SHINING STAR! Anthony Hamilton

Anthony Hamilton-Essence Fest '2012   Photo: "E" of Elpwe's Photography

(Los Angeles, CA.)--2012 is ending the same way it started for Anthony Hamilton, with a bang!  Fresh off the heels of his two Grammy nominations, the R&B sensation is generating a lot of “buzz” with his “Freedom”, his new single on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantio’s new movie starring Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and Actress Kerry Washington.  Keep it here; Varion’s got the scoop on a special “Alabama Connection” to the movie opening Christmas Day!  Don’t miss this VISION/VOICE/VARION “Exclusive!”  

                OPENS
      DECEMBER 25TH










CLICK HERE FOR USA TODAY ARTICLE FEATURING LIVE STREAM WITH ANTHONY HAMILTON DISCUSSING "FREEDOM"
http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/1761583

TOP OF THE CLASS- SOULSVILLE CHARTER SCHOOL "COLLEGE BOUND!"

                                 Tim Sampson, Soulsville Foundation

(Memphis, TN.)--It's a school with soul and it's at the "top of the class!" The first ever graduating class of The Soulsville Charter School in Memphis, Tennessee is gaining a lot of national attention this week.  All 51 graduating seniors,  (that's right 100 percent) are college bound!  Graduation Thursday night included a lot of "pomp and circumstance" along with more than 3.6 million dollars in scholarship money.

Varion Walton discovers a huge part of the success was using music as a hook!  The students never had to look any further than their front door for a connection to Memphis' rich musical heritage because Stax Museum is located next door!      



CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.soulsvillecharterschool.org/

"VARION'S VIEW": REPORTING ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS JOBS IN AMERICA?

(MEMPHIS, TN.) --We bring you the news, but it isn't everyday we become apart of the headlines!  I had just left Memphis when this story was being heard in newsroom around the Southeast, it even made CNN Headline News!  I couldn't believe what I was hearing, April Thompson, one of my colleagues for many years was simply doing her job when she suddenly had a gun pulled on her and her photographer. What blew my mind even more is April Thompson is one of the most "non-confrontational" people I know.

I'll never forget her encouraging me to go for my dream of starting my own on-line magazine, all while trying her best to help me a tenacious from Mobile land in a spot in Memphis. But, clearly God had bigger plans not only for me, but for April as well.

I have friends and family members who are in law enforcement and the military. Everyday they kiss their wives and children and ask God to bring them home the same way they left, in one piece!

April who has been in the business for a long time got married a few years ago. However, I'm sure after   almost 20 years in the business she never thought she would need to "pray the same prayer"seeking God's protection as well.

Those of us who have been in this business a while simply know at the end of a 10, 12, 14 hour shift, eventually we're going to make it home. But, last week's incident certainly gave more than a few of us pause. I'm grateful to God my friend was able to make it home to her husband last week, understandably shaken, but no worse for the wear.  I"m also thankful her skilled photographer had the insight to stand his ground and continue to press record on his camera after becoming the target of an unwelcome intruder. Here's my two cents worth: April and her photographer were simply doing their jobs. They were even seen on camera complying with the man's request to leave, though he clearly stated he wasn't the homeowner. I don't have a dog in this fight and I surely don't speak for WREG or April Thompson, but what I know for sure, what happened on that day had many other seasoned journalists in newsrooms all over the Southeast rethinking that list of 10 of the most dangerous jobs in America.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW APRIL'S STORY:
http://wreg.com/status/our-april-thompson-had/#ooid=p5aGI4NDqfNuRjwNNmIlXYnFtv2vaisa