Author: Elizabeth Prann

A once struggling auto parts plant has found new success building body parts—human body parts.

Turner Medical in Athens, Alabama is a large production facility that makes spinal implants and surgical tools. Employees at Turner take pride in the fact the products they make improve the quality of life for thousands of trauma victims.

They also know if it weren’t for their bosses, the company wouldn’t be around today to make those products. Formerly Turner Machine, the company used to make parts and tools for cars. But as automotive industry jobs and factories were increasingly outsourced to Mexico and China, the company’s sales declined and Turner almost went under.

“The automotive and appliance people were more or less looking for the cheapest price,” said Charlie Tucker, VP of operations at Turner. ”You might do a job for them today and they would drop you tomorrow. The medical customers seem to be a lot more loyal they want to develop a good vendor and they work with us.”

Tucker said the road to success hasn’t been an easy one.

“At the lowest point in our transition we had about 30 to 35 employees,” he said.  “Our sales were down [but] once we got into the medical manufacturing, we grew very rapidly. We went from 35 people to about 90 people in less than three or four years.”

General Manager David Brackeen has been with Turner since the late 70s, when the company started. He was 16-years old at the time and remembers making parts for carburetors and fenders. Brackeen says it’s hard to believe, he can barely hire employees to keep up with the increased demand. He manages more than 90 employees who work at the 45,000 sq. foot factory. It’s a 24/7 operation.

“We probably doubled our staff in the past two years because of our growth,” said Brackeen. “We paid our dues to our customers and they rewarded us by putting a lot of work in here. I hired two this morning.”

The company plans on adding more than 30 employees before the end of the year.

Recently, civic and business leaders presented Turner Medical with the Alabama Small Manufacturer of the Year Award.

“We take pride in what we build because it may be used on one of us one of these days,” Brackeen said.

A Fort Stewart soldier has been discharged from the Army after pleading guilty to charges of making threats in a rap song and sending a copy to fellow soldiers and Pentagon officials.

Spc. Marc Hall has been given an ‘other-than-honorable discharge’ (OTH).  It is an administrative discharge so there is no criminal record, but Hall will lose veteran benefits he would have otherwise been eligible for. The Army takes all threats seriously, last November a gunman opened fire, killing 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas.

Hall admitted he told several people he would attack soldiers in his unit after recording a rap song called “Stop Loss,” just months before the Fort Hood shooting. Army soldiers who undergo “stop-loss” must complete additional tours of duty and Hall’s military contract had just been extended.

In his song, Hall raps about walking up to soldiers and “surprising them all” with 30 rounds set to a “three-round burst.” Another lyric says: “Still against the war / I grab my M4/ Spray and watch all the bodies hit the floor/ I bet you’ll never stop-loss nobody no more.”

He sent a copy to the Pentagon, posted it on his website and gave copies to soldiers in his unit.

Halls was charged with violating Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Conduct.  His charges include making threats fellow soldiers. Rather than bringing soldiers from Hall’s infantry to the states for trial, Hall’s hearing took place in Kuwait.

Gen. Carter Ham, a commander and adviser to the Department of Defense, said the military is taking the necessary steps to keep its men and women safe.

“Commanders are the key to monitoring threats,” Ham told a House Appropriations Committee. “Policies must acknowledge the threat and help identify and address those likely to become violent.”

On the other hand, Hall’s supporters argue the rap song is a free speech issue and not a serious threat.

Hall’s discharge will take approximately two weeks before it is final. He will have to out-process at Fort Stewart which means he has to complete paperwork, de-briefings as well as return military gear.

It’s a fight to the death for hundreds of robots at the Georgia Dome this weekend!

More than 10,000 students from around the world have descended upon Atlanta for the 19th annual FIRST National Competition. FIRST is a non-profit organization founded almost 20 years ago to get kids interested in science and technology.

Gina Triolo is a high school senior who traveled from Pennsylvania to compete. This is her fourth and final competition before she picks where she’ll go to college. She’s hoping for Princeton or MIT.

“We are trying to get our kids excited about this and other people too who are just coming to visit the competition,” Triolo said.

FIRST matches teams of kids aged six to 18 years old with mentors. The mentors are engineers and other technology professionals who work with the students building massive robots to compete in various soccer competitions for scholarships and world recognition. 

More than 30 countries — ranging from Australia to Brazil — are represented this weekend to put their robots to the test. The qualifying robots have to be built in six weeks and can’t weigh more than 120 lbs.

Simrat Sodhi traveled from Canada. She says the weekend gives her a chance to see what other teams are doing. As much fun as it is, it’s also a great chance to network and learn. Many leave the competition with new contacts from universities and potential employers.

Sodhi, like other students, gain problem-solving experience with their mentors. The kids made the trip to Atlanta with their own funds.  They’ve built websites, designed t-shirts and even courted corporate sponsors — all to get a little face time.

The national winners will be announced later this weekend.

Knoxville Father Wants Biology Book Banned

A Tennessee father says a biology textbook should be banned from his son’s curriculum because of it’s ‘bias’ against Christians.

