‘I Raised Michael To Be Righteous’: He Took Bullet For Strangers

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, Nov. 30. It’s the third day of Hanukkah, and it’s also GivingTuesday, the day set aside during the holidays to support local charities. We suggest donating to Feeding America, which — as the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization — works with food banks and food pantries in local communities to address food insecurity.

Here are some of the stories we’re following today:

• The omicron coronavirus variant is prompting travel bans and other restrictions around the world, but should you be worried?
• A now-80-year-old Florida woman dialed a wrong number 20 years ago, sparking a friendship with a twentysomething man from Rhode Island; the two finally got together for Thanksgiving.
• As the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished — but, fortunately, an Illinois man wasn’t seriously injured when he got between an irate man with a gun and other customers.
• The suspect in the Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy faces a sixth count of first-degree intentional homicide.

Omicron: Things To Know

The emergence of the omicron coronavirus variant illustrates the difficulty of keeping the virus in check in a globalized world with international travel and open borders. It had been reported in nearly 20 countries Monday.

President Joe Biden said Monday he’s not considering lockdowns or other restrictions, and said the variant is cause for concern, not panic. The World Health Organization said in a technical paper the global risk is “very high” and the mutated coronavirus could lead to surges with “severe consequences.” » COVID-19 Omicron Variant: 5 Things To Know, via Across America Patch

• Wary, Weary World Slams Doors Shut, Fearing Omicron Variant, via Across America Patch

He Took A Bullet For Strangers

“Hero” is a label that’s tossed around a lot. Michael Haynes, 22, of Mount Greenwood, Illinois, can rightly claim it. He stood between between an “irate” man with a gun and other customers at a gas station and was shot in the process. His injuries aren’t life-threatening, but he still faces a long, ardous recovery.

Cheryl West, Haynes’ mother, isn’t surprised her son intervened to help the strangers waiting in line with him to pay for his purchase.

"I raised Michael to be righteous, to stand up for others, to say something when someone is being hurt or being wronged," West wrote on a GoFundMe page to raise money to cover his medical costs. "This is what he did that evening. It is by the Grace and Mercy of God and an army of angels that my only child is alive today." » ‘Hero’ Shot While Intervening With Irate Customer In Gas Station, via Alsip, Illinois, Patch

Wrong-Number Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving Eve meetup between Gladys Henderson, 80, and Mike Moffitt was as accidental as their friendship. The Delray Beach, Florida, woman called Moffitt in Rhode Island by mistake two decades ago, and the two spoke regularly after that.

Moffitt and his family were in the Sunshine State looking at colleges Thanksgiving week and were stuck in traffic when he realized how close he was to his wrong-number pal’s home. He showed up, flowers in hand. When he introduced himself, she threw up her arms and said, “I’m blessed.”

Moffit felt the same.

“There's a very old Southern charm to her,” he said. “We don't get that up here (in Rhode Island). We walked right in and there were grandbabies in diapers, food on the stove for Thanksgiving. It was really, really neat.” » Wrong Number Leads To 20-Year Friendship; Callers Finally Meet, via Sarasota, Florida, Patch

Latest: Waukesha Christmas Parade Tragedy

Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, the suspect in the Nov. 21 Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy, appeared Monday in a Wisconsin court, where he was charged with a sixth count of first-degree intentional homicide. » 6th rooks Faces 6th Homicide Charge In Waukesha Christmas Parade Deaths, via Waukesha, Wisconsin, Patch

Also Monday:

• 8-Year-Old Killed In Parade To Be Laid To Rest
• 3 Kids Hurt At Christmas Parade Remain In Serious Condition
• Fotsch Family Foundation To Match Waukesha Fund Donations
• Waukesha Tragedy Agitators Should Just Stop: Senators

Contributor Spotlight: Hal Green

Hal Green, a retired professor, Methodist minister and licensed counselor who writes on living well every week on Across America Patch, offers this insight about our voracious appetite for sharing everything on the internet:

“One of the strange developments in our current culture of cell phone cameras, the World-Wide Web, Facebook and Twitter, is that there is a kind of inverse relationship between increasing openness and waning intimacy. The more people share of themselves, the less they are actually in connection with this or that person.” » Guidelines To Living Well: Intimacy Requires Privacy, via Across America Patch

• How To Become A Patch Contributor: Share Your Local Knowledge

Around ‘The Patch’

• Rittenhouse Could Get Congressional Gold Medal If Bill Passes, via Grayslake, Illinois, Patch
• What Hurricane Ida Left Behind In Millburn: A Wake-Up Call, via Millburn-Short Hills, New Jersey, Patch
• Virgil Abloh, Artistic Director For Louis Vuitton, Dies Of Cancer, via Chicago Patch
• Woman And 4 Children Shot To Death In California Home, via Los Angeles Patch
• Matthew McConaughey Isn’t Running For Governor — For Now, via Austin, Texas Patch
• Stop Cooking Up Exploitation For The Holidays, NJ Senator Urges, via Newark, New Jersey, Patch
• Republican Apologizes After Suggesting Rep. Omar Was A Suicide Bomber, via Southwest Minneapolis, Minnesota, Patch
• Ilhan Omar: I Hung Up On Lauren Boebert After 'Unproductive Call,’ via Southwest Minneapolis, Minnesota, Patch
• 14 Photos: First Lady Jill Biden Decks The White House Halls, via Across America Patch
• ESPN College GameDay To Broadcast From Atlanta For SEC Title Game At Mercedes-Benz Stadium, via Atlanta Patch

Thanks for reading, and remember to practice gratitude.

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