TLCNapTown - WTLC » Tony Lamont

K & G Grand Opening… Not your average Grand Opening

Tony Lamont — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:53:29 +0000

Join WTLC on Sept 11 from 2-4pm for K & G Fashion Superstore in Castleton (82nd & Allisonville Road) for a grand opening celebration like no other! Live entertainment, food, prizes and drawings to include tickets to your favorite sporting events AND a $200 K & G Fashion Superstore shopping spree!!!! Plus shop thousands of clearance of 50%! K & G Fashion Superstore, Don't overpay for invincible. www.kgstores.com 5410 EAST 82nd STREET INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46250 317-845-4271 Open M-F 10:00am-9:00pm SAT 10:00am-9:00pm SUN 11... Read more..

Check Out First Official Photo Of Tyler Perry’s ‘For Colored Girls’

Tony Lamont — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:16:49 +0000

By Wilson Morales

Lionsgate has released the first official photo of ‘Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls,’ which will now be shown in theaters on November 5th.

From left to right: Anika Noni Rose (as Yasmine), Kerry Washington (as Kelly), Janet Jackson (as Joanna), Kimberly Elise (as Crystal), Phylicia Rashad (as Gilda), Loretta Devine (as Juanita), Tessa Thompson (Nyla) and Thandie Newton (Tangie)

Written and directed by Tyler Perry, the film is based on the stage play ‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf’ by Ntozake Shange.

The story consists of a series of poems performed through a cast of nameless women known only by a color. The characters deal with subjects such as love, abandonment, rape and abortion.

The cast includes Janet Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Loretta Devine, Anika Noni Rose, Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Kerry Washington, Phylicia Rashad, Macy Gray, Tessa Thompson, Michael Ealy, Hill Harper, Khalil Kain, Omari Hardwick and Richard Lawson.

Diddy Sued For $12 Million For Age Discrimination

Tony Lamont — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:42:34 +0000

By Hiphollywood.com

Sean “Diddy” Combs is getting sued by a woman who is known to have started the careers of many music moguls, including Mr. Take That, Take That. She wants $12 million dollars. Wow…

51-year-old Francesca Spero filed an age discrimination lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan. She’s known as the “mom” or the “auntie” of Bad Boy records, but she and the CEO had a huge falling out after she had hip surgery in 2008. She believes that she was fired for being old and disabled.

“Francesca Spero opened the door for Combs’ career and, now that she’s 51, he showed her the door at Bad Boy,” said her attorney, Laurie Berke-Weiss of the law firm of Burke-Weiss & Pechman.

Combs allegedly said she could no longer “run around” and earned too much money for “someone who could no longer keep up with his fast-paced lifestyle,” according to her lawsuit. Spero says that she was replaced by a woman 10 to 15 years younger who lacked the experience the skill set she brought to the position.

Here’s the clincher. Following Spero’s hip surgery, she does admit to checking herself into a substance abuse treatment facility in December 2008 after problems with prescription pain killers and alcohol. She told two Bad Boy employees about the matter.

A publicist for Combs states, “there are many reasons why Ms. Spero is no longer employed by Bad Boy, but age discrimination is not one of them.”

Source: Eurweb, NBCNewYork.com

IPS Considering Year-Round School Schedule

Tony Lamont — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:45:04 +0000

By Fox59.com Indianapolis — Students in the state's largest district could be going to school year round! Indianapolis Public School Board members are looking into a plan that's similar to year-round school. Meetings are planned to discuss how the new calendar year would work, before the idea moves forward. Parents would have input once a plan is created but that won't happen for a few months.... Read more..

INDy Jazz At The Airport

Tony Lamont — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:42:42 +0000

It’s happening in our atmosphere! Entertainment, shopping and dining in the airport’s Civic Plaza.

Want to show your support for the 2010 Indianapolis Jazz Festival? Head to the airport for free, pre-festival music in the Civic Plaza! Jazz fans of all ages are invited to attend INDy Jazz – an airport event to showcase local musicians from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, September 9^th. Performers include Cathy Morris, Cynthia Lane, Jan Aldridge Clark, Rob Dixon, Zach Lapidus, and others. A total of 16 musicians will play every 30 minutes and the evening will end with one great jazz session. When you arrive at the airport on Thursday the 9^th, parking is free, and you can enjoy a glass of wine or other beverages at Vinea, fresh sushi from Naked Tchopstix, a burger at the Indy500 Grill, a salad at Café Patachou, or other choices for a snack or meal. Plus, make sure to register to win two VIP passes or one of 12 tickets to the Indianapolis Jazz Fest at Optimist Park in Broad Ripple on Saturday, September 18^th. The airport is also giving away free CDs and other goodies. Mark your calendars for Thursday, September 9^th from 5 to 8pm for free pre-festival music at Civic Plaza at the airport.

It’s happening in our atmosphere! Entertainment, shopping, and dining in the airport’s Civic Plaza. Visit indianapolisaiport.com to learn more!

