Author: Maria Monroe

The time right before the end of the school year is when students will usually think of something to give their favorite teachers. They may buy trinkets or give their teachers something handmade in order to show their appreciation. On April 24, 2017, a fifth grade teacher who goes by Mr. J found a handwritten letter on his desk one day which was left there by one of his students named Markus. The contents of it was so touching, he decided to share the heart-warming letter on Twitter via his Twitter handle @mainey_maine. The handwritten letter from Markus to Mr. J …

SOUTH HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A great grandmother is struggling to keep her family afloat after losing her daughter, and a local volunteer with Americorps SBP is calling on the community to help her family. Cecilia Diaz has three generations living under one roof, bringing the household to a total of nine. This includes Diaz, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren. The family was devastated last year when Diaz’s daughter died after battling several health conditions. To add to the burden, her home was falling apart. The home is more than 40 years old and was ravaged by Hurricane Harvey. “I didn’t…

In Cokato, Minnesota, Valerie Watts had prepared for the birth of her baby boy, Noah. She had purchased toys, a crib, and baby toys, but when she was just a few days away from her due date, the doctors told her she was carrying a stillborn. How devastating! Eventually, Valerie decided to sell the baby crib and all the baby items she had purchased at a garage sale. An elderly man named Gerald took the baby crib because as it turns out he restores furniture and thought he could use the crib. He could tell Valerie wasn’t too keen on…

As a parent, you want what’s best for your children. As they reach their teenage years, they will inevitably start staying out late, doing god knows what. That’s when you get worried as a parent, something we all handle in different ways.The most important thing is that your children are happy and healthy, but at the same time, you’d like to know what they’re up to when they’re away. Life isn’t just about feeling good – they should still take care of their responsibilities, such as doing schoolwork. The father in this funny story was looking for his 16-year-old daughter,…

My oldest daughter, Jenna, recently said to me, “My greatest fear as a child was that you and mom would get divorced. Then, when I was 12, I decided that you fought so much that maybe it would be better if you did.” Then she added with a smile. “I’m glad you guys figured things out.” For years, my wife, Keri, and I struggled. Looking back, I’m not exactly sure what initially drew us together, but our personalities didn’t quite match up. And the longer we were married the more extreme the differences seemed. Encountering “fame and fortune” didn’t make…

A lady about 8 months pregnant got on a bus. She noticed a man opposite her was smiling at her. She immediately moved to another seat. This time the man’s smile turned into a grin, so she moves again. The man seemed more amused. When she moved for the fourth time, the man burst out laughing, she complained to the driver and he had the man ar-rested. The case came up in court. The judge asked the man, (about 20 years old), what he had to say for himself. The man replied, “Well your Honor, it was like this: When…

It’s rare to come across a single home in America that doesn’t make use of eggs in the kitchen They’re inexpensive and have countless uses, and there are so many ways they can be cooked and eaten, and even more ways to include them in delicious recipes. Even better, eggs don’t spoil easily. When stored correctly, they have an impressively long shelf life and stay fresh for long periods of time. But what many people fail to realize is that the overall freshness of eggs depends heavily on how long those eggs have been stocked on a store’s shelf. That’s…

Wives have come up with some very creative ways to tell their husbands they’re pregnant. So when Nicole Ziesemer gave her husband, Mathew Ziesemer, a “World’s Best Dad,” T-shirt, he knew his life was about to be forever changed. But neither Mathew nor Nicole were prepared for just how much their lives were about to change. Nicole and Mathew believe that pregnancy should progress naturally with few controls, medications, or hospital visits. Nicole had planned to give birth at home using a midwife, and the couple didn’t even have a single ultrasound during the pregnancy. Though home births are becoming…

Robert Eugene Clark and Samantha Simmons, his half-sister, were sentenced to spend 108 combined years in prison. The half-siblings were guilty of molesting an 8-year-old girl and her 3-year-old sister. Simmons and Clark forced the girls to live in squalor and repeatedly molested them. The two young girls were living in different mobile homes that were infested with cockroaches and littered with trash, feces, clothing, and papers. According to the Roanoke Times, the pattern of sexual abuse had been ongoing for three generations. While it is finally good the pattern of abuse has now ended – it should have stopped…

Being a single parent can be extremely difficult, just ask Tawny Nelson who recently went through a rough patch while raising her four daughters on her own. Things had not been going well for Tawny ever since her partner left them to fend for themselves. Her financial situation was not great since she had four growing girls to feed on her own. As a result of that, the family car was left in bad shape. With a flat tire that she constantly needs to pump air, b-roken window motor and a need for a new alternator belt, she only used…

