Manage Your Mess and Maximize Opportunity in 2010

2010 Holds Peace, Prosperity and Promise

Happy New Year to all of you who log on and tell a friend, who tells a friend about Newsheels.blogspot.com. As we step into 2010, I sincerely hope that your New Year is full of peace, prosperity and promise. We all harbor a dream that in some way has been deferred for a number of reasons, perhaps in or out of our control. There are places we'd like to visit but may not necessarily feel we'll ever get a chance to see. There are likely people in your family you really need to talk to and patch up your fragile or ripped communication hole. Let's make this year the year that YOU get some things in order that will help improve your life financially, spiritually, professionally and emotionally.

It is understandable that to accomplish your goals, you will have to eliminate excess baggage or like at the airport,  prepare yourself to pay the price for bringing extra with you. In essence, you have to evaluate your inner-circle and decide who needs to stay and who needs to go. However you decide to move forward in this new year, remember there is a right and wrong way to deal with everything. My advice is that you not only consider the consequences but grab a pen and paper, make a list of things you want to achieve in 2010, how you plan to be successful and draft an outline of your outcome, should you fail to take action.

On a personal note, through Newsheels.blogspot.com, I will continue to work harder on bringing you stories that entertain, educate and encourage you on a personal, professional and practical level.

Sincerely,
Maniko Barthelemy

Get to Grandma's House Safely

Road Trip: 101

A heavy snowfall just days before Christmas is a treat to children and animals alike. It offers the perfect opportunity to build one of the best snowmen on the block and allows dogs to a chance to exercise in an
alternative way.

However, snow also brings with it dangerous and deadly consequences for drivers who take a chance on the roads. The recent blizzard that blanketed the East Coast, although meteorologists gave repeated warnings to drivers to stay off the road, left many drivers stuck on highways that were closed because of the snow or accidents. Between Dec. 18 and Dec. 20, Virginia State Police got 3,000 calls, regarding disabled vehicles, stuck in snow. In at least two of the four fatal crashes in the state, as a result of the blizzard, drivers lost control of the vehicles and were not wearing seatbelts. The 68-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man were thrown from the vehicle upon impact. “There’s no one single theory as to why people don’t wear seatbelts but everyone should understand the purpose of the seatbelt,” says Virginia State Police spokesperson, Corinne Geller. “Seatbelts are there to hold you in place, no matter what happens to your vehicle,” she adds.

Even more severe weather is predicted for the next few days across the East Coast and is expected to flow right into the holiday highway rush. According to AAA, nearly 80 million drivers will travel at least an hour or more, during this holiday season. It is without question that a lot of those drivers will have children onboard. While your time on the road may differ slightly more or less than someone else, if you have children in the vehicle with you, there are safety precautions you should not ignore. For some, it’s no big deal to let your child fall asleep on someone’s lap or take a nap on the floor of an SUV or minivan but that’s a temptation you should ignore and use your better judgment, according to Geller. “I can’t tell you how many accidents our officers have investigated, where they have to tell parents their children did not survive the crash,” says Geller.
Wearing a seatbelt isn’t the only safety precaution drivers should consider before taking off to get to grandma’s house for Christmas or the New Year. As you pack your suitcase and holiday gifts, AAA and Virginia State Police recommend a few vital items no one should be on the road without, especially in the winter.

In addition to coats, gloves and hats, your winter road survival kit shoud include;
• Flashlight with fresh batteries

• Blankets

• Booster cables

• Warning device, such as flares or reflective triangle

• Small bag of abrasive material, such as sand or cat litter

• Cloth or a roll of paper towels

• Small shovel

• Cell phone

• Can of de-icer

• Ice scraper

• Hand-warmers

• Cell phone car charger

• Get plenty of rest before the trip

• Bottled Water

• Snow Boots

• Booster/Car seat for children

You can call #77 from your cell phone for help if you have trouble in Virginia. You can also check Virginia road conditions by calling 511 from your cell phone.

Holiday Shoppers on a Budget, Criminals on a Mission

A woman who thought she was just giving directions to someone became a crime victim in a matter of seconds. Reportedly, when 22-year-old Julia Corker of Tennessee started talking to a young man at a busy intersection around 9:30 p.m., another man approached her Chevrolet Tahoe and ordered Corker out. Corker, the daughter of Sen. Bob Corker (R), Tennessee did not move fast enough for the criminals. According to Todd Womack, the senator’s chief of staff, the carjackers grabbed Corker by the neck and dragged her out of the SUV.

