SBEC Senior Katelyn Nichols is a Next Step Magazine Super Teen

“What’s good about your day?” Katelyn Nichols often asks people she encounters.

The SBEC senior says it fosters positive responses. It is a tactic she has learned through Imagine Memphis, an organization she helped found that is dedicated to civic engagement and making a positive impact in the community. This and other accomplishments contributed to her recent selection as Super Teen for "Next Step Magazine," which helps students prepare for life after high school.

Nichols has been involved in the performing arts since age 6, when she started taking Irish step dancing and voice. She has performed in numerous school and community productions and taken acting classes in New York and Los Angeles. Last spring the Hernando teen attended the iPOP acting competition in Los Angeles and placed fifth in the Top Actor of the Year category for the 13-17 age group. She will play Dorothy in SBEC’s spring production of The Wizard of Oz under the direction of drama instructor Judy DeFrehn, who speaks of Nichols’ leading-lady and leadership qualities.

“Katelyn is one of the hardest working young ladies I have ever had the privilege of working with,” DeFrehn says. “She has a wealth of natural ability, yet she is always willing to learn more and perfect her skills. Always the team player, Katelyn is a true encourager to every member of the team.”

Her experience in theater has bolstered her confidence for community work. For Imagine Memphis, she and other participants interview civic leaders and citizens to discuss ways to improve the city. “We call it appreciative inquiry,” she says. “We ask them what they like about Memphis, and it makes them realize what’s important. It’s cool to see how that changes perspective, and people come up with new ideas.”

Nichols is also working on an appreciative inquiry project for Bridge Builders, a leadership program that provides experiential learning for youth and adults in fighting racism, poverty and educational challenges.

President of the Thespian Society at SBEC and senior-class historian, Nichols squeezes in voice and dance lessons, play rehearsals and board meetings. She is also organizing a spring talent show at the school. College is next, to study theater and journalism, but she is not sure where.

Bismarck girl cited after cell phone photos

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Police say a Bismarck teenager has been cited for being an unruly juvenile after her mother found the girl sent explicit pictures of herself to a boy through her cell phone.

Authorities say the sending of such photos, called "sexting," is becoming more widespread.

Police say the 16-year-old Bismarck girl's mother reported the incident after an argument with her daughter.

Bismarck Police Lt. Randy Ziegler says such reports are becoming more common, probably because of technology.

Jerry Seinfeld bringing reality series to NBC

NEW YORK (AP) — Jerry Seinfeld is returning to NBC as producer of a comic reality series where celebrities and a referee try to help squabbling couples make peace.

That's the good news for Seinfeld's fans.

The bad news? Seinfeld said he has no plans to step in front of the cameras for "The Marriage Ref" or, for that matter, to ever star in a television series again.

"It's a young man's game," said Seinfeld, 54. "Nothing could surpass the experience I had."

That would be "Seinfeld," of course, the sitcom that ended its nine-year run in 1998, a big part of NBC's golden era. The fourth-place network has since fallen on hard times, and jumped at the chance to welcome back one of its top names.

The idea came from personal experience.

Seinfeld and his wife, Jessica, were arguing one day — he doesn't remember the topic — while a friend was visiting. The friend became uncomfortable and wondered if she should leave.

"I said, 'You know what, I need some help to settle this right here. I need a marriage ref,'" he said, and the friend obliged.

Seinfeld helped develop the idea with a friend, Ellen Rakieten, who had just left Oprah Winfrey's production company after working there for 23 years.

Facebook to let users give input on policies

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is trying its hand at democracy.

The fast-growing online hangout, whose more than 175 million worldwide users could form the world's sixth-largest country behind Brazil, said Thursday that those users will play a "meaningful role" in deciding the site's policies and voting on changes.

Facebook is trying to recover from last week's policy-change blunder, which prompted tens of thousands to join online protests. At issue was who controls the information, like photos, posts and messages, that people share with their friends on the site.

As Facebook becomes an integral part of its users' daily lives, a place to muse about everything from relationships to root canals, they understandably worry about who gets access to their private information and whether it could end up in the wrong hands.

On Thursday, founder Mark Zuckerberg sought to reassure users that they own their information, not Facebook. And in a broader step, the company also said its users will get a hand in determining the various policies — such as privacy, ownership and sharing — by reviewing, commenting and voting on them before they are put in place.

