20 Year Old St. Edward’s University Student Elleno Efren Valle Missing Since 2/6/14 in Austin, TX

20 year old Elleno Efren Valle has been missing since Thursday, February 6, 2014 in Austin, Texas. Valle was last seen Thursday night at his dormitory, Casa Residence Hall, when he told his roommate that he was going out for a walk. He has not been seen nor heard from since.    He has not used his cell phone since his disappearance. Family members have said that Valle has been off of his anti-depressant medication for several weeks and that they are extremely worried for his safety. Diaz says police do not suspect foul play at this time.

Authorities are actively searching for a 20-year-old St. Edward’s University student who has been missing since Thursday evening.

Elleno Efren Valle was last seen at 6:30 Thursday night. Valle told his roommate he was leaving their room at Casa Dormitory at St. Edward’s University to go on a walk. His family reported him missing Friday.

Valle is 5-foot, 8-inches tall and weighs 117 pounds. The 20-year-old male has black hair and brown eyes. Valle does not have a vehicle and has not used his cell phone since he went missing.

On Friday, St. Edward’s police began a full investigation. Mischelle Diaz, director of communication for the university, says authorities searched campus and a nearby wooded area Friday. She said police also met with Valle’s roommate and friends. In addition, police have added his name to the state’s missing persons databases.

If any one has seen or has any information about Valle’s disappearance to call the St. Edward’s Police Department at 512-448-8444.

What Happened to Common Sense in Our Schools … 40 Childrens Lunches at Uintah Elementary School Confiscated and Tossed in Garbage Because There Was No Money in the Students’ Lunch Accounts

What the hell were these people thinking?

Forty elementary school kids had their lunches taken away and thrown in the garbage after it was realized that they had zero balances in their lunch accounts. ARE YOU SERIOUS!!! Punish the children for something their parents did that was most likely an over-sight? How could anyone think that this was the way to handle such an issue? This is just a long line of ignorant and ridiculous policies and further shows the lack of common sense that has become common place in our schools. Dodgeball no, taking kids lunches away from them … yes.

Utah parents are criticizing an elementary school for taking school lunches away from students because of unpaid accounts.

However, school officials claim the children did not go hungry.

When fifth-grader Sophia Isom got into the lunch line Tuesday, the girl said she was met by a district nutrition manager who was monitoring accounts.

“So she took my lunch away and she’s like, ‘Go get a milk.’ And I come back up and I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ Then she handed me an orange and she said, ‘You don’t have any money in your account, so you can’t get lunch,’” Sophia said.

Sophia said the food was thrown out.

“We were all blind-sided,” said Erica Lukes, Sophia’s mother. “There were lots of tears, and it was pretty upsetting for them.”

FACEBOOK – Salt Lake City School District – Apology for their actions:

On Monday, a district Child Nutrition manager was sent to Uintah Elementary School to investigate the large number of students who had zero or negative balances in their school lunch accounts. That same day, the district manager and the local school kitchen manager started making calls to inform parents of the negative balances.

On Tuesday, the calls to parents continued. When lunch time came, students who still had negative balances were told they could not have a full meal but were given a piece of fruit and a milk for lunch. The district does this so children who don’t have money for lunch can at least have some food and not go without.

Unfortunately, children are served lunch before they get to the computer for payment. The children who didn’t have enough money in their accounts had their normal food trays taken from them and were given the fruit and milk.

This situation could have and should have been handled in a different manner. We apologize.

Cafeteria manager placed on leave after Utah school lunch seizures.

A cafeteria manager has been placed on paid administrative leave as the Salt Lake City School District investigates the seizure of school lunches from up to 40 young students with unpaid meal tabs.

The lunches were taken away Tuesday at Uintah Elementary, a move that has sparked outcry from parents, lawmakers and outraged observers who have created a sensation on social media.

More employees could be put on leave as well, depending on what the investigation uncovers, said district Superintendent McKell Withers.