Will Smith, Denzel Washington Added To “Stand Up To Cancer”

Tony Lamont — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:12:01 +0000

By Hiphollywood.com Will Smith and Denzel Washington have been added to the lineup of the telethon “Stand Up to Cancer,” airing Sept. 10 at 8 p.m. across multiple networks. Stand Up to Cancer will be simulcast commercial-free on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Bio, Current TV, Discovery Health, E!, G4, HBO, HBO Latino, MLB Network, mun2, S... Read more..

T-Spot Topic – Living Hell To Living Well

Tony Lamont — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:26:37 +0000

By Cathy Holloway Hill

We’ve all been there – a place that feels like hell on earth. And we ask ourselves the same question over and over again, “why me?” Have you ever stopped to think about this continuous loop and how amazingly coincidental that it continues to happen over and over again? It’s no accident that it happens over and over again. If your thoughts and beliefs are permanently fixed on the “why”, you will never have an opportunity to investigate the “what” for your life.

Life obstacles and traumas are inevitable and they happen for a reason. The sooner we learn the lesson, embrace change, and focus our thoughts on what we DO want versus what we DON’T want, the sooner we can begin to move from living hell to living well. Change is growth, and the only want to have a fulfilling life is to be willing to grow beyond your comfort zone into a place of peace and purpose. You have all the tools you need to begin today. You didn’t arrive at this place of misery overnight, so don’t expect to feel better about your life overnight – it takes time. Sometimes God has to crash your ship (friendSHIPS, relationSHIPS, etc), in order to save your boat. Life’s rejections are God’s protection. The storms will pass; they always do. Pain doesn’t last forever unless you choose to re-live it over and over again.

The first place to begin is acknowledgement. It’s important to recognize that you are miserable and admit it to yourself. Say it out loud, cry, have a pity party, and then prepare yourself for the most magnificent transformation you can imagine. Once you have mourned and grieved your past life, your losses, failures, disappointments, and regrets, you can now begin to slowly align your thoughts around a better YOU. Begin each morning with a positive statement. It can be as simple as “I am worthy” or “I am wonderful”. Throughout the day, become more aware of your thoughts and where you are focusing your energy and attention. As you consistently focus your thoughts on positive statements, you will eventually begin to feel and experience a change in your life. I have been through tests, and I have many testimonies that this process WILL work. It has worked for me, and it can work for you too!

Please write me at cathy@chollowayhill.com for my free e-book to help guide you along. The e-book entitled, “SELF-TALK YOUR WAY TO A MOTIVATED, REJUVENATED, AND ELEVATED LIFE”, gives step-by-step instructions through-out a 30-day journey. It’s easy to follow, and it will change your live from living hell to living well! Email me today for your free e-book, and with time, effort, and consistency, you will never be the same!

IPS Teacher Went Dumpster-Diving For School Supplies

Tony Lamont — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:16:02 +0000

School 63 fifth-grade teacher Katie Nave said teachers and custodians from Carmel Clay Schools saved discarded materials for her to use in her Indianapolis Public Schools classroom. Some of the items were still in the shrink-wrap. – Danese Kenon / The Star

By Stephanie Wang

Some teachers dig deep into their own pockets. Others strike up deals with businesses to collect leftover goods. And still others scour garage sales or Craigslist.

But Indianapolis Public Schools teacher Katie Nave found another way to stock her fifth-grade classroom with gallon bags of pencils, tubs of crayons, stacks of spiral notebooks and baskets of erasers.

She went Dumpster-diving. Outside Carmel schools.

“I guess I’m grateful that they don’t want it,” Nave said. “This is my first year when I’ve been able to give every single one of my kids every supply they would need during the school year.

“They all have scissors. They all have glue. They have things a ‘normal’ school would expect.”

It was a creative — and especially effective — method for ensuring every student had the tools to learn. How effective? Nave predicts she salvaged enough basic supplies to last through the year — and maybe even into the next.

Nave’s actions raise provocative questions about waste and inequity, but perhaps more so they are reflective of what some teachers are willing to do to give their students, especially those from impoverished neighborhoods, a better chance to succeed.

Deserving kids

Nave wrote a first-person story for The Indianapolis Star’s “Our Children, Our City” series last year, detailing the struggles of her impoverished third-grade class at School 19.

It was a plea to support IPS teachers, and the community response was stunning: Donations flooded in, and the money was used to pay for books and field trips to Conner Prairie.

“People love us. We’re famous!” Nave recalled her third-graders saying.

And Nave, who now teaches at School 63, discovered a network of allies — allies who later would alert her to unwanted stashes of new and gently used supplies.

At the end of last school year, tips started streaming in about treasures among the trash. Friends who are teachers and custodians in Carmel Clay Schools had saved discarded materials from the Dumpsters. They set aside three carloads’ worth of teachers’ and students’ castoffs for Nave, who also trolled the trash bins.

