Saturday, December 5, 2009

Family and friends say goodbye to teenagers killed in accident through social networks

An 18-year-old St. Augustine woman and a 19-year-old Jacksonville man were killed in an accident late Sunday evening.

Megan Elizabeth Bunn and Michael Jason Linder were killed in a collision on U.S. 1 near The Avenues Mall when an ambulance turned in front of the truck that Linder was driving. The accident occurred at about 8:20 p.m. Sunday.

Bunn was pronounced dead on arrival at Shands Jacksonville after being flown via life-flight from the scene of the accident.

Linder was pronounced dead at 9:20 p.m. Monday, a day after the accident. Three other passengers of the truck were hospitalized.

Shyenne Morgan, 17, is in serious condition at Shands Jacksonville; Cameron Waddington, 18, is in serious condition at Baptist Downtown; and Jonathan Rasnik, 28, was treated at St. Luke’s Hospital.

According to Florida Highway Patrol, no one in the truck driven by Linder was wearing a seatbelt.

Brian Gray, 25, the driver of the ambulance is in serious condition. Ambulance passenger Julie Raymer, 44, is in stable condition.

The accident remains under investigation. Meanwhile, friends and families of the deceased are in shock.

“She hugged everybody and kissed everybody goodbye, even our neighbors. That’s something she hadn’t done before,” said Ginny Carter, Bunn’s aunt. “I think everybody is in shock and saddened and her life ended when she was so young.”

A Facebook group has formed on the popular social networking site memorializing the teens. “Rest In Peace Michael Jason Linder & Megan Elizabeth Bunn” is the group where friends of the teens are paying their respects.

“Michael Jason Linder I love you and I miss you so much!!! You were one of my best friends!!! You always knew how to put a smile on my face,” wrote Doree Harbin, a member of the Facebook group. “You have a permanent place in my heart.”

A friend of Bunn posted a message on the message of board of Bunn’s MySpace profile.

“I’ve been crying so much the tears sting my eyes,” wrote the poster. “I can’t believe this you’re too awesome for this to happen Megan. I couldn’t sleep last night I just kept picturing you laugh because that’s all I ever saw you do when we hung out.”

Bunn describes herself on her MySpace as loving life, music, and the sound of rain.

“You’ve got to love life to have life,” wrote Bunn on her MySpace profile. “You’ve got to have life to love life.”

The group on Facebook and the live MySpace page of Bunn raise questions about the digital trail we leave after death. Different social networking sites have different content-ownership policies; therefore families may not be able to remove the content of a deceased loved one.

Facebook does not delete content and instead creates a web-memorial for deceased members.

“To reflect the reality [of death], we created the idea of 'memorialized' profiles as a place where people can save and share their memories of those who've passed," said Facebook's Max Kelly.

According to Facebook, in order to "memorialize" a profile, members are encouraged to report a deceased person's profile. Facebook then removes "sensitive" information, like phone numbers and the profile is locked up to anyone who was not already a confirmed friend. Those friends can then continue to leave messages on the “walls” in memory of the deceased.

Whether or not Facebook or MySpace will memorialize Bunn or Linder’s social network remains to be seen. In the meantime, friends and family of the teenagers will express their grief, feelings and remorse for all to see.
Ben Lightsey’s own words provide a chilling narrative for murder.

Eleven months have passed since Melissa Lightsey was murdered by her husband. In February, Lightsey pleaded guilty to murder and is currently serving a 25 year sentence in a state penitentiary. As part of his plea agreement, Lightsey went on the record to clarify the facts of his wife’s murder case.

According to Lightsey, he and his wife were madly in love. The couple was happily married with two children - Sonny and Zane. The family relied on the Lord and found support for one another through their faith.

“We loved each other very much. We told each other…all the time,” said Lightsey. “There was never a day that went by that we didn’t kiss each other, we didn’t hug each other, we didn’t love each other.”

Lightsey recalls holding hands and kissing his wife in the hours leading up to her murder.
Lightsey had no idea that he would lose control and murder the woman he loved by the end of the night.

Lightsey told detectives how comforting his wife was and how she would always tell him that no matter what happened, they would always have each other. Lightsey had no reason to believe otherwise. However, Lightsey’s rage would eventually separate the “seemingly perfect couple” forever.

“There was never an argument,” said Lightsey. “We never went to bed unhappy.”

That remained so until the night of November 9, 2008. The couple argued at a wedding reception after Lightsey discovered his wife snorting cocaine in a bathroom stall.

When Lightsey saw his wife snorting cocaine he felt “a feeling of betrayal and a feeling of a hot sizzling, I don’t even know how to explain it, just a hot fire rush up my back up through my neck up over my head and just overwhelmingly I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

Lightsey pulled his spouse out of the restroom stall by grabbing her by her hair. An intoxicated Lightsey then got behind the wheel of his 2008 Ford pick-up truck.

