Payton's Perspective

Kyle Rittenhouse’s homicide trial for Kenosha shootings opens with jury selection.

This article details the night of August 25^th and the following trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. This article details the polarization this case has caused in the United States with the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Rittenhouse is basing a case on the claim that he acted in self-defense against the men that he killed. He is being charged with five felonies: first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. 

I think that overall, this is a fairly well-written article. In terms of putting the most important information first they detailed the facts of the case as it stands now. I feel like the beginning of this article was great. Afterward they as a timeline of the night of August 25^th. If you are trying to keep your article short and to the point, then the addition of a timeline of events was an odd thing to add to the end of this.

It seems like this article would have been better had they ended it before they went through a timeline. If they wanted a timeline of events, they should have had the night of August 25^th at the beginning of the story and then went all the way through to where the trial is now. 

This article is a good read for someone who is invested in the events of this case and has a certain amount of time to dedicate to this read. 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/01/us/kyle-rittenhouse-trial-kenosha/index.html

Astroworld Festival Timeline: How the tragedy unfolded

This article details the events that unfolded on Friday, November 5, 2021, at Travis Scotts concert at the Astroworld Festival.

This article is very informative for those who have not been following this story closely. The Travis Scott, Astroworld concert fiasco has been largely covered and highly debated on social media amongst fans. This article talks little about the social media aspect of this situation and almost entirely about the actual events that unfolded on the date and in the weeks following all the way up to today November 18^th, 2021.

While this article seems to be entirely informative in its purpose, it also becomes very impactful when it discusses the actual victims that lost their lives and got injured during the concert. At one point it highlights the death of a nine-year old boy who succumbed to his injuries nine days after the incident. 

While this article does not assign fault to anyone it does make it clear that victims are blaming Travis Scott, the venue, and the producers of the concert. At least thirty lawsuits have been filed regarding this incident.

I would suggest this article to anyone who does not know the details of this case but wants to. It is very good at maintaining its objectivity in a situation that is so widely controversial across the United States. 

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/astroworld-festival-timeline-tragedy-unfolded/story?id=81036039

FBI arrests “suitcase killer” Heather Mack at Chicago airport after returning from Bali.

This story details the court case of Heather Mack, “Suitcase Killer”, who was indicted Wednesday at the Chicago airport for stuffing her socialite mother into a suitcase in an attempt to gain access to her trust fund.

This story is well written and it is a case that I had not heard about at all until I was looking for stories for this week’s news comment. When I was originally reading this article I became a little confused about the timeline of events from the beginning of the article to the end. To a normal reader without any knowledge of this case or of due process of the law I think it could be a confusing article. The first paragraph makes it seem as though this murder was very recent. Later in the article, it makes it clear that the event surrounding the murder took place in 2014.

It also introduces the fact that Heather Mack had involved her boyfriend in the conspiracy. I feel like that was information that could have been included in the first paragraph of the article and maybe even in the lead.

Overall this was a very interesting article to read. It was something new and little known in a world full of COVID news. I would recommend this article to anyone who is interested in the case or in true crime in general.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/heather-mack-fbi-arrest-bali-b1950927.html

For this assignment, I investigated the recent updates on the case of Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petitio. After a throughout search of the area by authorities yielded nothing, laundries parents finally decided to join in and search the area, because of this, authorities found a bag of what seemed to be Laundries personal items and some human remains. In both the print and broadcast versions of this story the quote “Human remains are likely to be Brian Laundries.”

The print version of this story began with a quick review of the basics of this story for those who may not have read about or heard the story. From there is moves on to talk about how the remains were found and exactly why authorities are so sure that they are in fact the remains of Brian Laundrie. This version of the story was much more detailed, and it was significantly longer.

            The broadcast version of this story came from KLFY10 News. This version of the story was much briefer and mainly covered the developments in the story and not as much of the previous facts that we have learned in this case. They start by saying simply that human remains have been found along with several of Laundries personal items. They go into detail about where these items were found and how they were found. They briefly discuss Gabby and then they pan out to another story. 

            The information within the article is the most similar thing about these two stories. It is the exact same new information mixed with a different delivery and different levels of detail in additional information. 

What’s In The Water at Morningside University?

Morningside swim coach and some mustang swimmers talk about the upcoming 2021-2022 swim season.

The Morningside University men’s and woman’s swim team kicked off their 2021-2022 season this past weekend at the St. Ambrose University Quadrangular. Coach Brian Farris feels optimistic about the upcoming season.

“We have two solid teams with good depth and great talent” Farris says.

The overall team of forty-five athletes is scheduled to compete at eleven meets spanning from October to March. Including duels, Invitationals, the KCAC Conference Championships, and finally finishing out the season at the NAIA Championships. 

Farris believes that he has several athletes this year who have the potential to qualify and compete at NAIA nationals including but not limited to Sophomore Willy Pinnow, Sophomore Joe Ciricao, Sophomore Josie Dike, and several members of the senior class that have qualified before. In the eyes of coach Farris “We’ve got the complete package.”

More from Farris and the swimmers

With an unbeatable team the only obstacle is the hurtles left behind by the Covid-19 pandemic.

During their last competition season the mustangs were unable to compete at nationals due to covid guidelines and restrictions. This year many institutions in the NAIA division have relaxed some of their restrictions for swim meets. Last year masks were always required and immediately after getting out of the pool. Heats of swimmer were more organized as opposed to the typical gathering behind the block several heats ahead of schedule.

“We will still feel some back lash from the effects of covid.” Farris says that some of the teams meet schedule is uncertain, finding busses and bus drivers has been more challenging. While the aftereffects of covid are still being felt there are many ways in which meets have gone back to normal. Because of this Farris speculates that Morningside might benefit from the purchase of a travel bus. 

Spectators will be allowed back into the pool which Farris believes will help boost the morale of swimmers at meets. Live streams of the events failed to capture the excitement of a crowd.

James Spicer, one of the 2021 boys team captain commented on how masks effected his performance during meets last year. “Luckily we won’t have to waterboard ourselves with wet pieces of cloth after we get out of the pool” 

“I’m excited to talk to swimmers on the other teams this year, last season we weren’t allowed to shake hands after races or talk to other athletes before races.” Natalie Hunt, a sophomore at Morningside University. “One of the best things about this sport is the comradery that comes from it, I missed that last season and we’re all hoping to bring it back”

Morningside swim is attempting to return to normal function this year as much as possible. The team is excited to attend meets with spectators and a little bit more comradery across teams.