By: Arturo Benitez-Osorio
By: Brayden Marsh and Dahlia Man
Ever wondered what the origins of the Nashville Coop seasoning was? It’s a blend of Southern, Jamaican, and Ethiopian flavors- how unique! Nashville Coop specializes in their chicken which is fresh, tender, and juicy. Aside from the chicken, the fries are always crisp and warm. As every other restaurant that is strongly rooted in chicken, the prices are similar ranging from $10-$16 for a single meal.
We personally found their meals to be appetizing, but nothing typically special. As you go higher on the spice scale, the chicken begins to lose flavor and commences a taste of a powder seasoning that doesn’t blend well with each other. The spice is present, but the flavor doesn’t hit the satisfaction. This is why we rated this restaurant a 5.5/10.
My Burger is a great local alternative to regular fast food burgers. They are less processed and we personally would rather go here than a McDonald’s or Wendy’s. Their prices aren’t anything special that sets them apart from a regular fast food restaurant, but we’ve also never been disappointed by a meal here, which can’t be said about most fast food chains. They also serve their fries and burger with their garlic or spicy mayo, which is a great addition to the food.
We give My Burger a 6/10 because it’s better than most fast food chains, but it isn’t anything super special that sets it apart from a regular burger.
If you love lemon pepper seasoning, Hook Fish & Chicken is the place to go. Hook Fish & Chicken specializes in their signature seasoning coated in their freshly cooked meals. They have a wide variety of seafoods starting from cod dinners to oysters. As for their chicken, they have the classics of tenders, wings, and nuggets.
Although their prices may seem unreasonable, each meal comes in a large portion that could even be split for two. We rate this a 7/10 because they serve fresh foods with flavors that exceed our own tastebuds, but it is easy to become accustomed to. There are great options to get seafood and chicken, and Hook is a great place to start.
Dino’s Gyros is a distinct fast food restaurant in comparison to our well known restaurants- they serve unique ethnic foods originating from Greece; specializing in gyros. At Dino’s, you build your own gyro; a choice of protein, sauce, and toppings. On their menu, there is a wide selection of different meals you can choose from, such as soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, plates, bowls, and desserts. They serve fresh, high-quality, and flavorful Greek foods that peaks the interests of people who explore different ethnic foods.
We rate this restaurant a 7/10 because the food itself is very delicious and a step away from the usual fast food stereotype, however the portions could be improved for the price you pay, which is why we give it a 7/10.
Davanni’s is a very versatile restaurant because they have so many different foods. They may be a little more expensive than most fast food, however the food makes up for it. They serve an assortment of delicious foods that most fast food chains wouldn’t be able to pull off.
We think Davanni’s is a great option because it’s almost like a dine-in, formal restaurant with the quality of the food they present. They also have very large portions just for a couple more dollars than other fast food, so you’re still getting your money’s worth. Davanni’s food is great, but it’s just slightly pricey which is why we think they deserve an 8/10.
We think the reason Naf Naf Grill isn’t more popular is likely because most of the time it’s overshadowed by the other fast food restaurants nearby since most of their locations are in malls or shopping centers. However, for the same price as all of these other restaurants, you can get a delicious chicken shawarma wrap that’s put together to your liking. They have an assembly line style menu, so you get to choose exactly what you get and try a variety of options.
This restaurant is great if you want to try something new, however there isn’t anything particularly special about them that would put them above other chicken shawarma restaurants, which is why we give it an 8/10.
Punch Pizza could be argued as one of the best fast food restaurants in the Twin Cities. Their menu ranges from a price of $10-$16, and for that price you get a freshly oven baked pizza made out of high quality ingredients. We’ve also never had a bad experience at Punch Pizza, and the pizzas always taste better than what you paid for them.
For the price they offer, you could go to any big fast food restaurant and only get a mystery meat burger that sat out for a week prior and fries drenched in oil that’s been sitting in the deep fryer for a month. The food quality and taste for the price at Punch Pizza is ridiculous, which is overall why we gave it a 10/10.
By: Alexsia Williams
As someone who values social interaction it was beyond devastating when in 2020 we were forced to go on lock down due to the COVID-19 virus. Having to go on lock down also meant we weren’t able to go to school, which also stopped us from having our daily social interactions with one another, at school.
Given that 6 years have passed since the pandemic, and we don’t have to do distance learning anymore, my favorite part about coming to school is being able to see my friends and being able to interact with all my other peers and teachers in person.
