Post office to be named for hero who saved people during mass shooting

Congresswoman Elaine Luria (VA-02) today announced that her bill naming a Virginia Beach post office after Ryan Keith Cox has been signed into law .

A White House official notified Congresswoman Luria Wednesday evening that the President signed the bill after swift bipartisan and bicameral passage in the House and Senate last month.

Now law, the bill honors Cox, one of 12 people killed in the shooting. According to witness accounts, he sacrificed his own life to save colleagues during the shooting. Rejecting coworkers’ calls to take refuge, Cox stood his ground in a hallway and said: “I’ve got to see if anybody else needs help.”

“Virginia Beach and our entire Commonwealth will never forget Keith Cox’s courageous efforts to save his fellow Virginians,” Congresswoman Luria said. “The post office building will serve as a permanent reminder of his bravery and sacrifice. It’s an honor to recognize a true community hero.”

Located at 2509 George Mason Drive, the currently unnamed post office will be known as the Ryan Keith Cox Post Office Building. The full Virginia congressional delegation supported the legislation.

99-year-old Tuskegee Airman awarded five overdue WWII medals

99-year-old Thomas Franklin Vaughns served in the Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1946 as a mechanic for the Tuskegee Airman and was also later drafted into the Korean War.On August 21, 2019 Vaughns received five long overdue military medals.

Once a custodian, he's now a principal

From school custodian to principal. That's the trajectory for 38-year-old Michael Atkins, the new principal at Stedman Elementary School in Denver, Colorado.

1st African American named Nevada Guard’s adjutant general

60-year-old Brig. Gen. Ondra Berry; a 32-year veteran of the National Guard has been named as Nevada’s first African-American adjutant general in its 154-year history.

Gov. Steve Sisloak announced Berry’s appointment on Monday.

He says Berry's exemplary military experience combined with his background in senior leadership roles in law enforcement and business gives him an invaluable perspective on the qualities and skills necessary for the job.

Berry served 25 years as a Reno police officer. He retired as assistant chief in 2005 and became senior vice president for diversity and inclusion at MGM Resorts. He’s been the Nevada Air Guard’s assistant adjutant general since 2015.

Berry says he’s honored and humbled to be selected to replace retiring Brig. Gen. William Burks effective Sept. 1.

Kawhi Leonard & L.A. Clippers Donating One Million Backpacks To Southern California Students

Kawhi Leonard, the L.A. Clippers Foundation and non-profit community partner Baby2Baby, announced this morning a gift of one million backpacks intended to reduce stress on low-income families headed back to school across Southern California. Every single student in the Moreno Valley Unified, Inglewood Unified and Los Angeles Unified School Districts will receive a new backpack to start the school year. Leonard made the announcement at Cloverdale Elementary School in his hometown of Moreno Valley, and was joined afterwards by Baby2Baby Ambassadors Zooey Deschanel, Busy Philipps and Nicole Richie and Co-Presidents Kelly Sawyer Patricof and Norah Weinstein at 107th Street Elementary School in Watts to distribute backpacks in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

“My goal this year is to make a meaningful contribution both on and off the court. This felt like the right way to get started. It was important to me to make this announcement in my hometown of Moreno Valley at my former Elementary School, but the benefits this program will have across all of Los Angeles makes today even more special,” said Leonard.

In LAUSD alone, last year 80% of K-12 students were eligible for free or reduced lunch, meaning they come from a low-income family, are homeless, or are in the foster program. This gift is the largest in LAUSD history impacting every single student. It will allow hundreds of thousands of families to take the money they would spend on a backpack and use it instead on essential items like food, rent, utilities and more, which can make a major difference in a family’s livelihood. Today is the first day of school for more than 600,000 LAUSD students.

“We are overwhelmed with gratitude to the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard for this record-breaking donation to every student in Los Angeles Unified School District and beyond. Baby2Baby serves hundreds of thousands of children in poverty in Los Angeles, and backpacks are consistently one of the most highly-requested items for the school-aged children in our program,” said Sawyer Patricof and Weinstein. “For many of these children who are homeless or in foster care, backpacks not only hold their school books and homework, but also all of their personal belongings. If they have a backpack at all, it is often falling apart, and when a child does not have one, they resort to using a grocery or trash bag. The Clippers' donation will make these children feel the pride they deserve and give them the confidence they need to start the school year off on the right foot.”

“There are a lot of families throughout the L.A. region working hard every day to earn everything in their lives. This program is our effort to extend a hand to make heading back to school a little easier,” said Gillian Zucker, President of Business Operations, L.A. Clippers. “Our deepest appreciation goes out to Kawhi Leonard and Baby2Baby’s incredible network of ambassadors who walk the walk when it comes to using their platforms and voices to provide real solutions to impact the everyday lives of the people around us.”