If more than 7,000 users comment on any proposed change, it would go to a vote. It would be binding to Facebook if more than 30 percent of active users vote. Based on Facebook's current size, that would be nearly 53 million people. By comparison, a group created to protest Facebook's new terms has roughly 139,600 members as of Thursday.

"As people share more information on services like Facebook, a new relationship is created between Internet companies and the people they serve," Zuckerberg said in a statement. "The past week reminded us that users feel a real sense of ownership over Facebook itself, not just the information they share."

Fox renews 'The Simpsons' through season 22

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fox says it's renewing "The Simpsons" for another two seasons, which will secure its place as TV's longest-running prime-time series.

Now in its 20th season, "The Simpsons" already had tied record-holder "Gunsmoke." The Western drama series aired for two decades on CBS before it ended in 1975.

"The Simpsons" will pass that mark next season. The two-year, 44-episode pickup announced Thursday by Fox will bring the total number of "Simpsons" episodes to 493.

The animated comedy about Homer and Marge Simpson, their children and the town of Springfield is not only enduring but much-honored: It's received a Peabody and 24 Emmys among other awards.

SoCal aquarium blames flooding on curious octopus

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Staff at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium in California say the trickster who flooded their offices with sea water was armed. Eight-armed, to be exact.

They blame the soaking they discovered Tuesday morning on the aquarium's resident two-spotted octopus, a tiny female known for being curious and gregarious with visitors. The octopus apparently tugged on a valve and that allowed hundreds of gallons of water to overflow its tank.

Aquarium spokeswoman Randi Parent says no sea life was harmed by the flood, but the brand new, ecologically designed floors might be damaged by the water.

Hernando students to star in 'High School Drama'

HERNANDO-Hernando High School Theater students are gearing up to take the stage as the star of their own play.

Next month, the group will unveil “High School Drama,” a compilation of six, one-act plays written and directed by none other than each other.
Each play was chosen for the production from a pool of 36 judged in a student playwright contest at the school in October.

The winning plays are:

“Pretty Down to Your Bones” by Leerin Campbell. The play has been granted permission to use music by “The Hush Sound,” an Indie quartet originating in DuPage County, Ill. The name of the play is the title of one of the quartet’s songs.

“First” by Karina Popp is a reflection of four different people’s perspective of their first kiss. The play features James High, an HHS chemistry teacher who was heavily involved in his high school theater some 20 years ago.

“Judgment Day” by Amber Sims. The play takes place in a courtroom setting and is loosely based on Biblical characters Adam, Eve and the serpent, who were at fault from taking from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Book of Genesis.

“Principles of Enforcement” by Justin Veech is a parody based loosely on three HHS principals.

“Kiss by the Book” by Kylee Chisolm. The play takes place in a classroom setting and tells the story of two students who perform a piece from “Romeo and Juliet,” and through the words of Shakespeare, find true love themselves.

“Mr. Huxtable’s Super, Fantastical, Wonderous Adventure” by Brandon McAninch is a Monty Python genre production full of silly antics and intelligent humor.

The plays will be performed in the student titled “High School Drama” production March 5-7 at Hernando Performing Arts Center on the HHS campus. Performances begin at 7 p.m.

Woman hangs by armpit above 50-foot cliff

A dog takes off after an animal causing the dog's owner to slip and fall off a cliff.
WPTZ's Stewart Ledbetter reports.

Nick Mitchell has 'American Idol' judges laughing

NEW YORK (AP) — "American Idol" hopeful Nick Mitchell didn't win over the judges with his singing, but his over-the-top style clearly qualified as comedy.

Mitchell left the judges laughing and nearly speechless Wednesday after he wailed a show-stopper from the musical "Dreamgirls." He came on as the flamboyant alter ego he has christened Norman Gentle.

Simon Cowell called the performance "atrocious" and "horrific," and his three fellow judges didn't argue.

The acerbic Cowell had no kinder comments for Matt Giraud: "verging on a horrible performance."

And Jeanine Vailes moved the gentler Randy Jackson to say that her performance's "best part was the end, when it was over."

But all wasn't lost.

Red-haired, full-throated Allison Iraheta wowed the judges.

"This is a funny show tonight," marveled Jackson when the 16-year-old Los Angeles native was done. "First, we had comedy, we got some bad singing. You just blew it out the box!"

"From now on, you can be sure you're great," raved Kara DioGuardi.

On Wednesday's live broadcast, the second group of 12 contestants were vying to be among this season's dozen finalists. The night's top three vote-getters will be revealed on the Fox series' Thursday episode.

