Telecom slapped with large fine

UK regulators have fined a British multinational telecommunications company 800,000 pounds for not getting a new texting service up and running for the deaf by last year's deadline. British Telecommunications (BT) claimed technical difficulties prevented it from making the deadline. Read more here.

Program for deaf students in Michigan is closing

A Michigan school district is closing its program for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, reports the Press and Guide. Students will be mainstreamed, and one parent complains, "It's horrible. (My son) potentially could be the only deaf child in the school.” An online petition has been started, asking the Michigan Office of Special Education to intervene and reinstate the program. The petition has more than 2,000 signatures. Read the full story here.

Finding Beauty in Images from the Bayou

Tate Tullier calls Louisiana his home. "Known for its scenic rural areas and ghostly swamps" it's "the perfect place for an aspiring photographer to grow up" reports the Daily Reveille. LSU's student media profiles the deaf photographer and Gallaudet University graduate here.

Was Deaf woman's death part of a Suicide Pact?

The Hollywood gossip site TMZ is reporting that LA police believe the death of Wendy Blackstone, who is deaf, might have been part of a suicide pact with her sister--who is a well-known producer for TV shows like Jerry Springer and Sally Jessy Raphael. Read the full story here.

Zoombie Walk Driver pleads 'not guilty'

The deaf man accused of plowing through a crowd during San Diego's "zombie walk" last year is pleading not guilty. Matthew Pocci faces a felony reckless driving charge that could put him behind bars for as much as three years. He says he feared for his safety because people surrounded his car and some sat on the hood. Pocci's nephew, sister and girlfriend were in the car when Pocci panicked, knocking one woman to the ground, breaking her arm. He'll be officially be booked tomorrow and due back in court in May. Here's a video report from KSWB‑TV (no captions but you can read the story here).



Here's cell phone video of the accident.

TV producer gave 'inconsistent statements' about deaf sister's death

A TV producer gave "inconsistent statements" to police after her sister was found dead, investigators have told KABC-TV. We first shared the story with you on Wednesday here. Now, more details care coming to light about what happened in the Los Angeles-area home share by a Jerry Springer producer and her deaf sister. Here's KABC's video report.

Why ISIS is pitching its cause to the deaf?

Members of the terror group ISIS put out a video recently, calling on the deaf in the West to join their cause. We first told you about the video nearly two weeks ago in a post here. KERO‑TV in Bakersfield, California spoke with a deaf advocacy group and a psychiatrist to find out why the believe this is happening. (The captions don't seen to be working, but you can read the story here).

6 Weeks in Jail with no terp

A deaf homeless man spent six weeks in a Virginia jail-without an interpreter or access to a TTY. That's the claim in a lawsuit filed by Abreham Zemedagegehu. He didn't even know why he was behind bars for 24 days, the suit says. Zemedagegehu is from Ethiopia and cannot write in English. The iPad prosecutors claimed hie stole was found while he was in jail-and they still convicted Zemedagegehu. Read the full story from the Washington Post here.

More on the death of the 'Springer' Producer sister

Los Angeles Police believe the death of Wendy Blackstone was staged, according to a new report from TMZ. Wendy Blackstone is deaf and her body discovered by her sister, TV producer Jill Blackstone. The sisters lived together in the Los Angeles area. LAPD says she appears to have died from carbon monoxide from a BBQ grill. Read the full story here. Jill Blackstone has produced TV shows for Jerry Springer among others.

TV producer arrested for Murdering her Deaf Sister

A TV producer who worked on shows like Jerry Springer, Sally Jessy Raphael, Dr. Drew and Rosie was arrested on murder charges in California, according to numerous reports. Law enforcement authorities say Jill Blackstone found the body of her deaf sister, according to TMZ. However, the DA decide not to pursue changes against her at this time--though the case remains open. Read more here or watch a KTLA video report (no captions).

Deaf Couple forced to leave home after dispute with neighbor

A deaf couple in Cleveland are struggling with a neighbor who was once the head of the US Secret Service and is the former Cleveland Brown security chief. At issue, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer: pets, trespassing, dirty looks and surveillance cameras in an otherwise peaceful cluster of townhouses in Beachwood, one of the region's more wealthy suburbs." Here's a video report or you can read details here.