Studies have shown that people who have face-to-face social interactions with each other have a better likelihood of survival by 50%. Having social interaction can also prevent anxiety and depression, which people living alone and in isolation can experience if they spend their time in isolation instead of going out and having social interactions.
Actively going out and meeting new people, which for some that can mean meeting new people at school, joining a club or extracurricular, or even simply going to a coffee shop are ways people can form connections. Being able to form new connections with people and form meaningful relationships with others can raise your own senses of connection, belonging and purpose.
Although social interaction is important there are some people who struggle to talk to new people due to stress and social anxiety. As someone who struggles with anxiety, especially when going up and talking to new people, nine times out of ten, that other person also may feel the same way and feel a little nervous, as well.
Some techniques that can help calm your nerves before talking to new people can include deep slow breathing, utilizing positive self talk prior to talking to that person, and visualizing a successful interaction with that person, instead of thinking and visualizing about the worst of what could happen. Having been able to do this myself beforehand, has been beneficial because these techniques have led me to some of my best friendships I have now.
| ATHLETIC EVENTS SCHEDULE MARCH 23 – MARCH 28 | |||
| MONDAY | MARCH 23 | ||
| TIME | BUS TIMES | EVENT | LOCATION |
| 3:15pm | Boys Tennis Begins | Tennis Courts | |
| 4:00pm | 3:15pm | 5:15pm | Badminton Tri | Washington Tech |
| TUESDAY | MARCH 24 | ||
| TIME | BUS TIMES | EVENT | LOCATION |
| 7:15pm – 9:00pm | Girls Flag Football Captains Practice | Gym | |
| WEDNESDAY | MARCH 25 | ||
| TIME | BUS TIMES | EVENT | LOCATION |
| 4:00pm | Badminton vs. Humboldt | HOME | |
| THURSDAY | MARCH 26 | ||
| TIME | BUS TIMES | EVENT | LOCATION |
| 4:00pm | 3:15pm | 5:00pm | Badminton vs. Johnson | Johnson High School |
| 7:15pm – 9:00pm | Girls Flag Football Captains Practice | Gym | |
| FRIDAY | MARCH 27 | ||
| TIME | BUS TIMES | EVENT | LOCATION |
| 2:30pm | 1:00pm | 9:00pm | Track and Field Griak Indoor Classic | University of Minnesota Fieldhouse |
| SATURDAY | MARCH 28 | ||
| TIME | BUS TIMES | EVENT | LOCATION |
By: Merob Geleto
The escalating conflict between Iran, the U.S., and Israel has now exploded into a full-on war, triggered by the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian military sites, air defenses, and government infrastructure on February 28, 2026. The Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed during the opening wave of strikes. There are still on-going military actions, 10 other Middle East countries have gotten involved with the conflict because Iran was targeting US military bases that were stationed in those countries.
Iran and US tension has been going on for a long time now. This conflict even dates back to the 1950s. In the early 1950s, Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh nationalized the Iranian oil industry. Fearing that Iran may now lean towards the Soviet Union or the loss of oil would destabilize the West, the CIA and British intelligence orchestrated a coup. The US gave power to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who was a loyal ally to the US and the West. The Shah launched a series of aggressive reforms to modernize the country. This led to economic growth and increased women’s rights but it also involved the use of SAVAK (secret police) to eliminate dissent and rapid westernization. Many Iranians were against this new, pro-Western monarchy.
The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran was caused by economic inequality despite the vast oil wealth, the SAVAK, and the religious backlash. Large-scale protests and strikes broke out across Iranian cities. When the Shah realized he had lost control of the country and the military, he fled into exile. Iran went from a pro-Western monarchy to a theocratic republic. Khomeini, who was exiled during the Shah’s era for saying that the Shah was destroying Iran’s Islamic identity, had come back and became the “Supreme Leader”. Strict Islamic codes were implemented like mandatory veiling for women, banning Western music, and alcohol. Iran was a key US ally and then became a fierce adversary which peaked during the Iran Hostage Crisis. This war was not all of a sudden but was a growing conflict since the Cold War.
The ongoing conflict in Iran has caused global oil prices to rise, driving gasoline prices to their highest since 2023. The fighting threatens a crucial waterway for global energy shipments, the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of global oil supplies. Since the start of this, Brent crude prices jumped from $60-$70 per barrel to over $100. In the United States, the price of gasoline has risen almost 25%. This war will only worsen and so will our gas prices.
