This is My Court

The Blog of Courtney Klocke

Mega City Mall Explosion

Earlier today, there was an explosion at the Mega City Mall near Gun Land. There were less than 100 people injured and 2 people died.

St. Mercy and Jean-Luc hospital have reported victims’ injuries consistent with fire and smoke inhalation, along with other serious and non-life threatening injuries.

The Assistant Manager of Gun Land, Maria Zorrilla, was closest to the incident. At the time she was talking to a couple about purchasing a gun for their home. As she was leaving the store, she heard a loud noise and woke without her leg and debris everywhere.

One eyewitness did report seeing a suspicious guy in a dark coat before the explosion, but after, she didn’t see where the man had gone.

Sergeant Fuglsang reported that the investigation is ongoing and they will be reviewing the tapes of the incident this afternoon. Homeland Security and the FBI have arrived and they haven’t seen any indications of terrorism.

There have been reports of the mall having electrical issues prior to the explosion. A food court custodian, Kaitlyn McShane, stated about the issues with electrical, “There have been issues with electrical but there hasn’t been previous issues in that part of the mall.”

The Mega City police are assessing the damage to the mall currently, but they hope to be able to reopen on Saturday.

Terri McGaffin

As Terri McGaffin looks at the body of work senior art students have completed for their senior thesis, the passion for art radiates from her. She looks around with a wide smile on her face and the feeling of pride of how well the students have done. Her calm exterior doesn’t do the art justice for what she’s truly feeling inside.

She glances at different pieces in the gallery and is noticeably amazed by the different students’ creative spirits. When she spots a giant ceramic and wire hand, she’s taken aback saying, “Like that giant hand. What? Where did that come from?”

Terri McGaffin’s long, storied time at Morningside College as Chair of the Art Department and professor of numerous courses will close this spring after five years. Morningside College and its students will forever be held close to her heart for she is grateful for her experiences here.

The students of the art department are no stranger to McGaffin or her works either. Shane Roeder, a senior, graphic design student at Morningside, expressed the value McGaffin adds to the art department, (sound bite).

Her journey to become Chair began in 1990 as an adjunct professor for a drawing class at Morningside. After she went back to school for her masters and taught a couple years at South Dakota State University, McGaffin applied for an open position as a full-time professor for drawing and painting at Morningside. The decision to come back led to her to take the job of Chair of the Art Department in 2013 in the place of John Bowitz.

The decision to step down from Chair of the Art Department was anything but easy for McGaffin, (sound bite).

Students throughout the department were wretched when the announcement of McGaffin’s retirement came out. Abby Koch, a sophomore, graphic design and mass communications student at Morningside, stated her feelings of McGaffin’s departure, (sound bite).

Roeder and Ben Hieb, a sophomore, graphic design and photography student at Morningside, also gave their thoughts on McGaffin’s retirement, (sound bite).

Her passion for art and teaching will not end when the job does though, rather remain an instrumental part of her life. McGaffin plans to come full circle with her career by becoming an adjunct professor again at Morningside and continuing her art. She wants to dive back into her art by creating more and having her art featured in more galleries in the area.

A 16-year-old polar bear died at the Midland Zoo

Workers are mourning the death of Homer, a 16-year-old polar bear, at the Midland Zoo.

Homer was found in his inclosure an hour after his regular morning feeding appearing unresponsive. Sara N. Getty was the zookeeper that found Homer and she remembered him as a playful polar bear and knows that Homer will be deeply missed.

The cause of death of Homer is not yet to be determined and a necropsy is in progress. The zoo director, Chris P. Bacon expressed her concern, “We will do everything in our power to determine how this bear died. Animal welfare and the preservation of species are our primary goals here at the zoo.”

 

News Comment: U.S. Seeing Lowest Level Of Unauthorized Immigrants In A Decade, Says Pew Study

A study done by the Pew Research Center says that unauthorized immigration has hit its lowest point since 2007. The study actually shows most immigrants are now coming from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras instead of Mexico. Another study done by Yale University largely contradicts Pew’s research, but Pew researchers declined to comment on the study. Many of the unauthorized immigrants that came previous have mixed-status households, which means the parents are illegal but they have United States born children. It has led many to stay past the expiration date of their visas.

The article does a good job talking about key facts that give more prominence to it. For example, “The latest report, for the 2017 fiscal year, estimated that more than 700,000 overstays should have left sometime during the year ending Sept. 30, 2017.” It does a good job of including contrasting facts as well from the Yale University, but I wish they would’ve went just a little more in depth on their differences. The lead does seem kind of wordy though and could be more to the point. The last quote by Lopez I found interesting because he included fewer workers when it somewhat refocuses the article rather than  to the talk about the study he conducted.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/27/671238799/u-s-seeing-lowest-level-of-unauthorized-immigrants-in-a-decade-says-pew-study

Feature Anecdote

Terri McGaffin’s long, storied time at Morningside College as Head Chair of the Art Department and professor of numerous courses will close this spring. Morningside College and its students will forever be held close to her heart for she is grateful for her experiences here. Her passion for art will not end when the job does though, rather remain an instrumental part of her life, if not grow stronger.