Another School Shooting, This Time at Purdue University … 23 Year Old Cody Cousins Shot and Killed 21 Year Old Andrew Boldt Inside Electrical Engineering Building

Shooting and fatality at Purdue University …

 The school was placed on lockdown Tuesday while police responded. The shooting occurred in the basement of the Electrical Engineering Building on the West Lafayette campus. That building was evacuated and the entire campus was placed on lockdown. The lockdown was lifted around 11:45 a.m. ET/ 12:45 p.m. CT.

“Homicides are extremely rare events at Purdue, it’s shocking,” said Tim Sands, provost, Purdue University.

“No ongoing threat to campus. Resume normal operations,” the university posted to its Twitter feed.

Later Tuesday afternoon, Purdue University officials decided to cancel classes. They were also canceled for Wednesday.

Teaching assistant shot and killed in Purdue University classroom.

Cousins surrendered within minutes outside the building by West Lafayette police, Cox said. Cox said shooter appeared to have singled out his victim, targeting no one else.

“The suspect sought out the victim, then killed the victims and then surrendered,” he said.

Police press conference naming the suspect and victim in Purdue University Shooting

CNN:

A gunman shot and killed another man Tuesday inside Purdue University’s electrical engineering building, spurring worried students to scramble into the bitter cold outside for safety.

The Indiana school’s police chief said that the suspect appeared to have had just one target in mind. He left the building right after the shooting, and a city police officer arrested him.

“This appears to be an isolated and intentional act,” Purdue Police Chief John Cox said. “…The victim appeared to have been targeted by the suspect, and it was no more and no less than that.”

Cox identified the victim as Andrew Boldt, a 21-year-old senior from West Bend, Wisconsin, who also worked at the school as a teaching assistant.

The suspect is Cody Cousins, a 23-year-old student in Purdue’s college of engineering who now is “booked on a preliminary charge of murder,” according to the police chief.

Widener University Male Student Shot on Campus … College on Lockdown, Students Asked to Remain Inside

Widener University in Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania on lock-down after student shot on campus.

A student has been shot at  Widener University in Pennsylvania and is being treated at a local hospital for his wounds. According to 6ABC, the shooting happened at approximately 8:45 p.m. Monday near the Schwartz Athletic Center, in the vicinity of 18th Street and Melrose Avenue. The student was taken to Crozer Chester Medical Center for treatment; his condition is not known. According to the most recent news reports, there have been no arrests, the gunman is not in custody.

A student at Widener University in Pennsylvania is being treated at a local hospital after he was shot on campus and university officials warned students to remain indoors while police search for the suspected shooter, authorities said.

The school said on its website that the shooting occurred at approximately 8:45 Monday night near the Schwartz Athletic Center on the school’s campus in suburban Philadelphia.

A nursing supervisor at Crozer Chester Medical Center told the Associated Press that the victim was in surgery late Monday, but did not elaborate on his condition. The university said the student’s family had been notified.

UPDATE I: Widener University Alerts:

A Widener University student was shot in the vicinity of Schwartz Athletic Center earlier this evening at approximately 8:45 p.m. The student is currently under treatment at Crozer Chester Medical Center. His family has been notified .  We are not releasing the name of the injured student at this time.

The suspect is still at large. Chester Police have secured the campus, and Chester Police believe there is no active shooter on campus.

Anyone who has any information about the shooting, please contact 610-447-7908.

Students should remain indoors until 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, January 21, 2014.  Continue to check Campus Cruiser for details.

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UPDATE II: Widener Student Shot, Gunman on the Loose.

Police say they have not yet spoken to the victim and so far have no information on a possible motive or description of the shooter.

Police suspect the gunman fled into the Summer Hill neighborhood of Chester, which borders the athletic center. Dogs with the K-9 unit tracked his scent in that direction, according to investigators.

Officers say they found one shell casing at the scene and believe the gunman used a revolver to fire one shot. They are currently reviewing surveillance video from the exterior of the athletic center to determine if it captured the shooting.

UPDATE III: No Arrests made yet, but the university said that the campus had been secured by police and that classes will resume Tuesday.

Dan Hanson, a spokesman for the university, said Tuesday that “all indications are this was not a random act of violence.” He would not release further details of the investigation.