Suit against apartment owner settled

A New Orleans apartment owner will pay $75,000 for ignoring deaf renters. A lawsuit filed by Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center said that NOLA Apartments hung up on callers using telephone relay. The company run by Craig Tolbert has hundreds of units. Read more about the lawsuit here.

DeafNation in Orlando

DeafNation Expo hits Orlando this Saturday (March 21). Join the trade show for exhibitions and entertainment at no charge. You'll find it at the Osceola Heritage Park. Find out more here.

Idaho School For The Deaf And Blind Makes A Splash

Deaf-Blind students in Idaho hit the slopes and the pool on consecutive days. KMVT-TV has a video report.

This day in history--DPN

It was on this date 26 years ago today (March 13, 1988) that the Deaf President Now movement succeeded when I King Jordan became the first deaf president of Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.

Melissa's Implants

Born deaf in both ears, Melissa used a hearing aid for years but continued losing her hearing. She eventually decided to get a cochlear implant and here's the video results.

Deaf Woman meets Implant in College Show

image from TerryGallaway.com

The one-woman show You Are My Sunshine comes to Missouri's Columbia College Friday night. Terry Galloway "explores her experience as a deaf woman learning to hear at the age of 60" according to the student newspaper. It's free program starts at 7:30 p.m. in 's

Luke Adams: A unique college hoops career

Luke Adams is a Texas Tech walk-on guard who stands at only 5 feet 7 inches. CBS Sports says the cochlear implant wearer "gets carded at the campus bookstore. They questioned him being in the athletes' line to return his books for the semester." His college sports career is coming to a close but not his career. Find out why in a CBS Sports video profile of Luke Adams.No captions but you can read the story here.

Why is ISIS recruiting deaf people?

This past weekend we shared with you the video produced by ISIS (or the Islamic State) in which two men sign to each other and tell viewers to join the ISIS jihad. Why are they doing this? In a piece published by the BBC the Limping Chicken's Charlie Swinbourne writes, "Few organisations and groups in the UK make signed and subtitled videos to communicate clearly with deaf people, so the fact that IS have made a fully accessible video could make them seem more deaf-friendly than many who are closer to home." Read his full commentary here.

The Power of Deaf Women

Marlee Matlin appears in a new (short) video about the "power of deaf women" sponsored by DeafNation. If you want to submit a woman's story, click here.

More on the woman discriminated against at a post office

We told about the deaf woman who couldn't get service at post office yesterday. Now, WKMG-TV in Orlando has put together a video report on what happened to her and why it was "humiliating and degrading."

Inside San Francisco's Deaf Owned And Operated Pizzeria

Find out "how two determined entrepreneurs overcame the obstacles of running a business for the hearing world" to create a popular San Francisco restaurant. Read the article here.

Islamic State puts out video directed at the deaf

There's a new ISIS recruitment video out--and it shows two armed and deaf Islamic State fighters using sign. The subtitles indicate it's an attempt to demonstrate how "normal" life can be for anyone living under ISIS rule. The video suggests anyone who is deaf can join the jihad in the Middle East.

Deaf Woman: BOA refused to answer my email

A Minnesota woman said Bank of America discriminated against her because she is deaf. Kathryn Letourneau claims the bank refused to answer her email after initially doing so. While not admitting guilt, Bank of America has agreed to pay Letourneau $155,000. KSTP-TV has a video report below.

Deaf Woman Refused Service at Post Office

Lisa Curley says a friend was refused service at a Florida post office because she is deaf. Curley posted the story on Facebook this week and it has gotten many shares and likes. One of the employees allegedly wrote a note to the unnamed woman saying USPS employees didn't have to talk to deaf people and she she should "get an interpreter." The postal service says it is investigating. You can read the FB post here.

Samsung's Hearing Hands Ad

Samsung is promoting its new video relay call center in Turkey with a creative ad that gives a young deaf man a unique morning. The ad is called "Hearing Hands."

