Larry copeland usa today biography

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    An Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 670 people in Africa is now taking a toll on doctors and health care workers battling the deadly disease, including two Americans.

    Kent Brantly, 33, an American doctor who has been working in Liberia since October for the North Carolina-based aid organization Samaritan’s Purse, is receiving intensive medical treatment after he was infected with Ebola, according to a spokeswoman for the group.

    Melissa Strickland said Brantly, who is married and has two children, was talking with his doctors and working on his computer while being treated.

    A second U.S. citizen, Nancy Writebol, also has tested positive for Ebola, Samaritan’s Purse said. Writebol is employed by mission group SIM in Liberia and was helping a joint SIM/Samaritan’s Purse team treating Ebola patients in Monrovia. Writebol is married with two children, the organization said.

    “Both of them tonight are in stable condition,” Ken Isaacs, Samaritan Purse’s vice president of programs and government relations, said Sunday. “But they are not out of the woods yet.”

    Life expectancy in the USA hits a record high

    Good news, America: We're living longer!

    Life expectancy in the USA rose in 2012 to 78.8 years – a record high.

    That was an increase of 0.1 year from 2011 when it was 78.7 years, according to a new report on mortality in the USA from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

    The news is a little better for women, a little worse for men. Life expectancy for females is 81.2 years; for males, it's 76.4 years. That difference of 4.8 years is the same as in 2011.

    Those life expectancy estimates are for people born in 2012 and represent "the average number of years that a group of infants would live if the group was to experience throughout life the age-specific death rates present in the year of birth," the report says.

    The average life expectancy for a person who was 65 years old in 2012 is 19.3 years – 20.5 years for women and 17.9 years for men. The difference in life expectancy at 65 years between males and females increased 0.1 year from 2.5 years in 2011 to 2.6 years in 2012.

    It's not that a person born in 2012 is expected to have a shorter life span than a person who was 65 in 2012, says Jiaquan Xu, a medical doctor and lead author of the report. But the averages for people born in 2012 includes those who will be subject to infant mortality and teen mortality, which are higher than for a group of older people.

    As far as the life expectancy difference between the sexes, Xu says it's not clear whether genetics plays a role, but behavior probably does. "Men usually take more risks, and they participate in risky outdoor activities like climbing and scuba diving," he says. "Also, teenage boys do more high-risk activities, and they get in more car wrecks, than girls."

    Among other findings of the 2012 mortality report:

    •The age-adjusted death rate for the USA decreased 1.1% from 2011 to 2012 to a record low of 732.8 per 100,000 population. The report attributes mu

    Larry D. Copeland

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    Larry D. Copeland

    Larry D. Copeland, 72, a long-time resident of Muncie passed away on February 8, 2022 in his home following an extended illness.  He was born in Maryville, TN on December 13, 1949 to Jewell and Vivian (Jackson) Copeland.

    Larry attended Muncie Southside High School.  He served in the US Army in Vietnam and was proud to be the Chief Mechanic assigned to the “Rat Pack” — the 187th Assault Helicopter Company Blackhawk Crusaders.  Upon returning home from Vietnam, Larry worked as a salesperson at Merle Lindsey Chevrolet in Muncie.  He lived in Texas for 30 years where he worked as an HVAC technician and retired from the VA Hospital in Houston.  He conducted prison workshops while he was there and enjoyed making a difference in people’s lives.  Larry later returned to Muncie, was a member of the American Legion Post 437 in Selma, and was a successful AMSOIL distributor for more than 30 years.

    Larry knew everything about cars!  Each one he owned had a name, but his favorite was his white, ’97 Chevrolet Truck named “Flash”.  He spent many evenings and weekends at local racetracks and, at one point, owned a Sprint Car.  An avid race fan, he loved to attend NASCAR events with friends and family.  When not at the racetrack or tinkering on a project car, you could find Larry fishing on Prairie Creek Reservoir or simply relaxing at home.

    Larry is survived by his loving wife of nearly 14 years, Kathy (Sissom); his mother, Vivian Copeland; two daughters, Lesa (John) Adams of Cleveland, TX and Misty Copeland of The Woodlands, TX; two step-sons, Jason Conley and Sean King both of Muncie; three grandchildren, Jonathan, AJ, and Cody; and two great-grandchildren.  Larry’s cousin, Michael Copeland of Nashville, TN (who was like a brother to him) and his lifelong best friends, Charlie & Debbie Pittman of Muncie and Charlie Beihl of Melbourne, FL also survive.

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    • Voices: Atlanta on edge after near-abductions

    ATLANTA — When it comes to protecting children from predators, this city has a dark history.

    Now, some here fear that without urgent action, Atlanta and its suburbs risk reliving one of the most painful chapters in their history.

    Across the metro region for the past several weeks, adult strangers have been trying to lure children into their vehicles. Several of the attempted abductions occurred near schools. In most instances, the children ran away to safety; but in one case, a 9-year-old boy told police he was abducted outside his home, driven around for more than an hour and released unharmed.

    Last month, the Atlanta Public Schools started a safety campaign, including robo-calls, letters to parents with safety tips and radio and television announcements, aimed at students who ride the bus or walk to school. A group calling itself the 360 Movement passed out fliers with the description of one suspect and his vehicle near two of the schools where incidents occurred.

    "We have to be proactive to prevent this to save our children," Islord Shasun, a member of 360 Movement, told WXIA-TV in Atlanta. "There are crazy, sick people out there."

    There are crazy, sick people out there.

    His words resonate in a city where, barely two generations ago, a nightmare played out.

    The Atlanta Child Murders. The Missing and Murdered Children's cases: Between 1979 and 1981, at least 28 children and young adults vanished from Atlanta's streets, their bodies turning up days or weeks later — strangled, asphyxiated, shot, bludgeoned, stabbed.

    Wayne Williams was arrested in 1981 and convicted the following year in two of the murders. He was thought to be implicated in a dozen other slayings, and the city eventually moved on.

    But that kind of experience never really leaves you. It became a part of who we are.

    "It's definitely in the Atlanta psyche," says William Boone, a political scientist at Clark Atlanta University.

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