Explosion at Mega City Mall

At 9:53 am this morning an explosion occurred at the Mega City mall. MCPD Captain Ross Fuglsang stated “investigation is ongoing we have begun to question eyewitnesses.”

The police report stated that there were less than 100 injured. All injured people were taken to the different hospitals throughout the city. There were 2 fatalities in the explosion. MCPD has not yet identified who the victims were.

One eyewitness, a Nurse who was at the mall shopping for his mom, saw a flash of light as he walked out of the Frisky Kreme Donut shop and ran to the aid of the injured.

MCPD and federal law enforcement agencies are looking into the investigation. Captain Fuglsang will hold another press release at 2 pm this afternoon with more information.

News Comment Week 16

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/4/20993754/trump-justice-department-supreme-court-death-penalty

The Trump justice administration is looking to move forward with executions for 5 death row inmates.

This is huge because the governments last execution was in 2003.

Now within the next 2 months 5 inmates are set to be put to death. However appeals may delay these dates.

There is a lot of opposition against this. The 8th amendment defends its citizens from cruel or unusual punishment. The injection method was named cruel or unusual in 2003 after the federal execution of Louis Jones Black.

The first execution is set to be December 9th. We will see if appeals hold up the process more.

News Release

At the Midland zoo 16 year old polar bear, Homer, was found dead in his pool at around 7 a.m. this morning.

Though the cause of death is not known at this time, a necropsy will be performed by the zoo to determine cause of death.

Zoo director Chris P. Bacon said that he will do everything in his power to determine the cause of death.

This is not the first animal to die. A week ago a 10 year old Bobcat died of renal failure, and a 6 year old giraffe died 2 weeks ago from a broken neck. The deaths are unrelated.

Though this is the 3rd animal to die in recent weeks, sometimes these things just happen. There is nothing that any zoo keeper can do about it.

In a previous news release polar bears were said to have thrived at the zoo since 1985. The cause of death for Homer is more than likely natural but it is still a sad time as we say goodbye to one of our oldest friends.

Rest well Homer.

Article 4

Hy-Vee is a grocery store chain in the Midwest that is known for its great service. Nobody in the business knows this better than Bob Taylor.

            Bob has been at Hy-Vee since he got out of high school. He worked his way up from a cashier, to the human resources manager over the course of his illustrious 30+ year tenure at Hy-Vee.

            When asked why he has stayed in the business so long Taylor simply answered, “I love what I do. My favorite thing is to see all of the smiling faces of my employees.”

            Taylor also admitted that his time at Hy-Vee may be coming to an end soon. “The kids are finally moved out and through college, and I think it’s about time to sit at home, hang out with my wife, and enjoy a beer.”

            Though his career may be coming to an end soon store director Mike Haiar will be sad to see Taylor leave. “He has done such a great job as the human resources manager that it is going to be tough to find a replacement.”

 Haiar, who has just recently been named store manager, has been working with Bob for the last several years, commented on Taylor’s enthusiasm for the job. “He never has shown up in a bad mood. Every single day he shows up smiling and ready to help whoever needs it.”

Not only will Taylor be missed in the offices upstairs, but he will be missed by the employees of the store as well. Hy-Vee employee and Briar Cliff student Jeremiah Glise, is one of the many employees that Taylor has hired over his career.

When asked what his thoughts on Taylor were, he responded “Bob is one of the best, and most genuine people I know. He is always willing to go the extra mile for you, and will never complain about doing it.”

Bob Taylor is more than just a Hy-Vee employee. He is a friend to everyone he meets and genuinely wants to help everybody. Although his career at Hy-Vee may be coming to an end, his legacy will continue to live on.

Broadcast Stories

Science Scavenger Hunt

https://www.livescience.com/monkeys-outsmart-humans.html

            When it comes to games there is no monkey business for these primates.

In a study done by Georgia State grad students, monkeys and humans played the same game. The game consisted of different patterns to earn a reward. However something strange happened.

Monkeys did better on the game than humans did. The monkeys that were tested showed much more adaptability than humans. While humans are accustom to a set way of doing things monkeys would change their strategy to find the best one.

This experiment simply showed how humans stuck to one way of doing things, while the monkeys always tried to find something new. Being stuck in a certain way of doing things made humans not find the short cuts in the game. The monkeys though seemed to find it every time.

Though not a bad thing it is interesting to see how set we are in our ways. This could lead to finding different ways of teaching children. Teach them be more outside the box thinkers. Only time will tell but for now it is monkeys 1, humans 0.

Story 2

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/quilty-the-cat-sentenced-to-solitary-confinement-for-repeatedly-breaking-his-feline-friends-out-of-animal-shelter/

                 Feline Prison Break?

At the Friends for Life animal shelter in Houston Texas, a strange phenomenon takes place. A cat by the name of Quilty, has been found guilty of prison breaks.

            Quilty is said to frequently break out of his cage in the animal shelter. However that isn’t the only thing that this feline is guilty of. He never leaves his friends behind, so he breaks them out too.

            Quilty breaks out of his cage so frequently that the shelter had to “Quilty proof” The feline room in order to keep all of the inmates contained. This involved moving Quilty into “solitary confinement” to try to stop these mass escapes.

These “prison breaks” happen frequently around the animal shelter and have drawn a lot of attention on social media. The shelter has started to create tshirts that say “Free Quilty”, and has joked around with him being in “jail”.

Through all of this Quilty is now on a week trial with a new family, and finally might get the freedom that he so desperately wants. The only question is will he get sent back for cat burglary?

Only time will tell but for now the ex con is just enjoying his time with his new family.

