On December 8th, Brittney Griner was released from prison after America agreed to release Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Griner was in a Russian prison for 11 months after she was caught with hash oil while playing in Russia.

This is something that Biden has felt heavy pressure from the public ever since she was sentenced to her 9-year sentence. When asked about it, Biden said, “I’m telling you, I am determined to get her home and get her home safely — along with others, I might add,”

This decision will split sides in America as Paul Whelan, an American corporate security executive is still locked away in Russia.

This is new because it has been a big talk in the sports world as well as in major news. There were much back and forth talks about whether she would or wouldn’t be freed. This news will inform the people who have been paying attention to it whether it be sports fans or another person whose heard about it.

Homer, the oldest polar bear at Midland zoo. Was found dead this morning after his feeding. The cause of death is unknown and is currently being investigated.

Midland Zoo director Chris Bacon stated, “We will do everything in our power to determine how this bear died.”

Zookeeper Sara Getty talked about how upsetting the incident was stating, “Homer was a very curious and playful polar bear and we will miss him terribly.”

Polar bears have always been a bright spot for the zoo. Midland has made the enclosures as close to home as possible to allow the bears to engage in natural behaviors. They get to play in the snow, dig in the gravel, and even hunt for trout. Their exhibit also gives them an opportunity to educate the public about them.

Senior staff vet Shanda Lear said, “The zoo will perform a necropsy to try to determine the cause of death.” She made it clear that they would have to wait several weeks before the results came back.

Not everyone is cut out to be a teacher, but as Jill Gleason stated, “Some people are just born to teach.”

Jill Gleason was the oldest of 4. She grew up in a trailer home with a stay at home mom and dad who was in the military. Neither of her parents went to college, but she was going to be the first. Jill always had a passion for teaching and she wasn’t going to let anything get in her way, even though a lot of things could have.

Jill always planned on being a teacher growing up. “I played school sometimes with my three little sisters,” she stated “I was always the teacher.” She also said, “ I’ve always felt I would have been a teacher whether I went to college or not.”

Jill didn’t grow up in a wealthy family, so she had to pay for her college all on her own. This involved working at a variety of jobs including Pizza Hut, Walmart, and her local grocery store.

Her college life wasn’t a joy either. She had to deal with nightmarish roommates and at some points didn’t even have an actual dorm room. This alone would make a lot of people ready to drop out, but Jill overcame and got her teaching degree.

When interviewing Jill’s mom, who also taught despite not going to college, she stated “I have always been so proud of her. She has worked extremely hard ever since she got that first teaching job and she deserves all the success she has had with it.”

Her start to teaching was a non traditional one, but one she would not change. “I started as a substitute teacher,” Jill stated. “Unfortunately the teacher became ill, and I had to become a long term substitute teacher for the remainder of the year.” Although it was a tough class to handle, Jill pushed through and finished the year. After this, the principal was impressed with her work and offered her a third grade teaching position. She immediately took this position and never looked back. Jill has been teaching at the same school for 26 years. She has loved the school and the environment each and every year.

When talking to the principal at the school, he stated “Jill is an extremely smart and talented person. I am extremely proud of her performance and grateful to have her on this staff.

When asked what her favorite moment was, Jill said “The best moments in teaching are when the kids “get it” When you see their eyes puff out, their chest puff out, and their excitement in learning. That’s the best.”

A few years ago, Jill decided it was time for a change. She transitioned from a teacher into a coach. “I took a position as a gifted and talented teacher,” Jill said. “After that point, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to go into a traditional classroom again, so I decided to make a career change and become a coach.” Jill loved being able to still work with kids but did not have the large workload of grading homework, talking to parents, and making large lesson plans. “I get to learn programs like excel and a lot of other fun programs for education,” Jill stated. “I learned that at this stage of my career I love the digital side of education.” Some of her tasks include making spreadsheets, asigning kids to classes at the beginning of the year, and working with students test scores for certain placements. She has loved her new job and wants to be a coach for as long as she can.

The story is about new tech that United Airlines is investing in.

The audience would be customers of UA to show that they are trying to be more environmentally friendly.

The benefit for the reader was that it makes the customers feel better flying in an airline that is more environmentally friendly and better for the world.

This story goes more into depth about each topic. They also go away from the main story. They started explaining what Natron Energy is rather than how UA is using it.

After Jayson Tatums 49 point game on November 30th, he did something no one else in NBA history has done before turning 25. Tatum scored 900 3 pointers, the youngest to ever reach the milestone.

This isn’t the only impressive stat Tatum got during the game. Tatum also had his 9th 30+ point game in a month. This was the third most in a month in Celtics history, only behind Hall of Famer Larry Bird.

According to an NBC sports article, Tatum now hits third for MVP odds this year.

This is news because it is something that has never happened in the NBA before. It is news that people in the sports world would want to see, as everyone likes to see records broken.

Morningside University has officially announced its new schools of aviation with two different programs for students looking to pursue their aviation careers. They will provide careers in aviation as well as aviation management.