Injured good Samaritan ticketed for jaywalking

DENVER (AP) — A good Samaritan who helped push three people out of the path of a pickup truck before being struck and injured has gotten a strange reward for his good deed: A jaywalking ticket.

Family members said 58-year-old bus driver Jim Moffett and another man were helping two elderly women cross a busy Denver street in a snowstorm when he was hit Friday night.

Moffett suffered bleeding in the brain, broken bones, a dislocated shoulder and a possible ruptured spleen. He was in serious but stable condition Wednesday.

The Colorado State Patrol issued the citation. Trooper Ryan Sullivan said that despite Moffett's intentions, jaywalking contributed to the accident.

Moffett had been driving his bus when the two women got off. In the interest of safety, he got out and, together with another passenger, helped the ladies cross.

Moffett's stepson, Ken McDonald, said the driver of the pickup plowed into his stepfather, but not before Moffett pushed the two women out of the way.

When he awoke in intensive care, he learned of the ticket. "His reaction was dazed and confused. I was a little angry," said McDonald.

10-year-old designated driver crashes car

After a 10-year-old crashes a car into a house, her grandfather is charged with drunken driving. WBNS' Glenn McEntyre reports.

Obama tells nation: 'We are not quitters'

WASHINGTON (AP) - To a nation reeling from recession and facing long-festering problems, President Barack Obama has a simple reminder: "We are not quitters."

Whatever the problems, the new president promised in the first prime-time speech of his term, "We will rebuild, we will recover and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."

Click for full story

Octuplet mom fears hospital may not release babies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nadya Suleman apparently has bigger worries than taking care of her 14 children. Talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw says she may have to prove she can handle the load, or else have hospital officials withhold her newborn octuplets.

McGraw said the 33-year-old unemployed mother called him Tuesday, distraught that Kaiser Permanente officials told her they were concerned about the babies living at her home in suburban Los Angeles.

"What she is telling me is that unless and until she has a better living arrangement, that they are not likely to release the children to her," McGraw told the Los Angeles Times.

Suleman has taped two episodes of McGraw's "Dr. Phil" show. The first was scheduled to air Wednesday.

Suleman gave birth to the octuplets Jan. 26 in Kaiser's hospital in nearby Bellflower. She has six other children, lives in her mother's three-bedroom home in Whittier and relies on food stamps and disability income to provide for them. The home is under threat of foreclosure and could be sold at auction beginning May 5 because Suleman's mother is $23,225 behind in her mortgage payments, property records show.

Kaiser officials declined to comment on Suleman's case.

"Any conversations that the mother may or may not have had on this topic are private and we could not discuss them," said Kaiser spokesman Jim Anderson.

Just a joke: Cowell has no deep-freeze plan

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A spokeswoman for Simon Cowell says reports that the "American Idol" judge wants to be frozen after death are greatly exaggerated.

Cowell was making a tongue-in-cheek remark at a dinner in London two weeks ago with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other guests, spokeswoman Lisa Dallos said Tuesday.

But the cryogenics comment that Dallos said was meant as a joke was trumpeted in a number of news reports as a serious plan by Cowell, a music industry executive and TV producer ("America's Got Talent," Britain's "The X Factor").

Schwarzenegger to play himself in Stallone film

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Art will imitate life when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spends a few hours playing himself later this year in a movie by Sylvester Stallone.

Stallone's publicist, Sheryl Main, revealed more details Tuesday of Schwarzenegger's rare big-screen appearance. The governor said he has done just three cameos for friends since becoming governor in 2003.

Shooting on the film, "The Expendables," will begin March 28 in Brazil and move to New Orleans for two months. Main says the governor will shoot his scene in Los Angeles.

His role will be a familiar one: California governor.

Stallone writes, directs and stars in the movie, a film about a group of mercenaries trying to overthrow a South American dictator. It also stars Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke and Forest Whitaker.

9-year-old bride walks down aisle in Texas

Family and friends gathered to celebrate the wedding of 9-year-old Jayla Cooper, who is battling leukemia. Click for video.

Indian woman accused of selling baby for $130

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) - A 20-year-old poverty-stricken woman has been charged for selling her newborn baby boy, police in southern India said Tuesday.

The woman allegedly sold her child for 6,500 rupees (about $130) to an auto rickshaw driver because she wanted to marry someone else after the child's father abandoned her, according to police.

