Laura G. Singleton

Laura is a WORLD correspondent and a World Journalism Institute graduate. She resides in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.

In Dorian’s wake

Disasters | Amid devastation, a long recovery begins in the Bahamas

by Laura G. Singleton
Posted 9/06/19, 05:27 pm

With Hurricane Dorian wiping out all normal lines of communication to the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas, a satellite phone call from Man-O-War Cay to Randy Crowe in Florida lasted only a few minutes. But that was long enough for Crowe to assure the caller, a member of the church he pastored there for 12 years, that help was coming: “The cavalry is on the way.”

Career and calling

Charity | A major league pitcher supports boys’ and girls’ homes in Uganda to combat trafficking

by Laura G. Singleton
Posted 7/04/19, 03:25 pm

Many professional athletes establish charitable foundations. Some just want a tax break, but Detroit Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd and his wife, Ashley, wanted to see what they could do at street level in Uganda, where they have now established a nonprofit, Kingdom Home, housing 146 girls and boys ages 6 to 14. Typically born into poverty or abandoned to the streets, the children are among a group that human traffickers often target.

Happy and productive

Lifestyle | Chris Gargiulo lives a life with Down Syndrome his childhood doctors couldn’t foresee

by Laura G. Singleton
Posted 4/11/19, 01:26 pm

When Chris Gargiulo finished his 30th year of working at a McDonald’s in this city 37 miles north of Tampa, 60 people attended a celebratory surprise party. Gargiulo “was shocked,” according to Cheryl Stark, a friend from church, but someone else might have been even more surprised: the doctor Gargiulo’s mother, Elizabeth Bridwell, consulted after Chris was born with Down syndrome (DS) in 1960.

Trust, love, and baseball

Sports | Teamwork lessons at spring training with the Pittsburgh Pirates

Laura G. Singleton | 3/28/19, 02:39 pm

As the major league baseball season opens, fans in 30 cities will learn whether the team-building efforts in spring training camps have been successful.

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle gave reporters the typical message: “‘Team-first’… We all have the same goal. There needs to be connection, there needs to be communication.”

Play-by-play gambling

Sports | New football league provides a brave new world for gamblers

Laura G. Singleton | 2/28/19, 03:50 pm

The Alliance of American Football (AAF), the latest effort to fill the post–Super Bowl void in pro football action, began its inaugural season on Feb. 9. The feel-good premise of the AAF is that it’s a “league of second chances,” where young hopefuls or veterans with something left in the tank can showcase their skills. AAF players sign three-year contracts but can leave for work in the NFL at any time.

Winning (and losing) by faith

Sports | From Matthew Slater to Cody Parkey, NFL players testify to Christian conviction amid career successes and setbacks

Laura G. Singleton | 2/01/19, 11:37 am

There will be no surprise when Matthew Slater, special teams captain for the New England Patriots, calls “Heads” in the pregame coin flip for Super Bowl LIII on Sunday.

Out with a bang

Television | Top-rated, long-running Big Bang Theory appealed to the misfit in us all

Steve West & Laura G. Singleton | 1/31/19, 12:13 am

“Our long collective nightmare is finally over.”

That’s how critic Stuart Heritage of The Guardian celebrated the announcement by CBS that the current and 12th season of The Big Bang Theory would be its last. Yet the 15-20 million viewers who watch the half-hour sitcom each week likely feel otherwise.