I would consider this news because it is an important milestone for Morningside. The audience will open up the opportunity to new students who want to pursue aviation and donors as they can see where their money is going.

Tyson is a special type of person. He puts off homework until the last second, but still manages to get amazing grades on his assignment. The main reason for Tyson’s homework procrastination is his new girlfriend. Tyson spends countless hours with her instead of doing his homework. Despite this, it seems Tyson always manages to get his work done.

When asked the last time he did his homework he claimed it’s been three weeks. Even after this long stretch, Tyson’s lowest grade is a 95%. Tyson says that “I pull it off with those long nights of doing nonstop homework.” Spending late nights at the computer is how he manages to catch up on the homework he has put off.

It is an impressive skill that not many people could pull off. Even with his long period of procrastination, his moments of productivity are impeccable.

After a variety of conflicting stories that surfaced after the firing of Steve Nash, the Nets have officially named Jacque Vaughn as their next head coach. Many people believed that Ime Udoka, the Celtics head coach who is currently under suspension, would take over. Many news sources confirmed that Udoka would be the new head coach but the Nets General Manager denied these claims.

According to a Yahoo Sports article, “Brooklyn came under heavy criticism for so quickly turning its attention to Udoka, who was six weeks removed from a season-long suspension for multiple violations of Boston’s code of conduct,” this may have played a role in Udoka ultimately not getting the head coaching position.

“Vaughn, who played 12 seasons for five different NBA franchises, including the Nets, has led Brooklyn to a 2-2 record in four games since taking over for Nash. He also led a depleted Nets on an interim basis for the final 10 games of the 2019-20 season and a first-round playoff exit, following the firing of Kenny Atkinson.” Yahoo states.

This article does a good job introducing the new coach as well as addressing the confusing reports to the best of their ability. They used good quotes from people around the league to help describe the situation. This is news in the sports world because many thought that Udoka would be the head coach as many reliable sources reported this. This article explains the rumors while also talking about the real new head coach.

Sophia Rosing, a former student at the University of Kentucky, was banned after yelling racial slurs at a black student who was working the front desk.

In the video, Rosing was seen yelling multiple slurs and attempting to hit the other student.

In a TikTok video Kylah Spring, the front desk worker, stated “[She started] saying things like ‘Do my chores,’ ‘It’s not my fault that you’re black,’ ‘It’s not my fault that you’re ugly,’ and at this point, she’s like singing the n-word,”

Rosing has been charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place, fourth-degree assault without visible injury, second-degree disorderly conduct, and third-degree assault on a police officer or probation officer.

When ask their thoughts on this, a student at morningside stated…

A startup in Denver Colorado is trying to keep tabs on wildfires using high-flying balloons. An article by Popular Science states that Daniel Roa and Max McLaughlin, founders of urban Sky, are doing this by using “reusable microballoons that float as much as 13 miles up to the stratosphere to gather information about what’s going on below.”

These balloons are different from conventional balloons because they can be launched anywhere a pickup can park due to their smaller size. The cameras and sensors attached to the balloon will provide a “better than bird’s eye view” to incident commanders and wildland firefighters. This will allow them to get to the new parts of the fires to stop them from spreading.

When ask their thoughts on this, a student at Morningside stated…

Scientists are trying to use machine learning to help detect when a person may be at a high risk of suicide. According to a New York Times article, the process would work by “a Fitbit programmed to track \ sleep and physical activity. On [the person’s] smartphone, an app collects data about [their] moods, movement, and social interactions.” The data would then be sent over to a team of researchers and see if the patient is at risk.

When Dr. Nock was asked about these potential hazards, he said “With all due respect to people who’ve been doing this work for decades, for a century, we haven’t learned a great deal about how to identify people at risk and how to intervene.” He also said “The suicide rate now is the same as it was literally 100 years ago. So just if we’re being honest, we’re not getting better.”

Stuart Scott encourages everyone to “Live. Fight like hell.” during his acceptance speech yesterday night.

Scott, an ESPN analyst known for his phrases “boo-yah” and “cool like the other side of the pillow,” won the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPYS last night. He gave his speech in front of many greats in the sports world. Scott was recently diagnosed with cancer but has continued to fight and persevere despite this roadblock.

The speech was extremely powerful. Scott was in the hospital only a few days prior to the ESPYS but claimed “I’m not losing I’m still here fighting.” Scott even went as far as to say “As of Sunday, I didn’t even know if I’d make it here. I couldn’t fight. But doctors and nurses could. The people that I love and my friends and family – they could fight.”

The speech made much of the audience emotional, it was a strong speech that encouraged everyone to fight. He specifically quoted Joe Valvano’s significant phrase “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.”

At the end of the speech, Scott had his daughter come up to the stage saying, “Sydni, come up here and give dad a hug because I need one.”

Scott’s speech was one for the ages. An influential speech that motivates everyone to “Live. Fight like hell.”