Prakash Jadhav of Khammam district police in Andhra Pradesh state, told CNN that the child's buyer had also been charged.

If convicted, both the woman and the driver face up to 10 years in prison, Jadhav said.

Man tries to steal laptop to check Facebook

Sheriff's officers said a 19-year-old man snatched a Starbucks customer's laptop after being told he could not use it to check his Facebook account. According to officers, the man then grabbed the customer's laptop and ran out of the coffee shop, located in an outlet mall.

Two people in the parking lot tackled the man and held him there until a mall security guard arrived. The victim got his laptop back and the man was charged Saturday with robbery by sudden snatching, a felony.

Clooney meets with Obama to discuss Darfur trip

LOS ANGELES (AP) — George Clooney apparently had a good reason for skipping out on Oscar night: He had a meeting with President Obama.

The Oscar-winning actor appeared Monday on CNN's "Larry King Live" and spoke of his visit earlier that morning with Obama to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.

Clooney said he told the president of his visit to camps in Chad where 250,000 refugees live, but he downplayed the risks he took to witness the suffering first-hand.

"I don't think people should be going there and coming back and saying how it affected them," Clooney told King via satellite from the White House lawn. "I think somehow we should all know that these people are hanging on by the skin of their teeth."

Clooney, a U.N. Messenger of Peace, said he asked the president to appoint a full-time regional envoy who reports directly to the White House, and to ask China to set aside its business interests in the region and pressure Sudan to prevent atrocities.

The refugees need "what we do best, what we have done best since the start of this country — which is good, robust diplomacy all across the world," he said.

Clooney said he delivered 250,000 postcards gathered by the Save Darfur organization to the president and Vice President Joe Biden. The actor said both were receptive.

FBI, police rescue child prostitutes in Ohio, US

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has rescued more than 45 suspected teenage prostitutes, some as young as 13, in a nationwide sweep to remove kids from the illegal sex trade and punish their accused pimps.

Over a three-night initiative called Operation Cross Country, federal agents working with local law enforcement also arrested more than 50 alleged pimps, according to preliminary bureau data.

The operation involved authorities in more than two dozen cities, including Cleveland and Toledo in Ohio.

The teenage prostitutes found in the investigation ranged in age from 13 to 17.

"The goal is to recover kids. We consider them the child victims of prostitution," said FBI Deputy Assistant Director Daniel Roberts.

"Unfortunately, the vast majority of these kids are what they term 'throwaway kids,' with no family support, no friends. They're kids that nobody wants, they're loners. Many are runaways," Roberts said.

Candy wrappers lead cops to burglary suspects

Police say a trail of candy wrappers helped them find five Florida teens suspected of breaking in to a nearby home.

Officers responded to a burglary report Tuesday in Palm Bay on Florida's central Atlantic coast. An officer then followed a trail of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups packages in the backyard. The officer noticed another wrapper on the front porch of a house near the victim's home.

Officers found several juveniles at the other house. Police say the teens confessed to the burglary and informed officers that the stolen property was in the attic.

Three of the teens face armed burglary charges and two others face charges of resisting arrest without violence and tampering with evidence.

Player's heroic tale a fib

Cleveland's David Dellucci told reporters he was hurt saving his boy from an alligator. Click for full story

Bollywood triumph: 'Slumdog' claims 8 Oscars

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood has met Bollywood at the Academy Awards, and the makers of Oscar champ "Slumdog Millionaire" hope it's a sign of future melding between the U.S. dream factory with its counterparts in India and elsewhere in the world.

A tale of hope amid adversity and squalor in Mumbai, "Slumdog Millionaire" came away with eight Oscars, including best picture and director for Danny Boyle.

The low-budget production was a merger of India's brisk Bollywood movie industry, which provided most of the cast and crew, and the global marketing reach of Hollywood, which turned the film into a commercial smash, said British director Boyle.

"We're Brits, really, trapped in the middle, but it's a lovely trapped thing," Boyle said backstage. "You can see it's going to happen more and more. There's all sorts of people going to work there. The world's shrinking a little bit."

It was a theme Oscar voters embraced through the evening with other key awards honoring films fostering broader understanding and compassion.

Sean Penn won his second best-actor Oscar, this one for playing slain gay-rights pioneer Harvey Milk in "Milk," while Britain's Kate Winslet took best actress for "The Reader," in which she plays a former concentration camp guard coming to terms with the ignorance that let her heedlessly participate in Nazi atrocities.