Author: Jade (Page 2 of 2)

Calico cat causes catastrophe

Local firefighter broke his left leg while trying to save a cat stuck in a 50 foot oak tree.

Bob Harwood climbed the tree at Charlie and Kim Decker’s household and fell the last 15 feet when a dead limb broke under him. The fall caused him to break his left leg and be admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital where he is doing “just fine”.

The cat is doing just fine as well, Bob broke his fall.

Summer vacation causing mayhem at East High

Numerous “incidents” have been reported at East High school, leading to multiple suspensions.

Principal Laura Vibelius believes with summer vacation right around the corner, there is a “general unrest” amongst students. Three false fire alarms, smoking marijuana on school property, and a food fight are just a few accounts that happened at the school.

Ten upperclassmen were protesting the suspension of 5 other students that were caught smoking marijuana in the school parking lot. Each of these students involved were suspended for a week.

“Not so much unrest because of suspensions, but because of summer vacation being so near,” says Vibelius. She sees no continuation of these incidents in the near future.

Local sewer lines flooded with gasoline

Four families were forced to evacuate their homes because of a gasoline trunk overturn.

On the outskirts of town, near Correctionville Road, a Texaco gasoline truck overturned causing gas to flood sewer lines in a two-block radius. The gas was also on street and in ditches, making traffic rerout through the side streets.

Fire Chief Charles Hochandel says, “The firemen followed catastrophe and hazmat procedures set up beforehand for just such an occurrence.”

The gas was flushed away two hours after the spill.

UPDATED:

9/27/16

South Sioux City man dies in car collision

The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office released the death of a local South Sioux City man and Moville boy at 11 this morning.

Moyer Quick, aged 65, was involved in a two-car collision on Highway 20 just east of Sioux City two weeks ago. Quick was riding in the car with his wife, Dorothy, 61, and daughter-in-law Maxine Steuerwald, 43, of Lawton. Dorothy and Maxine were transported to the Marian Health Center, along with the passenger of the other car, Randy Radin, 17.

According to Iowa Highway Patrolman, Patric Stewart, the Quick’s vehicle rear-ended Radin which sent both vehicles into the ditch on the side of the road.

Dorothy and Maxine were reported in “good” and “fair” conditions and released from the hospital the next day. Radin was reported to have a fractured skull and other internal injuries.

Radin had been in a coma since the accident and was pronounced dead at 8:17 this morning. It was also later released after an autopsy that Moyer died of heart failure at the hospital. It is unclear if it was related to the accident or not.

National (anthem) debate

If there are two things America loves, it’s football and America. When a professional football player doesn’t stand for the playing of our national anthem, surely there will be problems.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, has decided to take a stand against the oppression of black people and people of color in the US. Since the preseason of the NFL, Kaepernick has not stood for the anthem because he wants to bring attention to the police brutality and social injustice in America.

(Kaepernick sitting during the anthem behind Navy Seals and Marines holding the American Flag)

It has spiraled into a national debate on everything but.

Sam Borden of the New York Times evaluates both ways to look at the issue. One side is that not standing during the national anthem is disrespectful to our flag and nation that gave him the very right to do so in the first place. The other is that the same people who trumpet our freedoms are the first ones to criticize when someone exercises those freedoms.

“This is not something I am going to run by anybody…I have to stand up for the people that are oppressed,” Kaepernick said.

The 49ers, along with the league, continue to rationalize Kaepernick’s decisions, saying that it is not required to stand during the anthem. Though why is it that sporting events are so strongly connected to playing the national anthem?

The playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been known to go as far back as baseball games in the mid-19^th century. The New York Times talked to spokesmen for leagues including Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), and National Hockey League (NHL) who all believe we play the anthem in honor of our country with great meaning and value to support the people who have built to protect it.

Eric Liu was Bill Clinton’s speech advisor who co-wrote a book on patriotism titled “The True Patriot”. According to Liu, America’s foundation is completely different than any other country in the world. We are connected by notions and concepts instead of religion or ancestry. This may be why our anthem seems so important and why so many people are offended by Kaepernick’s actions of not standing when the anthem is played.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL media according to the New York Times. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.”

Kaepernick is the first professional athlete to speak out about issues in the US in a few years. Athletes don’t want to jeopardize their endorsements or face possible suspensions. Eleven years ago, the Toronto Blue Jay’s first basemen, Carlos Delgado, stayed in the dugout during the playing of “God Bless America”. He wanted to make a point that he did not approve of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He signed with the New York Mets in 2005 and joined them when it played.

Twenty years ago Denver Nugget, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, was suspended for two days without pay when he refused to stand for the anthem.

Many NFL football players are following Kaepernick’s lead, either by kneeling or sitting during the national anthem before their games. Every Sunday, Monday, and Thursday, America waits in anticipation to see who else will join Kaepernick’s stand.

2. The most difficult part of writing this paper was the organization. I wanted to stay to the point, but there were other aspects that I thought were interesting and that connected to the main story. I ended up leaving them in because I thought it added to the story to give some background and outside the NFL news.

3. One specific revision I made was adding the attributions. In my first draft, I don’t think I had any. After rereading and editing, I added them where they were necessary in places such as quotes.   It was somewhat difficult to add good attributions, though, because from the articles I read they weren’t very specific. They would just say things like “NFL media”.

Iowa Highway patrol ordered ban of hand-held radar guns

Yesterday in Des Moines, the Iowa Highway Patrol ordered a ban of hand-held radar guns because of cancer development concerns.

Three municipal officers in Cedar Rapids filed workman’s compensation claims, saying they developed cancer from using the hand-held units. The longterm exposure to the radiation waves emitted by the devices could be the potential cause.

“The feeling here is to err on the side of caution until more is known about the issue,” says spokesman Adam Smith. “The whole situation is under review.”

The order is a precaution while studies are being conducted into the possible links between cancer and the use of such guns.

The ban affects 70 radar guns that will be withdrawn from service while troopers will still use radar units mounted on the outside of their cruisers. This move is considered to be the first of its kind by a state police agency.

John Tortorella reiterates that U.S. team must stand for anthem

I think this story has a good lead because it slightly expands on the headline while also telling you exactly what you will be reading about. If you are interested in sports or even the debate on standing for the anthem (which I am) it makes you want to continue reading. It’s also short & sweet, making it easy to get into the story.

Johanna Allen is a junior at Morningside who has previously been on the cheer team, but decided to not continue and focus on her academics. Johanna is from Mitchell, South Dakota with only one younger sister who is sixteen and a junior at Mitchell High School. Johanna’s major is Advertising.