In tonight’s news, I will be going over three events that have occurred recently throughout the entire nation. Each of these stories affect people in different ways. Later on you will here from three Morningside students on their thoughts of each of these events.

For the first time since the players’ strike of 1994-1995, the MLB will be going through a lockout. Now you may wonder what a lockout exactly is or what it is going to mean for the MLB. A lockout means a couple of different things. The free agency process will be frozen which could end meaning that big time players and many others could not get signed for the upcoming season or the players strike which leads to the halt of all operations in the MLB.  With me is Elijah Rude. What are your thoughts on the current lockout in the MLB? [Elijah Rude begins speaking]

            In other news, “a CNN reporter, John Griffin, was charged last Friday by a grand jury in Vermont with three counts of using a facility of interstate commerce to attempt to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual activity” (Wulfsohn, 2021). With me is Morningside University student Josh Pratt. What are your thoughts on the John Griffin case and how it relates to the Sioux City area? [Josh Pratt begins speaking]

            The last bit of news I have for you all pertains the recent school shooting that happened at a high school on Oxford, Michigan. After the shooting had come to a halt, there were three students dead and eight others wounded, seven students and one teacher. “Three students are in stable condition and the teacher who was shot has been discharged” (Vera, 2021). With me is Aiden Bishop. What are your thoughts on school shootings and how they could affect the Siouxland area? [Aiden Bishop begins speaking]

            You have heard about three different stories. The first being about the lockout in the MLB which could have a lot of downside to it with operations being suspended and then also players who are stuck in free agency not getting signed. You also heard about a CNN reported who was arrested for unlawful sexual activity with minors and how that could affect our area with a quote from Josh Pratt. Lastly, you heard about the Oxford, Michigan school shooting and how they can happen virtually anywhere. Goodnight.

This article is newsworthy because it highlights a shocking incident that happened recently. The lead is well written and the article itself is well-structured. The article did not leave me with unanswered questions and it stayed on topic. The article’s audience is any American. The headline is also well done.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/ethan-crumbley-direct-threat-social-media-lawsuit

This story is about students at Arizona State University protesting Kyle Rittenhouse attending class there. The students protesting against Rittenhouse was led by a Socialist group on campus. They claimed that the verdict on Rittenhouse does not matter because the American justice system was founded in slavery and racism. Proponents for Rittenhouse that showed up were highlighting the fact that there was ample evidence to show that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense and should not be ostracized. This is newsworthy because it highlights the social tensions in the United States and Rittenhouse was a high profile case. The audience is anyone interested in social issues in America. The lead is well written but the body of work seems hasty, definitely some biased writing. Like highlighting a guy holding a “Death 2 America” sign, when that has nothing to do with the actual issue, that person was just an outlier. Otherwise the story would have been written from a completely different point of view.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/arizona-state-university-students-protest-killer-kyle-rittenhouse

The press release differs from other stories because the story focuses on one person and the fact that they were hired to a specific job. The story goes through the accolades of the hired person and includes quotes from the person about the job they got hired for. The audience is smaller and is mainly the employees of the company. The message of the story was that the hired person is a good person and an excellent candidate for the position.

https://www.ap.org/press-releases/2021/ap-names-kristin-heitmann-chief-revenue-officer

This article is about three bills that passed through the congress and senate that essentially grants extra protection for police and federal officers and their families against instances of injury or death. The article is very informative as it lays out what each bill is and what its intended purposes are. The lead is well written because it gives a brief synopsis of the article in a manner that anyone can understand. The audience is the American people but because of how informative it is, it makes the article dry and boring, which is why the lead is so nice because it still gets the info out there but all the people who do not really care what the government is passing do not have to read the whole article. The article is newsworthy because it is our government passing bi-partisan legislation almost unanimously which rarely happens.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-sign-bipartisan-bills-support-police-federal-law-enforcement

Kyle Rittenhouse is currently on trial for homicide and attempted murder. The prosecution case had been set back by a testimony from one of the victims when he testified that he was pointing a gun at the defendant. The main issue surrounding the article is the possibility of a mistrial and what it could mean for the case as a whole. If it is proven that the prosecution conducted themselves in manner that forced the mistrial then it is possible for double jeopardy to be enacted on the case meaning Rittenhouse will not be tried for the same crimes. The article was well written and straightforward. The lead was well constructed and a person could understand the issue purely from that lead and the headline. Overall the article was okay. I believe there was some missing information like a timeline for the events described, but the timeline in this article does not make or break the story itself. The audience for the article is for Americans that care about gun laws, and the massive protests that took place that, at times, led to rioting. Really any American with a sense of civic duty should find this article at least mildly interesting.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/rittenhouse-mistrial-expert

Three feature stories out of this article: How Rittenhouse has conducted himself during the trial.

Who is the judge, past rulings, etc.

The story of three people that were shot with special attention on Gaige Grosskreutz who was not killed like the other two.

The packaging is a dark shade of seafoam green, with friendly looking monster figures on the front. There is eight individual gummies in the package, each one with a slightly different fruit loaded with sugar style taste. The texture in the mouth may be similar to that of melting rubber, still solid but easily malleable. The texture in the fingers is waxy almost slippery. The temperature of the gummies is a warm room temperature. The gummies are nonmemorable and remind one of nothing.

Communication with a domestic terrorist is strange. Communication with the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, is stranger yet. John Gonsler, a third semester criminal justice professor at Morningside University, not only communicated with the Unabomber, he was pen pals with the known terrorist.

John Gonsler is a man with charisma. He holds himself well and speaks better. He can be intimidating at first due to his handlebar mustache and tattoos covering his body from the neck collar on down. Yet his smile is disarming allowing for easy conversation.

Gonsler has a fascination with serial killers and terrorists, and did masters work on the subject. He had found himself struggling to work on his subject when his professor, Dr. Mark Ham, suggested to just start writing letters to various serial killers and terrorists. Gonsler wrote 20+ letters to these people.

One man replied.

The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.

Gonsler noted that when Kaczynski wrote back his professor was visibly irritated stating that he had been trying to make contact with the Unabomber for “10 fucking years.”

Gonsler had no idea why Kaczynski decided to write him back, but took advantage nonetheless. Gonsler first noted how meticulous Kaczynski wrote. He had phenomenal handwriting, the spacing between every letter, word, and line was the same, and always ended his letters with “Sincerely yours,”.

Ted Kaczynski wrote Gonsler for eight months. Gonsler learned about Ted’s thoughts on government, freedom, and technology. Ted was reported as being concerned that with more technology comes more government ability to oversee the people and restrict freedoms.

The communication ended when Gonsler began asking personal questions that Kaczynski did not care for. Gonsler has not published any of his material from communication with the Unabomber.

Gonsler ended it with noting that his communication with the Unabomber earned him a spot on a “federal security list for 7 or 8 years.”

My roommate was late to practice yesterday. He was sitting in our living room when I walked downstairs to go to class. He was wearing a white hoodie with the hood up when I asked him how it went yesterday being late. He said that he did not get punished and was uncertain if the coaches noticed. He explained that practice times yesterday was staggered and it might be that he will not get punished because the coaches may not have noticed. I wished him luck at practice later, in hopes that he does not have to run, and went to class.