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Last issue's most-read story: 10 THINGS YOU DEFINITELY SHOULDN'T SAY TO A DEAF PERSON / Deaf Expressions
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Dear Readers: There will be no issues dated August 20 & 27. Our next issue will be the first Wednesday in September.
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NATIONAL
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San Diego, CA
DRIVER IN 'ZOMBIE WALK' CRASH GIVES HIS SIDE OF THE STORY
For the first time, the driver involved in the "Zombie Walk" hit-and-run collision in the Gaslamp Quarter is telling his side of the story. Matthew Pocci, the 48-year old driver, is deaf. He gave an interview online, and used sign language to explain why he plowed through a parade of Comic-Con zombies. Online videos of the so-called "Zombie Walk hit-and-run have gone viral on YouTube. They show Pocci first honking his horn, then eventually plowing through the Zombie Walk parade in the Gaslamp Quarter. / KFMB
Internet
THESE PHOTOS OF KOKO THE GORILLA MOURNING THE LOSS OF ROBIN WILLIAMS ARE INCREDIBLY MOVING
In 2001, Robin Williams met Koko, the gorilla who communicates in sign language, at The Gorilla Foundation in Woodside, Calif. The two immediately became friends. “Koko instantly connected with Robin,” said Dr. Penny Patterson, the foundation’s president and the gorilla’s foster mother. “Koko, like us, can sense a person’s nature and in this case, she was quickly drawn to Robin’s warm heart.” On Monday, Koko was with Patterson when news of Williams’ death broke and phone calls started to come in. / BuzzFeed
Martinsburg, WV
MAN GETS 25 YEARS IN PRISON IN ATTACK OF PIZZA DELIVERY MAN
A man convicted in May of robbing a hearing-impaired pizza delivery man at knifepoint last year was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison. Derek A. Caldwell, 30, was ordered to serve a 25-year prison sentence for his first-degree robbery conviction concurrent with a prison sentence of not less than two nor more than 10 years for his conviction on one count of assault during the commission of a felony. The court also ordered Caldwell to pay $150 in restitution to Anthony's Pizza and $230 to the victim. / Herald-Mail
Washington, DC
CLOSED CAPTIONING TO BE MADE MORE AVAILABLE
The Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission are changing regulations to make closed-captioned video more widely available in movie theaters and on the internet. The Justice Department proposed changes that would require most movie theaters to provide a certain number of closed captioning and audio-description devices. The rule also would explicitly require theaters to show movies with closed captions for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act. / Courthouse News Service
Greensburg, PA
GREENSBURG WILL PROVIDE INTEPRETER FOR DEAF BOY
Greensburg City Council agreed on Monday to settle a federal lawsuit and supply a sign interpreter for a deaf boy to play soccer. In a 5-0 vote, council approved paying up to $1,600 per season for the interpreter for “each and every soccer practice and game up through the fall 2016,” according to the agreement. James and Amy Ahearn of South Greensburg sought an ASL interpreter as part of their suit filed this year in federal court in Pittsburgh for their 8-year-old son, Spencer. / Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Columbus, OH
CRISTO REY BRINGS STUDENTS BACK TO OLD DEAF SCHOOL
Madison Renicker is one of 73 sophomores returning to Cristo Rey Columbus High School, a Catholic high school for low-income families of all faiths across the Diocese of Columbus. For its second year, the school has moved from a Franklinton building of about 7,800 square feet to the 88,000-square-foot Discovery District building that once housed the Ohio State School for the Deaf. / The Columbus Dispatch
Rochester, NY
NTID HOLDS 'NEW SIGNERS PROGRAM'
More than a dozen students from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf took a crash course in sign language today. It's part of the school's "new signers program." It's for new, incoming deaf and hard of hearing students who have little or no prior skills in american sign language. Today, they learned finger spelling. / WROC-TV
Silver Spring, MD
NAD ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD MEMBERS
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) today announces that its Board of Directors for 2014-2016 is now fully complete with the appointment of three new members. Joining existing and recently elected Board Members, we are delighted to welcome Sherri Collins as the new Region IV Board Member, and Alicia Lane-Outlaw and Pamela Lloyd-Ogoke as Appointed Board Members. / NAD
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INTERNATIONAL
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London, England
THE 'BIONIC EAR': THE COUPLE WHO HELPED THE WORLD TO HEAR
In the 1970s, Ingeborg and Irwin Hochmair – known on the campus of the Vienna University of Technology as the "Electronic Couple" – helped create the first microelectronic multi-channel cochlear implant. The development of the implant allowed users for the first time to understand speech rather than hearing only muffled sound. Med-El, the company co-founded by the Hochmairs in 1980, is now the second-largest producer of cochlear implants in the world, making one-third of all devices fitted each year. / The Guardian
Grimsby, England
EVENT HELPS SHOOTERS TO GUN FOR THE DEAF OLYMPICS
Deaf competitors have been given a shot at taking part in the Olympics, thanks to a charity shooting day. The event was held at North Cotes Butts Shooting Ground, raising more than £300 ($500 US) for UK Deaf Sport which will be used to help hearing-impaired athletes hit their target of taking part in the Deaf Olympics in Turkey in 2017. The club is one of only 10 clubs in the country to be awarded a Disability Shooting Project award by British Shooting. / Grimsby Telegraph