“I wish to God to this day that I had got a DUI or I had hit a light pole [or] run off the bridge,” said Lightsey. “I wish something would have happened to keep me from driving home that night.”

When the couple arrived home, Lightsey pulled the victim from his truck onto the ground. “I got on top of her and then I hit her. I couldn’t control myself, my heart was overflowing with rage. When I was swinging, it was not me. It’s not the Ben I’ve ever known. It’s not the Ben that my wife knew,” said Lightsey. “I grabbed her by her throat and I was shaking her head. I was trying to pull my hands away and I couldn’t.”

Lightsey took his wife to Vilano Beach to dispose of her body.

“I held her for probably 10 or 12 minutes and talked to her and just told her goodbye and told her I loved her and just held on to her,” said Lightsey. “I told her I know she’s in heaven and I know her spirit’s already left, but I wanted to hold on to her anyway.”

Lightsey said that for the next 25 years of his life in prison, his two children will be his reason to stay alive and suffer.

“[I] can’t die because of my children. Somebody’s got to stay behind and tell them exactly how beautiful and how loving their mother was,” said Lightsey.

Detectives said Lightsey’s heartfelt confession closed all of the remaining questions in the case. In 24 years and nine months, Lightsey will be a free man. He says the night of November 9, 2008 will haunt him for years to come.

“I feel like I don’t even have any more tears left, I’ve cried so much. You sit in that jail cell and I got a hundred different things running through my head,” said Lightsey. “It’s an emotional rollercoaster. I’ve been riding it since it happened.”

There were attempts made to contact both families to verify the information given in Lightsey’s confession, the families were either unreachable or declined to comment.
Local Economy Inspires Sustainability

Nick Sacia, the Executive Director of the Economic Development Council, hopes to create a more diverse economy for St. Johns County.

“Twenty-four percent of St. Johns County jobs are tourism related. This area has become heavily reliant on the tourism industry,” said Sacia. “Our main focus should be on manufacturing and corporate jobs that increase the average wage.”

As economic developers, the Economic Development Council acts as a liaison between the business community and the local government to help creat jobs.

“Generally we work with higher wage industries to bring up the average wage,” said Sacia. “This promotes a healthier business environment.”

Sacia’s goal for our area is a more sustainable economy. Sacia believes that St. Augustine needs to focus on the basics. Businesses need to do market research, make sure their costs are in-line and make sure they have a product people want.

“When the economy was going great, people could open almost anything without doing any market research and survive. But now you can’t just open up a new store in an already saturated market,” said Sacia. “We want a diversified economy so we don’t get caught in a boom-bust economy like before.”

Sandra Parks, owner of Anastasia Books and a former St. Augustine City Commissioner, has a strategy to combat the current economy.

“I may change the character of my business,” said Parks. “Streamlining my business with less overhead would be great.”

A quarter of Parks’ sales are from an emerging market, the internet. Parks’ in-store sales have steadily declined since last year. However, her internet sales are up from this time last year.

“The more books I get online, the greater likelihood is that I’m going to be able to improve my cash flow,” said Parks.

Jayne James, a manager at Shark Shack Sunglasses, said that people are not spending like they used to.

“Parking meters have significantly decreased our foot traffic,” said James. “The meters and the economy definitely attribute to our decline in sales.

Parks also thinks that the city is partly to blame for a lack in constant visitors.

“It’s a great disappointment to me that we do not have a facility that would bring visitors here year round,” said Parks. “[The city needs] a large enough center that could attract professional conferences that stabilize the economy through the lean months. The present that I think the city could give itself that would have a lasting effect on visitation in St. Augustine would be a convention center.”

Sacia agrees that a steady flow of visitors from a convention center would stabilize the economy. However, Sacia says St. Augustine must first get back to 2007 levels, and in order to do that the key is a sustainable economy.

“St. Augustine needs to reinvent itself and become an exporter of goods and products and not just a tourist destination,” said Sacia.

In the meantime, local business owners are trying to stay positive.

“Businesses are contemplating their next move,” said Sacia. “And that’s more than they were doing a year ago.”
White and Black

Kelly Anderson, 20, dates men based on the content of their character.

Anderson is just like any other Florida State University student; she is nervous about her impending mid-terms and excited for the homecoming game this weekend. What sets her apart from the majority of her classmates is that she is dating someone of a different race.

Anderson, who is Caucasian, has been dating her boyfriend Jared Terry, an African-American, for six years. Anderson attended high school in Atlanta, a city rife with racial tension.

“I don’t think that [Atlanta] was very forgiving of our relationship,” said Anderson. “Anytime we held hands in public or went on dates someone would glare at us or give us a dirty look.”

Anderson found the environment at FSU much more accepting of her interracial relationship.

“The girls that I met freshman year were much more receptive to the idea of an interracial couple than the kids back at my high school,” said Anderson.

