When asking Dreya about the most influential person in her life, she told me about her mothers father-  Billy Roberts. “He’s just a good grandpa.” Dreya stated. She went on to describe her grandpa as humble, kind, and very giving. 

Billy is so kind, he can strike up a conversation with just about anyone. Dreya acknowledged that he has been more than welcoming to her multiple foster siblings, as well as her boyfriend. 

She told me that he is a really hard worker and has worked at the same job since 2002. He even refuses promotions to give others opportunities to succeed. 

One thing Dreya really appreciates about her grandfather is that he let her move in with him when she was 17. She was having a little bit of trouble at home and needed some space from her siblings. “It was great for my mental health and I am grateful he let that happen.” Dreya told me.

Dreya let me in on some advice  that her grandpa gave her. “He taught me to never burn a bridge.” She stated.

6 Year Old Texas Boy Hospitalized after Being Beat by Neighbor with a Baseball Bat

The neighbor of a family with a 6 year old son broke into their house and beat the child with a baseball bat. Daniel Logan entered the house by breaking a glass door. He walked up the stairs and beat the 6 year old child with a baseball bat. The boy’s brain swelled, and there were multiple fractures to his skull. 

Logan’s Mother heard him in the house and entered through the broken glass window. Logan then hit her with the baseball bat too. Logan’s wife called 911. Both the boy and Logan’s mother went to the hospital. He was in the hospital for at least a week after.  

I think the story was written well. It included quotes from both the mother and wife of Logan as well as the father of the boy. It gave good details about the boy and how smart he was especially for only being 6 years old. 

The lead is eye-catching and gives enough information to have an idea of what the story is about. 

I think the story is newsworthy because of its long term effects. The boy was innocent and will likely suffer lifelong injury from the incident. This story is also out of the ordinary. Random attacks don’t happen like this often.

Two man armed robbery brings up memories of previous store clerks passing

Two men wearing ski masks entered a store in Central City and demanded money from the register. One held a gun to the clerk, Barney Joseph Jr. while the other collected over $300. 

During an interview with Barney Joseph Jr, the story of his late father came up. His father, Barney Joseph Sr. also worked at BJ’s Drug. Almost 25 years ago, Joseph’s father was caught in an armed robbery at the store. “They found him shot to death.” 

Apparently Joseph’s father had resisted when told to give up the money from the register. 

When given this assignment, I started thinking of all the people I knew on campus that would be able to help me. I knew my friend Monica was at the HPER working her work study job, because I was there this morning and she works the shift right after me. When I got to the HPER, I walked up to the desk and explained the assignment to Monica. She looked in the drawers of the desk searching for the thick rubber band that I requested. There were lots of little notes and pieces of paper, but no thick rubber band. She asked, “Does this count?” as she motioned towards the hair tie she had on her water bottle. I responded with, “I don’t think so” and moved on to the office secretary, Wendy. Wendy opened her desk drawer and pulled out a small zip lock bag of rubber bands. She looked through them and finally handed me the thickest one she could find. “This is from the newspaper.” She told me.

I figured I had had good luck with Wendy so far, so I asked her if she had a favorite Morningside memory. She told me about how her second daughter is a freshman and one of her favorite memories was when she signed her letter of intent to attend Morningside. Along with this, her oldest daughter had also gone to Morningside and signed in 2015. She looked through her camera but didn’t have a physical copy of a photo of her oldest daughter signing. “I can’t show you one without the other or they will get jealous.” she said to me. 

Brooke Pruner, the head softball coach at Morningside, overheard our conversation and peeked her head out of her office. “I have a memory you can share!” she exclaimed. “This is from our early spring break trip we take every year. “ She said as she showed me a photo of her team all lined up on a beach. “ I really enjoy our day off when we don’t have to play. We play sand volleyball, and relax at the beach. I especially like this photo because of the maroon uniforms against the white sand.”  I snapped a photo of her photo as to not take her favorite memory. 

The photo from Brooke can be seen below, as well as a photo of the rubber band from Wendy.

The North African country of Libya is attempting to recover from Mediterranean Storm Daniel. 

