Have you heard about Celebrity Dance Challenge? It’s Atlanta’s version of Dancing With The Stars. Local personalities have been paired with a dance partner from Dance 101. They’re already practicing, getting ready for a live competition on November 19th at the 14th Street Playhouse in Midtown.

The event benefits the Eating Disorders Information Network or EDIN, an Atlanta-based charity dedicated to preventing eating disorders. I serve on the Board of Directors for EDIN.

CBS Atlanta News is the sponsor of this event, and our own Corinna Allen is one of the dancers!

You can already vote online for your favorite celeb. Check out www.dancingforselfesteem.org!

Three sisters clung together in a closet to escape a fire in their town home  in Duluth Friday night.  Two died at the hospital.  Less than 24 hours after the fire, the third sister died from her injuries.   The sisters were ages 12, 17 and 19.  Their mother was the only one to survive.

Neighbors say the mother told them they heard the fire alarm going off.  She went down to check, while her three daughters stayed upstairs.  The oldest was told to get the phone and call for help.  By the time the mom got downstairs, it was filled with smoke.  She jumped off the second floor deck and went around to the front to open the door to try to get her daughters out. The door was locked, and the mother started screaming for help.

The three sisters were all together huddled inside a closet on the third floor.  Firefighters battled intense heat and smoke to rescue them, but in the end, their efforts weren’t enough. 

Fire officials say the fire started in a bedroom near the kitchen on the first floor.

I’m told the mom is not doing well, as you can imagine.  The dad is in the Army.  The Red Cross located him in Kuwait and told him what happened.  He is supposed to return home Sunday morning.

I’m not a parent, but I cannot begin to imagine what the mother and father are going through.  How do you say goodbye to one child, let alone all of your children?

Picture Courtesy: AP

Melanie Oudin is a tennis phenom from Marietta, GA.  Today the 17 year old won again, beating 13th seed Nadia Petrova.   So far in the U.S. Open, she upset 4th seed Elena Dementieva and 29th seed Maria Sharapova, who won the Open in 2006.

After today’s big win, Oudin talked with reporters about the match.   Oudin says making it to the end is about being mentally tough and playing smart.   In all three U.S. Open matches, she’s lost the first set and come back to win.  Said Melanie, “I don’t actually mean to lose the first set.  Sometimes,  I just start off slowly.  Maybe I’m a little nervous.  Today,  my timing was off a little.  But I just totally forgot about it,  started off the second set like it was a new match, and I started playing better.”  

In the 3rd set one point changed the game.   It was the first break of the set, and Oudin said she knew she had to do something, “I was like yeah, I’ll throw up a lob and it ended up going in so yeah, I think I was on the defensive at that point.”  And the momentum kept growing.  “I think it’s just mentally I’m staying in there with them the whole time and I’m not giving up at all, so if they’re going to beat me, they’re going to have to beat me because I’m not going anywhere,” said Oudin.

Oudin said she knew Nadia Petrova would be a tough competitor, and she’s glad she won. “Today, there were no tears because I believed I could do it.  Now I know I do belong here.  This is what I want to do. I can compete with these girls no matter who I’m playing.  I have a chance against anyone.”

I played tennis growing up and even coached a little bit.  I never dreamed of playing past high school.  It’s incredible for me to watch a local young woman who is playing in the top tier of tennis players at her age.  It’s fun watching her live her dream.  I wish Oudin all the best in this U.S. Open, and I know I’ll be watching her in years to come.

Oudin’s next match is Wednesday.

We’ve been airing stories about the Murphys all year.  You may remember they’re the family with biological and adopted children.  John and Jeanette are pretty incredible.   They’ve opened up their home and their hearts to so many children.  When I go to their home, it’s the warmest welcome I’ve ever gotten.  One by one the Murphy kids come out to greet me, some with a smile, others a hug or a high five.