Kurt Zimmermann is appealing a Knoxville school district’s decision to keep the book. He says the textbook used in his son’s biology class cites creationism as a “biblical myth.” According to reports, he requests, ‘non-biased’ textbooks be used. In his words, the current textbook’s phrasing misleads, belittles and discourages students in believing in creationism and calls the Bible a myth.

Knoxville County School superintendent Jim McIntyre says the committee’s finding to keep using the book is appropriate. However he asks the board to hear Zimmerman’s appeal Wednesday, April 7.

Melissa Copelan, the board’s director of public affairs tells Fox News, “when there is a concern about education materials there is a process that is followed… Now it is up to the board.”

She referred to procedure listed on the school board’s Web site. When there is a complaint about curriculum board members put together a committee- six members, including the high school’s principal, a biology teacher, a parent and a student.

Even though a few of the members thought the material was “questionable,” the committee ultimately said it’s “appropriate for an honors level biology course.”

Local papers report Zimmerman pulls a quote from page 319 in the book, Asking About Life, where creationism is described as, “the biblical myth that the universe was created by the Judeo-Christian God in 7 days.”

If you have something to say – put it on a billboard. Atlanta commuters are noticing electronic billboards in metro Atlanta posting anti-Obama messages.   The idea turns what is normally a staple of commercial advertising into a platform for political opinions – a bumper-sticker slogan aimed at a wider audience. 

The signs include: ‘Stop Obama’s Socialism.”

“If You’re Not Outraged, You’re Not Paying Attention.”

“Now It’s Personal! America’s Coming for You Congress! Vote Liberals Out in 2010.”

“Stop the Lies.” 

The billboard sponsors consists of about 12 local businessmen. They’ve created a Web site: billboardsagainstobama.com, where you can find four billboards messages to donate to.

Spokesperson Tommy Newberry says there has seen such an influx of interest, sponsors are creating 50 billboard designs for donators to pick from. He also says it won’t take long before the billboards start popping up around the nation.

“We are now very well funded. We are getting about a donation a minute,” Newberry said.

Donations range from a few dollars to $500 dollars. Newberry also has had about a dozen requests for an entire billboard. An electronic billboards advertisement can cost up to $3,500 a month.

Newberry says the group’s ultimate goal is to not only grab people’s attention but also educate and motivate them.

 “There’s a lot of energy from people who want to participate and they don’t know exactly what they want to do. We can speak for them, on their behalf,” Newberry said.

If you remember, just months ago, a group of business owners in Minnesota sponsored a billboard with a picture of former President Bush and the question: “Miss Me Yet?”

11-year-old Jaheem Herrera committed suicide

Georgia State Representatives expanded the state’s definition of bullying. By law, school administrators are required to report bullying incidents to police, also by the start of the 2010-11 academic year school districts will be required to have a system in place to send a bully to different a school.

The state Department of Education will post a model anti-bullying policy on its Web site.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mike Jacobs says it expands a Senate bill which makes it illegal to cause a disruption on a school bus.

“The bullying bill was about one thing and one thing only, giving parents and local school systems more tools to address real life problems that exist in our schools,” Jacobs told a Georgia radio station.  

The change in state law comes on the heels of an 11-year-old boy’s suicide last year. Jaheem Herrera’s family says he hanged himself in his closet after merciless teasing at a Georgia elementary school. DeKalb County school district officials denied the claims and an independent review found bullying was not a factor. His family rejects the decision.

Bullying in schools is a nationwide problem. In Massachusetts, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince hanged herself. Nine students have been charged in connection to the suicide. The charges include violation of civil rights, harassment, stalking and statutory rape. Also in Texas, 13-year old Jon Carmichael killed himself Sunday. Friends say he was picked-on for years, the bullies called him ‘short.’

More than 40 states have laws dealing with bullying; Georgia’s law is among the toughest in the nation. Many states require schools develop prevention and intervention plans. Others include procedures for investigating bullying incidents, notifying parents and determining appropriate disciplinary actions.

Opponents argue that overzealous enforcement of the bill will unnecessarily punish some students.

Duke Student Julia Gaffield

A 26-year old Duke graduate student stumbles upon a rare copy — and possibly the only copy —  of Haiti’s Declaration of Independence in a London library.

While researching for her doctoral dissertation at the British National Archives in London, Julia Gaffield found what historians say is the only printed copy of the island nation’s declaration.

The eight-page pamphlet dates 1804, it includes a two-page prologue and the declaration. According to experts, it’s only the second declaration of its kind in the world.  The first was the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Researchers have spent decades trying to locate the document but it’s been unnoticed in the British archives. There is not a lot of documentation left from the early period of Haitian history.

Professors at Duke speculate Haiti’s first independent leader sent the declaration to the British. It holds great historical importance to people in both Haiti and in Britain. If you take a look at the document here, it gives an insight into the first successful slave rebellion we know of. There was extreme political and physical oppression of slaves at the time, eventually leading to the revolt against French rule. The revolution started in 1791 and continued until the island, including Santo Domingo, was declared a republic under the name of Haiti in 1804.

