Category Archives: News

COVID-19

How COVID-19 still has an affect on us three years later

Leave a comment

By: Calla Fragrassi & Mackenzie Malek

After three years of constant change in our school system, we wanted to ask Highland Park students how they were affected personally, then and now, by COVID-19.

We asked the same questions to students in grades 9-12 on their experiences.

Academics- How did the pandemic affect you academically in school? Was the transition between virtual to in-person learning challenging for you? If so, explain.

Freshman: “I thought the transition was really hard because on top of having to adjust to a whole new lifestyle where I couldn’t see people and couldn’t do so many things, my workload was still similar and so it was harder to do than before because I had so much more going on.”

Sophomore: “I felt like I fell behind in my classes and that school felt optional. Yes, I would say it was challenging because everything was constantly changing and it felt like there was no routine.”

Junior: “I believed everything would be easier coming out but my ideas changed. Also, I mentally struggled after the pandemic which took a toll on school. The actual transition wasn’t the hard part.”

Senior: “It made things easier and I got all As. The transition wasn’t that hard but it was fun to see other people again.”

Activities- Did COVID stop you from participating in any sports or activities you were involved in at the time? If so, how did that affect you personally?

Freshman: “COVID restrained me from all my sports and from seeing people I loved and it was really challenging because I relied on those practices to be good at my sports, so I felt set back and also felt set back from social activities since I wasn’t allowed to see people.”

Sophomore: “I stopped playing volleyball during COVID and when I went back for the season it was harder getting back into it because of the long break off, so I ended up quitting because I didn’t enjoy it as much anymore.”

Junior: “It took away club gymnastics, which was hard for me since it was the last year, and made the sports I eventually joined challenging in the fact everyone knew it wasn’t normal.”

Senior: “It prevented our football season in 2021 from going its full length because we had a shorter season due to COVID.”

Socially- Do you think the way you interacted with others changed after COVID? If so, explain.

Freshman: “ I think it did because so many people relied on social media to interact during quarantine and social media was the base of a lot of people’s senses of humor and things like that, so it kind of became something that defined your personality which I hadn’t really noticed before quarantine.”

Sophomore: “It was weird seeing my teachers and classmates in person after so long, and it felt weird being able to interact with other people besides just my family.”

Junior: “Yes, how I interacted changed in the way I grew, how I wanted to be as a person when I was in lock down. So, I figured out who and how I’d interact.”

Senior: “No, because I still interacted with people during COVID.”

All in all, these responses show that no matter the age, all these students had somewhat similar experiences throughout the pandemic. As you can see, for academics and activities, everyone had similar answers such as falling behind in classes and having to take a break from sports.

For the social questions, the responses varied a bit because this depended on how everyone interacted with others before COVID-19 prevented them from socializing. Some students were still able to talk to their friends and classmates, but others not so much.

What happened during the pandemic still has an affect on everyone today in some way and will in the future.

Science/Nature

The affects of climate change

Leave a comment

By: Ellie Moore

Global warming is impacting our environment in many ways. Climate change is caused by an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because humans are burning fossil fuels and destroying the forest.

The effects of global warming are occurring throughout the whole world, and although climate change is bad everywhere, it is worst in Japan with the Climate Risk Index being 5.5 (you want a higher Climate Risk Index). The Philippines is the next worst with 11.17, and Germany is third with 13.83.

Rising temperatures have led to the melting of polar ice caps and glaciers, causing sea levels to rise and putting coastal cities at risk of flooding. Extreme weather events such as heatwaves, hurricanes, and droughts have become more frequent and intense, leading to loss of life and property damage.

The impacts of global warming affect our economy, health, and social well-being. It is estimated that by the end of the century, global warming could cause the loss of trillions of dollars in economic output and displace millions of people from their homes.

The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that the world is running out of time to limit global warming to safe levels.

By the year 2035 it is said that the effects of climate change will be irreversible. The main “tipping” point being sometime between 2026 and 2042. This means we only have a few years to change our habits.

Since we only have around 20 years to take action we need to drive less and carpool if we can. Some other ways to slow down climate change is to eat less meat or use less electricity in your house.

With the population growing, it is harder to get everyone to take action, but if everyone took one small action it could make the difference of 1 million more years of our planet’s existence.

However, despite these efforts, global warming continues to worsen.

Global warming is not just a problem for the future, but one that we are already facing today. We must act now to protect our planet and secure a sustainable future for ourselves and future generations.