Last Wednesday was a BIG day for the Murphys.  They finally moved into their new home!   A reality TV show was going to build them a new home but when that fell through, the Keenan Kids Foundation stepped in.  They’ve been raising money for more than three years to build the Murphys a new home.  Wednesday was move in day!

 

The home was built specifically for the Murphys.  There are six bedrooms and eight bathrooms.  Each Murphy has their own closet space, which is important to the kids.  The kitchen is huge, with two refrigerators and two stoves.  There’s a rec room, a dance room and a classroom.  You name it, this house has it.

Noah Murphy showed photographer Jon Goss and I around.  Take a look!   http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/20470943/?taf=lnta

Keenan Kids is still trying to raise money to cover the cost of the home.  For more information go to www.murphyhouseproject.com

On Saturday I co-emcee’d the Covington Century Bike Ride with Gil Tyree.  It’s benefits Project Adventure Kids.  It was amanzing to see nearly 2000 riders out bright and early on a Saturday.  Some of the folks were just out for a morning ride, others knew where the money was going.

Project Adventure Kids is a non-profit that helps kids in all types of situations.  PAK is the usually the end of the line for most of them. The kids are sent there through the Department of Family and Children Services or through Juvenile Courts.  Someone has given up on them.  All of them have either been abandoned or neglected, some had been physically or sexually abused or have abused someone, others are addicts.  They are all on their way to a better life. 

While I was at the PAK campus in Covington, I talked to a lot of the kids.  They impressed me by the respect they showed me, how they acted and how they treated each other.  Many of them told me had they not been sent to PAK, they would have still been doing the same “bad” things, and maybe worse.   

See for yourself.  Check out the story on PAK:

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/20200621/?taf=lnta

No matter how you slice it, the story I’m working on tonight is a heartbreaker.  

Harry and Chene Panagopoulos waited three years to become parents through adoption.  In April they got the call they had been waiting for…a little 4 day old baby girl in Florida was waiting for them.   The couple went through Adoption Support and Consultation Services of Florida or ASCS.  They were told the girl was born with methamphetamine and opaites in her system.  They were fine with that as they run a clinic that provides services to children with special needs. 

The couple arrived in Florida and told me they immediately fell in love with the baby they named Olivia Hannah Panagopoulos.  Per interstate adoption regulations, the Panagopoulos’ had to stay with Olivia in Florida until all the paperwork was complete. 

The Panagopoulos’ were aware Olivia could be taken away from them.  The only way they were told this could happen is if the birth father came foward.  The birth mother did not know who father was.  They were never told their lives could be turned upside down another way.

While the Panagopoulos’ were waiting to take Olivia home to Georgia, they took her to the doctor for a check up.  She was given a clean bill of health.  11 days after Olivia became a Panagopoulos, the couple was told to return her.  They told me they were asked to go back to Georgia for fingerprinting, still not being told there were any issues.  So they went back.  Just one day later they were told they were medically unfit to have Olivia (Chene has mild MS and Harry is a diabetic) and she was no longer theirs and there was nothing they could do about it. 

The couple was devasted.  Three months later they both still cry about the loss of their daughter.   They don’t know why this happened to them, and they don’t want anyone else to go through the pain and heartache they’ve experienced. 

The Panagopouls’ are still hopeful they’ll adopt another child, but they say they’ll never get over losing Olivia.

I contacted ASCS and spoke to Stacia Hammond.  She told me, ”this was in the best interest of the child.” When I asked her if that was the case, why was Olivia ever put in the care of the Panagopoulos’, I was hung up on.  I’m still waiting to hear back from the Florida Department of Children and Families. 

Olivia with Chene

Olivia with Harry

 

Do you have an adoption story?  Leave us a message on facebook at CBS Atlanta or friend me at Jennifer Mayerle and leave a message on my facebook page. 

I am pretty new to Twitter.  I don’t have my own account but tweet at least once a night from the CBS Atlanta station account.   I’m generally tweet about what’s happening while at work and what story I’m working on for the 11pm news.   I’ve covered a few stories about Twitter and it’s been pretty interesting to see how this new social media works.

In one story, an Atlanta City Councilman tweeted about a person who needed medical attention.  A local 911 center feared if people start using Twitter to ask friends to call 911 in an emergency, it could clog the lines and real people needing help might not get it.

And you may remember Ashton Kutcher and CNN competing to see who could be the first to get 1 million followers.  During the competition, Kutcher said he’d ding dong ditch Ted Turner if he won.   Kutcher got to a million first and a few weeks later he was in Atlanta filming a movie.  Kutcher sent out a tweet asking his Atlanta followers to meet him at the fountain at Centennial Olympic Park in an hour.   It was amazing.  Within 20 minutes, people started showing up at the fountain.  So did Ashton Kutcher and his wife Demi Moore.  They led people to a parking lot where they handed out 800 “ding dongs” to leave at the front of Ted’s Montana Grill.  People left their Hostess treat at the door and then rang a bell.  In the end Kutcher said that was a diversion and let banners drop with his Twitter name over the big CNN logo on the downtown CNN Center.http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/19458454/?taf=lnta

 

What do you think about the power of Twitter?

Ashton Kutcher

I first met the Murphy family last year, but I heard about them way before I ever met them.  I read a People magazine article in 2005 and when I moved to Atlanta I hoped I’d have the chance to meet them.  John and Jeanette are incredible.  They have four biological children and over the years they’ve adopted 24 children, most with down syndrome.  It hasn’t been an easy road the whole way.  Six children have passed away. 

Their home is filled with so much love.  You can feel it from the moment you enter the door.  On Monday I was greeted in the driveway by a few of the Murphy kids.  Mia walked me inside, holding my hand.   I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for the next few hours.     

They’ve spent 22 years in their current home.  And as the kids have grown so has the needs of the family.  They’ve added on to the home twice but the space seems to shrink.  A few years ago the Keenans Kids Foundation (www.keenanskidsfoundation.com) started raising money to build the family a new home, designed specifically for their needs.   That home is almost complete and the family can’t wait to move in!   Each Murphy will finally have their own space, there’s a classroom, a bigger kitchen, plenty of bathrooms.  You name it, this home has it!

 Here’s a link to the story:

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/19414947/?taf=lnta

Here’s a link to the first story on 10/31/08: 

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/17859433/?taf=lnta

For information on how to contribute to the huge Murphy House Project go to www.murphyhouseproject.com

 

 

Monday I did a story on a business owner in Chamblee who received an outrageous gas bill.  Paul Hsu was used to paying $600-800/month.  This bill was for nearly $50,000!  He was in disbelief.  Hsu tried calling his billing company as well as Atlanta Gas Light, who reads the gas meter.  AGL checked the meter multiple times for leaks and found nothing.  They maintained the reading was accurate.  So the billing company told Hsu he owed the $50,000.  Hsu feared he would lose his restaurant, Ocean Garden, and everything else he’s worked for in life.  Hsu called me last week, and asked me to look into the bill.  Within two days, AGL admitted there was a problem with the meter and they would be looking into it so make sure Hsu received a new, lower bill.  They issued this statement, “…the customer was incorrectly charged.  We apologize to the customer and are wokring to correct his account information.” 

On Tuesday I received an email from Hsu’s daughter.  In her email she wrote, “You saved our business — my dad can’t stop talking about it!”

Pretty awesome.  This is what doing TV News is all about.

Interviewing Paul Hsu

Memphis Lafferty

I met an incredible little boy last week, Memphis Lafferty.   He’s 3 years old,  full of energy and has plenty of smiles to share.  When Memphis was just 6 months old, he was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.  The only way doctors could save his life is by amputating all of his limbs.  Memphis gets around his own way.  In fact, he doesn’t seem to notice he’s any different from anyone else.  Once a week Memphis has physical therapy where he uses his prostetic legs.  The great part about my job is I get to meet so many neat people and I get to share their stories!

Check it out:

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/19084934/?taf=lnta