Guilty of Murder

A New York deaf man will find out on April Fool's Day if he will spend the next 25 years in prison. That's the sentence that Bismark Lithgow could get for murdering his girlfriend. A New York jury found him guilty yesterday of stabbing her and hiding her body in a 55-gallon drum. Police found it in his bedroom. “Several of us cried when it was over,” a juror told the New York Times. Read more here.

Deaf Student Allegedly Sexually Assaulted

The parents of a 12-year-old deaf boy says their son was sexually assaulted by another student in a Lodi, California public school. They aren't happy with how the school system is handling the case. KTXL-TV spoke with the victim's mother (no captions but you can read a text of the story here.

On this date in history..

On March 3rd, 1887, Anne Sullivan arrived at the Keller's home in Alabama to work with their deaf and blind daughter, Helen. Through their work together, Helen Keller would go on to become one of the most influential people in history. Below is a video about Helen Keller from Biography.com.

Contamination at Deaf School

Warning signs have been put into place around a school for the deaf and "large areas of the campus have been fenced off" according to the Press Enterprise. About 2,900 tons of soil at The California School for the Deaf at Riverside is contaminated. It contains "unsafe levels of lead, arsenic and two kinds of pesticides that have been banned for decades because of their toxicity." Find out the whopping price tag for this project here.

Shakespeare honor goes to Gallaudet

credit: Shakespeare First Folio, 1623.
Folger Shakespeare Library.

Gallaudet University has the honor of being selected as the host site for one of the world's most treasured books--Shakespeare's First Folio. The book contains 36 of Shakespeare's plays and was printed in 1623. It will travel nationwide as part of an exhibition that will visit all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Visitors to the Gallaudet exhibition will be given a variety of programs from which to choose. The a unique cross-cultural experience will combine "classic English literature, theater, American Sign Language (ASL), and the deaf community." Project Director and English professor Dr. Jill Bradbury says the school is "delighted to be selected as the D.C. host site for First Folio! Our goal is to promote a deeper understanding of Shakespeare's role in deaf theater history and to educate a broad swath of the U.S. deaf and hard of hearing community about the First Folio." Read more about this unique opportunity here
.

Gally Suit Dismissed

A discrimination lawsuit against Gallaudet University has been dismissed. Angela McCaskill was once the school's chief diversity officer. She sued, saying she had been defamed after she signed a petition at her church related to Maryland's same-sex marriage law. Read the full story at the Capital Gazette.

Deaf Driver faces charges

A deaf man who drove through a crowd at the "Zombie Walk" during last year's Comic-Con is facing a felony charge, reports San Diego's 10news. He'll be arraigned a week from this coming Monday. Here's a video report.

CI developers get major award tonight

The National Academy of Engineering is giving five of the people who played important roles in the development of the cochlear implant one of the highest awards in engineering tonight. Receiving the 2015 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize--along with half-of-a-million dollars are:

• Graeme Clark, an Australian doctor who was motivated to pioneer the first multi-channel implant by watching his deaf father struggle in his daily life.
• Austria electrical engineer Ingeborg Hochmair worked with her husband, Erwin Hochmair, to develop their own multi-channel implant in Europe, eventually starting MED-EL--one of the "big three" cochlear implant makers. 
• Blake Wilson, co-director of the Duke Hearing Center. He is strategy advisor for MED-EL and is credited with inventing many of the critical signal processing strategies used in implants today.
• Michael M. Merzenich, a neuroscientist and professor of otolaryngology at the University of California at San Francisco, established some of the fundamental design for Advanced Bionics.

A ceremony will take place in Washington, D.C. this evening. There's more information from the National Academy of Engineering here.

Captioning problems during race

Closed captioning went "insane during the Fox NASCAR broadcast" yesterday according to DeadSpin. It appears, as one commenter suggested, the files sent to the computer so it can  recognize names was place in the broadcast stream during the race. Find out more here.

Study on Implants and Age

If something goes wrong with a cochlear implant and doctors have to perform surgery again, advanced age shouldn't be a consideration as to whether to do the revision. That's the finding of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You'll find the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association here.

