JOPLIN, Mo. -- It was a label they sought both to embrace and avoid, a refrain overheard in whispers or uttered bluntly at soccer games, summer camps and national academic competitions: Here come the tornado kids from Joplin. For the 428 members of Joplin High School's Class of 2012, Monday night's graduation – featuring a commencement speech by President Barack Obama – caps a senior year marked by tragedy, turmoil and perseverance. The president will visit southwest Missouri the day before the anniversary of the country's deadliest single tornado in six decades. The May 22, 2011, twister killed 161 people, injured hundreds more and destroyed thousands of buildings, including Joplin High. Five other Joplin schools were also destroyed, with four more among the damaged structures. ... Continue reading →
In this photo taken Tuesday, May 8, 2012, the ruins of the former St. John's Regional Medical center stands in Joplin, Mo. Destroyed by an EF-5 tornado nearly a year ago, the hospital is in its third temporary facility while construction continues on a new replacement a couple miles to the south. Charlie Riedel, Associated Press JOPLIN, Mo. — One year after the deadliest tornado in decades hit southwest Missouri, the images remain indelible. A bombed-out hospital, its top floors reduced to grotesquely twisted metal. The smiling face of a newly minted high school graduate, a YouTube sensation in both life and death. Thousands of flattened homes and businesses, 161 dead and hordes of volunteers from across the country who arrived to help within hours ... Continue reading →
NEW YORK (AP) -- Don't try to friend MaLi Arwood on Facebook. You won't find her there. You won't find Thomas Chin, either. Or Kariann Goldschmitt. Or Jake Edelstein. More than 900 million people worldwide check their Facebook accounts at least once a month, but millions more are Facebook holdouts. They say they don't want Facebook. They insist they don't need Facebook. They say they're living life just fine without the long-forgotten acquaintances that the world's largest social network sometimes resurrects. They are the resisters. "I'm absolutely in touch with everyone in my life that I want to be in touch with," Arwood says. "I don't need to share triviality with someone that I might have known for six months 12 years ago." Even without ... Continue reading →
