Dangerous journeys, contentious crossings
Migrant families desperate to flee gang violence and an administration determined to stop illegal immigration are adding up to a crisis on the border
- "Bronco Bob," a 6-foot-7, 372-pound professional wrestler, used his muscle power for more than a show on Dec. 16. After Gary Smith's pickup truck collided with a tractor-trailer and then burst into flames about 40 miles southwest of New Orleans, the wrestler, whose real name is Chad Bonvillain, wrenched off the driver's door and pulled Mr. Smith to safety. "I couldn't just stand there," said Mr. Bonvillain.
- Olla Rae Chicola, a Louisiana grandmother of 16, transformed her personal loss into public benefit. When her husband died in 1987, Mrs. Chicola transformed the grocery store they ran for 42 years into a soup kitchen, renaming it "Manna House." With the help of other grocers and her local church, Mrs. Chicola now feeds roughly 250 people a day-many of them children. Since its inception in 1990, Manna House has provided over 800,000 meals.