Story 3

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cows-hurricane-dorian_n_5dcd83fde4b0a794d1fc4c48

                In a spectacular tale that could be turned into a novel, 3 cows survived on a desert island through sheer determination

            After Hurricane Dorian hit the coast of North Carolina these 3 friends were swept out into the ocean. Thought to be lost the currents of the raging hurricane, the cows swam over 5 miles to a deserted island. They survived on the island by grazing off of the land.

            The cows were part of a herd of 20 wild cattle that were thought to be dead after they had been swept away.

            They were on the island for almost a month, when a park ranger noticed one of the cows on the island. Within the next 2 weeks the other two cows were found on the same island.

            At this time park rangers are determining the best method to return the cow’s home safely. The best idea that they have come up with is to sedate the cows and bring them back.

            Nobody knows how these 3 friends survived the hurricane, but they are finally on their way back home.

News Comment Week 14

This article talks about the case of Kansas vs Glover. In this case a driver was pulled over not for speeding or doing anything illegal, but for driving a car that is registered to a person with a suspended license.

However the supreme court could make this illegal soon.

Many people share care with other family members, and loved ones. Cops pulling these drivers over are assuming that the driver is the owner.

If the supreme court rules in favor of Glover many government organizations believe that it will be a threat to the safety of the people. However If the supreme court rules in favor of the state, it will give officers the ability to do more routine traffic stops.

This article is interesting in the fact that it could go 2 entirely different ways. This will effect the community regardless and it will be interesting to see how things change in the upcoming weeks.

News Comment Week 13

In this article the United States district court rued that the blue prints for 3-D printed guns cannot be posted online.

Judge Robert S. Lasnik ruled that it was a threat to national security. This is due to the fact that 3-D printed guns were untraceable making them more dangerous than meets the eye.

This ruling goes against the trump administrations original judgement. the Trump administration stated that the blueprints could be posted online originally.

The case is still on going as more appeals have gone to the courts. I think that the argument here is whether or not it is okay to have untraceable weapons floating around in the United States.

The references that they have in the article definitely show both sides of the fight by using the judge and the attorney’s for quotes.

Science Scavenger Hunt

Science Scavenger Hunt

https://www.livescience.com/monkeys-outsmart-humans.html

            When it comes to games there is no monkey business for these primates.

In a study done by Georgia State grad students, monkeys and humans played the same game. The game consisted of different patterns to earn a reward. However something strange happened.

Monkeys did better on the game than humans did. The monkeys that were tested showed much more adaptability than humans. While humans are accustom to a set way of doing things monkeys would change their strategy to find the best one.

This experiment simply showed how humans stuck to one way of doing things, while the monkeys always tried to find something new. Being stuck in a certain way of doing things made humans not find the short cuts in the game. The monkeys though seemed to find it every time.

Though not a bad thing it is interesting to see how set we are in our ways. This could lead to finding different ways of teaching children. Teach them be more outside the box thinkers. Only time will tell but for now it is monkeys 1, humans 0.

Media Comparison

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/23/us/chicago-teachers-strike-wednesday/index.html

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-cps-strike-chicago-teachers-union-updates-20191023-y7vgbym5vvf6bgbrwuwfiitsg4-story.html

This story is about the ongoing teacher strikes in Chicago. these strikes have caused schools to close, as educators go on strike against the city of Chicago.

Both of the stories contained the same information, however the news print version had more statistics and numbers in it, and less direct quotes. However it was much easier to read and gave you some facts that the broadcast did not.

The broadcast switched back and forth from showing some facts on the screen. In the back ground of these facts there was video of the protesters. It would then switch to different teachers, making the story more real.

Overall I think the main difference between the news print version and the broadcast is the way they made you feel. When I watched the broadcast the video, the music, and the interviews all made the story seem more real.

This is in contrast to the news print version. Although it gave the same information and some good quotes it didn’t have that emotional feel to it.

Article 2

As a wrestler cutting weight is a double edged sword.

On one side you have kids who don’t cut weight. Usually heavyweights and other upper weights that can eating lots of food to replenish their energy after a hard practice.

On the other side you have the kids who cut weight. Usually the lighter guys that are on the team, there is a lot less eating and a lot more working out.

I spoke to 3 current or past Morningside wrestlers on their experiences about cutting weight

            Keegan Hessler, a Morningside wrestling alumni, recalled on his days of cutting weight. Hessler wrestled at Morningside for 4 years at 125 pounds. Now an assistant coach for Morningside, when asked what the most challenging thing about cutting weight is, Hessler responded “Cutting weight is more a mental grind than a physical one. If you can get over that mental block the weight comes off much easier.”

            At heavyweight, Phil Rasmussen, a junior at Morningside, is someone who doesn’t have to cut weight regularly. The heavyweight weight class is a max of 285 pounds, and Rasmussen weighs in at around 260. When asked if he had any problems during the season with weight, he responded, “Even though I may not cut weight, I do have to watch what I eat. As a heavier guy I have to maintain a higher weight so I eat much more than the normal wrestler.”

            In the middle of the 2, Cameron Williams, a junior at Morningside, was asked if cutting weight ever effects the way that he competes. With no hesitation he said, “Of course it does. I have been doing this for so long though that at this point it is just another part of the sport. I have a goal in mind. To be a national champion and when I think about that it makes the weight cut just one more thing to do.”

            Cutting weight is something that all wrestlers, and not many other people can understand. It takes a toll mentally and physically on the body. The season is a long one. Every wrestler does it every year, to chase that chance at greatness and be at the top of the podium. Whether you are trying to eat up, or slimming down, talking to a wrestler one time will change the way you think about food.