For more information, please visit:

National

Winter storms across the U.S. cause deaths and power outages

Leave a comment

By: Jamine Williams

Around the start of March, the U.S. had faced extreme winter storms. Heavy winds, flooding, and snow began making its way to the United States. The weather advisories were being sent out to states across the country. According to ‘NPR’, several days have passed since the storm started. On Saturday evening, it left more than 850,000 people without power.

The storm moved to the South and Midwest, a minimum of 12 people died, due to heavy winds and possible tornadoes that destroyed buildings. The Northeast region was the snowstorm’s next destination, where there was another warning issued by the National Weather Service because of heavy snow and coastal flooding. On March 4th, hundreds of businesses were closed. Many canceled flights in New York, New Hampshire, and many counties of Maine; due to there being a full foot of snow. Falling trees or branches caused the death of six people in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

In Kentucky, there were five deaths related to weather, and a semi truck flew from the highway. Michigan was hit with the snowstorm on Friday, March 10th. In the afternoon it covered the state with snow. 800,000 homes and businesses lost power and the Detroit Metropolitan Airport was closed for a transitory period of time.

Over in the West, the Sierra Nevada Mountains are topped with a bunch of snow, and some snow on the Upper Great Lakes. But the West has not recovered from the storm and is still covered with snow.

In Southern California, there were people who were trapped in their homes for another week, with all highways that are near the mountains closed. More than a foot, 15 feet of snow, had landed in Yosemite National Park, and it is closed permanently. Half of the Eastern country of California will begin having warm temperatures prematurely.

For more information, please visit:

Editorials/Student Voice, National

Amazons underperformance on its drone program

Leave a comment

By: Joseph Nelson

It’s been almost ten years since Jeff Bezos announced Amazon’s drone delivery program, but we still haven’t seen any sign of commercial delivery to homes. In fact, Amazon has only made 10 successful deliveries between the two states of Texas and California. Now, why is that number so low and where are our drones?

Now, Amazon isn’t trying to at all hide their underperformance as Amazon spokesperson Maria Boschetti doesn’t deny any of the numbers brought to her in an email from The Verge. But those numbers aren’t completely Amazon’s fault as there is a bigger factor in play than just Amazon, it’s also the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) stating to Amazon that the pilots cannot fly over roads without a pilot or a third party present. That means that the unmanned drones need to be supervised if the drone were to go over any type of road which brings a bigger challenge to the future of drone delivery.

But, this all seems odd right? I mean, we are again almost ten years from the first announcement of the program and now we are still trying to cross the street? The very future of air delivery is being held up by the laws of the roads.

It feels as though the battle between the FAA and Amazon is going at a snail’s pace. In fact, Amazon just last November, got the green light to fly its drones outside of sparsely populated areas. The drones couldn’t fly within one-hundred feet of buildings, and the requirement of drone pilots being required to have a piloting license to fly a plane, just so they can fly a drone, has completely hindered Amazon’s pilot count. Which hurts a lot when you need more than six pilots to fly just one drone.

But these training wheels the FAA put on Amazon might not be completely a bad thing, as of February 1st, there have been five drone crashes on Amazon testing sites. One of these crashes caused a twenty-five acre forest fire on the site.

But Amazon isn’t backing down from the fight whatsoever, they are pushing the FAA every day to get their drones up in the sky and deliver packages to your doorstep. As of the start of February, the FAA had approved more flight areas in Texas and California.

So, as to answer the question on where are our drones? Well, they are being held up by air laws but I still believe that we should see them in the coming years.

For more information, please visit:

Science/Nature

Nearly 1,000 pound meteor hits Texas

Leave a comment

By: Jasmine Williams

According to reports, on Wednesday, February 15, a meteor smashed into pieces in McAllen, Texas, as confirmed by NASA. Some of the other pieces had landed near Mexico’s border.

This meteor, known by others as an unknown object, weighs as much as a grand piano. That’s quite a meteor. This meteor was estimated to weigh about 1,000 pounds before breaking up.

The weather radar was used to help determine how the meteor entered the atmosphere by angle and speed, which was 27,000 miles per hour, stated by the NASA Meteor Watch. This helped NASA verify that the mysterious object was a meteorite. According to ‘CBS NEWS’, in three days, three different meteorites landed in Texas, France and Italy.