On this date in 1875.. a sports legend was born

Luther "Dummy" Taylor

Luther "Dummy" Taylor was born on this day, February 21, in 1875. Taylor joined the Giant's pro baseball in 1900 when they played at New York's Polo Grounds before moving to the West Coast. He was on the team until 1908, helping the Giants win their first World Series in 1905. Taylor was 16-9 that season. Overall, Taylor had 115 wins and 103 loses with the Giants. He then played with the Kansas City Royals. It was fitting because Taylor was born in near Oskaloosa, Kansas and attended the Kansas State School for the Deaf where he was class valedictorian in 1895. He played on the school's baseball team and returned to coach after retiring from professional baseball.  Taylor was buried in 1958 in Baldwin, Kansas
about 50 miles from where the Kansas City Royals now play their home games.

Opening Night at the Theater

A new play opens tonight at Deaf West Theater. American Buffalo is a "1975 drama, set in a Chicago junk shop overflowing with knickknacks and refuse" with "obnoxious male characters and aggressively obscene patter." Read a full review in the LA Times here.

Bison Season Ending

The Gallaudet women's basketball team closes out its season this weekend. The Bison play Penn State Berks on Saturday. Gallaudet had a three-game winning streak going into Friday's game against Lancaster Bible College but lost to Lancaster by a score of 72 to 62. The Lady Bison now have a record of 13-10 for the season and will need a win in the Penn State Berks game in order to get into the Landmark Conference women’s basketball tournament.

Brainstem implant testing

Deaf children who can't use cochlear implants might be helped with a brainstem implant. The Associated Press has a video report. You can read the story here.

Investigation into Sexual violence at Gally

Al Jazeera America’s conducted a six-month investigation into sexual violence at Gallaudet University. "It uncovers troubling allegations from students who said their disabilities made them targets for sexual assault; that their experiences reporting that abuse were complicated by factors like disability, race and sexual identity; and that in some cases, sexual assault was even the cause of a disability, such as depression. Read more here.

NAD sues Harvard & MIT

The National Association of the Deaf is suing the Harvard and M.I.T. over the failure of the universities to offer captioning on their online classes and other educational material--and according to the suit, what is captioned is done poorly. Read details in the New York Times here.

Implant wearer and Vince Gill

Joe Hannigan, who has a cochlear implant, got to perform with Vince Gill recently. They played together on the song When I Call Your Name in Nashville. Hannigan lost his hearing in one ear a few years ago because of a medical condition and it nearly derailed his musical career. Here's a video of the performance (no captions).

TX deaf school could be moved

If someone Texas lawmakers get their way, the grounds in Austin where the state School for the Deaf sits could be sold off to make up for budget losses. State Senator John Whitmire wants the school moved off the 67 acres of land. The Austin Statesmen quotes him as saying to school officials, “You’re sitting on some of the most expensive land in Austin.” Read more here.

Donation to Maryland Theater

A hearing looping system is going in the Maryland Theatre thanks to an audiologist and her husband. WHAG-TV has a video report.

Black ASL

In 2011 a book called The Hidden Treasure of Black ASL dealt with a seldom discussed issue--the influence of spoken black English. The Washington Post interviewed the authors to see "what’s happened since the book’s publication and what might be coming next." They say that a new study finds "black deaf families share deafness with white deaf families but typically have more in common with black hearing families." Read more here.

The 1st Gally Prez

Edward Miner Gallaudet 

On this date (Feb. 5, 1837) the man who would become the first president of Gallaudet University was born. Edward Miner Gallaudet lobbied the U.S. Congress to allow the Washington, DC school to give degrees and led it until 1910. He died Sept. 26, 1917. When plans were made to change the name of the school from the Columbia Institution for the instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, Edward Miner Gallaudet wanted the honor to go to his father, a a pioneer in deaf education, rather than himself. So the school was renamed Gallaudet College.

How Deaf Restaurateurs Communicate with Customers

One of the first deaf-owned restaurants in the U.S. uses a unique lighting system to keep their customers happy. Read about what California's Mozzeria is doing here.

Learning about Deaf Culture in Mesa

Arizona's Mesa Community College offers sign language classes and the school's student newspaper takes a look at what's being taught here.

