Lauren Hodes- Week 24- Prince Phillip dies at age 99

    Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh died on April 9th, 2021 at the age of 99. The Buckingham Palace issued a statement regarding his death which said "it is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His Royal Highness passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle.” Prince Phillip has 4 children Charles, Prince of Wales, Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. He is also the grandfather of future King William and Prince Harry. Additionally, he has 10 great-grandchildren including the future King George. He was born on June 10, 1921 in Corfu, Greece to Princess Alice and Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. Although his 4 sisters all married high-ranking Nazi officials, his mother Princess Alice hid Jewish families during the Holocaust and was recognized as a Yad Vashem righteous among the nations. Because of this honor, she was buried in the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem (Phillip attended a ceremony in her honor at Yad Vashem). Additionally, during WW2, Prince Phillip was a high ranking commander in the Royal Navy. His great accomplishments throughout the years most definitely make him someone to look up to. Prince Phillip and the Queen of England were married 73 years which is so amazing and something to really admire. They met when the Queen was just 13 years old and Prince Phillip was 18! Through the tragedy of his death, I feel so horrible for the Queen because I cannot imagine losing your best friend and husband of 73 years. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/obituaries/prince-philip-dead.html

Dori Week 24- Daunte Wright's Murderer In Court

        Last Sunday on April 11th, 20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot and killed by former Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter. Wright was initially pulled over due to having air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror, when the police officers also discovered a misdemeanor warrant for which they tried to detain him. When Wright went back into his vehicle, Kim Potter was heard shouting “Taser!”: except, she never pointed a taser at him. She pointed a gun at him instead and fatally shot him. Let it sink in that this all happened just 10 miles away from the location where George Floyd was killed in May 2020.  

        Two days later on Tuesday, the city’s police chief resigned, along with Kim Potter as she believed it was “in the best interest of the community, the department, and my fellow officers if [she resigned] immediately.” There was no mention of Wright in her reason for resigning. Justifiably, Wright’s killing by Kim Potter sparked a substantial amount of protest, mourning, grief, and panic. People demanded justice and were filled with anger, especially towards police officials who believed the incident was an innocent mistake. After all, how does someone “confuse” a lighter weight, plastic bright yellow Taser with a heavier, dark metal handgun? Specifically, how does an officer with 26 years of training and experience, who has also trained various other officers, make such a fatal, costly “mistake”? 

        While in most cases, officers have not faced criminal charges for claiming they mistook their gun for a Taser, Kim Potter is being charged with second-degree manslaughter by the Washington County Attorney’s Office. To give context, the definition of second-degree manslaughter is when someone  “causes the death of another by the person’s culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another'' (mahoningmatters.com). With this charge, Kim Potter could be facing a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. On Wednesday, Potter was arrested but then released later the same day after posting a $100,000 bond (npr.org). The next day, she made a court appearance on a brief Zoom call with defense attorney Earl Gray representing her. This case has been formally assigned to Regina Chu, Hennepin County Judge, and May 17th marks Potter’s next scheduled court appearance. 

        In my opinion, what happened to Daunte Wright is absolutely appalling. I think Kim Potter definitely knew what she was doing in pulling out a gun instead of a taser on Wright and that justice needs to be served. It breaks my heart that Daunte Wright’s 2-year-old son is going to grow up without a father and never be able to play basketball or go to the park with him again. I cannot even imagine all the stress now on the mother and the Wright family. This racism and injustice need to end. We are all human and we all bleed the same blood. I seriously wish this hatred would stop, and I truly hope that the circumstances improve over time. For now, all we can do is educate ourselves, speak out, donate resources and money to these grieving, struggling families, and try to spread more love in the world. Let me know your thoughts about all of this in the comments. 

