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Danielle Olipra

Danielle Olipra is a DePaul University graduate with a degree in Creative Writing. In her free time she enjoys listening to music and comedy. Once she takes the world by storm with her pen, she plans to save the endangered species of the ocelot and record a soul album.

Radioactive Water Leaked From Japan Plant

Some radioactive leakage may have reached the sea

Over the weekend, 11,870 gallons of radioactive water leaked from Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear station, according to Businessweek. The Tokyo Electric Power Co., known as Tepco, says that some may have reached the ocean.

The plant is still recovering from the damage it endured when an earthquake and tsunami wrecked the plant nine months ago.  Since the March disaster, the facility has reported several leaks of radiated water into the ocean.  The sizes of these leaks have been unclear, but in October a French nuclear research institute said the plant was responsible for the biggest discharge of radioactive material into the ocean in history.

In an online statement, Tepco revealed the water contained “1.8 millisieverts per hour of gamma radiation and 110 millisieverts of beta radiation.”

Tetsuo Ito, the head of Kinki University’s Atomic Energy Research Institute, said of the leakage, “the source of the beta radiation in the water is likely to include strontium 90, which if absorbed in the body through eating tainted seaweed or fish, accumulates in bone and can cause cancer.”

Read more about the radioactive leakage here.

Giuliana Rancic Having Double Mastectomy

Multiple lumpsectomies have not removed cancer

Giuliana Rancic has decided to be more aggressive in response to her cancer, according to People Magazine.

Rancic recently made an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show with her husband Bill Rancic, where she revealed that she considered having an additional lumpsectomy and radiation treatment.

The 36-year-old E! Channel host said she and Bill decided on the more drastic approach to treatment because, “they want to be sure the cancer is gone.”

The double mastectomy option will make the cancer much less likely to return as well.  According to Rancic’s doctors, there will be less than a one percent chance.

While the couple’s dreams of having children played a part in the decision to opt out of radiation therapy, Giuliana said that “at the end, to be honest, all it came down to was just choosing to live, and not looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”

Read more about Giuliana here.

Former Miss USA Arrested

Beauty queen charged with drunk driving

Former Miss USA winner Rima Fakih was arrested in Michigan on suspicion of drunken driving, says CBS News.  The beauty queen had reportedly appointed herself the designated driver earlier in the evening.

The 26-year-old was jailed by Highland Park police about 2 a.m. on Saturday, and charged with misdemeanor drunk driving.  Fakih’s attorney Doraid Elder has said he cannot reveal where Fakih and her friend had been drinking, or what her blood alcohol level was at the time of her arrest.

“Rima has absolutely not a blemish on her record, she’s never been in trouble, she’s a law-abiding citizen and she has always given back to the community,” said Elder.  He insists that Fakih is “taking full responsibility for her actions,” and is “very saddened and very apologetic for the situation she is in right now.”

When Fakih won the Miss USA Pageant in May 2010, she was the first Arab American winner ever, and the first Miss Michigan to win the title since 1993.  She was born in Lebanon, raised in New York and moved to Michigan in 2003, where her family currently lives in a suburb of Dearborn.

Read more about Rima Fakih here.

Bishop Eddie Long to Take Time Off From Church

Long’s wife of 21 years has filed for divorce

Megachurch leader Bishop Eddie Long announced Sunday that he will be taking a sabbatical to address family issues, CBS News reports.  Eddie’s wife Vanessa Long recently filed for divorce after 21 years of marriage.

The Bishop’s spokesman Art Franklin says the senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, GA will continue to serve his congregation after a sabbatical. Franklin made no comment on how long Long’s absence would be, but said the couple is “asking for privacy and sensitivity to their family.”

In a written statement, Long said, “Vanessa and I are working together in seeking God’s will in our current circumstances.” However, in her petition, Vanessa said the marriage is “irretrievably broken” and that there was “no hope of reconciliation of the parties.”

Last year, Eddie Long faced allegations that he “used his lavish lifestyle and position of spiritual authority to lure four young men into sexual relationships.”  Long settled the cases but has never admitted to any wrongdoing.

Read more about Eddie Long here.

Jose Reyes Signed to Miami Marlins for $106 Million

Current short stop Hanley Ramirez to shift to third

On Sunday night, free agent short stop Jose Reyes agreed to six-year, $106 million contract with the Miami Marlins, CBS News reports.

The former Mets short stop is leaving the New York team in a rough year.  They went 77-85 in their third straight losing season.  Also, the attendance at Citi Field was 2.35 million, a seven percent drop from last year.

Mets’ general manager Sandy Alderson said of the deal, “if the numbers are what are speculated and Jose does leave us, I don’t think people will be surprised that under those circumstances he went elsewhere.  It doesn’t mean they’ll be happy about it.”  Reyes is coming off a deal that paid him $32.4 million over five years.

28-year-old Reyes is a four-time All-Star and three-time stolen base champion.  He signed with New York at the age of 16 and become the Mets’ first NL batting champion last year, when he hit .337 and topped the league with 16 triples, while stealing 39 bases.

Reyes’ arrival in Miami most likely means three-time All-Star Hanley Ramirez will be moving from shortstop to third base.

Read more about Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez here.

Oklahoma Sees Sixth Earthquake in Four Days

Sunday’s shakes marked six quakes since Thursday

Courier News reports another small earthquake has struck Oklahoma.  According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a 3.2 magnitude quake struck about 27 miles northeast of Oklahoma City just before 6a.m. on Sunday.

While the Logan County Sheriff’s Office says no damage was reported, the state as a whole has had a tumultuous weekend.  Sunday’s earthquake is the sixth in the area since Thursday, when a 3.7 magnitude quake was recorded near Prague.