The meteorite had the power of around 8 loads of TNT, but no damage was caused, NASA said. The meteor made a mark in the sky and the Earth shook when it supposedly landed. There were photos and videos taken, shown on Twitter, and filmed on home security videos of the meteorite.

Most of the time, meteorites break into fragments heading towards the Earth. The meteorite that hit south Texas broke at a distance of 21 miles. The pieces, in diameter, were about two feet, as estimated by NASA.

Meteorites are called “shooting stars” or “fireballs” because of the way they appear in the sky. Any space rocks that are 82 feet, or smaller, tend to burn up before hitting the ground. Those rocks won’t cause destruction to the earth. Animated meteorites you would see online or in videos look like fireballs. Which is actually true, but some people might think it’s fake because of all the other animated versions of things. Like carrots in Looney Tunes, they look appetizing, but in real life that isn’t the case.

Fun fact: 100 tons of dust, and more, are estimated to arrive to the earth from space every day. A meteor the size of a football field hits the Earth almost every 2,000 years, causing major damage.

For more information, please visit:

Science/Nature

Why shoebills are the most menacing birds

Leave a comment

By: Mae Skold

Shoebills are human sized birds native to Africa. They can have up to a 7 foot wingspan and be up to 4 feet tall but their most distinctive feature would have to be their beak that can grow up to a foot long. The call, this bird’s beak, allows them to make is what considers them the most menacing bird of all.

The machine gun-like sound these birds emit terrorizes those who come across them in their native land of central Africa. They can often be sighted on the riverbanks of the Congo River hunting for fish. This complicates fisherman’s lives as the birds are very territorial. Locals warn people about their aggressive tendencies and advise that when hearing their bill-clattering sound to leave the area.

When spotted, they are known to look almost statue-like. If approached too intimately their statue-like character will break and they lunge with the beak. Because they have such long legs and beaks, their lunge is very powerful and people can be reached from farther away than you may think. Because of this, shoebills are responsible for 2-3 human deaths every year.

When left alone, these birds lead a normal life on the riverbanks of Africa. They feed on catfish and lungfish which are mainly fed to the young.

Laying season is in the spring, so after laying 2-3 eggs, the parent’s babies can be independent by the following fall. It takes the babies about 3 years to reproduce and continue the cycle of life.

Though shoebills can be a menace to their native African communities, when left alone they are a thriving species that contribute to the native wildlife of Central Africa. As long as their habitat is undisturbed, shoebills and humans can live in harmony.

For more information, please visit:

  • “Shoebill Stork.” biologydictionary.net/shoebill-stork/
World

Deadly earthquake takes aim at Turkey and Syria

Leave a comment

By Aeden Evenson-McDermott

In the early hours of February 6th, the 7.8 magnitude quake occurred making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in the history of the region, and worldwide, while being the deadliest in years since the 1939 one.

Many aftershocks occurred after, with the deadliest one to be a 7.5 magnitude aftershock. The main concern of this is that despite the damage already caused, the aftershock occurs with quite a large force which also cripples buildings and poses great structural damages.

With one of the deadliest quakes to strike, it posed many humanitarian calls for aid and support from around the world.

With the event occurring in southern Turkey and northern Syria, it decimated large cities and made matters worse with the countries already experiencing a refugee crisis. Furthermore, it was an overall wide ranging event that would lead to an all out search and rescue with teams scouring through the rubble for many hours.

As of February 24, the death toll neared 49,000 according to the United Nations. With much of city’s and town’s infrastructures destroyed, it left many homeless and exposed to the elements in the night time.

Much of the rescue operations resulted in many of thousands saved from being pulled from the rubble but it left many stranded and in the evenings, folks had bonfires in order to stay warm.

As the quake spanded 200 miles, the desperation was wide ranging with Turkey declaring a national emergency for the near future; the health care system is crippled and overwhelmed with the influx of patients receiving aid. Syria is currently grappling with the recurring civil war, divisions within territories, and tense relations between president Bashar Al-Assad and much of the West.

The United Nations’ Secretary General, led by António Guterres, proposed near $400 million in aid to help with the humanitarian crisis in Syria as well.

With much work to do in both countries, it will take awhile until cities can try to be rebuilt and aid comes more free flowing to help with the devastating crisis of circumstances.