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By: Jules Lewis
Joaquin isn’t just a student at Highland Park High School but he is also the school’s dual threat as the starting varsity middle linebacker (MLB) and full back (FB). Playing for the Highland Park Scot’s, he was exhilarating to watch during the 24-25 season both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball where he was an impact maker.
Starting with off the field, Joaquin is a beast in the weight room where he can bench more than 250 pounds, and squat more than 300 pounds. In school, he is an academic demon getting almost all A’s in all his classes.
Being new to the school, and also being friends with him since 2nd or 3rd grade, I can say he is a very nice kid. Seeing the way he interacts with other people, he is just very kind and genuine and he is just someone you want in your corner.
On the offensive side of the ball he has had an amazing season averaging 2.4 yards per rush and 14.7 yards receiving and only one touchdown. When he doesn’t have the ball, he is a dominant blocker putting people 2-3 times his size both in height and weight on their butts. Although on the smaller side, compared to most offensive linemen in his age group, he is performing better than almost all of them using his small bulky frame to his advantage by staying low and using his leverage to pancake the opposing d-line. He also uses his speed to his advantage running anyone in his path out of the play.
On the defensive side of the ball, in pass coverage, he is fine but when it comes to run defense he is a a heat seeking missile when it comes to finding the ball carrier, averaging around 2-5 tackles per game and 2-3 tackle for loss per game. He has an eye for the ball. When watching his highlights and film you can clearly see he knows what he’s doing and where the play is going right off the snap, and he isn’t afraid of contact either making him a scary sight to see coming at you.
I would to believe that I have shown you, in my opinion, why Joaquin is the best MLB and HB and hopefully you agree. I can’t wait to maybe play along with him, and if I am in this class again next year, I will maybe give y’all an update or something.
By: Milianna Ingram
This drawing represents how the world is infinite and vast, and how life always has beautiful aspects even when the world seems so dark.
By: Ro’Mel Bryant-Oliveraz
‘Jujitsu Kaisen’ is a popular anime that has been trending for a long time, recently at a peak with season 3 releasing, building up to an arc of the story that was arguably the best of the manga.
The base power is Cursed Energy which comes from negative emotions of people, and when high in an area it manifests as Curses, which are entities that threaten society. This is the very base of what ‘JJK’ is about. There are Sorcerers, who are trained humans that harness, control, and manipulate the same energy curses are made of, Cursed Energy, to battle them.
Though, it’s not that simple.
My favorite part is how complicated harnessing and controlling cursed energy as a human gets. All humans have innate techniques which is a unique ability engraved into someone’s brain at birth. It’s a way your brain automatically manipulates cursed energy to use it. There are infinite and endless ways, ranging from straightforward and weak, to straightforward and strong, to very very complicated, to anything in between.
A straightforward but extremely strong one is Satoru Gojo’s Limitless. It lets him manipulate space, that is the default way his brain manipulates CE. Straightforward. But he combines it with an ability to have molecular perception and precision of Cursed energy he was born with called the Six Eyes, allowing him to manipulate space not just basically in ways like having a permanent invisible force field to make him untouchable, but also launching an orb of space that pulls things together forcefully called Blue, and even reversing it to make an orb of space that violently repels things called Red. He even figured out how to combine Red and Blue making Purple, which is an imaginary mass that erases anything fundamentally from space.
Another innate technique is Suguru Getos. Instead of manipulating space his is Cursed spirit Manipulation. A type of technique that can allow you to manipulate cures. Specifically, his technique lets him absorb a curse that he defeated in battle by swallowing them. Once he swallows them and absorbs them he can store them in his body and summon them and use their abilities at will. This is very very powerful, turning the enemies into his own, completely under his control. The only downside is that he needs to first beat the curse in battle himself, then absorb them by swallowing them. He describes the process of absorbing a curse to be very very excruciatingly disgusting and painful psychologically. This eventually led him to a very bad depression until he turned evil. Even though he was one of the strongest and most loyal, his own ability on top of the harshness of life destroyed his mental health completely.
I could talk about the many many characters and their techniques also, everyone’s techniques are just as complicated as each others in completely different ways.
The true beauty of ‘JJk’ to me is the amount of characters and how central everyone is. There is no true main character because the story is about everyone and everything. One extra person being there, no matter how weak, would change the entire outcome. It bounces between eras, showing the current modern era like Yuji, Nobara, and Megumi handling school life chaos in Tokyo, then showing thousand long year plans in the making from ancient sorcerer myths like Sukuna, and Kenjaku. No one steals the spotlight permanently, every character development is through other characters.
