Posted on 13 April 2012.
George Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Gary W. Green, Orlando Sentinel, Pool)
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Last night in West Harlem locals told Uptown Radio they were relieved by the movement in the case.
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Posted on 24 February 2012.
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A bit of advice for the unemployed – use your free time to indulge your childhood passions. Producer Andrew Parsons recently found a former graphic designer at his new job on an air crafter carrier… refurbishing antique fighter planes for the Intrepid Air, Space and Sea Museum.
BY ANDREW PARSONS
Peter Torraca restores old airplanes at the Intrepid Air, Space and Sea Museum. On a recent day, he was busy patching new skin onto a 1960s era F3H Demon. The plane was huge and barely fit the 60 foot long restoration tent on the aircraft carrier’s flight deck.
Torraca was never a navy mechanic and never worked with fighter planes. But aviation is a childhood passion of his, passed down to him from his father.
“My dad, he wanted to be a pilot. He started building model airplanes,” said Torraca. “From birth I was just surrounded with balsa dust, all the ephemera that goes along with the model aviation world.”
Torraca’s love for aviation led him to get a pilots license and buy a plane during the 20-year period he was a graphic designer. But when Torraca was out of work in 2010, he was restless. His wife suggested he volunteer at the Intrepid working on the planes. Since he had some experience already, he excelled and was hired. It was a welcomed but unexpected career switch.
“I’ve been building model airplanes since I was seven and this is a dream,” said Torraca choking up a bit. “This is a dream come true.”
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Posted on 17 February 2012.
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Posted on 16 April 2011.
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HOST INTRO: In Israel, in East Jerusalem, there’s a protest that happens every Friday . It’s a mixed group, of Palestinians AND Israelis. They’re opposing Jewish settlers who they say have unfairly moved into Palestinian homes, kicking families out. The neighborhood is called Sheikh Jarrah (shake jer-RAH). Protesters have been there every week for over a year and a half, since 2009, and one young man is turning the regular event into a business opportunity. Uptown Radio reporter Jacob Anderson recently traveled to Jerusalem, and filed this audio postcard.
A couple hundred Palestinians and liberal Israelis and ex-pats mingle and chat like old friends. The drum line in the center of the crowd is knows exactly what to do, and they do it well.
The protest has been here since the fall of 2009, when a Palestinian family was evicted from their house. Every Friday, Muhammad Baruthi is here too.
Muhammad barking from his cart
He’s 23, Palestinian, and he’s against the Jewish settlers. But he comes for another reason too: to make a buck.
Muhammad: “Two things in one. I have a job and I agree with them. And help tham”
SOT: . Sound of creaky juicer.
Muhammad is one of two juice vendors at the protest, squeezing orange juice from his portable cart. He cuts the oranges with a small knife, puts each half in the metal juicer one by one, and pulls the lever. He slowly fills a small plastic cup, which goes for 10 shekels, around 3 dollars. He doesnt squeeze juice anywhere else, just these three hours every Friday at the protest. He makes around 200 dollars each week, and says the money buys food and other basics for his nine family members.
Jacob Anderson: “What’s more important to you, money or the protests?”
Muhammad: “The protest, but I make it for them. Because it’s hot.”
Muhammad: I will stay at home. Or find a new job, new work.
Jacob Anderson: Would you like that?
Muhammad: No.
But he’s got job security for now. Life has given him lemons, in the form of Jewish Settlers, and he’s almost literally making lemonade. But he says, if it came down to it, he’d rather give up his weekly income entirely if it meant the settlers would leave.
Jacob Anderson, Columbia Radio News
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