Entertainment, Science/Nature

Fun facts about gophers

2 Comments

By: Daniel Kendle

Here are some fun facts you probably didn’t know about gophers (Geomys Bursarius). Gophers are animals within the family Rodentia, and are mammals. They are small, prairie dog-sized creatures that are primarily herbivores, living in long complex tunnels. But now, here are some more interesting facts.

  1. Gophers generally go about their tunnels backwards, not forwards. This is because they can then use their small tails to help find their way throughout their tunnels, mainly because they live solitary lives most of the time. Their tails are only 3-4 inches in length.
  2. Gophers have poor eyesight and hearing. They instead have an acute sense of touch, using both their paws and whiskers in tandem in order to navigate their way around.
  3. Gophers can operate human technology with relative ease. Gophers are secretly possessive of 2 thumbs, one on each of their hands. This allows them to be able to hold various objects, such as a knife, doughnut, or stolen wallet. When one sees a gopher holding something with an opposable thumb, alerting a SWAT team is important.
  4. Gophers can smell blood from up to 200 miles away. It is common knowledge that some sharks can smell blood in the water from a good distance away. But gophers also have this trait, and they have a much more refined sense of smell. Whenever trekking in a place known to have gophers, it is common sense to bandage-up any cuts.
  5. Gophers are known to use their lips to clear out dirt. More specifically, their lips have evolved to close behind their incisors in order to prevent dirt from entering their throat and mouth.
  6. Gophers have the ability to understand human speech. Specifically, English. Through hearing many a talk from passing humans whilst they reside in their tunnels, they’ve begun the process to speak to humans. Of course, the only language they’ve been able to master is Klingon.
  7. Gophers love playing video games. Specifically, their 3 favorite games are ‘God of War: Ragnarok,’ ‘Halo ODST,’ and ‘Jeopardy!’ for the Wii.
  8. Gophers can be milked. The act of doing so is quite complicated, almost deserving of its own article (I will never write this), but to summarize, holding 2 fingers to its back and gently petting it will cause it to regurgitate Gopher MilkTM, which can be made into various dairy products. While this is an endangered practice nowadays, those who’ve taken part in consuming some cheese of this substance remark that it tastes much like Whale MilkTM. This is because, obviously, gophers and whales are very close cousins on the evolutionary tree.
  9. Gophers are incapable of digesting Taco Bell. While some may think this is a disadvantage, the trait proves to be beneficial to them. In fact, it is proven that this is a case of convergent evolution alongside humans.
  10. Gophers are incapable of doing the laundry. Hey, I think my mom wrote this…
  11. Gophers are rumored to exist on another plane of reality than us. This is a likely theory due to the fact that gophers often exercise the practice of dark magic, what with drinking goat blood and whatever.
  12. Gophers are mammals. If you didn’t know this before, then I’m concerned for your wellbeing.

Well, I hope you’ve learned something new about gophers! Tune in next week where we talk about the world’s hottest, most attractive mammal around, the naked mole rat.

…

[THIS WRITTEN DOCUMENT HAS BEEN SEIZED BY THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION.]

*Note: If you didn’t pick up on the sarcasm in this article, we need to inform you that yes, this was a satirical article.

National

West Mesa murders

Leave a comment

By: Ren King and Violet Hirman

*Warning: This article contains information about sexual violence

The best murderers are the ones who have never been caught. Close seconds are the cases where nobody even realizes there’s been a murder.

February 2, 2009, Christine Ross took her dog Ruca on a walk on Albuquerque, New Mexico’s west side. Ruca discovered a bone sticking out of the dirt and brought it to Ross. Ross’s sister was a nurse, and confirmed it appeared to be a human femur bone. Police were called to the sight where they dug up grave after grave after grave.

In total, the skeletons from eleven bodies, and one unborn baby, were discovered, buried in makeshift graves all evenly spaced apart. They were all women, and all but one of them had ties to drugs and prostitution.

Investigators then made another chilling realization: the majority of the victims had previously been reported missing between the years 2003 and 2005.

The first to be identified was 15-year-old Syllannia Edwards in November of 2009, having been reported missing since 2003. She had last been seen in May of 2004, in the company of three other women, believed to be using the nicknames Mimi or Chocolate.

A few days later, Virginia Cloven and Evelyn Salazar were identified, gone missing in 2004.

Two months later, Salazar’s cousin, 15-year-old Jamie Barela was found, with both Barela and her cousin last seen at a family gathering in April of 2004. The two had been heading to a park in southeast Albuquerque when they disappeared. Barela was also the last victim to be dug up.

