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| | Issue #18.32 :: 03/08/2007 - 03/14/2007 | Looking back
In short, the week that was
| BY SUBMITTED TO THE METRO SPIRIT
| Children’s beauty pageants
By Bridgett Williams, NBC Augusta
Feb. 27 — More than 3,000 children’s beauty pageants are held in the United States every year. Some contestants are as young as two and others are in their early teens, but all of them come to the stage in full makeup, some with hair pieces and most wearing false eyelashes. They compete before judges for money, prizes and the coveted crown.
At a February preliminary in Columbia, S.C., for the America’s Gorgeous Girls State Pageant, it takes a lot to get the girls prepared. Many of them meet ahead of time at the hotel where the pageant is being held and purchase a room to get ready.
To compete, they need glitzy gowns and other fancy costumes, glamorous hair and makeup and coaching.
“I just love it and me and my cousin have fun all the time at pageants,” said Chelsea Parker, pageant contestant.
Chelsea is 14. Her cousin, Amber Moyer, is 10.
The girls have competed in pageants most of their lives. It’s a weekend tradition to pack up the minivan and travel to locations all over the country to compete.
“We’re taking out my western wear,” Chelsea said as she opened a tub full of yellow velvet and rhinestones. “It’s the modeling part of the pageant. Beauty is the face. Casual wear and swimwear are like the outfits,” she said, explaining the categories in most competitions.
“I got these to make me taller because I’m really short,” Amber says holding up a pair of new six-inch stilettos she’s been practicing in to go with a new floor-length, sparkling pink gown.
Chelsea is planning to start going for titles in the Teen/Miss circuit in hopes of the ultimate prize.
“I want to be Miss South Carolina,” said Chelsea.
Fender-benders dent wallets
By Navideh Forghani, NBC Augusta
March 1 — Denny Gardner repairs bumpers for a living. “They can’t handle much punishment. But the good news is the piece behind it is a safety piece. And they are as safe as they’ve ever been,” said Gardner.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety put 17 car models through a series of four low-speed crash tests at six miles an hour.
Damage to the bumpers ranged between $4,000 and $9,000. On most models, the study showed bumpers weren’t high enough, strong enough or long enough to protect expensive car parts.
But repairing your bumper cover doesn’t have to cost an arm and leg.
“There are after-market sources that make bumpers not made by the manufacturers that will work on your car,” said Gardner.
Also, buying a used bumper cover could cut your costs by half.
Deputies charge illegal immigrants
By Danielle Johnson, NBC Augusta
March 1 — Investigators say 13 illegal immigrants have been charged with using fake green cards to work at a tire company in Aiken.
Investigators got the tip in November after one legal immigrant, who lives in Aiken, tried to apply for unemployment benefits. The woman was told that she couldn’t because she worked at the Carlise Tire and Wheel Company in Aiken.
But she didn’t. She contacted the sheriff’s office and that started the investigation.
During a raid last Thursday night at the company, seven men and six women, all Hispanic and most from Mexico, were arrested.
Each was charged with fraud for using fake green cards. Two were also accused of identity theft.
Tornado damage in area
By Liz Hill, NBC Augusta
March 2 — It’s hard to believe the destruction you can see in Warren and McDuffie counties while in the air. But it gives you a better feel for just how powerful this storm was.
Most of the damage happened along Highway 278. That’s where the tornado hit hardest, on a stretch from Warrenton to Thomson. It produced winds of up to 115 miles per hour.
The tornado itself was a fourth of a mile wide, and it pretty much destroyed everything in its path.
Homes were flattened. Roofs were torn off of homes. People’s belongings were strewn everywhere. And, of course, hundreds of trees are down across these counties.
McDuffie is one of six counties that Governor Sonny Perdue has declared a state of emergency. That makes it possible for the state to free up money to bring crews into these counties and help them get back to normal as soon as possible.
Local priest speaks out
By Bridgett Williams, NBC Augusta
March 2 — An Augusta priest is speaking out about the upcoming documentary, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus.”
“I feel this is a real publicity stunt by people who claim this is a tomb of Jesus,” said Father Michael Lubinsky of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity.
Father Lubinsky says he was startled, but not shaken, by claims that the remains of Jesus have been found.
“He died, he was buried and he rose from the dead,” said Father Lubinsky. “When they claim there’s a tomb with Jesus and Mary Magdalene and other people, it’s just totally contrary to what Christians believe.”
Executive Producer James Cameron became interested in documentaries after directing the movie “Titanic.”
Now Cameron stands by his latest work, which chronicles the story behind the 1980 discovery of several coffins in a Jerusalem tomb.
The coffins are supposedly inscribed with several key names, including Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Mary Magdalene and, perhaps the most controversial, Judah, son of Jesus. But some biblical scholars and archaeologists aren’t convinced.
“What they (filmmakers) try to do is con the public into believing that you are talking about a nuclear family. When we say family tombs, these are not nuclear family tombs. So it’s impossible to tell who is related to whom simply on the basis of names,” said archeologist Joe Zias, former curator of the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. | |
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