Morningside Activities Counsel Hosts Annual Homecoming Bingo

Students started filing into The Yockey Family Community Room in Morningside’s Olsen Student Center around 7:30pm on Wednesday the 4th of October, 2023. Bingo was set to start at 8:00pm. Students perused the prize tables and gawked at the grand prizes: a television, a coffee maker with coffee products, and an electric record player. 

Students throughout the room talked about what prizes they hoped to win. One student yelled to her friend, “If you don’t want anything, get me the Squishmallow.”

Before the event, Monica Olson, a senior at Morningside, stated that she was feeling excited for food and card game prizes. “Gift cards would be cool to have, I feel like they haven’t really done gift cards before,” she added.

Tru Britain, a sophomore Morningside student, who attended homecoming bingo last year stated that she did not win anything. “It’s rigged,” she said out of anger. She then admitted that she was upset she never seems to win at bingo.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the prizes. I hope they have food and caffeine. I just hope I win the big prize this year. I need a TV so I can watch The Bachelor,” Tru stated.

After finding their way to a row of chairs, Monica and Tru went to look at the prize table. The prizes included stuffed animals, disco balls, gatorade, homemade chocolate covered pretzels, and even a gluten free section for gluten free students. The gluten free section was a new addition to the prize table and received a round of applause when it was announced. 

After seeing the prizes, Monica thought the pens and food looked like good prizes. She mentioned that some of the card games were the same as they have had in previous years, which she seemed slightly disappointed by. 

Bingo caller, Javonte Madsen, was prompt and started calling numbers shortly after 8:00pm. Emotions were high, but the crowd seemed overall excited. First, tier one prizes were won by having five numbers in a row. Tier two prizes were won in the second round in a more complicated way, The player was to make the shape of an M by covering the called numbers. 

Finally, the last round came. Participants were to cover their entire card in order to win one of the three grand prizes. 

One student yelled “Bingo” after a list of numbers had been called. The card checker looked at the card and announced that all the numbers were accurate. The student chose their preferred grand prize. 

A few more numbers were called and three more people had bingos. The card checkers did their duties and all the cards were good. The student who yelled “Bingo” last ended up not receiving a prize, since there were only three grand prizes available.

Tru recapped the night.“ It was more eventful than bingo last year. My roommate and I were hoping for room decorations and we got some good stuff.” Tru described the overall vibe of the event as chaotic, but good. “I think people were happy with their results,” she stated.

Monica recalled an incident that happened during the second round of bingo. “It was funny when a student got a bingo on O 69 and everyone cheered.” The student responded to the positive reaction by standing in front of the audience and yelling “I am god,” while raising his arms in the air. 

Tru had a comment on the student as well, “The situation was really funny. The quick response was perfect. He should be a comedian,” she said, recalling the event.

Monica has attended homecoming bingo all three previous years of her university life. Monica expressed her frustration when she found out that bingo was going to be held in Yockey instead of the Eppley Auditorium. “I like Eppley better. Yockey is just too crowded.” She took a second to think and then stated. “At least last year they put the chairs in rows instead of around tables. The tables really didn’t work” This year the set up was the same as last year. Chairs were lined in rows, creating just enough space for everyone in attendance. 

Monica stated her feelings after bingo.“I liked the prizes, and I liked how they had multiple of some things so multiple people had a chance to win it. I liked the gluten free options so that people with celiacs had a treat they could win.” Monica mentioned that it got loud at times, but the crowd was never uncontrollable.

Monica won frosted pretzels and laundry beads. She mentioned she was content with both prizes.

Morningside Activities Counsel Hosts Annual Homecoming Bingo

Feelings Before Morningside Homecoming Bingo Event:

Before the night of the homecoming bingo event, I conducted a couple interviews about people’s feelings towards it. 

Monica Olson, a senior Mornignside student, has attended homecoming bingo all three years of her university life. She plans to attend again this year. Monica expressed her frustration when she found out that bingo was going to be held in Yockey instead of the Eppley Auditorium. “I like Eppley better. Yockey is just too crowded.” She took a second to think and then stated. “At least last year they put the chairs in rows instead of around tables. The tables really didn’t work” 

Monica stated that she is excited for food and card game prizes. “Gift cards would be cool to have, I feel like they haven’t really done gift cards.” she added.

After seeing the sneak peak of prizes, Monica thought the pens and food looked like good prizes. She mentioned that some of the card games were the same as they have had in previous years, which she seemed slightly disappointed by. 