Sources: 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/daunte-wright-killing-chyna-whitaker-speaks-out/ 

https://apnews.com/article/daunte-wright-shooting-minnesota-f70fb7fc4c205740507b7c53d7315f0 

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/daunte-wright-police-shooting-minneapolis-1154900/ 

https://www.npr.org/sections/trial-over-killing-of-george-floyd/2021/04/13/986960763/i-never-imagined-this-daunte-wrights-family-calls-for-accountability 

https://www.mahoningmatters.com/local-news/why-officer-who-fatally-shot-daunte-wright-was-charged-with-manslaughter-not-murder-3636128 

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/14/987228386/officer-who-shot-daunte-wright-arrested-to-be-charged-with-2nd-degree-manslaught 

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/15/987795222/officer-who-killed-daunte-wright-makes-first-court-appearance-in-manslaughter-ca

La Soufrière Volcano Eruption- Coby Russo Week 24

 

    Hey guys! Welcome back to my FINAL blog post! This is so sad but, here we go!

    Earlier this week, the La Soufrière Volcano, located in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines off the coast of Venezuela, began to erupt. The explosive eruptions have spread throughout the country, covering the island in "ash and volcanic flows of molten rock and gas have gushed down the mountainside." The Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves, issued a mandatory evacuation for the entire nation earlier in the week. Although they were told to leave, hundreds of people still had to be rescued from a town on the northeastern side of the island (in the danger zone of the volcano eruptions) named Owia. A multitude of residents have been displaced into uninhabitable areas. They are left without with neither electricity nor fresh water, causing a humanitarian emergency. Also, airports have been shut down and traveling by boat is limited. The United States have been working on reducing Americans from this island as well.

    I feel that this is absolutely devastating. The displaced persons should be given survivable living conditions, not places that would just increase the island's death toll. I believe that other nations should reach out and offer help and a shelter for those who lost their homes due to the eruptions. How do you guys feel about this situation, and how do you believe other nations should help out those affected from the La Soufrière Volcano eruptions? Let me know in the comments down below!

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/15/987751362/la-soufriere-volcano-a-growing-humanitarian-crisis

Zev Englander Week 24- Baseball Experimenting with Moving Mound Back

 Baseball is America's pastime. Through 100s of years, the game and players have evolved so much to get to where the sport is now. I used to play baseball and can say it is really fun to play. I was a pitcher so this topic is definitely interesting to me. This week, minor leagues decided to experiment with moving the pitcher's mound back from the traditional 60 foot 6 inches from home plate. They will move it back another foot for every team in the independent minor league starting at the second half of the season. Baseball is timeless, and the mound has stayed the same since the 1800s, so why the need for change? It is common to hear people say baseball is slow and boring. Even I have trouble sitting through a baseball game now and have increasingly lost interest over time. This is largely due to the game slowing down incrementally year after year. Pitchers have developed insane velocity and spin rates leading to an abundance of strikeouts, which means fewer balls in play. No balls in play means no action. The hitter's approach has changed into a power-driven one, and home run rates are at an all-time high. Home runs mean action and the most home runs ever should mean the most interesting to watch right? But no. At bats now end in either a home run or strike out at a higher rate than ever. Batters strike out 25 percent of the time, which is an all-time high. It is boring to sit through. So what does moving the mound back accomplish? It would definitely increase runners on base and decrease strikeouts. It would also hypothetically reduce home runs and increase balls in play as hitters would need to adjust to the new angle the ball is coming in at. I think it's cool that they are able to experimnt with this at a professional level, but as someone that used to pitch every day, I don't see this working. My rotation and motion were muscle memory, and even though a tougher time for pitchers would mean more runners on base, I think they would be from walks not hits. That would mean pitchers need to throw more pitches, which would hurt their arms. The reason I quit was my arm hurt every day. It's cool that they will try this in the minor leagues after the all-star break, but I don't think it will work. Do you see moving the mounds back as a realistic option for baseball at the highest level?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/sports/baseball/pitchers-mound-atlantic-league.html