“I wasn’t specifically looking for it, but I had an eye out for it because I knew it was missing,” Gaffield says in a release. “We figured there was an original somewhere, but didn’t know if it still existed.”

In 1975, as North Vietnamese forces were closing in on Saigon, thousands of Vietnamese orphans were airlifted out of South Vietnam. More than 200 infants and toddlers came to the U.S. — all part of an effort known as “Operation Babylift.”

Saturday, many of these orphans reunited for the first time as adults at Fort Benning, Ga. They did so to thank and honor Betty Tisdale, the woman responsible for bringing them to the U.S.

“These children grew up in wonderful, happy American homes,” Tisdale said. “That’s what we do as Americans, we reach out. You saw what happened in Haiti, we reach out to help other people.”

Tisdale says she didn’t do it alone. She credits the soldiers.

“We had the best Christmases and Thanksgivings all because of our servicemen,” Tisdale said. “[The soldiers] were popular with the children, they could not have survived without the them.”

One of the An Lac orphans, Jason Robertson, organized the reunion. He hopes people will remember ‘Operation Babylift’ and look past any negative connotations. 

“I want people to realize that something positive happened out of Vietnam- see these good positive stories about the soldiers and about the war,” Robertson said.

The evacuation effort was controversial at times. Not all the children brought to the U.S. were orphans. Vietnamese parents smuggled infants on the flights and documentation was often sketchy or inaccurate. But despite the disorder of the documentation surrounding many adoptions, most were completed without interruption.

Today, the orphans say they enjoy reunions like the one at Fort Benning. Many say the connection they have between each other is undeniable.

“It’s like an instant kinship,” Robertson said. “I mean we all were together at one time, and the war made us instant brothers and sisters.”

An elite group of women is being awarded the highest civilian honor on Capitol Hill today. They belong to a group of trailblazers called Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. They were first women to fly U.S. military planes during World War II. 

Today, less than 300 survive and about 200 are expected to be at the Capitol at 11AM Wednesday. That’s when the women will be awarded a Congressional Gold Medal. The medal is the highest award Congress gives to honor civilians for achievements and contributions to society.  

During WWII there were more than 1,000 of these female pilots. Despite their civilian status, these women trained as military cadets did. They did activities ranging from driving an ambulance to dragging artillery targets behind their planes for shooting practice, as well as testing runways and spotlights for accuracy. All of which was very dangerous. Thirty-eight were killed in service. Despite the casualties and efforts, WASP members remained under civilian status and not members of the military during the war. These women weren’t given veteran status until 1977.

WASP, Bernice “Bee” Haydu, made a stop in Atlanta Tuesday before arriving in Washington. There, she met with a new generation of female pilots following in her footsteps. She was greeted by an all-female crew, including a navy combat veteran.

Each crew member said spending time with Haydu is an honor. They say her passion, courage and dedication are an inspiration. To them, not only did these women help win a war; they also won a battle for women.

Yet Haydu insisted that she is impressed too.

“I am really in awe of the young women who fly today, especially large aircrafts like this one. They’ve got some many buttons and gadgets. Their training must be much more rigid than what we received,” she said.

Imagine being confined to a wheelchair or reliant on a walker and suddenly being able to walk.  That is exactly what is happening in a physical therapy lab at Middle Tennessee State University near Nashville.  Researchers are using treadmills submerged in 270 gallons of water to see if patients with spinal cord injuries can regain the ability to walk again.  It’s a breakthrough therapy that has seen meaningful results. “Everybody who has been through the study has demonstrated improvement and primarily that has been in lower extremity strength and balance and cardiovascular endurance,” said Sandy Stevens, an MTSU physical therapist who is conducting the study. Walter Searcy III has been wheelchair bound for almost eight years after being diagnosed with a rare cancer in the spine.  For him, getting in the tank is the only opportunity he has to stand upright and walk unassisted.

 “I certainly have increased stamina and reduced [my] pain threshold,” said Searcy. The water provides a warm and safe environment. Every time Searcy walks on the track he strengthens his muscles, improves his balance and simply re-learns how to walk. 

 Stevens believes that we are all inherently wired to walk, something she says is evident when you watch infants and toddlers struggle to take their first steps.  She believes the therapy on the underwater treadmills will regenerate damaged cells in the spinal cord that allows disabled patients to take steps again. Traditional methods use a harness and robotics but this method, makes the patient responsible for moving his or her own legs. The buoyancy of the water – a sort of zero-gravity weightless effect- makes movement much easier.  For 66-year old Bunny Nichols, the feeling is liberating, “I can stand a little bit on my own now where before I couldn’t,” said Nichols.

Nichols is about halfway through her therapy at MTSU.  The study, which ends in the summer, lasts about eight weeks at a time. Researchers work with patients like Nichols up to three times a week.  Each session lasts about 30 minutes, depending on the patient’s strength.  Nichols says although she doesn’t expect a miracle, she does hope to walk without her walker someday and so far- she’s three steps closer to that goal.

 “I can stand a little bit on my own now where before I couldn’t,”  Nichols says about the first time she took steps on her own.  “I couldn’t believe it but I was like ‘thank you, thank you.”