“What’s the difference between throwing it away and giving it to someone who could use it?” Nave said.

Some items were still in their original plastic shrink-wrap. Others looked barely touched — former students’ names written on the front of empty notebooks. Even the used supplies were hardly worn: already sharpened pencils or slightly blackened erasers.

“She always has pencils,” said Derrick Briscoe, 10, a student in Nave’s class. “If somebody breaks one, you can ask her to trade in. You’re gonna need them.”

In her seventh year of teaching in IPS, Nave has learned not to send her students back-to-school supply lists in the summer. Too many children show up with empty backpacks, their parents unable to afford even the basic supplies.

But this year, she placed a crayon box, pencils and a glue stick on each of her students’ desks.

“These are kids who deserve everything,” Nave said. “They deserve to have a nice life at school.”

She’s still getting to know her students, but already her fifth-graders seem aware — and angry — about conditions they may face at home.

She teaches students who wear the same clothes to school every day. Students who come to school hungry. Students who don’t want to go home at the end of the day.

But at school, Nave encourages them to earn points toward pizza parties. She brings them cupcakes when their behavior is especially good and rewards students with prizes from a treasure chest at the front of the classroom.

And her positive reinforcement approach is well-received.

“With her getting along with the kids, and the kids getting along with her, they’re going to learn a lot more,” said Reginal Williams, whose 11-year-old daughter Teajha is in Nave’s class. “She’s doing her job to the fullest — plus some.”

It’s almost part of the teacher creed, said Teresa Meredith, a Shelbyville elementary school teacher and vice president of the Indiana State Teachers Association — “an unspoken culture” to go above and beyond to provide for the needs of every child.

“It would be difficult to do what you really want to do and make lessons come alive,” she said, “without putting out a little bit of cash.

“Schools just don’t have the resources.”

The district divide

And therein always lies the root of some difficult questions. IPS receives more money per student than other districts. Shouldn’t it have money for supplies? And at a time when all school districts say they are underfunded, why are Carmel schools tossing away supplies and materials?

Carmel Clay Schools Assistant Superintendent Amy Dudley said she doesn’t know where the surplus materials may have come from — or why they were in the trash.

“I think this must have had some unique circumstances to it,” Dudley said. “The teachers are not throwing out boxes of crayons at school.”

Nave may have stumbled upon donations that Carmel schools decided they didn’t need, she said. A stack of unused assignment notebooks may have been extras from a previous year.

“If she’s using them, I’m glad they’re being put to good use,” Dudley said. “She’s very innovative. She’s getting what she needs.”

But Dudley also said there’s no formal process for collecting still-useable supplies at the end of the school year, when students and teachers clean out classrooms.

A supply drive could be incorporated into pre-existing partnerships with IPS or service learning projects, she suggested, so supplies don’t go to waste.

IPS Superintendent Eugene White praised Nave’s resourcefulness but pointed out that IPS has the revenue for basic materials such as pencils and paper — particularly because some of its wealth of Title I and special education funds can be used to buy supplies.

“Sometimes the teachers don’t know the amount of money schools have for supplies,” White said. “We have to understand what materials are available to them.”

But the real issue is probably not whether Carmel wastes classroom supplies or IPS does a good job spending its extra funding. The likely cause of this particular inequity is the means of these districts’ parents.

Suburban and township school districts tend to put more of the burden of school supplies on parents. And that works — even to excess — in districts where parents have the means.

IPS, by contrast, has the second-poorest student population in the state, White said, and parents often can’t scrounge up money for markers or other basic supplies.

That’s not to say that special efforts aren’t made to bridge the gap. White praised community organizations, for example, that run the annual Backpack Attack and stock the shelves of Teachers’ Treasures.

And in Carmel, where schools are rich with parent involvement, the generosity trickles down.

Some IPS schools benefit from fundraisers led by Carmel schools. School 54, for example, has partnered with Carmel’s Smoky Row Elementary School — and a Fishers school and local church — to receive school supplies, money for field trips, winter coats and even belts, underwear and socks.

“The kids are thrilled,” School 54 Principal Julie Bakehorn said. “I don’t know if they realize that if we didn’t give it to them, they wouldn’t have it.”

Although such partnerships and organizations undoubtedly make a difference, there always will be some schools, some classrooms, some children who don’t have everything their teacher wants for them.

And there always will be some teachers who will find new and creative ways to make up that difference.

Video: R. Kelly “When A Woman Loves”

Tony Lamont — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:04:31 +0000

By Hiphollywood.com

R. Kelly takes us waaaaaaaay back with his nostalgic video for ‘When a Woman Loves’, a song featured on his album, Love Letter. Check it out.

When Should A Man Turn In His “Man Card?”

Tony Lamont — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:30:17 +0000

By Tony Lamont When should a Man turn in his "Man Card?" What action have you seen that makes you say "He is no longer a member!"... Read more..