According to Kara Joyner, assistant professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell University and co-author of a study on interracial relationships, racial prejudice regarding relationships is beginning to decrease.

"We think that's because relationships are more likely to be interracial the more recently they were formed, so younger people are more likely to have interracial relationships. This trend reflects the increasing acceptance of interracial relationships in today's society," said Joyner.

Anderson’s father doesn’t necessarily agree that America is becoming more accepting of interracial relationships.

“I dated a black woman in college and no one said a word to me about it,” said Joseph Anderson, Kelly’s father. “I’ve never understood why Kelly has caught so much flack for dating [Terry]… It could be the north/south divide.” Mr. Anderson attended Notre Dame University.

Anderson said that racial profanities have been yelled at her and that verbal threats have been made against her because of her relationship with Terry.
“Black girls used to come up to me and threaten me. They didn’t like that I was dating a black guy,” said Anderson. “The girls would actually come up to me and tell me to stop stealing from their race.”

Anderson’s brother, Kevin, 19, always supported his sister dating someone of another race.

“My parents raised us to be very open,” said Kevin Anderson. “ I never had a problem with her dating Jared. He treats her well and that’s what matters to me…I’ve gained a lot of respect for [Kelly and Jared], watching them go through some of the stuff they’ve been through.”

Anderson said that whenever someone new finds out she is dating an African-American, she feels obligated to defend her relationship.

“I always felt like I had to justify the fact that I was dating a black guy,” said Anderson. “Explain to people that he wasn’t ghetto so that they wouldn’t get the wrong idea about him.”

Anderson’s mother feels that the adversity her daughter faced for dating Terry made her a stronger individual.

“[Kelly] learned to stick up for herself at an early age,” said Nancy Anderson. “It was an emotional rollercoaster for all of us… She’d come home crying because someone would say something nasty to her.”

Anderson says the discrimination she faces almost daily is worth it.

“I want to love who I love,” said Anderson. “Not who society wants me to love.”
St. Augustine homeless have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving

Volunteers are preparing food for the homeless just in time for Thursday’s Thanksgiving Feast.

The St. Francis House shelter and soup kitchen will serve a free Thanksgiving dinner starting at 12 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

“It will be a typical Thanksgiving meal,” said Renee Morris, executive director of the St. Francis House. “We’ll serve Turkey, stuffing, gravy, dessert and all the fixings along with lots of care and love.”

St. Francis House is celebrating its 25th year in operation and will be serving its 25th Thanksgiving dinner.

Phil King, the case manager for St. Francis House, said that he is expecting close to 100 guests for dinner on Thursday.

“A lot of food is donated specifically for Thanksgiving,” said King. “We had one person donate 25 turkeys.” King added that St. Francis House has more than 40 turkeys for Thursday’s feast.

Financial support for the St. Francis House is predominantly made possible through individual donors. “We receive food and monetary donations – they’re about half and half,” said King.

Cooking for the Thanksgiving Feast began on Nov. 23.

Employees and volunteers at the St. Francis House are here to help the less fortunate by relieving hunger and suffering.

Marcus Scoggins, 57, a patron of the St. Francis House, is thankful that he’ll have a place to spend Thanksgiving Day.

“I’m thankful for this place - the people, the food,” said Scoggins.

“A lot of these people have either burnt their bridges with their families or have lost them,” said Morris. “Holidays are really hard on a lot of people – they get emotional.”

The majority of St. Francis House patrons have nowhere else to go.

“They need a place they feel safe and secure,” said Morris. “We’re all a family here, maybe a dysfunctional family, but we’re a family.”

The St. Francis House is located on 70 Washington St. If you would like to help out, call 904-829-8937.

Employees and volunteers of the St. Francis House are thankful for the generosity the community has shown for the Thanksgiving Day feast, and hopes that it will continue into the new year.

“The holidays really bring out the kindness of people,” said Morris. “But people tend to forget that we serve 365 days out of the year.”

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Assignment One

The Flagler College student who tested positive for the H1N1 virus has recovered.

All six of the students who were quarantined on-campus have fully recovered and are back attending class. According to Flagler College Administration, all flu cases on-campus have been mild so far.

On Wednesday, the college hired a firm to disinfect several of the on-campus rooms that held the quarantined students. Flagler College is also in the process of installing hand sanitizers in all of its classrooms. Many students feel the college has been very proactive in its handling of a possible H1N1 outbreak.

Since last week's case, there have been no new reports of H1N1 on campus. However, an off-campus student did test positive for the virus on Tuesday. "One male soccer player did test positive for H1N1 and that is currently the only case that we know of," said Dirk Hibler, Associate Dean of Student Services.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the college age demographic remains the most susceptible to contracting H1N1. The number of reported cases per 100,000 people was highest among people in the five years to 24 years of age group at 26.7 H1N1 cases for every 100,000 people.