Tru Brittain, a second year student, also attended homecoming bingo last year. She stated that she did not win anything. “It’s rigged.” She said out of anger. When I asked her why she thought that, she admitted she was just upset that she never seems to win at previous bingo events. 

 “I’m looking forward to seeing the prizes. I hope they have food and caffeine. I just hope I win the big prize this year. I need a TV so I can watch The Bachelor.” Tru stated.

Event: 

Students started filing into The Yockey Family Community Room in Morningside’s Olsen Student Center around 7:30pm on Wednesday the 4th of October, 2023. Bingo was set to start at 8:00. Students perused the prize tables and gawked at the grand prizes: a television, a coffee maker with coffee products, and an electric record player. 

Other prizes included stuffed animals, disco balls, gatorade, homemade chocolate covered pretzels, and even a gluten free section for gluten free students. The gluten free section was a new addition to the prize table and received a round of applause when it was announced. 

Bingo caller, Javonte Madsen, was prompt and started calling numbers shortly after 8:00. Emotions were high, but the crowd seemed overall excited. First, tier one prizes were won by having five numbers in a row covered on a card. Tier two prizes were won in the second round by covering numbers in the shape of an M on players bingo cards. 

Feelings After

“It was more eventful than bingo last year. My roommate and I were hoping for room decorations and we got some good stuff.” Tru described the overall vibe of the event as chaotic, but good. “I think people were happy with their results.” she stated. 

Monica attended bingo and recapped the night afterwards. “I liked the prizes, and I liked how they had multiple of some things so multiple people had a chance to win it. I liked the gluten free options so that people with celiacs had a treat they could win.” Monica mentioned that it got loud at times, but it was not uncontrollable. “It was funny when a student got a bingo on O 69 and everyone cheered.” The student responded to the positive reaction by standing in front of the audience and yelling “I am god.” while raising his arms in the air. 

Tru had a comment on the student as well, “The situation was really funny. The quick response was perfect. He should be a comedian.” She said recalling the event.

Monica won frosted pretzels and laundry beads. She mentioned she was content with both prizes. 

https://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-courts/domestic-assault-echter-sioux-city-officer/article_f7d742d2-6142-11ee-a5f0-63d6e91eeb9d.html

A Sioux City police officer was arrested for alleged domestic assault. 50 year old Bradley Echter, was arrested at his home in Sergeant Bluff after the female victim ran to a neighbors house and complained of what had happened.  

When police showed up, Echter attempted to resist arrest and pull away. Two officers were left with minor injuries. The female victim was found with injuries to multiple parts of her body including her neck. 

The Sioux City Police Department is investigating the alleged crimes and stated that they support victims of domestic violence. 

This story is significant because police are supposed to help everyone be safe, but this man has allegedly done the opposite. It is newsworthy to me and other members of the Morningside area because of proximity. This officer works for the Sioux City Police Department and lives in a town nearby.

The situation is also newsworthy because it has a long term impact on some of the people involved. This is something the victim will have to live with for the rest of her life. It could cause trauma and other mental health issues. Echter could face long term consequences from this as well- get  in legal trouble or possibly lose his job.

The story was well written and left me without many questions. It described how Echter reacted to the police being at his home. It described why the victim made the decision to go to a neighbor’s house. It had quotes from Sioux City Police Chief about the incident as well as quotes from the criminal complaint filed in Woodbury County District Court. 

Brad Cornell, Chair and CEO of Target, wrote a letter to shareholders in the 2022 Target Annual Financial Report. Cornell summed up the past year of growth and explained the goals for the coming year. 

Target’s growth philosophy is based on catering to customers’ current and predicted needs. During the beginning of the pandemic, their growth became unsustainable, but by 2020 and 2021 they were back on track and growing steadily. “Our team was able to support that unexpected growth because the fundamentals were in place, and we carefully stewarded capital, capabilities and above all our connection to guests in an extraordinary moment for our company” Cornell wrote as he explained the high increase in revenue from 2019 to 2020.

Cornell explained their customer loyalty. Targets growth in customers for six straight years shows that their customers’ needs are being met. One reason Cornell believes their growth has been steady for so long is their flexibility in adapting to customer product choices. During times of high prices due to interest and supply chain issues, “ guests still looked to us for their discretionary choices, purchasing nearly $55 billion in apparel, home and hardlines in 2022.”

Overall, Cornell assures shareholders that the goal for Target in the coming years is to “stay agile, resilient and responsive while sustaining its record of taking care of customers, the team, communities, and shareholders.” 

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.