April 8th, 2013 – 6:35pm
Philly.com
By Emily Babay
Matt Marshall faced tough odds when he stepped on the field at the NovaCare Center in South Philadelphia to workout for the Philadelphia Eagles.
But regardless of what the coaches thought of him, the Camden native has already achieved his goal to “not to be a statistic.”
The University of Arkansas graduate grew up in the waning days of Camden’s crack epidemic near The Alley, an infamous, open-air drug bazaar that was razed in 2004. A drug dealer was shot dead on his home’s doorstep. Close friends have faced the ends of gun barrels.
So when Marshall left the field, he felt he was already on his way.
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July 29th, 2009 – 9:28pm
Omaha World-Herald
By Emily Babay
Outside the livestock pavilion at the Sarpy County Fairgrounds, Payton Holling’s hand slipped from the red rope holding his sheep. The 7-year-old’s wheelchair veered to the side.
Priscilla, a 1½-year-old ewe wearing a hot pink feather boa, started to saunter away.
Morgan Cox, a two-year veteran of a local sheep club, reined both back in.
“Priscilla, we lost him!” the 16-year-old said good-naturedly as she handed the Suffolk-Hampshire cross sheep’s rope back to Payton, who has Down syndrome and cerebral palsy.
Payton is a member of the True Buddy sheep club, a new program that pairs special-needs children with local 4-H’ers who show sheep.
The club has met every other week since mid-June. This week, at the Sarpy County Fair, its members will show the sheep they have learned to walk and care for.
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July 23rd, 2009 – 9:35pm
Omaha World-Herald
By Emily Babay
It’s a daily routine for many teens and young adults: open the laptop, log on to Facebook, send messages to friends.
And learn about their grandfather’s knee replacement and view a former teacher’s vacation pictures?
More adults are using social-networking Web sites such as Facebook to communicate with friends and family, marking Facebook’s shift from a place where college students interact with their peers to one that attracts a more mainstream audience.
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July 6th, 2009 – 9:44pm
Omaha World-Herald
By Emily Babay
At a pace of five or six titles a week, Lyla Thompson is steadily reading the books in her collection.
All 6,000 of them.
The Omaha woman is a lifelong reader and book collector. Since she retired in 1999, Thompson, 69, has pursued her passion with new enthusiasm; her reading hours resemble a full-time job.
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June 7th, 2009 – 11:45am
Omaha World-Herald
By Emily Babay
Drummer and vibraphonist Luigi Waites has played before live audiences thousands of times in his decades-long career.
In 2005, the Omaha arts community celebrated his 1,500th jazz performance at Mr. Toad’s in the Old Market with a party at the bar. Waites, then in his late 70s, was lauded for his energy and longevity.
“For an old man, he’s got a lot of spunk,” Doyle Tipler, a trumpeter in his band, said at the time.
Now, the spunk of Waites’ live shows — heard by generations of Omahans — will make its way to a CD. He has performed weekly at Mr. Toad’s since the mid-1970s.
The album will be the first recorded live for Waites, now 81, and his band, Luigi Inc.
And Waites expects it to be his last recording.
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May 27th, 2007 – 11:35pm
Erie Times-News
By Emily Babay
Missy Twohig wanted a piercing studio to act as a second home, a place where she and her customers would feel content and at ease.
The desire to create this relaxed atmosphere inspired Twohig, 29, to open her own studio. Her shop, Sacred Piercing, will open June 1, at 253 W. Eighth St.
“You have this vision in your mind of the way you would like things to be, and the only way you can see if that’s possible is by trying,” she said. “It took me a couple years to realize that, but here I am.”
And young people increasingly share these entrepreneurial ideas.
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