Eddie Long’s New Birth Christian Academy Closes
Bishop Eddie Long’s New Birth Christian Academy is closing its doors after 18 years in operation. The private school’s 200 students learned about the school closing in a letter sent home to their parents and signed by Carlton Donald, the board’s vice-chair.
“We have operated New Birth Christian Academy for several years with substantial deficits in hopes that the national economic climate would change, however, that change never materialized,” read the letter. A few years ago the academy boasted of having one teacher for every eight students.
The school’s tuition ranged from $5,253 for New Birth members to $6,198 for non-members, according to the Atlanta Journal.
The school’s closing is just another step toward the dismantling of Eddie Long’s church empire in Atlanta. The church has laid off staff after losing hundreds of members since Long settled a sexual coercion case filed against him by four former New Birth members who were heterosexual and gay.
Additionally, Bernice King, daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, stepped down as a church elder in May. And 10 former parishioners filed a $1 million lawsuit against Long and the church alleging they lost their life savings in an investment scam.
Long, who temporally stepped down as the church’s senior pastor this month, reportedly used the school as a hunting ground for young males to satisfy his sexual appetite. In court documents, Long was accused of coercing the young men with Bible passages and plying at least two of the boys with cash, trips, gifts and cars to loosen their sexual inhibitions.
Earlier this month, the embattled preacher’s long-suffering wife, Vanessa, announced she was filing for divorce.
Solange Knowles is Off the Market
Beyonce Knowles-Carter’s baby sister, Solange Knowles, has finally found a man willing to stick around for more than a month. Okay, that was harsh. My apologies for that. But Solange has had difficulty keeping a man in the past. According to BlogXilla, Solange and her boyfriend, Allen, spent a month in Paris, France with Jules, her son from a previous relationship.
Solange posted photos from her French vacation on her blog. Since this is a gossip blog where speculation runs rampant, we wonder if Allan has a job, or if he’s sponging off of Solange who is sponging off of her sister Beyonce?
In Case You Missed It: Love & Hip Hop, Ep 6
On Monday night, VH1 aired the much-anticipated “fight” between newcomer Erica Mena and Juelz Santana’s bustdown, Kimbella Vanderhee. As with Kimbella, Erica was introduced to the cast by Jim Jones’ manager, Yandy Smith, aka Don King. It is no coincidence that both women immediately began snatching wigs within 5 minutes of meeting each other.
By now we are all familiar with how these “reality” shows work. Each show has totally scripted “fight” scenes that usually commences when one cast member tosses water on the other one.
But according to Erica, her fight scene may not have been totally scripted. In fact, Erica claims that she was caught completely by surprise, and she thinks she was set up by VH1.
Celeb Style: Gabrielle Union, Savannah Brinson, Adrienne Williams at Celtics vs Heat
The Boston Celtics dropped their 2nd straight game last night when they lost to the blazing Miami Heat 115-107 at the American Airlines Arena. Boston, whose captain Paul Pierce is out with a bruised left heel, opened their season with a close loss to the NY Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Last night Miami led by as much as 20 points over the hapless Celtics in the 3rd quarter. But the odds on favorite for the 2012 NBA championship blew that lead in the 4th quarter when the Celtics, led by veteran guard Keyon Dooling’s 18 points off the bench, mounted a strong comeback.
Rookie Heat guard Norris Cole drew chants of “MVP!” from the crowd when he came off the bench to score 14 of his 20 points in the 4th quarter. Cole’s clutch jump shots in the final minute of the game sealed the win for Miami, who are now 2-0.
Miami Heat star LeBron James finished the night with 26 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
But it was his baby mama, Savannah Brinson, who put on a show in the stands with her inappropriate game attire. Gabrielle Union (D. Wade’s fiancee) and Adrienne Williams (Chris Bosh’s wife) both dressed respectfully, but Savannah’s outfit was the talk of Twitter.com.
Before she left home to attend the game, Savannah tweeted a pic of herself wearing a black miniskirt which was more suitable for a cheerleader than for the conservative hometown girl from Cleveland, Ohio.
Medical Minute: Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism
Yesterday, celebrity gossip website TMZ.com reported that legendary rap artist Heavy D died from a blood clot in the lung (Pulmonary embolus or PE) that was caused by Deep leg vein thrombosis. That terminology is incorrect since deep vein thrombosis can occur anywhere in the body, not just the legs. The correct term is Deep Vein Thrombosis or DVT.
DVT has been in the news lately because several high profile figures have been diagnosed with it, or died recently, including Heavy D and reality TV star Tamar Braxton’s husband, Vince Hebert, who survived his bout with DVT and PE.
Pulmonary embolism is usually fatal and involves a blood clot (thrombus) traveling from the legs or arms and into the lungs (PE). People at high risk for DVTs are those who live a sedentary lifestyle (couch potatoes), sit for long periods of time at cubicle desks or travel long distances on planes.
Pulmonary embolisms are often misdiagnosed as something else — such as pneumonia or cardiac arrest. There are law firms that base their entire practice around misdiagnosed pulmonary embolism cases.
Anyone can be diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis. Other risk factors that predispose people to DVTs, include pregnancy, obesity, dehydration, crushing injuries, or people with strokes or heart conditions.
Update: Heavy D Died of a Blood Clot in his Lung (Pulmonary Embolism)
Update I, 2:24 p.m. ET:
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I’m still on vacay, but I stopped in to update you on legendary rapper Heavy D’s cause of death. As we suspected, he died of blood clots in his lung that traveled from his legs (deep vein thrombosis, or DVT). This is the same clotting disorder that Tamar Braxton’s husband, Vince, was recently hospitalized with. I will update you if there are any further developments…
Originally posted on Nov. 11, 2011 @ 10:18 a.m.
According to the NY Daily News, rapper Heavy D saw a doctor the day before he died tragically at age 44.
Rap legend Heavy D knew something was seriously wrong with his health the day before he suddenly collapsed and died Tuesday, officials told the Daily News.
“He had gone to the doctor the day before,” Ed Winter, Assistant Chief of the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office, told the Daily News. “He had what appeared to be like flu-like symptoms.”
“He was taking medication, so we want to see what the levels were,” Winter said.
Heavy D, whose real name was Dwight Arrington Myers, had just gotten back from a trip to England. “He said he had a touch of pneumonia, maybe from traveling,” is cousin, Ruddy Phillips, told The News.
But Heavy D also could have died from a pulmonary embolism, a fatal consequence of sitting for prolonged periods of time during long distance travel. Pulmonary embolisms are often misdiagnosed as something else — such as pneumonia or cardiac arrest.
In fact, some attorneys base their entire practice around misdiagnosed pulmonary embolism cases.
According to the Daily News, an autopsy was completed Wednesday morning, but a preliminary cause of death won’t be released until toxicology tests are performed. The tests could take up to six weeks to complete.
Source: RWS
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
This is the last post for today unless another local “rap star” gets shot.
From my family to yours, have a happy, joyful and safe holiday! And if I don’t see you before December 31st, have a Happy New Year! 
Thanks to loyal reader Jonathan for the RuPaul card!
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