culture
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‘Mr. Padre’ Tony Gwynn Dies of Cancer at Age 54
Tony Gwynn, the Hall of Fame slugger whose career netted a lifetime batting average of .338 and some 3,141 hits over 20 seasons with the San Diego Padres, lost his fight with cancer on Monday, ESPN reports. According to ESPN, Gwynn 54—who won eight National League batting titles and played in both of the Padres’…
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NY Parks Department Worker Who Saved 4 in Brooklyn Fire Dies
James Frye, who courageously saved four people from a Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment fire earlier this month, has succumbed to injuries he suffered while attempting to rescue a fifth, New York’s Daily News reports. The 47-year-old Parks Department worker, who was staying with a friend, Adrienne Mitchell, while his own apartment was being renovated, sprung into action…
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Starbucks to Offer Some Workers Free College Tuition
As the debate over minimum wage rages on, Starbucks has upped the ante, announcing a program that will help baristas earn online college degrees. According to the Associated Press, the Seattle-based coffee company will partner with Arizona State University in making the program available to 135,000 U.S. workers who work at least 20 hours a…
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French Police Officers Being Investigated for Blackface Party
Well, it isn’t even Halloween yet, but blackface incidents have come out to play. France’s general inspectorate for the national force is investigating a group of French officers after they allegedly put on blackface for a themed party, The Guardian reports. Photos from the “Negro party,” which surfaced on June 2, show multiple officers with…
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Revenge is Sweet: San Antonio Spurs Crush Miami Heat Win NBA Title
Seconds ticked off the clock and LeBron James sat at the end of the Miami Haet bench with his head in his hands. Reserve center Udonis Haslem had his arm draped around James’ shoulder, as it was clear the three-peat championship run was over. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker spent the entire year…
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27 People Shot in Chicago Over Father’s Day Weekend
Father’s Day weekend was unusually bloody in Chicago with a reported 27 people shot, two fatally, NBC Chicago reports. The string of shootings, which police have not confirmed are related, began Friday, and the last reported shooting was just after midnight Monday. That shooting involved a 17-year-old on the West Side who police say was…
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Where Is the Hashtag for Blue Ivy?
While debate continues about what impact it will ultimately have in the real world in the long run, there is no doubt that the #YesAllWomen hashtag struck a chord. Specifically, it struck a chord with those who saw the violence perpetrated by Elliot Rodger as emblematic of a larger societal issue, namely the misogyny that…
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Police Find 23 Grams of Marijuana in the Folds of Large Man’s Belly Fat
Cops in Florida spotted a large passenger not wearing his seat belt, so they stopped the car he was riding in. The 5-foot-6-inch, 450-pound man told the officers that the seat belt didn’t fit around his large frame. Something seemed off to the officers, who called in the K-9 unit, and when the dogs were…
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I’m Black, I’m Trans, I’m HIV-Positive and I’m OK
My journey began on a Monday morning, Feb. 23, 1981, at 10:52 a.m. in a small country town called Ocilla, Ga. I was born to the late Theloris O’Neal Lewis and Raymond Lewis, the eldest of their three children. The name Raymond Antonio Lewis was bestowed upon me, and I was welcomed into the world…
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How Oklahoma Botched Clayton Lockett Execution
At first Oklahoma prison officials suspected that a new drug combination caused Clayton Lockett to writhe in pain and clench his teeth during a botched execution. But a new autopsy report reveals that the IV was improperly placed by prison workers who may not have been properly trained, according to ThinkProgress. Lockett, 38, died of…