PROFILE FEATURES

Original interviews and reporting by Ashley R. Williams

Trae Tha Truth and DJ Mr. Rogers

HOUSTON'S HEROES: LOCAL RAPPER, DJ PERFORM FLOODWATER RESCUES IN THE MIDST OF HEAVY RAINFALL

As he and his partner rolled through floodwaters in a black monster truck scouring the streets for those who needed assistance, Houston-based rapper and philanthropist Trae Tha Truth and his close friend, Dallas native DJ Mr. Rogers, were the ones that many people turned to for help.

Dorothy Lynch

TYBEE 6-YEAR-OLD TURNS PAINFUL JELLYFISH EXPERIENCE INTO HER FIRST BUSINESS

It’s jellyfish season, and if you ever get stung at the beach, you might want to call on “Stingy” for help.

That’s the name of the colorful jellyfish logo on the side of each one of local first grader Dorothy Lynch’s handy first-aid Sting Stopper kits. The 6-and-a-half-year-old Tybee Island resident learned firsthand how unpleasant jellyfish stings can be last summer, when she and her family visited the south end of the island.

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'WE SHOULD NOT BE ALIVE:' MISSISSIPPI FAMILY OF 4 REFLECTS ON DEADLY TORNADO THAT NEARLY TOOK THEIR LIVES 3 MONTHS AGO

“We shouldn’t be here. We should not be alive.”

Anyone who hears the harrowing survival story of Shannon Duett, her husband Justin, and their two young daughters, Peyton and Sophie, would certainly agree. The family endured an ordeal that was nothing short of a nightmare nearly three months ago as an EF2 tornado ripped through their small town of Hamilton, Mississippi, during the evening hours of April 13, 2019. They had never before experienced anything like it. One person was killed by the twister.

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OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST CULLEN JONES STRIVES TO SHATTER THE STEREOTYPE THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS DON'T SWIM

Olympic gold medalist swimmer Cullen Jones, who survived a near-drowning in a Pennsylvania amusement park at 5 years old and went on to become a world record holder, now works with young swimmers across the United States to shatter a decades-old stereotype.

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DITCH THE PLASTIC: HOW A ZERO-WASTE ADVOCATE FITS YEARS' WORTH OF TRASH IN A MASON JAR

Kathryn Kellogg’s motivation to pursue a healthier, largely plastic-free lifestyle began with a health scare at 20 years old. “I started feeling a lot of pain in my left breast and I wasn’t really sure why,” Kellogg said. Doctors had discovered several tumors.

Alphonso Reed

PHILLY-BORN CELEBRITY PR PRO SHARES HIS JOURNEY TO SUCCESS

North Philadelphia native Alphonso Reed is steadily making waves in the entertainment industry as one of the hardest-working celebrity publicists that you’ve probably never heard of — until now.

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MR. WORLDWIDE: A GLIMPSE INTO A NOMAD FILMMAKER’S JOURNEY AROUND THE GLOBE

Brandon Li has left a sock in nearly every corner of the world. The nomad is far too busy straddling elephants to worry if his grays don’t exactly match. Such is the life of a traveling filmmaker. Li wanders the world in search of the nearest Wi-Fi hotspot, while along the way capturing stunning imagery which simply “saturates the senses”. He lives nowhere, yet everywhere at the same time.

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SEASONED ICE SKATER EXPLAINS HOW TO SAFELY TAKE YOUR ADVENTURES TO HIGHER, BREATHTAKING ALTITUDES

It was at heights of about 10,000 feet above sea level that Laura Kottlowski’s passion for gliding over massive, frozen sheets of ice was born.

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ASHLEY RENEE WILLIAMS

Multimedia Journalist and Video Producer