we are thankful that he can return home to be with his two sons and start his life over,” NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock said in a statement.

Back in 2006, McNeil was convicted and sentenced to life in prison despite arguing that he shot Epp in self-defense. The case sparked national attention over the Stand Your Ground law and how it is applied to Blacks and Whites who use it as their legal defense. Last fall, a judge ruled that he deserved a new trial because his original attorney did not inform jurors they could acquit him if he shot in defense of his home or his son. Stand Your Ground can apply to the defense of someone else as well as himself. McNeil plead guilty to manslaughter instead, helping the prosecution to avoid a costly trial.

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Unfortunately, McNeil’s wife died last week. She was laid to rest this weekend in North Carolina.

Here is some background behind the shooting:

McNeil and Epp had a long-running feud that intensified as Epp was wrapping up construction of the house for the McNeils. The McNeils moved in and planned to spend their first night in their new home on Dec. 5, even though Epp had a few items still on his to-do list.

McNeil never denied he shot Epp in the driveway of his new home. He said he was rushing home because his 19-year-old son had called him to report a strange man in their back yard had threatened to cut him with a box cutter.

McNeil was on the telephone with the 911 when he pulled into his neighborhood. He told the 911 operator to send someone quickly because he intended to confront Epp, according to a recording played in court.

The operator urged him to stay in his car and wait for police.

“When you get a call from your kids that somebody’s got a knife pulled on them, threatening them, the first thing you want to do is get home and protect your kid, ” John McNeil testified. “So I said I was going to whip his ass.”

McNeil got out of his car with a gun and confronted Epp as the contractor walked over from the house next door. Witnesses said Epp didn’t stop even after McNeil fired a shot into the ground. The second time he fired, McNeil shot the contractor in the face with a hollow-point bullet.

Because Epp had a knife in his front pants pocket McNeil’s lawyer argued then and now that the shooting was justified.

McNeil will serve his 13-year probation in North Carolin. When asked how it felt to be a free man after walking out of jail, McNeil said, “I just want to breathe freedom.”

Good News Start Gallery

May May Ali, the daughter of boxing icon Muhammad Ali, squelched rumors about her famous father being on his deathbed , with family members posting a picture of the Greatest in the comfort of his home watching the Super Bowl and rooting for his team, the Baltimore Ravens, reports the Courier-Journal.

RELATED: Muhammad Ali On Deathbed, Says Brother; Could Die Within Days [VIDEO]

“He’s fine, in fact he was talking well this morning,” May May  told the Associated Press.  The ugly rumor got its legs when on Sunday, London’s The Sun newspaper quoted Ali’s brother, Rahman, stating that Ali was on the brink of passing. Rahman’s interview with the paper quickly spread like wildfire throughout the Internet, with some news sources saying that Ali’s condition had worsened.

Since 1984, Ali has been battling Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, and has grown frail over the years.  Even though his speech and movements have been affected by the disease, the champ has managed to make public appearances over the years even as recently as last month at the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Rahman, who has admitted he has not seen his brother since last summer and has had no contact with his family, told The Sun, “My brother can’t speak. He doesn’t recognize me. He’s in a bad way. He’s very sick. It could be months, it could be days. I don’t know if he’ll last the summer. He’s in God’s hands. We hope he gently passes away.”

May May on the other hand told the Associated Press the deathbed rumors about her dad pop up every now and then but no one should give any credence to them at all.

Meanwhile, Ali family spokesperson Bob Gunnell returned a call from the Courier-Journal that was placed to the champ’s wife, Lonnie. Gunnell wanted to assure the public that Ali was fine and that “he looks great” and went on to reveal that Ali was “having a Super Bowl Party.”

Ali’s family went on to tweet a picture on Ali’s Twitter account of the 71-year-old former World Heavyweight Boxing Champ in a Baltimore Ravens tee, sitting in an upright position with his fists up and holding a team helmet balloon.  The caption on the picture read:

@RealALI_me: The Greatest is ready for the Super Bowl!

Hang in there champ!