Thankfully two things happened that brought about quick relief. The senator’s daughter sustained minor injuries and police say a Global Positioning System led officers to a strip mall in Maryland. The two suspects, 25-year-old Steven Alston, of Northeast, DC and 22-year-old Dewalden Connors of Maryland, were sitting in the vehicle. They are being held in a Maryland jail and await extradition to Washington, DC. Both face charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and unarmed carjacking.

  

The timing of the crime and technique is a teachable moment for everyone, especially as millions of shoppers hit malls across the country buying holiday gifts. “All criminals look for two things, an opportunity and people they view as easy targets, says Baltimore City Detective, Donny Moses.

The holiday season likely rolls out easy targets with valuable merchandise. The National Retail Federation predicts the average shopper will spend around $682 on family members and friends. Maple Morgan, 34, has a holiday list and a budget. “I plan to spend about $500 this year,” says Morgan. Morgan also has a plan to ensure her gifts safely make it from the mall to her home. “I usually shop with a group of friends because it’s a lot of fun and it also protects you from being robbed,” says Morgan. Her holiday precaution is in-line with a list of safety measures police suggest everyone considers, as they are out and about buying presents.

Just as you scour retail stores, strip malls and outlets looking for a great sale, criminals think the same way. “If you exit a store with a bunch of bags in your hand and you are trying to search for keys and talking on a cell phone, what you’re giving a criminal an invitation,” says Moses. Another way to ward off robbers is to not toss shopping bags on the backseat of your vehicle and make multiple trips to stores. “Lock those gifts up in you trunk,” says Moses. “We have a lot of problems with people getting their cars broken into because they leave valuables exposed,” he adds.

Like many shoppers, Morgan may find herself alone as she narrows down her holiday to-do list. For that she has a plan too. “If I’m alone, I usually ask a mall security officer to escort me to my car,” says Morgan. “I’m more cautious about being safe around the holiday season because I think that’s when criminals are out looking to take whatever they can because they know you have money and gifts.”
“I usually shop with a group of people for two reasons. I have a lot of fun with friends and it also adds an extra layer of protection,” says Morgan.

All of the shopping safety tips seem simple and self-explanatory but with all of the distractions, holiday cheer and energy that consume millions around this time of year, the basics are easy to forget. In many cases, as with the recent carjacking in the nation’s capitol, losing sight of being safe can quickly become costly.

Please forward all comments about this story to Maniko Barthelemy at newsheels@gmail.com.

'Tis the Season to be Careful

Coming up Monday, find out how you can avoid being an easy target for robbers this holiday season.

Leave the Fuss Out of the Food

Thanks for logging on to Newsheels. It's time for all of us to grab a plate and pile it with what we want and honestly, a lot of what we don't need to eat. However, you can't beat some of the best seasoned food and perfectly baked cakes and pies that take all year to plan. Aside from filling your stomach, treasure the Thanksgiving moments, conversations and comedic acts your family is guaranteed to deliver. Of course, we all have that one clown in the family, the one who refuses to get a real job or career, then there's the family know-it-all, the aunt whose food goes untouched because it's bland or just plain nasty, mix them all up and you have the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

 

Food, fun and family all together, give us a raw peek into our family tree like nothing else. While there are so many ways we desire to change people in our genetic pool we view as educationally, financially or emotionally broken, this isn't the time to remind anyone of their failures. Thanksgiving should be about highlighting God's grace, speaking positively about and to everyone. For many it's a lot easier said than done but it's certainly not impossible. Some of the best ways to keep issues from erupting is to give everyone something to do, take lots of photos but let the kids act as photographers, tell funny stories, eat yourself silly, play games with the kids, watch football and sleep. Once you do all of that, there's no room for fussing or feuding.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Maniko Barthelemy

Interesting, Intriguing and Pleasing Indianapolis

Midwest City Full of Swagger and Satisfaction

Why are you going to Indianapolis? My four friends and I were asked that question every time we told someone where our 8th annual “Waiting to Exhale Trip” was going to take place. We are a melting pot of cultures, which includes New Orleans, Los Angeles and Jamaica. We brought with us our traditions and expectations for everything from food to entertainment, scenery and shopping. Indianapolis is nothing like Miami, Chicago, New York or Vegas, which are all places we’ve been in the past. However, it should pop up on your radar as a vacation spot because Indy offers everything many popular cities offer but the Midwest twist is at a more relaxed pace. Imagine Baltimore minus terrible traffic and its famous waterfront and you have Indianapolis. There is enough to do in the city to hold your attention, respect your wallet and satisfy your appetite.