The undisputed king of deaf hip-hop

Image from Sean Forbes video "A Song for my Haters"

"Sean Forbes is blowing up." That's what the Washington Post says about the deaf rapper. Read the profile here.

Deaf Seahawk interview

You won't see Seattle Seahawk Derrick Coleman in today's Super Bowl--he's out with an injury. But he will still be on the sidelines during the game, but not wearing the Super Bowl ring he won last year. The first deaf offensive player in the NFL tells biography.com he has it locked away in a safe. Read the full interview here.

A Deaf Mississippian Cheers For the Seahawks

Image of Derrick Coleman from Seahawks.com

One Mississippian will be cheering for the Seahawks during the Super Bowl--she's deaf just like the team's fullback, Derrick Coleman. Callie Daniels writes, "It’s a relief for me to see someone else who gets it and also shares with the public all the struggles we, the deaf or hard of hearing, have faced. No matter where we grew up or what we did with our lives, we all had the quiet stress of frantically lip-reading a person who mumbles, the cold dread of our batteries dying in middle of an important conversation and the learned endurance of listening to someone who talks to us as if we were all in a Special Education class. I snickered when Coleman said he turns off his hearing aids whenever he encountered a rude person." Read the full story of why Callie calls Coleman her hero here.

Interpreters for the deaf tell of their role

One of the students taking the Issues in Interpreting course at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf says interpreters have to be careful because "People's lives can be impacted in a devastating way" as a result of poor interpretation. Read the full story in the Democrat and Chronicle here.

School gets $1 million gift

An anonymous donor is giving one million dollars to California's Fresno State. The money is designated for helping families with deaf children who have other special needs. The money will be distributed through a program started by deaf studies professor Paul Ogden. This isn't the first gift intended to provide services for families with deaf children. The school got a $1.5 million gift and another $2 million gift a couple of years ago. And last year the Education department gave the school more than a million dollars. Read more about the most recent gift here.

How NY mayor's terp got his job

screenshot from YouTube

The sign language interpreter for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio got national attention last fall after a news conference about Ebola. New Yorkers saw Jonathan Lamberton again when the Mayor spoke about the potential blizzard that could affect the city. The Village Voice got to checking on how Lamberton got the job in the first place. Read the full story about the California native who graduated from Gallaudet and ended up getting a position next to the New York mayor here.

Are Smartphones killing off deaf social clubs?

"Before technology made things easier, sign language users would drop in to deaf clubs so they could have conversations with those who spoke the same language as them," William Mager writes. But things have changed and the producer of the show See Hear speculates as to why things have changed. Read the full story here.

Voice messages into Text

Facebook is testing a new feature as part of its Messenger app that allows you to automatically convert voice messages into text. “We already offer a feature that enables people to send voice clips to their friends without having to type out the text. Today we are starting to roll out a small test that helps people read the voice clips they receive instead of having to play them out loud,” wrote the vice president of Messaging. If the testing goes well, Facebook will make it more widely available. Read the announcement here.

School Museum packed with history

A museum at the New Mexico School for the Deaf tells the story of this institution that opened its doors in 1885. Read about the small museum packed with 130 years’ of history at the The Santa Fe New Mexican here. There's information from the school about visiting the museum here.

Hearing through your tongue

Researchers claim they have combined a Bluetooth earpiece with a retainer--a special retainer, to be able to transmit information that the brain will understand as sound. The Colorado State University team says when the wearer presses the tongue to the retainer, their device skips the ear altogether. There's a news release here. Below is a video about the "tongue mapping" research underway at Colorado State.

Meet a VSDB staff member

Chris Bo Payne loves his job at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. He tells the Staunton Virginia News, "I was thrilled by the opportunity to return to a school that had played such a big part in giving me a fulfilling life. I am now dorm monitor for students ages 8-13. I love every minute of my job." Read the full story here.

Tickets & Seating an issue in OK

Members of the Deaf community are expressing their frustration with the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The arena forces deaf ticket buyers to sit in places where they can either watch the stage or the interpreter but not both at the same time. KJRH-TV has a report on what's being done to make changes here.