Sloane Stephens of the US reacts after defeating compatriot Serena Williams in their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

MELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams was only thinking out loud when she muttered this Australian Open had been “the worst two weeks.”

Not long after a courtside microphone picked up those comments during her quarterfinal with 19-year-old American Sloane Stephens, things got a whole lot worse.

Stephens outplayed Williams, whose movement and serves had been slowed by a back injury, and beat the 15-time Grand Slam champion 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. It marked Williams’ first loss since Aug. 17, and her first defeat at a Grand Slam tournament since last year’s French Open.

Four-time Australian Open winner Roger Federer, a 17-time Grand Slam champion, looked for a while like he might join Williams on the sideline. But Federer eked out a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3 win over 2008 finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a match that lasted 3 hours, 34 minutes.

Federer, who broke Tsonga in the fourth game of the deciding set, converted his fifth match point while serving after Tsonga saved four match points in the previous game. Federer, who advanced to the semifinals for the 10th consecutive year at Melbourne Park, will play U.S. Open champion Andy Murray on Friday.

“I thought he played very aggressive,” Federer said. “I love those four-set or five-set thrillers and I was part of one tonight.”

Murray beat Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. The other men’s semifinal has defending champion Novak Djokovic playing David Ferrer on Thursday

Williams’ downer of a Grand Slam Down Under started badly when she turned her right ankle in her opening match at Melbourne Park.

“I’ve had a tough two weeks between the ankle … and my back, which started hurting,” Williams said. “A lot of stuff.”

While Williams packed for home – she and sister Venus have also lost in doubles – Stephens advanced to her first Grand Slam semifinal Wednesday night against defending champion Victoria Azarenka.

The top-seeded Azarenka beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-1 in the early quarterfinal at Rod Laver Arena. Maria Sharapova, who has lost only nine games in five matches, plays Li Na in the other semifinal.

Williams hurt her back in the eighth game of the second set and things got progressively worse. She yelled at herself on several occasions, and smashed a racket into the court, earning a $1,500 fine from tournament officials.

“I was running to the net for a drop shot,” said Williams, describing the injury. “As I went to hit it, it was on the backhand. I even screamed on the court. I totally locked up after that.”

She reiterated after the match that her injuries had made this Australian Open difficult for her.

“Absolutely, I’m almost relieved that it’s over because there’s only so much I felt I could do,” she said. “I’ve been thrown a lot of (curve) balls these two weeks.”

Stephens has coped well this week, and the magnitude of her accomplishment only hit her while she was warming down after the match.

“I was stretching, and I was like, `I’m in the semis of a Grand Slam.’ I was like, `Whoa. It wasn’t as hard as I thought,’” she said. “To be in the semis of a Grand Slam is definitely a good accomplishment. A lot of hard work.”

The No. 29-seeded Stephens hadn’t been given much of a chance of beating Williams, who lost only four matches in 2012 and was in contention to regain the No. 1 ranking at age 31.

Williams’ latest winning streak included a straight-set win over Stephens at the Brisbane International this month.

Stephens wasn’t even sure that she could beat Williams until she woke up Tuesday.

“When I got up, I was like, `Look, Dude, like, you can do this.’ Like, `Go out and play and do your best,” she said.

Williams walked around the net to congratulate Stephens, who then clapped her hand on her racket and waved to the crowd, a look of disbelief on her face.

Stephens has said she had a photo of Williams in her room when she was a child, and had long admired the Williams sisters.

“This is so crazy. Oh my goodness,” Stephens said, wiping away tears in her post-match TV interview. “I think I’ll put a poster of myself (up) now.”

Azarenka, with her most famous fan Redfoo sitting in the crowd wearing a shirt reminding her to keep calm, overcame some early jitters to beat Kuznetsova.

After dropping serve in a long fourth game that went to deuce 10 times, Azarenka recovered to dominate the rest of the match against Kuznetsova, a two-time major winner who was floating dangerously in the draw with a No. 75 ranking as she recovers from a knee injury.

Azarenka’s American rapper friend returned from a concert in Malaysia to attend the quarterfinal match.

