Latest news with #Marlene
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
11th Annual Salmon Fest spotlights drumming, dance, and traditional crafts
Festival goers from across northwest B.C. celebrated cultural expression and community spirit at the vibrant Salmon Festival in Prince Rupert on May 23 and 24. The event, organized by the Gitmaxmak'ay Nisga'a Dancers & Society, featured a range of local artistry, delicious seafood, and traditional performances. 'I think it's important for our community and visitors to come out and just witness the event. It's a free event, and it's so full of cultural knowledge and insight,' said Marlena Joseph, a Gitmaxmak'ay Nisga'a Dancers' dance director. As usual, the event featured plenty of drumming and dancing from numerous local groups. But Joseph noted there were over 30 vendors this year, which was more than ever before. Talented craftspeople lined the halls with their beadwork, raven's tail weavings, regalia, copper-pounded designs, traditional masks and clothing, and Indigenous medicines. Fresh barbecue salmon was also served to the public for lunch and supper. Joseph reflected that the first Salmon Fest in Rupert was inspired by the return of the salmon's first run. 'We, as an Indigenous community, celebrate what feeds our people and share the food with others to come in and enjoy,' she said. She noted that around 1,500 people attend the two-day celebration yearly. Vendors for 40 years Marlene and Gregory Smith have long been Indigenous arts vendors based in Gitsegukla, a First Nation community located in northwest B.C., approximately 40 kilometres southwest of Hazelton. While Gregory devotes countless hours to carving impeccably smooth, artistic masks, Marlene beads and makes jewellery, creates regalia, and designs and paints a variety of items. Gregory proudly points to an eagle mask that took him 10 months to perfect. 'I couldn't work at the mill anymore, so I started carving around the year 2000,' he said. Not only was Gregory self-taught, but unlike many artists who begin by making simpler items such as spoons, he started learning to carve masks right from the beginning. He now carves all the time. Gregory picks up an extremely smooth mask and says, 'Sometimes I'll keep sanding it, and suddenly I'll see blood.' 'But my dad always says, 'if you gonna do something, do it right.'' Marlene says she has been a vendor for 40 years, sharing her work at events such as the All-Native Basketball Tournament and the early years of Salmon Fest. She noted that her beadwork designs are often striking and easily distinguished from those of other vendors. She and Gregory spend much of their lives on the road, bringing their handcrafted art and cultural heritage to communities across Haida Gwaii, the Nass Valley, Kitimat, Terrace, and beyond. They enjoy connecting with other artists along the way and learning more about the diverse processes behind their creations. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Community creates copter care packages for people defending Little Bear Lake, Sask.
It took some sweet-talking, but Marlene Barzeele and her band of helpers managed to airlift a huge load of donated food into Little Bear Lake to feed the small crew of people who are protecting 150 homes and cabins from wildfire. Barzeele said seeing the helicopter take flight might have been the first time she has felt joy since leaving her husband of 43 years behind so he could to defend their house and community last Thursday. "It's been agonizing knowing that he's there. And I wished that I stayed, but he insisted that I leave. So that's why we had to figure out a way to help," she said. Marlene's husband Bill Barzeele, 72, is the oldest among the small team of volunteers who stayed at Little Bear Lake, 140 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert, as the unpredictable and aggressive Shoe Fire burned dangerously close. The men patrol the perimeter, douse hotspots and pump water onto properties. "My husband is with the other people who are working to keep those hoses and pumps working at people's docks just to make sure that yards are wet," she said. WATCH | Property owners douse hot spots and build firebreaks at Little Bear Lake: People also removed flammable materials, like propane tanks. "They're like bombs when they overheat," said Marlene's daughter, Heather Arsenie. "That was an incredibly smart thing to do." The volunteers have been joined by some professional firefighters, helicopters, heavy equipment operators and other contractors employed by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA). The Delta Company has installed sprinklers on every cabin. The Shoe Fire, which started on May 7, merged with the Camp Fire and has grown to more than 2016,000 hectares. This week, it burned dozens of homes and cabins at East Trout Lake. The wildfire continues to split and morph, fuelled by wind, moving around the lake, jumping a fire guard, even threatening the landing strip. "It's