Maya Melamed 24- Jeffree Star Car Crash

Jeffree star, a huge beauty influencer, and YouTuber got into a car crash earlier today with his friend Daniel. The car he was driving lost control when it drove on black ice and ended up tumbling over. The crash happened around Casper Wyoming, and he was driving his new Rolls Royce. The car ended up flipping over three times due to the black ice and they rolled off the highway. The investigation is still going on, but drugs and alcohol do not seem like a factor in the crash. Jeffree and his friend both ended up in the hospital, Jeffree seems in worse condition than Daniel. He says that he's in “excruciating pain” after suffering fractures in his spine. He also says that it was one of the scariest moments” in his entire life. The cops say that Jeffree was the one driving and both of them were wearing their seatbelts. Jeffree says that he's thankful to be alive and his doctors expect for him to make a full recovery, though it might take a few months. He's currently at Wyoming medical center receiving treatment. His Friend Daniel, is suffering from internal injuries. Jeffree says “ he has survived colon cancer three times, he's having complications with his organs so they are monitoring him.” Thankfully, they are both alive and expected to make full recovery even if it takes some time.https://www.tmz.com/2021/04/16/jeffree-star-car-crash-hospitalized-flip-accident-wreck-wyoming/  

Ethan- Week 24- Jude Bellingham: young new talent

 

Jude Bellingham, an English soccer player, was born in 2003 in England and is now 18 years old. He signed for Birmingham City at age 8 and made his professional debut at age 16! He is incredibly young, although very skilled and talented, and he could possibly be one of the best players in the world in the future. He signed for Borussia Dortmund (team in the picture above) in July of 2020 and in his first match he scored, earning him the youngest ever goalscorer record. Two days ago, in a match between Borussia Dortmund vs. Manchester City, he scored an incredible goal, which attracted eyes from all around the world. This included Manchester City’s head coach, Pep Guardiola who said in a post-match interview “I cannot believe he is 17 years old” and “he must be lying about being 17”. Guardiola also applauded Bellingham when he scored against Man City. I have linked the goal below, so let me know what you think of it. Do you think this player will become one of the world’s best in the near future? Additionally, it is truly incredible how such young players continue to go pro and compete at top levels nowadays. Vinícius Júnior, a Brazilian 20-year-old soccer star, signed pro at age 16 for Flamengo and weeks later was signed to Real Madrid in La Liga for $191 Million! He too is an incredible player and I have also linked his most recent goal below. Do you think these 2 young players will eventually pass Kylian Mbappé or Erling Haaland (the 2 current best players in the world)? Maybe Ronaldo or Messi (the two GOATS)? How do you think such young kids are able to play at such high levels? What do you think the effect will be on these young stars by them making hundreds of millions of dollars as teenagers?

https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/pep-guardiola-jude-bellingham-must-be-lying-about-being-17-borussia-dortmund-15453

Jude Bellingham Goal- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Yp8xv6IVA

Vinícius Júnior Goal against Liverpool- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMSp1yi0ekc

Man City vs Dortmund Game Highlights- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzPvz9wqVx4

Sydney Man Finds Snake in a Bag of Lettuce From Aldi- Diana 24

 The other day my family and I went to the new Aldi that opened right across the street from us, so I thought it was only fitting to write about this snake that a man found in a bag of lettuce from Aldi. Also, I just had dinner with some of the food that we purchased at Aldi, and after we ate we came to a collective decision we will not be buying food from Aldi again. That really tells you how much we enjoyed dinner tonight (: Anyways, Sydney man, Alex White, bought a bag of lettuce at Aldi before he noticed what he thought was a huge worm in his lettuce. He only realized it was a snake in his lettuce when he saw a snake tongue flick. 

   The snake turned out to be pale-headed and venomous. The snake made an 870- kilometer journey to Sydney from the packing plant in Toowoomba, Australia. Right after Alex White noticed the snake he called a rescue organization as well as a snake handler to take the snake away. The rescue organization explained to White that if he had gotten bit by the snake, he would have had to go to the hospital immediately. Aldi is now investigating how the snake managed to find its way into the supermarket. One thing we know for sure is that the snake's natural habitat is not at an Aldi store. Meanwhile, the snake is being shipped back to Queensland state next week. Right now I think I'm just going to keep my distance from Aldi for a little while. How would you feel if you saw a snake in your leafy greens? 

https://www.google.com/search?q=sydeny+man+finds+snake+in+lettuce+bought+at+suspermarket&oq=sydeny+man+finds+snake+in+lettuce+bought+at+suspermarket+&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i10i160l2j33i299.18052j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8