Wearing a red sleeveless T-shirt that read “Keep Calm and Bring Out the Bottles,” the name of his next single, Redfoo stood, clapped and yelled “Come on, Vika!” during the tight first set.

Williams’ loss was a boost for Azarenka, who lost all five head-to-heads against the American in 2012 and is 1-11 in their career meetings.

Tsonga said he was in a “bad mood” because he lost despite playing a good match against Federer.

“I was solid. I was there every time,” he said. “I just gave my best today, so I’m proud of that.”

The 25-year-old Murray had his service broken for only the second time while serving for the match. But he broke back immediately to clinch a quarterfinal victory.

Murray discounted comments in the British media that he was upset with an almost full schedule of day matches while Federer was given cooler night slots on Rod Laver Arena.

“The scheduling for me is part and parcel of playing in really any tennis tournament,” Murray said. “It’s tough to make the schedule perfect for every single player.”

Usain Bolt Gallery Start Gallery

PHILADELPHIA — A 5-year-old girl who was taken from a school classroom by a woman claiming to be her mother was found safe Tuesday morning just outside the city and police were searching for her abductor.

SEE ALSO: Who’s Going To The Presidential Inauguration?

Upper Darby police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said a man walking down the street around 4:40 a.m. heard cries for help and found Nailla Robinson (pictured) hiding under a jungle gym in a park, wearing only a T-shirt. She’s been taken to the hospital to be checked out, Chitwood said, but is expected to be OK.

The investigation was continuing, Chitwood said, and police are looking for the suspect.

Police said Nailla was taken Monday morning from the Bryant School. Authorities released surveillance video showing a woman wearing a full-length, black Muslim garment, her face covered by a black veil, taking the girl out of the school.

SEE ALSO: Happy Birthday To Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.!

Nailla’s mother had appeared on local media Monday night, tearfully pleading for her safe return, and explaining how she also wears the traditional chador and niqab.

School district spokesman Fernando Gallard said the woman identified herself as the girl’s mother and police said her signature on the school visitors log was illegible. All visitors are supposed to go to the school office after signing in, but Gallard said the woman went straight to the classroom and that the teacher released the girl.

“She said she was there to pick up her daughter,” Gallard said. “She took the child and walked out of the school.”

The district is conducting an internal review of the incident and going over procedures with the staff, Gallard said.

Under school policy, he said, the teacher is supposed to tell the person to go to the office, where the student would be signed out. “The exchange does not happen at the classroom level,” he said.

Police discovered that the girl was missing later that afternoon, when a caretaker from the child’s after-school program came to pick her up.

Good News Start Gallery

A Harvard-educated lawyer in Los Angeles has loaned his home to a homeless family a full year because, for him, it’s the right thing to do, CBS News reports.

Tony Tolbert, 51, will move in with his mother while the new family takes the year to get back on their feet. Tony told CBS News that his giving spirit comes from his dad who always opened the family home to those who needed a place to stay. In fact, Tony says he could not remember a time there wasn’t someone extra living with the family.

Now, Tony is taking the step to carry on his father’s spirit of generosity in a major way.  He reached out to the Alexandra House, a homeless shelter for women and their children. There he found Felicia Dukes, the woman to home he offered to loan his home. “They had a young man that wanted to donate their house to you for a year,” Dukes recounted. “And I’m looking at her, like, what? Like — Are you serious?”

Dukes was sharing a single occupancy room at the shelter with three of her children, but it was for kids only. Another problem was that her older son could not join them, so Dukes was truly in a bind before taking Tony’s offer. “My heart just fills up and stuff, um….I’m just really happy,” Dukes said tearfully.

SEE ALSO: Dating A Black Nerd

Tony also gets emotion when talking about how generous his father was and how important he feels it is to carry on his legacy.

“Kindness creates kindness. Generosity creates generosity. Love creates love,” he said. “And I think if we can share some of that and have more stories about people doing nice things for other people, and fewer stories about people doing horrible things to other people, that’s a better world.”