miraculous that the community has been saved to this point," she said. Food delivery by air Marlene, now staying with her daughter in Melfort, receives daily reports from Bill from the front lines and shares them with others. The Barzeele family has owned property at Little Bear since 1981, and she and her husband have lived there full-time since 2006. Feeling helpless, and concerned that food was running low, Marlene posted on Facebook on Tuesday that she wanted to organize a food hamper delivery for people protecting their community. She was flooded with e-transfers and donations from people who have connections to the lake, including frequent campers, cabin owners, and even grandchildren of cabin owners who have fond memories of childhoods at the lake. Marlene and her helpers ordered individually wrapped sandwiches, and bought snacks and other ready-to-eat food items. They picked up donations from business owners who have cabins at the lake, like Sauder's Home Hardware in Melfort. "I really don't want to take credit because there have been so many donations from everyone. It's overwhelming," she said. But getting the food hamper into the community would be another challenge. All roads were closed due to fire. "We were told that only contractors listed with SPSA were allowed to go through the roadblock," she said. After some discussion and phone calls at the roadblock, they were allowed to go to the helicopter pad. They got the food in the air, then delivered to the Little Bear Lake store and distributed to workers. WATCH | Food airlifted to Little Bear Lake by helicopter: On Friday, the group posted that it was sending their fourth load of food and drinks up. It had spent nearly $5,000 on supplies so far, and more e-transfers were still coming in. "Even more inspiring, we're also sending a separate load dedicated to our brave neighbours in Moosehorn, standing strong through challenging times. Let's continue to show them what community spirit looks like!" Arsenie posted on Facebook.. As of early Friday morning, a lot of forest had burned around Little Bear Lake, but no cabins had been destroyed. Marlene, who admitted she's been crying and stressed, was reluctant to do an interview, but agreed to speak with CBC News because she wants to shine a light on the bravery of people who are working so hard to defend the community, and to ask for more supplies and more firefighting resources.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
True crime clown murder: Wellington woman shot to death by husband's girlfriend 35 years ago
Marlene Warren's killing in 1990 is part of a True Crime series by The Palm Beach Post. Victim: Marlene Warren, 40 Killer: Sheila Keen-Warren, age 27 at the time of the slaying Where: Wellington Date: May 26, 1990 'Oh, how sweet,' Marlene Warren said that Saturday morning in May 1990 when she saw a clown with flowers and balloons at the front door of her Wellington home. That was the last thing Warren, 40, said as she opened the door and was shot pointblank in the face by the clown, who was wearing an orange wig, red nose and a painted-on happy face. Her 21-year-old son, Joey Ahrens, ran to her as she collapsed in the doorway and looked the clown in the eye — deep brown eyes, he remembers. The killer sauntered away, climbed into a white Chrysler LeBaron that had no license plate and drove away. Marlene died two days later at Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee. The crime occurred 35 years ago on May 26. A three-part documentary on the case called "Killer Clown: Murder on the Doorstep" is set to air June 5 on SundanceTV, AMC+ and Sundance Now. Her husband, Michael, managed their car lot, Bargain Motors, on North Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach. Marlene had taken care of the couple's rental properties, worth about $1 million at the time. They had been married 20 years. The Warrens lived in the exclusive community called Aero Club in Wellington where homes had an air strip nearby to land personal aircraft and hangars in the backyards. The woman who was to become Michael Warren's second wife, Sheila Keen-Warren, pleaded guilty to being the clown at the door, agreeing to a plea deal for second-degree murder in 2023. Because of sentencing laws in 1990 and the 5½ years she spent in the Palm Beach County jail because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was released in November 2024 after serving about 18 months in prison. Keen-Warren had been arrested in 2017 near her home in Virginia after investigators cited new evidence linking her to the crime. The balloons Sheila Keen brought came from the Publix at the corner of Community Drive and Military Trail in West Palm Beach, according to police. It was the only Publix that sold that brand of Mylar balloons — one of which was heart-shaped and read "You're the Greatest" and the other depicting Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The Publix was only a half mile from Sheila Keen's apartment. The flowers, left