New TN School for the Deaf building

Tennessee's governor is looking to spend $22 million to put up news buildings at the school for the deaf. WBIR-TV has a video report below or you can read the story here.

Service for Gally Prof

A memorial service will take place Sunday in honor of the Gallaudet University math professor who died in a fire with her daughter. Laura Snyder-Gardner and her daughter, Mary Ann, were both hard of hearing. The fire that engulfed their home in Falls Church, Virginia took their lives--along with ten family pets. Authorities are investigating the cause. Mary Ann was a junior at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf where Snyder-Gardner helped coach the girls soccer team.

Rapper's National Release Date

Deaf rapper Sean Forbes releases his album Perfect Imperfection on April 2. Read about it here.

Interview with ‘Deaf’ Viral Video Star

An interview with Sarah Churman talks about her new book and ability to hear. Read it here.

Drug Bust at Gally

A Gallaudet student is behind bars and facing felony drug charges after police found two pounds of marijuana in her dorm room. Some of it was baked into cookies and fudge squares. Prosecutors say Molly Sachs is drug dealer. She will appear in court for a preliminary hearing Thursday. The bust started when an RA notified a security guard about a smell in the dorm. More than 100 prescription pills were found along with the marijuana. Below is a video report from WJLA-TV (no captioning).

Changes to WV deaf school

West Virginia is looking into combining its schools for the deaf and blind. The state Board of Education will also consider moving the facilities when it meets next month. The schools have been in Romney on some 80 acres of land since 1870. About 120 students attend the schools.

Friends reflect on death of a Gallaudet teacher

Gallaudet University is mourning the loss of Laura Snyder-Gardner and her daugther Mary Ann, who died in a house fire in Falls Church this past week. Snyder-Gardner taught at Gallaudet

Miss. Festival this Spring

DEAFFEST returns to Mississippi in May. The bi-annual Deaf Festival started in Jackson during 2011 and will bring together family and friends once again on May 3 and 4. Watch for more information here.

A First for Thailand

Bo Bo Kyaing is breaking ground as the first interpreter for the deaf to appear on Thailand's broadcast airways. Read the story here.

Suit: Police didn't Provide an interpreter

A Florida woman is hoping to soon resolve a lawsuit she filed over the failure of police to provider her with a sign language interpreter during her arrest last year. Yolanda Gevarzes is deaf says Port Orange officers took her into custody on a domestic violence charge following an argument with her boyfriend in the parking lot of a Chili's restaurant during which she bit him. Rather than call an interpreter to find out what Gevarzes says took place, they used her boyfriend as an interpreter, which led to her arrest. The 41 year old from nearby Daytona Beach was even handcuffed with her hands behind her back for a time, before being taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail. The staff of the facility did not provide with an interpreter either. Gevarzes is a grandmother who had never been arrested. She was released the next morning and no formal charges were ever filed against her.

The man who crafted the ADA law is retiring

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says he will not run for a 6th term next year. Harkin is 73 and been a member of the US Congress for nearly 30 years. A Democrat, he is the 7th most senior member of the body and chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. His most significant achievement came in 1990 when he authored the Americans with Disabilities Act and helped it through the legislature. Harkin says the Americans with Disabilities Act was inspired by his deaf brother, Frank, whom he watched struggle against social barriers. The ADA law prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training and other conditions and privileges of employment.

Teen Tennis Sensation Getting Notice Down Under

A deaf teen is taking part in the Australian Open's boys' tournament. 14-year-old Korean junior Lee Duck-hee tells Paul Newman says not being able to hear makes it easier for him to concentrate on the court. He prefers not to mention his deafness to opponents or officials, but wants to be treated like anyone else. Read the story here.

Deaf Rapper moving up

MTV just added Def Deaf Girls a video from Deaf rapper Sean Forbes.

University receives gift for deaf students

A very generous computer engineer is giving more than one million dollars to support deaf students at California's Fresno State. Find out why he's giving the money in this video report from KGPE-TV or you can read more about the gift on the school's website here.

Police Stand off in Texas

A deaf man is behind bars after a standoff with police in Corpus Christi. Watch a video report from TV station KIII below on DeafNewsToday.com or you can read the story here.

KiiiTV3.com South Texas, Corpus Christi, Coastal Bend

Celebrity shows off her signing skills

Lawless star Jessica Chastain surprised onlookers by communicating through ASL with a deaf fan. Read the story here.

Texting 911 in Canada

One year from today (Jan 24, 2014) is the deadline for Canadian wireless carriers to upgrade their equipment so that their networks support text messaging communication with the deaf. Users will have to register their phone numbers with their wireless service provider to ensure it is compatible with the new 911 feature. Here's how it works: During an emergency, the phone customer calls 911 and then the emergency center is automatically informed there is a text message coming through related to an emergency. A text message sent to 911 does not go to emergency services in the country.

Gally Prof Dies

A Gallaudet math professor died in a fire along with her daughter in the northern Virginia town of Falls Church. Laura Gardner and her teenage daughter, Marry Ann, had moved from Florida to the DC suburb about two years ago. Neighbors say the neighborhood was rocked by a loud noise before the fire broke out. WUSA-TV has this video report (no captions). Gardner was 48 years old and had worked at Gallaudet since 2009. She served as an assistant coach of the girls' soccer team at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf last year.

Hearing Loss affects Memory, Thinking

If you are losing your hearing as you grow older, you might also lose your ability to remember and your mental sharpness. That's the finding of a new study. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University say those with hearing loss lose as much as 40 percent on their thinking abilities over time, compared to their counterparts with no hearing loss. Lead author of the study, Dr. Frank R. Lin, published findings a couple of years ago linking hearing loss with dementia. Details are published in JAMA Archives of Internal Medicine.

The ASL Petition

The woman who is waiting for a White House response on her petition to have ASL recognized as an official language was born deaf and discouraged from using American Sign Language. But Adrean Clark went on to start ASL for America with fellow Gallaudet alum Jeannette Johnson. Clark now lives near Minneapolis with her deaf-blind husband and poet, John Lee Clark, and their two children. She submitted a petition to the White Houses's We the People website back in November. You can see it here. It has more than 32,000 signatures- more than the required 25,000 in 30 days to earn an official response, which should be coming soon.