On Sunday, September 10, 2023 a predicted 8 months worth of rain fell on Derna, Libya and surrounding cities. This historic rainfall caused two dams and three bridges to collapse. The collapsing of the dams caused so much pressure that people, cars, and even entire neighborhoods have been swept away. One Derna resident, Ahmed Abdalla, said in a statement to The Associated Press that he recalled seeing the rushing water “erase everything in its way.” The situation in Derna has been described as “apocalyptic” by The Washington Post. 

Eastern Libya’s health minister, Othman Abduljaleel, told the Associated Press that they believe even more bodies are trapped under rubble or have been washed out into the sea.

Many areas of Eastern Libya in and around Derna are unreachable by foot or vehicle and are without telecommunication. Because of the impassable road conditions, outside help was not able to reach Durna until 36 hours after the disaster struck.

Asmahan Belaoun, a member of the parliament with family ties to Derna, told The Washington Post the city’s main priority is to provide a telecommunication network and rescue helicopters to find survivors. 

The current death count is 2,000 including three members of the Libyan Red Crescent- a group designed to help in emergencies like this one. It is predicted that up to 10,000 people have actually died as a result of the storm, but it is hard to know an exact number because of the inaccessible roads. Tamer Ramadan, a Libya representative for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told CNN, “Our teams on the ground are still doing their assessment, but from what we see and from the news coming to us, the death toll is huge.” 

Hospitals in Derna are no longer operable because of the overflow of incoming patients. Bodies are being left on sidewalks outside of morgues and throughout the city.  

Libyan-Americans and The US Embassy are showing their support to Libya by providing money to help search for survivors.  

Level 3 Predatory Offender sought by Minnesota Corrections officials

https://www.keyc.com/2023/09/08/level-3-predatory-offender-sought-by-minnesota-corrections-officials/

Police in Minneapolis are searching for a man who cut his GPS monitoring bracelet. 

Archie Demound Randle, 45, of Minneapolis, Minnesota was released from police custody in June, and was supposed to be monitored 24/7 via a GPS bracelet. Police say that he has cut off the bracelet and left his home. His location is unknown. 

Randle was serving time in the department of corrections for a variety of convictions including Criminal Sexual Conduct and solicitation of a child. He is considered dangerous. 

I think this story is newsworthy because it is important for people to know. Especially people in the Minneapolis area should be aware, in case they see him. The article said not to approach him, but to call 911 immediately. 

It feels like the writer did just enough research. There wasn’t a lot of detail, but I think the viewer/ reader knows enough to keep themself safe if they see him. 

There was an image of him which is very important. 

I think the lead of the story was good. It caught my eye. It let me know the general location of the situation, as well as the severity of it- saying that he is a level 3 predatory offender. 

Disaster in Libya Leaves Thousands Missing

The North African country of Libya is attempting to recover from an immense catastrophe, which has been named Mediterranean Storm Daniel. 

On Sunday, September 10, 2023 a predicted 8 months worth of rain fell on Derna, Libya and surrounding cities. This historic 440 millimeters of rainfall caused two dams and three bridges to collapse. The collapsing of the dams caused so much pressure that people, cars, and even entire neighborhoods have been swept away. One Derna resident, Ahmed Abdalla, recalled seeing the rushing water “erase everything in its way.” The Washington Post described Derma and surrounding cities as “apocalyptic.”

Eastern Libya’s health minister, Othman Abduljaleel, said that they believe even more bodies are trapped under rubble or have been washed out into the sea.

Many areas of Eastern Libya in and around Derna are unreachable by foot or vehicle and are without telecommunication. Because of the impassable road conditions, outside help was not able to reach Durna until 36 hours after the disaster struck.

According to Asmahan Belaoun, a member of the parliament with family ties to Derna, the city’s main priority is to provide a telecommunication network and rescue helicopters to find survivors. 

The current death count is 2,000 including three members of the Libyan Red Crescent- a group designed to help in emergencies like this one. It is predicted that up to 10,000 people have actually died as a result of the storm, but it is hard to know an exact number because of the inaccessible roads. Tamer Ramadan, a Libya representative for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies stated, “Our teams on the ground are still doing their assessment, but from what we see and from the news coming to us, the death toll is huge.” 

Hospitals in Derna are no longer operable because of the overflow of incoming patients. Bodies are being left on sidewalks outside of morgues and throughout the city.  