Sutton, England
POLICE OFFICERS GO BEYOND CALL OF DUTY FOR BLIND AND DEAF WOMAN
Sutton police officers were good Samaritans last week, after going on a mercy mission for a partially blind and deaf woman. Officers from Beddington South safer neighbourhoods team went found the woman in her 80’s distressed and upset, after she had lost her handbag and belongings in Wallington Library. / The Guardian
Dublin, Ireland
THIS LITTLE BOY IS ON A MISSION TO GET RTÉ USING SIGN LANGUAGE ON THE TOY SHOW
Nine-year-old Quaid Cleland is on a mission. He wants to get the whole country using sign language and his first step is to convince RTÉ to use it on the Late Late Toy show. Quaid is a hearing child who was first introduced to Irish Sign Language by his mother who was studying communication with the Deaf. At the age of six, he started a campaign to get Ireland signing as he believes everyone in the country should learn it so we can all communicate. / The Journal
Philippines
DEAF MUTE BEAUTY PRINCESS ALANIS PURA TO REPRESENT PHL IN PAGEANT IN TAIWAN
Princess Alanis Pura, a deaf mute beauty from Pasay City and Pampanga, whose life story was featured in GMA Network's Magpakailanman on September 14, 2013, was crowned "Queen of the Philippines" in Subic Bay, Zambales. GMA News' evening newscasts reported on Wednesday that Pura will be the country's representative at the Face of Beauty International contest in Taiwan in November. / GMA News
Manila, Philippines
MAN HELD FOR RAPING DEAF-MUTE IN CALOOCAN
A 31-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping a deaf-mute girl shortly before midnight Saturday. Police said the suspect was beaten up by responding watchmen who saw the victim’s mother chasing him. Investigators said the man went to the house of the victim supposedly to give her sick father money. The girl’s father is a relative of the suspect, police said. / ABS-CBN News
Agartala, India
MAN ARRESTED FOR RAPING DEAF AND DUMB WOMAN IN TRIPURA
A man was arrested for raping a 32-year-old deaf and dumb woman, police said here Tuesday. "Ajit Nama, aged 30, raped a deaf and dumb woman while the victim was alone at her home on Monday. The woman's neighbor and Ajit's mother noticed the crime and raised an alarm," a police official said. He said that responding to the uproar, many people gathered at the spot and apprehended Ajit, who is a driver of a private vehicle. / TwoCircles.net
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LIFE & LEISURE
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Miami, FL
HOW SMART TECHNOLOGY IS HELPING THE DEAF
Smart technology is being tapped to help deaf people, and there are many technologies that scientists and educators are looking into to help not only the deaf but people with disabilities. Now they are working on live subtitling as a probable tool to help people who cannot hear, know and understand what’s being said visually. Deaf people may soon find it easy to know what is being said, if the experiments being done today to adapt the latest technologies to their needs, will make life easier for them even if they cannot hear. / Day News
Salt Lake City, UT
GLOBAL GROUP HELPS DEAF MUSLIMS EMBRACE THEIR FAITH
For years Nashiru Abdulai sat on the sidelines of his faith. Unlike his non-Muslim classmates at a school for the deaf, his local mosque didn’t offer interpretation services or other accommodations to help him participate in Islamic worship. He gave up trying to access the mosque for a time. “Every time I’d go to a mosque, I’d sit there and I’d just watch the speaker and I couldn’t understand a word that person was saying,” Abdulai said through an interpreter. / Deseret News
Hartford, CT
SIGN LANGUAGE MAKES CHURCH ACCESSIBLE TO HEARING IMPAIRED
Andrew Baginski became aware of the deaf community when three of his cousins could not hear in the traditional way, so he learned to communicate with his family in the language they spoke – American Sign Language. Every other Saturday at 4 p.m., Baginski is in the right front corner of the main chapel of St. Andrews Church in Colchester, signing for those who could not otherwise hear the hymns, songs, services and prayers. / The Hartford Courant
Dallas, TX
VISION AND HEARING LOSS KEEP OLDER ADULTS AT HOME
Vision and hearing problems reduce the active participation of older people in various events and activities. This was observed in two studies carried out by the Gerontology Research Center. Impaired vision and hearing make it difficult to interact in social situations. However, social relationships and situations in which there is an opportunity to meet and interact with other people are important for older adults’ quality of life. / Red Orbit
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WORKING WORLD
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Frederick, MD
LOCAL FIRM TAKES ON NATIONAL CASES FOR DEAF COMMUNITY
For attorney Mary C. Vargas, it's rare to have a visitor in her co-working office in Frederick. “Almost all of our clients are not here,” said Vargas, who works with partner Michael Stein, on cases all across the U.S. They've taken several cases representing deaf students trying to access higher education, occupational training or medical school. Most recently, a client named Zachary Featherstone was able to start school Tuesday at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences. / The Frederick News-Post
Knoxville, TN
SCHOOL FOR DEAF DEDICATES ROOM TO MEMORY OF SPECIALIST
A beloved employee who left her mark on Tennessee School for the Deaf now has a room there dedicated to her memory. Communication specialist Marie Griffin passed away suddenly Jan. 31 after suffering a massive stroke. Her work teaching sign language to hearing employees and interpreting for deaf employees made her indispensable on campus, but her personality made her irreplaceable. / Knoxville News-Sentinel