Three more quakes were recorded Friday, and on Saturday a 2.4 magnitude tremor hit about 50 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, near Sparks.

On Nov. 5, the strongest earthquake ever in Oklahoma was recorded.  The 5.6 magnitude quake damaged dozens of homes and buckled a highway.

Earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.5 to 3.0 are generally the smallest quakes felt by humans.

Read more about Oklahoma’s tremors here.

“Eat More Kale” Challenges Chick-fil-A’s “Eat Mor Chikin”

Vermont folk artist’s “Eat More Kale” t-shirts upset chicken chain

Vermont folk artist Bo Muller-Moore is attempting to expand his home business, dependant on the phrase “eat more kale”, but is facing what he calls and “assault” by Chick-fil-A, says The Christian Science Monitor.

In 2000, Bo Muller-Moore received a request by a kale-farming friend of his to lend his silk-screening skills to make three “eat more kale” for his family.  He took a liking to the phrase, calling it “an expression of the benefits of local agriculture,” as kale grows well in Vermont and is known for its nutritional value.  Now, eatmorekale.com features the phrase on bumper stickers as well as customizable t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts.

For the past five years, Muller-Moore has been receiving letters from Chick-fil-A of a cease-and-desist nature, claiming “eat more kale” is too similar to their “eat mor chikin.”
On Oct. 4, a letter ordered Muller-Moore to discontinue his use of the phrase, as well as turn over eatmorekale.com to Chick-fli-A.  But the 38-year-old Montpelier resident refuses to do so.

Chick-fil-A owns the trademark to the phrase “eat mor chikin”, but Muller-Moore doesn’t see how “Eat More Kale” is stepping on any toes. The application he filed last summer with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to protect “eat more kale” is pending.

Montpelier lawyer Daniel Richardson says “At the end of the day, I don’t think anyone will step forward and say they bought an ‘eat more kale’ shirt thinking it was a Chick-fil-A product.”

Chick-fil-A spokesman Don Perry said the company does not comment on pending legal matters.

Read more about the “eat more kale” case here.

Visit eatmorekale.com to sign a petition to help stand up for small businesses.

Tallulah Willis Attends Hotel Crillon's Debutante Ball

Daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore now a member of high society

17-year-old Tallulah Willis is the youngest of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore’s three daughters.  On Saturday night, she attended Le Bal des Débutantes at Paris’s Hotel Crillon, where she was announced as a debutante, reports People.

Tallulah wore a strapless black and silver sequined gown by Lanvin, and was in the company of her two sisters, Rumer and Scout.  Demi Moore, recently split from Ashton Kutcher, did not attend.  Bruce Willis accompanied his daughters, and danced with Tallulah near midnight.

A total of 23 women from 13 different countries—mostly daughters of actors, business leaders and aristocrats—made their debut Saturday night at the ball. Le Bal des Débutantes first launched in 1957 and re-launched 20 years ago as a charity fundraiser.

This year’s beneficiary, the Feed Foundation, is dedicated to fighting malnutrition.  It was created by Lauren Bush, who made her debut at t he ball in 2000.

Read more about the evening here.

NY Students Surrender in Exam Cheating Scandal

20 students in affluent suburb involved in cheating ring

On Monday, the last of 20 students accused of involvement in a college entry exam cheating ring surrendered to authorities, reports the Huffington Post.

18-year-old Michael Pomerantz and another unidentified teenager turned themselves in to Nassau County prosecutors.  Pomerantz is just one of five current or former students in the area being charged with accepting payments ranging from $500 to $3,600 in return for impersonating other students on SAT and ACT exams.  If convicted, they will face up to four years in prison.

Pomerantz was facing felony charges, including scheming to defraud, falsifying business records and criminal impersonation.  Fifteen other students are facing undisclosed misdemeanor charges for having others stand in for them and take the college exams.  Their identities are protected due to them being prosecuted as juveniles.

Great Neck North is where the scandal first surfaced after faculty members looked into rumors that students had paid someone to take the SAT for them.  The school’s principal, Bernard Kaplan, admits that, “it is ridiculously easy to take the test for someone else.”

The Educational Testing Service administers the SAT on behalf of the Princeton, N.J.-based College Board.  They have retained former FBI director Louis Freeh to offer recommendations on enhanced security.

Read more about this case here.

Syracuse Assistant Basketball Coach Fired

Assistant coach fired following sexual abuse allegations

Bernie Fine’s 35 year stint as an assistant coach for his alma mater’s basketball team has come to a close amid accusations of sexual abuse.  His termination was announced Sunday night, says Fox News.

On Sunday night, Syracuse Chancellor Nancy Cantor sent a mass e-mail to students, staff, and faculty regarding Fine’s termination, saying that the allegations have “shaken us all.”

Zach Tomaselli, a 23-year-old from Lewiston, Maine, is the third and most recent alleged victim to come forward with claims that he was molested by Fine.  Tomaselli says Fine abused him in 2002 in a Pittsburgh hotel room the night before Syracuse’s game against the University of Pittsburgh. 

Tomaselli is reportedly facing charges involving sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy in Maine, and Fred Tomaselli, Zach’s estranged father, claims his son is lying.

39-year-old Bobby Davis was once a ball boy for Syracuse, and claims Fine abused him over the span of several years in the 1980s.  His stepbrother, 45-year old Mike Lang, says that he was also abused by the assistant coach.  Fine has denied all accusations.

On Friday, police searched Fine’s home for several hours.  The U.S. Secret Service, Syracuse Police, and New York State Police were all present.

Read more on this story here.