Libya is currently in a state of Civil unrest. The country is divided into the East and West sides who do not usually support one other. This catastrophic event has momentarily brought them together and the West side is helping the East find the resources it needs in order to make a full recovery.  

Flooding is a common occurrence in Libya during their rainy season, but nothing like this has happened before. The civil divide in the country’s government is thought to be a large factor in the extent of damages that were done by Storm Daniel. The main government is located in the Western part of Libya, so the Eastern side gets forgotten about when it comes to funding and resources. Infrastructure, including the bridges and dams that collapsed were not well maintained. Many people are wondering what the outcome of the storm would have been if maintenance and upkeep were common.

The lack of government could also be to blame for residents not realizing that the storm was going to be so bad. Some people are saying the high death rates are a result of negligence. The residents in Derna were not warned of the serious nature of the storm. Some residents woke up to what they thought were explosions, but were really the sounds of the dams breaking. The sounds were soon followed by flash flooding. 

Emergency responders in Derna say the situation had nothing to do with negligence, but simply a lack of preparedness. 

The US Embassy is doing what they can to aid relief efforts. In addition, Many Libyan-Americans want to help out by providing money to help search for survivors.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvjy88/great-wall-of-china-damaged-by-people-looking-for-shortcut

Police say that “irreversible” damage has been done to the Great Wall of China. 

Two construction workers looking for a short cut around the UNESCO world heritage site have been arrested after digging a hole through part of the wall. Using an excavator, a 38 year old man and a 55 year old woman dug a hole through an existing cavity in the Great Wall of China. They duo claimed they were hoping to save time for travelers. 

This incident took place on a part of the wall located in Youyu county at a section known as the 32nd Great Wall. This is an ancient artifact that dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644).

I think the article was written well. It was short and to the point, but still very informative.  It included quotes from the Chinese police, as well as quotes about what the workers intentions were. There were multiple pictures of the damage to the wall. I think the writer did good research before writing the article. 

I would say that this story is newsworthy because of the historical significance of The Great Wall of China. It is an enormous structure that took over 2,000 years to complete. The damage of it is important for people to hear about because it is such a beloved piece of history, especially in China. 

The title and lead were interesting and made me want to read the article.

Title: Great Wall of China ‘Irreversibly’ Damaged by People Looking for Shortcut

Lead: Two people have been arrested after using an excavator to dig a hole through a section of the landmark, Chinese police said.

Two Backwater Professors Involved in Deadly Plane Crash

Five people are pronounced dead following a plane crash at Kennedy International Airport. The 45 passenger and crew flight became uncontrollable during the take off process and crashed. 

John Dumont and George Johnson, both associate professors at Backwater State University, were aboard the flight, but walked away without injury. Fortunately they were among the majority, as about 40 total people survived. 

The cause of the crash is still under investigation. At this time there is no suspicion of foul play.  

Additional courses required for graduation at Backwater State University. 

Backwater State University President, David French, announced on Friday his plans to change graduation requirements. Students entering the university next fall (2023) will be required to take one math, computer science, and foreign language course before they are eligible to graduate. 

A recent study showed only 15 percent of students at Backwater State University took a foreign language course and only 20 percent took a math course. President French expressed that he feels this change will allow Backwater to, “turn out better-educated persons.”

Vanderbilt Homecoming queen arrested for driving under the influence for the third time.  

Homecoming queen, daughter of highly respected attorney, straight-A biology student, senior at Vanderbilt University and much more, 22 year old Cathey Wense can now add inmate to her lengthy list of titles. 

Cathy Wense was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol last night. This is Cathy’s third offense in the last six months. 

The East Dakota Highway Patrol has ordered a ban of cancer causing hand-held radar guns. 

The Highway Patrol in East Dakota ordered to ban hand-held radar guns, yesterday. The department is concerned that officers are developing cancer from long term exposure to the waves emitted by the devices. Studies are still in progress to determine if there is real threat of cancer causing radiation. This ban is precautionary, until further research is completed. “The feeling here is to err on the side of caution.” says Adam Smith, a spokesperson for the Highway Patrol Department. 

Three municipal officers in Central City have claimed that their cancer was caused by using hand-held radar guns. This ban has potential to affect up to 70 radar guns used by East Dakota’s Highway Patrol department, including parts of Sioux City, Iowa. Only radar mounted on the outside of patrol cars will be utilized within the department.