News Comment: ‘You Better Own This’: How Rami Malek Came To Embody Freddie Mercury

The transformation for Rami Malek into Freddie Mercury was anything but easy. Malek soon figured out no one could truly embody Mercury with his unique vocal range and appearance, but Malek studied him to get as close as he could. It turns out the singing was primarily Mercury’s voice but Malek’s voice would begin most of the songs so it was a seamless transition. Malek went all in on Mercury’s persona with copying Mercury’s mannerisms with his buck teeth and by having the costume designer make another leotard to complete his look.

I think this feature story was very well written with highlighting the interview of Malek on being Freddie Mercury. It shows how difficult it is to become someone for a role and how the actor really needs to embody their character to make it look like they truly are the character. The quotes honestly make the feature what it is because otherwise it wouldn’t really have substance. I was really impressed with the article especially after I recently saw the movie.

Last Conversation

Last night at about 11:45, my roommate and I were watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. All the lights were off because the movie itself is so dark.

We were relaxing in our living room in our oversized sweatpants and t-shirts. I was laying on the floor with my Packers blanket and she was laying on our couch with her gray fuzzy blanket when she commented on how Professor McGonganall was her favorite because she was a badass in the movie. I simply replied, “I like her and Remus.”

Radio Broadcast

Science

From 93.7 KKRL this is Courtney Klocke reporting your twelve o’clock news.

Research was published last week that shows global warming could cause a shortage of barley thus less beer. Brewers think the agricultural industry will adapt to the change and continue to thrive.

A team of researchers from China, the United States, Britain and Mexico believe global beer production will fall by 16 percent. The researchers think the barley will go to livestock farming and it will take precedence over beer production. Beer consumption will then fall by 29 billion liters according to a study conducted in 2011.

Margo Wrich, a resident of Nebraska, reacted to the news (soundbite).

Politics

In other news, many critics, including Paul Ryan, have stepped forward to oppose Trump’s efforts to end birthright citizenship. Trump believes it can be done by an executive order, but birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14thamendment. To void birthright citizenship, the 14thamendment would either need to go through Congress or by asking the Supreme Court to overturn their earlier interpretation of the law. Either way the process would be quite lengthy.

Morgan Rosenboom, the 3rdgeneration of her family to receive birthright citizenship, responded to the news, (soundbite).

Even if the order was introduced, the amount of illegal immigrants would not change because their primary reason for coming to the United States is to create a better life for their families. The population of undocumented immigrants would instead grow within decades.

Sports

Now onto sports, the Boston Red Sox added their 4thWorld Series trophy to their collection in just 15 years.

Rarely, does the best team in baseball actually win the World Series. The Red Sox have added their name to that list with the 1998 Yankees, the 1909 Pirates, 1927 Yankees, and the 1961 Yankees.

The Sox were able to go 11-3 in the postseason against the 100-win Yankees, the defending champs and 103-win Astros, and the back-to-back National League champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Danielle Plathe, a lifelong Red Sox fan, commented on the team’s success, (soundbite).

The 2018 Boston Red Sox have cemented their names in history by becoming one of the best teams in baseball. This is Courtney Klocke reporting your twelve o’clock news from 93.7 KKRL.

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/10/18/658174335/brewers-barley-growers-say-don-t-drown-your-sorrows-over-global-warming-just-yethttps://www.npr.org/2018/10/30/662043904/trump-says-he-will-void-birthright-citizenship-law-through-executive-orderhttps://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/red-sox-world-series-bostons-2018-title-team-will-go-down-as-one-of-the-greatest-in-mlb-history/

News Comment:Vatican Insists U.S. Bishops Put Off Vote On Their Response To Sexual Abuse Crisis

The vote of standards for accountability of bishops and to set up a commission for receiving complaints against bishops has been postponed. Pope Francis decided to delay the vote to discuss during the meeting of conference presidents in February 2019. Cardinal Danial DiNardo was disappointed in the pope’s decision, but he hopes it will improve the Church’s response to sexual abuse. He wants to still address the victims to apologize for their ongoing pain, but he did admit he’s not happy about the delay of the vote.

The article does a good job of getting the real side of Cardinal DiNardo by showing how he doesn’t entirely agree with the Pope’s decision. The quotes included in this article adds great depth to the postponement of the vote. It would be interesting to do a feature on Pope Francis himself because it would be interesting to know his specific reasoning for the postponement since there has been some controversy surrounding it. I think a feature done on him and how he would handle the the bishop conference with his speech on the victims would be of great human interest and very compelling. Also, a feature done on the victims would make an impact on anyone, not just the Catholic community.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/12/666993820/vatican-insists-u-s-bishops-put-off-vote-on-their-response-to-sexual-abuse-crisis

Profile: Kane Brown

The frame of the profile is easily recognized as Kane Brown facing hardships throughout life and especially now entering the music industry. He wasn’t lucky enough to call one place home, either living in his mom’s car or sleeping at a friend’s house. For his first ever performance at his high school talent show, the crowd yelled racial slurs but by the end were applauding for an encore. Soon he was posting videos on Facebook that were going viral and Sony Music eventually took a chance on him. The country music industry hasn’t fully welcomed Brown with his differed appearance, but he hopes his music can change their minds.

The nut graph is located in the second paragraph or the second sentence.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/12/01/raising-kane-brown-biracial-singer-forges-own-path-country-music/93490558/

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