just outside the front door after the shooting, were red and white carnations arranged in a basket. Four days after the shooting, the LeBaron was found in a Winn-Dixie parking lot at Okeechobee and Royal Palm Beach boulevards. Neither the costume nor the gun was ever found. Keen-Warren was a suspect soon after the shooting. The 27-year-old was married at the time but was rumored to be having an affair with Michael Warren, who washer boss at Bargain Motors. Keen and her then-husband, Richard, were running a car repo business when Michael Warren hired them in 1990 — five months before Marlene was killed. Marlene Warren reportedly told family that if anything happened to her, it was her husband who did it. Michael Warren was on his way to Calder Race Track in Miami Gardens when the clown came to Marlene's door. A year before, Michael Warren was at the Palm Beach County courthouse, walking out of a courtroom with attorney Christopher Desantis when he asked the lawyer a question. If a husband were to kill his wife, what would happen to her estate? "My first impression was, 'Is this guy nuts?' because why would you ask that question with your wife there?" Desantis told police in 1991. "Then I took a look around, and his wife wasn't there." Desantis had been representing Marlene's son in a 1986 assault case and Marlene talked to Desantis frequently. Desantis said he always thought there were no problems in the Warrens' marriage. The attorney said he figured the question was a curiosity, like a law school question. In this case, Florida law was "peculiar," Desantis told Michael Warren. "What I said to him is. 'It really isn't an issue of whether a man kills his wife. The question is whether the man is convicted of murdering his wife because if he's convicted of murdering his wife, he wouldn't inherit, but if he were convicted of a lower charge, he would. "Not only that," Desantis went on, "but if he had a friend who did it and they couldn't tie him as an accessory to the friend, he'd get away scot-free." No suspect would be arrested until 27 years after the killing. But Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office detectivesdidn't give up. They followed hundreds of tips, including a "clown coven" in Greenacres. Detectives in 2013 started running DNA tests on the original evidence. It would take three years to get the results. The tests found an identical match on orange hairs inside the LeBaron and those found in her apartment. They also found matches between her hair and hair found in the car. Michael and Shelia Keen-Warren had been married in 2002 and were living in southwest Virginia near the Tennessee line when she was arrested in 2017. They had just sold a restaurant they were running named the Purple Cow in Kingsport, Tenn. They had bought a house worth $600,000 in 2004. Michael Warren has never been arrested in connection with Marlene Warren's death. Attorney Desantis talked again to police around the time Keen-Warren was arrested in 2017. He remembered telling Michael Warren something else: A killer dressed as a clown would likely "get off" because witnesses couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman. Holly Baltz is the investigations and schools editor at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hbaltz@ Support local investigative journalism. Subscribe today This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida "killer clown" murder: Wellington woman killed 35 years ago
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Can I Gift My Son $17,000 For Student Loans And Get A Tax Deduction?' Here's What Suze Orman Says
If you're looking to support an adult child with student loan debt, you may be wondering whether there's a tax benefit for doing so — especially if you're in a strong financial position. That's exactly what one listener asked Suze Orman on her "Women & Money" podcast. Here's how the question — and Orman's answer — break down. Marlene, a 75-year-old listener, wrote in to ask whether she could give her 50-year-old son $17,000 to help with student loans and get a tax deduction in the process. According to Orman, the answer is no. Don't Miss: Inspired by Uber and Airbnb – Deloitte's fastest-growing software company is transforming 7 billion smartphones into income-generating assets – How do billionaires pay less in income tax than you?. "You can absolutely gift your son or anybody you want... as many people a year as you want, currently, $18,000 a year," Orman explained. "However, it's not taxable to them, and it's not a tax write-off to you on any level." This refers to the IRS annual gift tax exclusion, which allowed you to give up to $18,000 per person in 2024, now $19,000 in 2025, without needing to file a gift tax return. But while the gift itself may be tax-free for both giver and receiver, it doesn't reduce your taxable income like a charitable donation or deductible expense might. Even if the funds go directly toward student loans, the IRS still considers that a