‘JJK’ doesn’t hold back with the characters you’ve known from the start from dying. Characters turn evil, get cheated by the system, hated by their families for being different, and even complete noobs to Jujitsu but got pulled in and now have to compete with the best.
The diversity, with humor, tragedy, philosophy, character psychology, unpredictability, and complex themes and power system is why this anime is trending so much.
You can watch ‘JJK’ on Netflix and Crunchyroll
By: Fred Gallatin
In a society that has never been more divided, countries across the globe have discovered a sense of unity in an unexpected way — competition.
Every four years, countries such as the United States, Japan, and Venezuela compete in a 20-team baseball tournament called the World Baseball Classic (WBC).
Qualified teams are sorted into four different pools, or groups, each consisting of five teams. The teams play each other once each and the top two move into the 8-team elimination bracket that determines the winner.
Tensions across the world are being felt now more than ever, and some were worried that extra competition between countries would exacerbate this.
Immigration tension between the United States and Central America (home to eight of the countries competing) headlined these worries. Additionally, Israel’s plummeting global popularity led some to speculate that the tournament would be used as a political platform by many different parties.
The WBC began in early March and immediately proved it would not negatively influence the state of the world. In fact, it could be argued that the 2026 World Baseball Classic was vital to repairing the damaged bonds between countries around the world.
With the United States and Japan heavily favored to win the tournament, many assumed the other countries would simply roll over and accept the success they earned before bracket play. These expectations meant that Japan was not prepared for the scrappy Venezuelan team they met in the quarterfinals.
With their home country facing political and economic difficulties, the Venezuelans were playing for more than a trophy. Omar Lopez, the team’s manager, said that the goal of the team was to bring pride and joy to the people back home. This mindset drove Venezuela to play with heart, emotion, and unity.
On the other side of the bracket, the United States took down Canada in the quarterfinals and advanced to play the dangerous lineup of the Dominican Republic. Fans packed the Miami Marlins’ stadium for what was expected to be a high-intensity and entertaining game.
In a low-scoring and, as expected, intense game, the United States took down Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Dominican Republic en route to advancing to the final round.
After upsetting Japan, the Venezuelans, led by Ronald Acuña Jr. and Salvador Perez, beat Italy to advance to the championship game against the star-studded United States of America.
As seen many times in sports, the David vs Goliath narrative was on full display prior to the game. Analysts, fans, and players were not asking if the United States would win, but asking how many runs they would win by.
Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Bobby Witt Jr, and many more stars looked to avenge the United States’ WBC loss to Japan in 2023. On paper, they would beat Venezuela every single time. Thankfully, baseball is not played on paper.
Through eight innings, Venezuela had a 2-0 lead and limited the United States to just two hits. After a two-out walk, Phillies star Bryce Harper stepped up to the plate with the weight of an entire country on his shoulders.
Harper patiently waited on a breaking ball and sent it into the center field maintenance tunnel, tying the game with one swing. The game had been flipped upside down and Venezuela’s first WBC title appeared to be slipping away. The Americans were imminent.
After a walk by Luis Arraez and an electric steal, Venezuelan slugger Eugenio Suarez stepped up to the plate and calmly sent a ball into left-center field, giving his team a 3-2 lead.
After the United States continued their offensive struggles during their last at bats, flamethrowing closer Danny Palencia struck out Roman Anthony to end the game.
Jubilation broke out across the stadium as Venezuela’s players poured onto the field to celebrate the monumental win. Right fielder Ronald Acuña fell to his knees in tears, as did many others on the field and in the stands.
Suarez, overcome with emotion, draped the Venezuelan flag over his shoulders and thanked God while embracing teammates and coaches.
With immigrants and minorities being targeted in today’s society, the importance of this pride cannot be overlooked. Often, people only represent their cultures when they are being oppressed or treated unfairly.
To see diversity being proudly displayed on a world stage is something that everyone should be able to appreciate. The players and fans showed pride for their country and compassion for others, which is something that people around the world should strive to do.
On a global stage, people put their differences aside and honored their country, culture, and families through baseball. The critics who said that the WBC would create division and chaos have been silenced, and the global baseball community has been brought closer together.
As hate and persecution plague our world, the 2026 World Baseball Classic will serve as a reminder to represent your culture well, respect the culture of others, and remember that all humans strive for peace, prosperity, and happiness above all else.
By: Cael Schwartzbauer
Plaid Line + PRIZM + Scottie News 