The main strip in downtown Indianapolis is South Meridian Street. In a four block radius you’ll find a three level shopping mall, five night clubs, a comedy club and at least ten restaurants, some local and others chain restaurants. Hotels dot the strip as well. The Homewood Suites hotel, however, is likely the best option because the rooms are spacious with two full beds, two flat screen TVs, a mini-kitchen, sofa bed and free wireless connection. The hotel is only three years old. It has a computer room for guests, an indoor pool, laundry room and restaurant, which serves continental breakfast every morning.

Our happy shopping feet took us to The Circle Centre shopping mall. It is directly across the street from Homewood Suites. The mall has three levels and whether you want to splurge or sporadically shop, you’ll be pleased. Flagship stores like Nordstrom, Express, Coach and Ann Taylor, as well as the trendy stops like Forever 21, The Gap and Bakers Shoes are all tenants.

The city’s service industry deserves a salute. During our four- day visit, we noticed at every store and restaurant, staff members embodied the perfect balance between helping customers and doing their jobs in a respectable way. “The clerks in the mall knew how to help you without being overbearing,” says Natalie Bell, a California native. “There’s nothing I hate more than being followed around in a store,” she adds. During a shoe shopping trip at Nordstrom, a store clerk overheard our conversation about finding a great steakhouse. He called and personally made our reservation at St. Elmo. It’s a staple in the city for its Italian roots and steak recipes that are superb.

The white table cloth, brown leather chairs and carpeted private room steakhouse restaurant, where servers wear suits and bow ties could likely battle it out with any Texas steakhouse. The steaks were cooked exactly the way they were ordered, seasoned with the perfect blend of salt, pepper and house secret seasonings and their famous shrimp cocktail is not for tourists with a mild palate. “Oh my goodness that cocktail sauce was good but it was very hot,” says Johnette Dillon, a New Orleans native. If you can’t finish the food, like Dillon was unable to put away her T-bone steak, servers personally box up your leftovers.

Maxine’s Chicken and Waffles is another tasty Indy surprise. The restaurant’s menu, flavor and atmosphere prove you don’t have to have roots southern roots to know how to hit someone’s soul food spot just right. “We usually notice when people are full and satisfied here because they just lean back in their seats,” says Donniece Owens, restaurant manager. “We just put together a bunch of our family recipes in a book and we cook from that book only,” adds Owens. The strawberry waffle, with peach homemade butter and deep fried chicken wings was just as good as the fried catfish and collard greens. Of course, you can’t go to a soul food restaurant without grabbing a serving of homemade peach cobbler.

The crust on the cobbler kept its consistency, even after being reheated twice. The one-year-old restaurant is a family business that prides itself on cooking everything fresh and being able to give customers great tasting food without using pork products, a seasoning kick usually put in soul food dishes. They have a very diverse staff and the restaurant is about 10 minutes away from downtown. “I just love their salmon croquettes,” says Natalie Bell, a California native. “It’s been a real long time since I’ve had that and Maxine’s fried green tomatoes were just excellent. I’d definitely go back,” she adds. We ate at Maxine’s Chicken and Waffles two of our four days in Indianapolis.

After eating at some of the best restaurants in the city, we definitely had to experience Indy’s nightlife. Howl at the Moon is a combination of a piano and karaoke bar. Customers enjoy bar food, drink and give staff a tip to play and sing their favorite song on a piano. There’s nothing like hearing R. Kelly hits and seeing the crowd go wild and keep the energy flowing, when it’s time for a string of hits by the Dave Matthews Band and Lee Greenwood. For some songs, there’s a full band with a guitarist, violinist, drummer and trumpet player who accompany the pianist.

As for actually dancing to music, the Saturday spot as recommended by locals is Blu. The club is setup rather interesting because when you walk in you are essentially on the intimate dance floor. There’s little seating available, unless you shell out some VIP cash for access to one of the two upper rooms. However, for what Blu lacks in traditional club design, its DJ, DJ Limelight makes up for with his ability to mix, scratch and infuse hip-hop, reggae and 70s hits. “I loved the music but I could only stand for an hour,” says Bell. “The DJ was great,” says Tanassa Wilson, a California native. “His (the DJ) mixes of throwback hits and some of the hottest music from Lil Wayne to Jay Z, Beyonce and Ludacris definitely put Indy on the map in my opinion. I enjoyed myself,” she adds.

After every party comes the after party. For our group that meant winding down at a local spa. The Villa is about a 10-minute drive away from downtown Indianapolis. Our one-hour services of body scrubs and massages were comparable to spa treatments in New York, Chicago and Houston. The spa in Indy however, is an old restored Victorian house that also has a quaint restaurant, where we enjoyed their delicious spicy shrimp and pasta dish. “I really like the spicy shrimp dish. It’s the best food I’ve had in the Midwest,” says Dillon.

On a scale of one to 10, Indianapolis gets a nine. “The residents were very nice here and that blew me away because they were a lot friendlier than people in places we’ve been in the past,” says Tanya Evans, a native of Jamaica. “The city certainly had a hometown feel to it and I love that because when you’re on vacation you want to feel like the people in the city want you in the city,” says Bell.

If smoking in public places was prohibited, Indy would be perfect in our vacation book. A souvenir shop in the mall or on the strip downtown is also something we did not find, so we were limited to what was available at the airport.

The group photo appears courtesy of Scott Romer Photography, http://www.scottromerphoto.com/.
Please forward all comments about this story to newsheels@gmail.com.

Small-Business Owners Invest in Big Picture

Eyesore Becomes Center for Education and Entrepreneurs

A building that was once a neglected neighborhood pharmacy, eyesore, as well as a hangout for unemployed men who spent their days on milk crates, is giving a New Orleans neighborhood a needed, new and improved look. The old, beige, dull and depressing building with a tattered roof and crumbling façade has been replaced by a brand new green and yellow concrete building that is part office and part community center. At the intersection of North Galvez Street and Piety Street sits the Entergy Innovation Center. “Small businesses are the backbone of the city,” says Connie Jacobs, owner of Unlimited Communications. Unlimited Communications sells cell phones and serves as a bill-pay center for residents.

Jacobs is filling a gap for many residents who have returned to the Upper 9th Ward neighborhood. “A lot of people who moved back to this area did not have cars or checking accounts, so they had a lot of trouble getting their utility payments out to companies on time,” says Jacobs. Jacobs and her daughter Darryl Jacobs-Lumpkins, owner of Lollipop Boutique are two of the first small-business tenants in the center. There’s room for at least six and the center opened over the summer. “I wanted to help the neighborhood re-establish itself and become a better place for not just residents but business owners as well. A lot of businesses that came back after Hurricane Katrina ignored this area,” says Jacobs-Lumpkins. Her boutique sells children’s clothing and shoes.

The overall goal of the center is to serve as a business connector and provide self-help services like free financial seminars, computer literacy courses and job training sessions. Through a partnership with educators, volunteers and business owners, the center can set a tone of self-reliance in a part of the city where Katrina’s baggage is still ever present. It’s not out of the ordinary to walk down a block and find trees sitting in the middle of the road or see homes leaning to the side, as if they’re waiting for a strong wind to topple them onto the ground. Still, none of it deters or distracts those who believe the community deserves a fair chance at reshaping its image. “We partnered with community groups and activists in the neighborhood to make sure that what was coming to the Entergy Center met the needs of the people, not necessarily the business owners,” says Jo Ann Minor, building manager and business consultant.

A combination of funds from grants and local businesses helped cover the cost of the facelift to the former Galvez Pharmacy. The center’s vision and design were developed by The Idea Village, a local non-profit agency. Business owners like Jacobs, the first to invest in the area received discounted rent for one year. It’s a financial incentive for her that was necessary and one she certainly appreciates. Hurricane Katrina wiped out all four of Jacobs’ telecommunications stores that were spread throughout the city. She’d been in business for more than 20 years. She spent two months living in Atlanta following Hurricane Katrina.

“We got here and nothing was standing,” says Jacobs. These days, she’s reaping the benefits of her decision to return home and is optimistic about the future.“Business is good,” says Jacobs. “I hope the city comes back and more entrepreneurs hire local people,” she adds.

Minor believes business owners like Jacobs’ may shift the focus and serve as an encouraging symbol for those uncertain about returning to New Orleans. To fill the open rental slots and get the word out, Minor is a walking advertising machine for the center. “I go out to the bus stop that’s right outside our door and I tell people about what we have going on here at the center,” says Minor.

Please forward all comments about this article to newsheels@gmail.com