On Saturday, Richard and Laurette Brunson got married on the front porch of their home, 617 Black Street. Later the same evening, at 5 p.m., it was reported by a police spokesman that Richard shot his wife with a .22-caliber handgun.

This tragic disaster happened after she threw a plate of macaroni salad at her husband. The couple had been living together in the house for four to five months before the marriage, this only made matters worse though.

A neighbor called the police and reported “I heard the sound of the shot or I think I did…. it was kind of a pop, pop, pop, and then the son came out and yelled she’s been shot and cannot breathe. “

The police later arrived on the scene, but the groom was gone. It is said that his whereabouts are still unknown and Laurette is in St. Luke’s Hospital in good condition after being shot in the abdomen.

Laurette spoke about her situation to a reporter, “No comment, leave us alone, leave us all alone.”

A 21-year-old with an underlying heart condition died after consuming a “Charged Lemonade”. This lemonade has as much or more energy as compared to an energy drink. Sarah Katz was sent into cardiac arrest at a restaurant with some of her friends. She later died that afternoon after being transported after experiencing a second cardiac arrest. In an autopsy report obtained by CNN, the medical examiner cites Katz’s cause of death as cardiac arrhythmia due to long QT syndrome (LQTS). LQTS is a disorder that can cause fast and irregular heartbeats that can be life-threatening, according to the Mayo Clinic. The  attorney representing Katz’s parents, described that she wants the drink to include a warning, or is taken off the shelf in order to stop something like this from happening again. “It’s a dangerous energy drink and it’s not advertised that way. We want to make sure this does not happen to someone else”. Crawford told CNN.

This is news because this is a tragic event that needs to be talked about so people are made aware of this situation. A young woman who was only the age of 21 years old life was taken due to her not knowing what she was drinking due to poor labeling. It will be interesting to see what measures Panera takes after facing this lawsuit regarding the death of Sarah Katz.

Wafa Elsaka is one of many Americans stuck overseas ever since October 7th and the chaos erupted between Israel and Hamas. Her son spoke out on the missing of his mother, “There are unimaginable experiences going on over there.” I understand how he is responding because he is simply confused as to why this is happening to his mother. The article remarks that he told the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network, on Tuesday “What would you tell your mom if she was stuck in a war zone with nothing? There are no words.” This whole situation is sicking to read about. I could not even imagine what it would be like to go through something like this. It is said that there are estimated to be around 200 people who were taken hostage and more than 1,200 Israelis have been killed during the surprise attack on Hamas. Wafa Elsaka described in a 2018 Tallahassee Democrat story that she used art to help students process emotions in the aftermath of Category 4 Hurricane Michael. Elsaka told times, “What are they going to do with people? I want these questions answered so we know. They want to throw us to the sea, Go ahead, do it, don’t keep us in pain.”

This news is something that was interesting for me to read about. I knew about the war that is happening in Gaza, but I was not aware of how many hostages are being held captive by this war as well. It is so disheartening to hear about topics like this because it something that I could never imagine going through. My heart goes out to the Elsaka family. This article gave insight as to what is going on in Gaza regarding a former art teacher from Florida.

According to NBC News, at least 1,200 Israelis and 165 soldiers have been killed, along with more than 2,700 have been injured in the Israel- Hamas war. It was also said that 1,087 people in Gaza have been killed with more than 5,000 injured. A big fear of this war is that around 260,000 people have been displaced in Gaza. Another fright that might come with this war, is that it will lead into a ground war. This is something that is a worry due to Israel forces gathering near the boarder. President Joe Biden condemned Hamas’ attacks as “unadulterated evil,” pledging continued support to Israel. Israel is continued to strike targets within the Gaza Strip.

The Israel- Hamas war is newsworthy news because so many people are being affected by this war taking place. The tensions are rising within this war. This attack did not come out of nowhere but the surprise is the way that Hamas executed its attack on Israel. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict stems from deep-rooted claims to the historical land of Palestine.

Firearm injuries are now the leading cause of death among Americans under 20. Car accidents used to be leading the death rate but now the rate of firearm fatalities has increased by 87 percent from 2011 to 2021 in the United States. Around 2,600 children and teenagers died from firearms in 2021. Different precautions are being enforced to people under the age 18 about the importance of wearing a seatbelt and overall car accident safety but that is not the case for gun safety. Dr. Toni Gross, medical director of the emergency department at Children’s Hospital New Orleans, spoke about this topic and said “A child injured by gunfire — in a drive-by shooting, for example, or by shots that pierce the walls of homes — is brought in to the hospital at least once a week.” More than 4.5 million children today live in homes where at least one gun is loaded and not secured. It is said that half of the suicides among children 10 to 17 are carried out with firearms.

This article talked about a topic that many probably do not take into consideration. A lot of facts and statistics were laid out in this article. This was very eye-opening to see how many young adults are affected by firearm injuries. It is important that a topic like this is made well aware to the people, simply because it is not getting enforced as it should. This article was really interesting for me to read because it is not a topic that I would normally read about. A lot of important information was written throughout this article.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of “The best basketball team Morningside has ever had.”

The program had lost 24 consecutive games in the 1972-1973 season, ending with an 0-24 record. Newly hired coach Dan Callahan started his first season here in 1973-1974, his main goal was to look for ways to inspire the team after this losing season, to get them on a winning track. Callahan found his missing piece, 6’11 Dave Schlesser. He had this to say about Schlesser “He saved my job and saved Morningside’s team.”

