Teens going to prom across the country have a lot of choices to make about the quintessential high school experience – a date, outfit, transportation, flowers, photos. But in one rural Georgia town, white students have another decision to make: whether to attend the integrated prom or the white prom.
Having two separate proms for black and white students has been the norm in their community until now. For the first time ever, a group of kids in Wilcox County, Georgia, are making history in their tiny town.
They've organized a dance that invites everyone to attend, regardless of race. The teenagers who go to school together and play sports together can finally hit the dance floor together.
We’re learning new details about the hostage rescue in Alabama. Law enforcement officers were able to see inside the underground bunker where a 5-year-old boy was held hostage for nearly a week by slipping a camera into the hideout, an official tells CNN. An FBI rescue team in Midland City raided the bunker Monday and when it was over the boy named Ethan was free, his kidnapper Jimmy Lee Dykes was dead.
The FBI team practiced the rescue operation nearby with a mockup bunker, law enforcement sources said.
The chief negotiator for the local Sheriff’s office told the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch that Dykes was a "survivalist type" with "anti-America" views.
What drives some people to build underground bunkers in America? FULL POST
We have been coming to the twin towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona for many years covering stories about the thousands of devoted followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who live, govern and police the towns. Also known as the FLDS, members of the breakaway Mormon sect openly practice polygamy.
Each time we come here, we are noticed the minute we drive into either town. These are not the kind of towns where outsiders would have a reason or need to stop. There aren't any shops, restaurants or businesses that cater to the outside world. So the minute an outsider does arrive, they are noticed and met with skepticism. Children ride horses and are dressed like everyone else, in traditional FLDS clothing. They are controlled and ruled by their imprisoned prophet, Warren Jeffs. You don’t see children playing with toys or riding bikes. They are usually found working on homes or in fields with their parents. FULL POST
A doomsday prophesy from jailed polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs has the attention of law enforcement officials.
“The consensus seems to be that (he’s) indicating that by the end of the year, the end of the world will be here,” said Sam Brower, a private investigator who has represented more than 100 former member of Jeffs’ Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Church.
Law enforcement is on alert and monitoring the border towns of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah, where Jeffs’ followers live.
FULL POST
Animal lovers will attest to the power of a four-legged friend when there are no words to ease the pain.
A group of golden retrievers traveled from Illinois to Newtown, Connecticut, the day after a gunman killed 27 people in the tight-knit community. The town is mourning 20 children and six adults who were victims of the mass shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School, and the shooter’s mother who was killed in her home.
The organization Lutheran Church Charities brought the dogs to give comfort to anyone there in need. Chewy, Ruthie, Abbi, Prince, Luther, Maggie, Hanna, Barney, and Shanni are the therapeutic canines offering a calm, loving presence. They give children and adults a reason to smile after disasters and crisis.
Gary Tuchman reports on a tip about convicted polygamist Warren Jeffs's sect having FLDS children harvest pecans instead of attending school.
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Post by: Filed under: Anderson Cooper • FLDS • Gary Tuchman |
For years, we've reported on the mysterious enclave of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints near the Utah-Arizona border. We thought we've seen it all. But tonight Gary Tuchman reports on a development that raises new questions about the Church run by jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
Gary received a tip that Jeffs, from his prison cell, ordered all schools closed this week so the children could harvest pecans. Gary went to the ranch in question and found hundreds of children in the fields. As soon as he got out of his car, the children all started scattering away from him, and eventually running in the opposite direction.
Gary talked to the owner of a neighboring hog farm, who told him the child labor has gone on for a week or two over a period of years.
Police in Staten Island, New York have found the bodies of two brothers, Brandon and Connor Moore, swept out of their mother’s arms by floodwaters during Superstorm Sandy. The grim discovery was made this morning by NYPD divers in a marsh.
Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro says the boys, ages 4 and 2, were found “maybe a block or two from where [their mother] lost them.” The parents were there when police found the boys.
CNN’s Gary Tuchman will have this emotional story tonight on AC360°. According to police, the boys’ mother, Glenda, stopped at a man’s house after her SUV hit a hole during the storm. She begged for help and asked to come inside, but that man said no.
A couple of weeks ago I landed in Chicago, on assignment from New York, and drove from there to Rep. Paul Ryan's hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin. It was a beautiful drive through back roads and farm towns with no shortage of cheese shops.
In Janesville I met some of Ryan's neighbors, folks who pointed out the house he grew up in, the high school he attended and they waved at the owner of one of his favorite restaurants. I interviewed the owner of that restaurant for a story about the concerns of small business owners. He was non-partisan during our interview, expressing his worries for the middle class but not his political preference. He is a personal friend of his loyal customer, Ryan, but didn't make it known if he shares his politics.
As I drove through town that day, I was surprised by the deficit of 'Romney-Ryan' signs. I saw many 'Ryan' signs on lawns and windows supporting his congressional race and a few 'Obama-Biden' signs but none, that I saw, supporting the GOP presidential ticket.
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