personal gift. That means it won't trigger a deduction, no matter how good your intentions. Trending: BlackRock is calling 2025 the year of alternative assets. So what's the alternative? Some people consider donating to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides student loan relief, but that typically won't help your own child. Direct payments to a lender don't qualify as charitable giving. Orman also cautioned listeners not to mix financial goals. Although there's no tax break for helping with student loans, Orman encouraged Marlene to think beyond taxes. "If you're very comfortable, does it make you uncomfortable when you see your son suffering under a lot of student loans at the age of 50?" Orman asked. She pointed out that financial help can be meaningful, but only if it's used wisely and doesn't enable poor financial she advised Marlene to consider whether paying off the loan would actually help her son — or simply enable ongoing financial issues. "You and you alone have to decide that," Orman said. You can gift up to $19,000 a year to your child without triggering gift taxes, but it won't give you a tax deduction. If you're in a strong financial position, helping your child with student loans could be a meaningful gesture — but, according to Orman, it's important to consider whether it truly helps them in the long run. "I hope that Marlene has the courage to stand in her own truth, no matter which one of those things it happens to be, because she's OK no matter what," Orman said. Read Next: With shares starting at $1.52, . Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article 'Can I Gift My Son $17,000 For Student Loans And Get A Tax Deduction?' Here's What Suze Orman Says originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
Forbes
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Does ‘A Minecraft Movie' Have A Post-Credits Scene? Here's Why You Should Stay Seated
A Minecraft Movie A Minecraft Movie finally arrived in theaters on April 4. If you're planning to watch the star-studded adventure film based on the beloved video game series, you may be wondering whether it includes a mid- or end-credits scene that hints at a possible sequel. Inspired by the popular sandbox video game, A Minecraft Movie follows four misfits—Henry (Sebastian Eugene-Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers), former gaming champ Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison (Jason Momoa), and Dawn (Danielle Brooks)—who are suddenly pulled into the cubic world of Minecraft. To get back home, they must embark on a magical adventure with expert crafter, Steve (Jack Black), and battle zombies, pigs, and endermen. 'A mysterious portal pulls four misfits into the Overworld, a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination," according to the synopsis. 'To get back home, they'll have to master the terrain while embarking on a magical quest with an unexpected crafter named Steve.' The movie is projected to earn between $70 million and $80 million in its opening weekend, with some estimates reaching as high as $90 million, according to Variety. A Minecraft Movie has already brought in $10.55 million from Thursday previews, marking a strong box office debut for Warner Bros. and a much-needed win following disappointing performances from The Alto Knights and Mickey 17. Keep reading to find out if A Minecraft Movie includes a mid- or post-credits scene that you should stick around for. From left: Jack Black, Jason Momoa and Sebastian Hansen in 'A Minecraft Movie.' Yes, A Minecraft Movie includes both a mid-credits and a post-credits scene. In fact, there are two bonus scenes for viewers to enjoy after the main story wraps up. The first scene appears shortly after the credits begin and ties into a recurring gag from the film. The second plays at the very end, so it's worth staying through the entire credits to see it. Warning: Spoilers ahead for the end of A Minecraft Movie. A Minecraft Movie The first mid-credits scene picks up the unexpected love story between Chuglas' school vice principal, Marlene (Jennifer Coolidge), and her new Villager boyfriend. While Nitwit had previously only spoken in Villager grunts, the scene reveals he's learned to speak human, and he uses his new skill to confess his love. Their love has "transcended the barriers of conventional speech,' he says, explaining that he can now speak human, and Marlene has learned to understand Villager. Nitwit then proposes, and Marlene says yes! Meanwhile, in the end-credits scene, Steve returns to the real world and visits the house he abandoned. The new owner welcomes him inside, and though her face is never shown, she introduces herself as Alex—making her second default Minecraft player skin to appear in the film. Her arrival means she'll likely have a role to play in a potential A Minecraft Movie sequel, along with the mysterious chest tucked away in her attic. A Minecraft Movie is playing in theaters. Watch the official trailer below.