The other victims were 22-year-old Monica Candelaria, killed between 2003 and 2005. 26-year-old Victoria Chavez killed in 2005. 32-year-old Cinnamon Elks killed sometime between 2004 and 2005. 24-year-old Doreen Marquez between 2003 and 2005. 24-year-old Julie Nieto killed sometime between the same years. 28-year-old Veronica Romero between 2004 and 2005. And finally, 22-year-old Michelle Valdez between the latter years. Romero had been pregnant at the time, and the skeletal remains of her unborn child were also discovered with her.

Aerial photographs of the crime sight were discovered, and revealed off-road tire tracks in the West Mesa desert. With knowledge of grave locations, there are two identifiable graves at the time of the photo.

Right off the bat, and only seven days after Ross had discovered the bone, April Gillen, the first wife of Joseph Blea called the police saying they should look into him. Blea already faced sex-related charges and was currently serving a 90 year sentence in prison for four sexual assaults unrelated to the West Mesa Murders. His DNA was discovered on a dead prostitute in 1985, although he has never been charged in connection to that specific crime. He had more than 130 run-ins between 1990 and 2009 relating to prostitution and drugs in an area that several of the victims frequently traveled.

He had previously been reported exposing himself to women walking on Central Avenue, and investigators found rope and electrical tape in his car. More disturbingly, during the weeks following the discovery of the remains, Blea was noticed to be seemingly stalking prostitutes on the move. One woman was interviewed admitting that Blea had taken her to his house and tied her up against her will.

More and more evidence was being stacked up against Blea when his former cell-mate said he talked about the West Mesa Murders, and even said he knew the victims. He had paid them for sex acts and struck one of them when she tried to take his money.

Jewelry and women’s underwear were discovered by Blea’s daughter as well as his wife, Cheryl Blea, around the house and in their shed. One of the victim’s fathers claimed some of his daughter’s jewelry had gone missing. Due to the case still being open, forensic scientists will not release information regarding whether or not DNA on the jewelry matched that of any of the victims.

Blea’s former attorney, John McCall, claims Blea had nothing to do with the murders.

The case is still ongoing, and investigators don’t have any other leads (although they do have other suspects) to put to the test. A $100,000 reward is in place for any information leading to the conviction and incarceration of the perpetrator.. The question is: Are there other bodies yet to be discovered? And if Blea really isn’t the killer, where are they now?

For more information, please visit:

Editorials/Student Voice, World

Italy’s second rise to fascism

Leave a comment

By: Charlie Boone

In the spring of 1919, a group of Italian nationalists, including Benito Mussolini, burnt down the offices of a local socialist newspaper called ‘L’Avanti!’, killing four people, and halting production of the paper for several days. This was the first of many attacks on left-wing institutions from the fascist movement. This violence, often helped by colluding nationalist law enforcement, would grow the influence of paramilitary fascist groups, eventually culminating in Mussolini gaining power in 1922.

Almost exactly 100 years after the first violent rise of fascism in Italy, it’s happening again. This time, draped in the aesthetics of modern neoliberal politics, while the actual message being sent is one of nationalism and white supremacy. The current figurehead of this movement is Giorgia Meloni, and she was elected prime minister of Italy on October 22, 2022.

The party she belongs to is called Fratelli d’Italia or “The Brothers of Italy”. They are a far-right neofascist political party and by far the most extreme to govern the country since Mussolini’s dictatorship. The fact that this is Italy’s first woman prime minister is also no coincidence. Far-right movements have had a lengthy history of picking select white women as figureheads to forward patriarchal and regressive ideas through the thin veil of progress.

Aesthetics have always been intertwined with fascism and other far-right movements. Historically, as an intense focus on uniform and conveying power, strength, and purity; so much so that the wolf in sheep’s clothing approach that Meloni is using is working better than it ever should have.

In September of 2022, before Meloni was elected, Hillary Clinton was quoted as saying, “The election of the first woman prime minister in a country always represents a break with the past, and that is certainly a good thing,”. I don’t think that this means Clinton actually supports the hateful, racist, anti-immigrant politics that Meloni and her party are pushing for, but it’s this sort of attitude that dismisses the genuine harm that these ideas cause, opening the door wide open for another rise to fascism.

With Meloni’s administration already targeting journalists critical of her ideas, it seems clear that anything short of genuine condemnation simply isn’t enough.

For more information, please visit: