Tricked: Husband says wife faked cancer for free goodies
Residents of the city of Newburgh, N.Y., are feeling angered - and saddened - over news that they may have fallen for the worst kind of hoax.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39041806/from/toolbar
Showing posts with label Weddings in the News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weddings in the News. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Couple Denied Request to Submit Wedding Announcement
Story Link: http://www.kptm.com/Global/story.asp?S=13070276
Jenny Nowatzke
OMAHA (KPTM) It's a tradition that's spanned generations. But for one Omaha family, that tradition came to an sudden halt last weekend.
Jeff and Heidi Wilke wanted to submit their daughter's engagement announcement to the Omaha World Herald – only to find out it's not allowed – simply because their daughter is gay.
It all started with Kristy Wilke's engagement photo. Living in Minneapolis, she wanted to share the news of her engagement with friends and family back in Omaha.
After submitting the announcement to the paper Kristy's great, great, great, great grandfather founded in 1885, her father received disappointing news.
"At that point, my dad who was following up on the issue was told by the publisher that as a policy they don't print same gender wedding or engagement announcements," said Kristy.
"If a pig would have flown by me then, I couldn't have been more surprised. I felt I was punched in the stomach," said Jeff Wilke.
Forced to tell his daughter, Jeff was overwhelmed with emotion.
"I hung up the phone in disbelief – cried about it. For the first time, I felt discrimination."
Hoping to change the publisher's minds, Kristy's family started a page on Facebook, and within three days gained over 2,200 members.
"It's amazing to feel the support, and at the same time hear stories on the page with couples who have been denied this right for years," said Kristy.
Facing criticism, the World Herald posted a comment on their Facebook page saying, "public opinion is split sharply. Gay marriage is illegal in most states including Nebraska."
"We were so naïve to think the World Herald would be excited about their founder's [great, great, great, great granddaughter] being openly gay and engaged," said Jeff.
Even so, Kristy's family doesn't wish harm on the paper.
"We know we can create change without destroying an organization. This isn't about taking the World Herald down. Just a change in policy. 2,000 people on Facebook alone – we can create this change," said Kristy.
Kristy and her fiancé Jessica are slated to be married next summer in Minnesota.
As of four o'clock Monday afternoon, the Omaha World Herald has restructured their policy.
They issued a statement in the paper saying quote,
"Celebrations announcements regarding legal weddings, engagements for legal weddings, or anniversaries of a legal marriage will be welcomed, regardless of the genders of the couple.
We will not run announcements regarding commitment ceremonies, partnerships and other non–marriage unions, again regardless of gender.
Five states and the District of Columbia have legalized same–sex marriages, including Iowa.
We will publish Celebrations announcements of marriages from those states."
Dallas-area wedding venues offer a hand to brides left in lurch by banquet hall's shutdown
12:00 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Churches, banquet halls, caterers and wedding coordinators across North Texas offered their assistance – some of it on the house – after learning of the nearly two dozen couples left in the lurch by a banquet hall that took tens of thousands of their dollars, then abruptly shut down.
"Three people called me this morning and said they'd like to help," said May Vong, whose plans to get married Oct. 10 at the Arts District Banquet Facility in the Trammell Crow Center fell apart.
Vong said she and her fiancée lost about $8,000. Twenty other couples sank more than $80,000 into the bankrupt business before it collapsed Aug. 22 and shuttered last week.
Sam Jackson was among those who saw the story in Tuesday's Dallas Morning News and wanted to help. He said he would offer affected couples a cut rate at Na'Kayshions, the 5-acre wedding event center he and his wife own in Cedar Hill. Last weekend, TLC filmed a segment there for its fall show Four Weddings, he said.
"Being in this business, it's tough to see something like this," he said.
Wilshire Baptist Church and Preston Road Church of Christ were among those offering their facilities for free, depending on space availability.
"I am very sorry to hear about their loss and wanted to see if we could be a part of the solution," said W. Scott Sager, senior minister at Preston Road Church of Christ.
The Orosa family has not commented publicly on the uproar. They own the parent company, CPO International Inc., which owned the banquet hall and the adjoining Aija restaurant.
The restaurant closed when the family's company filed for bankruptcy in mid-July. Their attorney said they tried to keep the banquet hall afloat so that they could continue to put on weddings and receptions at least through the end of the year. But they were $42,000 behind in rent and other charges to the landlord, forcing the closure.
"They are deeply regretful that they could not do these weddings," Kevin Wiley Jr. said Tuesday on behalf of the family. "They empathize with the brides and their situations. Honestly, they're hurt by all this."
Wiley, who earlier said the facility stopped booking weddings in January, on Tuesday acknowledged brides' claims that his clients continued to book new events through May.
He responded to allegations by one bride that the banquet hall rushed to collect a final $4,000 payment from her father's credit card two weeks before it was due in order to beat the court-ordered shutdown date of Aug. 22.
Wiley said that his clients did not know they were going to be shut down when they charged that family's credit card on Aug. 18 for that final payment on the Sept. 18 wedding.
Asked when his clients knew they would be closed, Wiley said it was when the judge issued the order Aug. 20.
Wiley said that his clients had a right to charge the final installment on any wedding 30 days before the event, and routinely did so. "The bottom line is, the payment was taken out pursuant to the contract. It wasn't taken under any other premises."
The bankruptcy court has scheduled a meeting of creditors in the case at 3:50 p.m. Sept. 28 on the fifth floor of the Earle Cabell Federal Courthouse, 1100 Commerce St. The hearing is public.
"Oh, I will be there," Vong said. She said she wants to talk "face to face" with Eduardo Orosa, president of the banquet hall's parent company. "I want to ask him how he can get away with this."
She still doesn't know where she will be married next month. But she said she is reconsidering her fiancé's original vision for their most special day: "He wanted hot dogs in the backyard."
Scandinavian Airline To Perform Gay Wedding During Flight
September 2, 2010
Story link: http://www.dbtechno.com/curiosity/2010/09/02/scandinavian-airline-to-perform-gay-wedding-during-flight/
It is being reported that a Scandinavian airline is looking for a gay couple looking to get hitched at 35000 feet.Story link: http://www.dbtechno.com/curiosity/2010/09/02/scandinavian-airline-to-perform-gay-wedding-during-flight/
On an upcoming flight from Stockholm to New York on December 6th, a lucky gay couple will get hitched.
The airline have been performing straight weddings on flights for years, but would be the first ever to perform a gay wedding during flight.
The airline, SAS Scandinavian Airlines are currently running an online contest to determine the lucky gay couple to get their wedding performed on the flight.
The winners of the contest will receive quite the package, including return business class flights with SAS to New York, three nights’ luxury accommodation and then even an additional three nights accommodation at a posh LA hotel.
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