WAUWATOSA, Wis –  Police continued to search Sunday for the suspect in a shooting at a Wisconsin mall that left seven adults and a teenager injured. The Wauwatosa Police Department is scheduled to hold a press conference about the shooting Sunday afternoon. NewsNation will livestream the event. The mall, located in suburban Milwaukee, remained closed Saturday after investigators remained there overnight. It is unknown if the mall remained closed Sunday. “WPD investigators, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are continuing to interview victims and witnesses to identify and apprehend the suspect. If anyone has information about the suspect’s identity or…

ARLINGTON, Texas (KXAN) – A November 1 birthday party is having some longer-term effects for one family in Arlington. Alexa Aragonez, 26, tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that her family discussed their concerns before the party and decided they’d been careful enough. While she didn’t attend, she dropped off her 57-year-old mom at the party: which included 11 other guests, including one pregnant cousin and four children. A few days later, Alexa’s mom Enriqueta began feeling sick, took a test and tested positive for coronavirus. Eventually, all 12 party guests tested positive. Enriqueta’s case was most severe: she spent one week and…

ST. LOUIS – A father of four was shot and killed last month by a man whom he helped out of a crashed vehicle. Staveion Durham was riding a motorized scooter near the intersection of Riverview and Switzer on the evening of October 12 when he ran out of gas. Staveion saw a vehicle crash into another vehicle at that intersection and then slam into a pole. Durham’s father, Stacy, said Staveoin pulled a 25-year-old man from the crashed vehicle, and when he did, the man pulled a gun on Staveion. At that time, Staveion’s girlfriend and friend had arrived…

A previously-convicted felon who owned an Alabama laboratory has been handed a lengthy prison term, after being convicted of falsifying paternity and drug tests that resulted in several parents wrongly losing custody of their children What are the details? Brandy Murrah, 37, was sentenced to 15 years hard time, after pleading guilty to falsifying test results in at least that many instances that falsely claimed samples came back positive for drugs, the Dothan Eagle reported. Murrah previously owned A&J Lab Collections—a business that collected hair follicle and urine samples and the like—and was supposed to forward them on for analysis and then…

The great mask debate rages on. The most recent ugly confrontation involving face coverings happened in Massachusetts where a man reportedly became so furious with hikers for not wearing face masks while hiking outdoors that he purposely spit at them. Two young women were allegedly hiking in the Hudson Overlook on the Midstate Trail in Ashburnham on Nov. 15, according to the New York Post. A vexed man approached the hikers, who were not wearing face masks. One of the women recorded the hostile encounter with the man, and video of the incident was posted on Twitter by WBZ-TV reporter Kristina Rex. “‘I have…

Rialto, CA – Rialto police released bodycam footage of the officer-involved shooting of a knife-wielding man who tried to attack three police officers and stabbed one in the abdomen (video below). The incident occurred at about 6:21 a.m. on Nov. 6 after officers responded to a 911 call about a shooting at the USA Gasoline station in the 200-block of East Foothill Boulevard, KTLA reported. Two police vehicles responded to the scene and those officers were investigating the reported shooting a man approached on of the police cars, KTTV reported. Surveillance video from the gas station showed the suspect – later identified as 26-year-old…

KIRKWOOD, Mo. – As a freshman at Kirkwood High School, Dajae Williams was mistakenly enrolled in an honors geometry class. The teacher who placed her there admitted it was an accident, but little did they both know that moment would change Dajae’s world. Dajae has always been smart but never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she would one day work for the world’s leading organization in the study of aeronautics and space – NASA. “Sometimes I still have to pinch myself.,” she said. “It’s always an exhilarating experience being around so many smart people, just being present, and…

OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. (WEAR via CNN) —A woman in Florida says her daughter tried to report abuse by her father for years, but no one believed her, so she installed security cameras at home to prove it. An arrest report states the 14-year-old turned over two videos to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. In one of the videos you can see a man identified as Damon Becnel screaming, pointing, and even headbutting the teen girl. Becnel can also be heard yelling at the dogs. At one point, the video appears to show him hitting the animal and holding an object…

The shots heard ringing out from a garage of a Chicago home on an autumn night in 1993 launched what would become one of the city’s most infamous and winding murder investigations — unearthing two killer siblings’ dark family history and leading a brother to reconsider his sister’s role in the brutal death of their mother years before. The blood-soaked body of 31-year-old Robert O’Dubaine, a local bar owner, was found in the garage of his Bucktown two-flat on Sept 25, 1993 after a neighbor reported hearing gunfire. He’d been shot twice, and his wallet and keys were missing. Investigators…

When a teenage boy seemingly ran away from his California home in the 1980s, his disappearance remained unexplained for years until a random incident would start authorities on the path toward justice. Jackson and Dale Villarta’s home was a full house with five children, two of whom were from Dale’s previous marriage. But on January 13, 1984, Dale decided to go on a day trip and leave her husband and children at home; everything was normal until Chris, one of Dale’s children from the previous marriage, failed to return home that evening. Hours later, Chris’ girlfriend, Carlotta, who he was supposed to be meeting, came to…