Dave Schlesser was honored by how Dan spoke about him so highly, that he responded with “I have great respect for Dan and the way he thought of me. I appreciate his effort to get us to be the team we ended up becoming. I also want to give a special thanks to my teammates, it would not have been possible to get as far as we did without them.”

In Dan’s second season, they made it to the NAIA National Tournament. This could be described as “A remarkable feat” in Dan’s eyes. He also expressed in this moment “This was the highlight of my coaching career at the time.”

Morningside had dual representation during this time, they were affiliated with both the NCAA Division II and NAIA. In 1983, Morningside made the NCAA Division II Tournament. Morningside won the North Central conference this year as well. The team traveled all the way to Springfield Massachusetts to compete. In there time at the National Tournament, they ended up making it all the way to the Final 4 after losing in the semi-final to defending National Champions. Callahan spoke about this time period and described this year as “The best basketball team Morningside has ever had.” In the following year, they made it all the way to the Elite 8.

Callahan has seen two sides of the National Tournament one from NAIA competition and another from a NCAA Division II standpoint.

Dan continues to live on his legacy and is extremely proud of his accomplishments here at Morningside. Morningside thanked Dan for his time at Morningside College, now Morningside University, by putting him in the Hall of Fame.

Dan Callahan Jr., spoke highly about his dad remarking, “He treated everyone with respect, no matter who you were.”

He held a celebration in LeMars many years later in remembrance of the NAIA and NCAA Tournament with former players. The players reminisced on their past accomplishments. Callahan enjoys talking about these moments and finds it rewarding that he can still talk to his former players about the good old days.

Thomas Ritchie talked about how journalism has completely changed since he started. Thomas studied journalism and mass communications at a private school in Yankton South Dakota. He worked in journalism for 25 years. Today, media consumption is everywhere, making it hard for a journalist to make their own mark.

An interesting story that Ritchie talked about was one about a 100-year-old guy whom he visited in a nursing home. He quoted that the guy mentioned that “the key to longevity is smoking cigars and having a lot of sex.”

He realized journalism wasn’t for him due to the newspaper circulation declining. In 2012, he made the change to switch to Marketing because the corporate world has far more benefits, and journalists are said to be overworked and underpaid. He saw far more opportunities going into the Marketing field.

Ritchie remarked, “Journalism died, so I went to Marketing.”

Richie’s day-to-day job is as a strategic digital marketing specialist at Great West Casually. His company tracks what his customers are looking at online. They do this to see who is interested in buying insurance and they use that information to target that group of people.

Thomas Ritchie loves where he’s at now. He talked about how he likes how he works with a hybrid schedule. Not only does Thomas get to work the social media of his new job, but he also is starting to incorporate short video content now.

Even though Ritchie found his new career path in Marketing, he still explained that “I miss journalism every day.”

Through responsible management, Target tells its shareholders that “This discipline and alignment have produced continuous growth through a wide range of business environments, with ample
opportunity still ahead of us”. Even with the pandemic in place Target still managed to maintain high growth rates.

Target is constantly trusted. They are continuously building trust and loyalty between them and their guests. Due to Target having these trustful fundamentals in place it has allowed them to make the sales they have. It was said that “customers purchased a total of $55 billion in apparel, home and hardlines in 2022”. This could not have been possible without Target’s constant building of their guest relationships.

Target’s overall goal was to grow total revenue, which would lead to growth in operating income and earnings per share. Some of the variables in this model though have “significantly changed for the better”, according to Target. Target expects to make more revenue gains compared to the marks in 2019. Another way they expect to change is simplifying Target through seeking tremendous opportunities. They are are expecting $2 to $3 billion dollars in savings that will be used for fuel for future growth.

In 2023, Target plans to continue the same strategies, but they are planning to accelerate key growth drivers this year. Shareholders will see a focus on digital expansion, enhancement of guest loyalty, strengthening of media, and advancing Target forward. Target is committed to serving its guests no matter the challenges.

Charlie describes his memorable vacation about the time he went to Chicago.

He talked about how he attended his cousin’s wedding in downtown Chicago. Charlie got to spend quality time with his family who he had not seen in a while. This was not the only thing that made this trip memorable though. Charlie mentioned, “My favorite part about Chicago is the energy that’s in the city. There is always something going on.”

In addition to the atmosphere of Chicago, Charlie also talked about how he ate the best traditional-style pizza there. After having this type of pizza in Chicago he can gladly say that “Chicago style is my favorite type of pizza.”

This was a memorable vacation for Charlie.

More than 35,000 individuals registered to vote after Taylor Swift posted on Instagram for National Voter Registration Day. The post was made to encourage her fans to register themselves to vote. USA Today reported that “according to Vote.org, Swift and the platform have been working together for several years.”

In Taylor’s post, she captioned it, “Are you registered to vote yet?”

This was not Taylor’s first time she urged her fans to vote. In 2018, she encouraged her fans to vote for Democratic Phil Bredesen.

With Taylor’s help, it was said that Vote.org had more than 35,000 registrations on Voter Registration Day(USA Today).

This is news because it covers a topic from a well-known name that is bringing awareness to an important topic. Voting is something that is crucial today. People should be held responsible for voting because it shows that our community cares about what happens around us.