Widener asked students to remain inside until 6 a.m. as police continue searching for the suspect, but the university said that the campus had been secured by police and that classes were to resume as scheduled Tuesday morning.

If anyone has any information about the shooting, please contact 610-447-7908.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2014 … A Dream that All Can Embrace … “Will One Day Live in a Nation Where They Will not be Judged by the Color of their Skin but by the Content of their Character”

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY – 2014.

On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day let us all reflect on “The Dream” and the fact that we as a Nation have come a long way since the 1960′s. We are a much better country for it. However, that does not mean that we do not still have more to do and will most likely always will.   MLK Jr’s message goes out to all people, not just one message to blacks or another to whites.  Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, do not let others interpret that dream for you. Do not let those with an agenda that is far from “The Dream” to make you feel less or call you something that you are not. Martin Luther King Jr. was correct, it is never about the color of one’s skin, it is always about the content of one’s character. Always! That means the character of those who would lie to you or highjack “The Dream” for their own purposes. Those who are divisive and keep races at each other do a disservice to Martin Luther King, Jr.

August 28, 1963

Full text of MLK Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech can be read here.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

From CNN comes the unheard tapes from MLK Jr. circa 1960. Martin Luther King Jr. discusses the peaceful Civil Rights movement and called the movement represents struggle on the highest level of dignity and discipline.

From FOX News: On MLK Day – let’s celebrate all that has changed in 50 years.

On Sunday, Georgia Congressman John Lewis, the last surviving speaker from the 1963 March, spoke to that startling reality:

“I feel more than lucky but very blessed to be able to stand here 50 years later and to see the progress we have made,” Lewis said. “And just to see the changes have occurred. If someone had told me 50 years ago that an African-American would be in the White House as the president, I probably would have said ‘You’re crazy. You are out of your mind. You don’t know what you’re talking about.’ The country is a different country, and we’re better people.”

In fact, outstanding African-Americans have broken through doors previously closed to all people of color in the past 50 years.

In government, we have had two black Supreme Court Justices, several Cabinet secretaries, two governors, six senators and dozens of people in Congress. We have a black president twice elected by the Americans people – who, as many have noted, could have been owned by our first 16 presidents as property.

The following VIDEO has excepts from from many different MLK speeches and this interview and has some incredibly interesting comments that all should take a listen to. What many do not understand is that MLK’s words do not just speak to the black Civil Rights movement. They speak to everyone.

• “We are in a separate phase where we are seeking genuine equality. Where we are dealing with hard economic and social issues.”
• Its more easy to integrate a lunch counter than it is guarantee an annual income. [...] It’s easier to integrate a bus than it is to get a program that will force a government to put billions of dollars to ending slums.”
• “I weight the criticisms that I would get. I thought about even the fact that some Negros would not understand.  And some respectable Negro Leaders who are more concerned about being invited to the White House than invited to the cause of justice would be against me.”

Unlike others, I do not begin to speak for Martin Luther King Jr. and how he would act or what he would say in today’s world. So many are quick to say that he would be for increasing the minimum wage because he spoke of the Poor People’s Campaign which was a multiracial effort to address poverty in the nation by demanding a $30 billion antipoverty package, including full employment and the annual construction of 500,000 affordable residences. I don’t think so. The US has had a ‘War on Poverty’ since 1964 and the LBJ years. However, 50 years later it has been a failure.

I believe that Martin Luther King Jr. was a man of his word and wanted true equality for his people. I do not believe that he wanted them back on the plantation and subject to a life of dependency on welfare programs. True equality does not come from a hand out, it comes from  a hand up. Equality does not come from being forced to live in government housing. Equality comes from a strong family unit, an education, morality,  a want and desire to get ahead and believing in something greater than yourself.  The US has spent trillions in the War on Poverty and has gotten no where. The welfare state has been a disaster for “The Dream”.  Sorry, I do not believe for one second that MLK’s “DREAM” had the notion that blacks would become part of a voting block and completely dependent upon the government. JMO.