News is spreading about Chipotle’s new health situation. The popular food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill has recently been linked to reported cases of E. Coli (Escherichia Coli). E. Coli is a bacteria that generally lives in the lower intestines of humans and animals and is not harmful. However, some strains of E. Coli, in this case Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 A.K.A. “STEC 026”, can cause an intestinal infection. Symptoms of an intestinal infection include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain. More severe cases have had reported symptoms such as bloody diarrhea, dehydration and sometimes kidney failure. Younger children, older adults, and pregnant women have increased risks of developing complications. E. Coli can be caused by improperly treated food or water, however properly treating food and water, along with good hygiene immensely decrease the risks of getting an intestinal infection.

So far there have been 52 reported cases of E Coli linked to Chipotle. These 52 reported cases are spread out over 9 states. 1 person reported having been infected by STEC 026 in Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. There have been 2 reported cases in Minnesota. California and Ohio both experienced 3 reported cases. In Oregon there have been 13 reported cases. Washington has had the most reported cases with 26. Out of the 52 reported cases there have been zero deaths, however, 20 of the reported cases had to be hospitalized.

47 (90%) of the overall 52 cases, reported to have eaten at Chipotle within a week before they fell ill. Chipotle is working with public health officials to understand the distribution of the food items served at the locations where individuals who contracted STEC 026 ate.

For more information, please go to: http://www.CDC.gov

If you ever wondered what you would do or what side you would be on during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s, just realize that you are living in a similar time right now. The Charleston shooting, which happened a few months ago, where a gunman killed nine people during a church service, was the deadliest hate crime committed against black people in the past 75 years. It seems like every week brings a new tragedy connected to race.

Social media has helped to spread awareness to racial injustice, with videos showing police assaulting black students in school, protestors being abused by militarized police, and many other shocking reports that make us think; is this really America today? The riots in the past couple years started in Ferguson, with the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18 year old; then in Baltimore with the death of Freddie Gray, who died of a spinal cord injury while in police custody; and now the riots are in our own backyards in Minneapolis with the death of Jamar Clark on November 14.

Clark was shot and killed, although it’s under investigation whether he was handcuffed when he was shot. A witness who saw the incident said that, “The young man was just laying there, he was not resisting arrest.” On the other hand, the Minneapolis police department claims that he tried to take hold of another policeman’s firearm.

Black Lives Matter protesters staged a demonstration on Interstate-94, and more than 50 people were arrested before highways opened. While it may not be clear what happened in this situation until the public gets to view the video footage of the incident, it is clear that these protesters are standing up against the oppression black people face every day, and that they are finally starting to receive the attention and awareness they deserve.

The holiday season is fast approaching and that has many thinking about the annual black friday sales! This year may be a bit different though; some business are withdrawing their annual sales, and refusing to open. One store proposing this idea is REI, who urges customers to spend the day outside, rather than shopping. This topic has cultivated much controversy because some believe they are missing out on a great financial opportunity, and others support the idea of spending the day outside with family and friends.

Recently, some stores have opened early, on Thanksgiving night. These stores although received an increase in profit, have drawn negative attention and shame. The reasoning for this is because some believe that opening on Thanksgiving, a holiday, isn’t right. Even some employees of Macy’s have protested not to open on Thanksgiving night, for they feel they have rightfully earned the day off to spend with their loved ones. This even has some customers boycotting these companies by refusing to shop there if they decide to open on Thanksgiving day.

In the past, Best Buy, Walmart, and Toys R Us have opened earlier and earlier every year on Thanksgiving. This year, they may be opening earlier than 6 P.M., possibly before Thanksgiving dinner has been held in many American households. Regardless, the time these stores open is their own decision, even though it may negatively impact their sales, reputation, or satisfaction of their workers.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety said that most accidents are caused by drivers being distracted, and using a phone is the most common way to be distracted while driving.

While it’s legal for most drivers to talk on the phone while driving (for example, drivers with a provisional license are barred from talking while driving), texting and driving, along with tweeting, instagramming, facebooking, and snapchatting, are illegal even at a stop light. Just in Minnesota last year, more than 3,200 citations were given for texting and driving. Of those citations, 70 result in accidents, and 350 serious injuries.

On August 1, a new law was put into place that raises the fine of texting and driving from $50 to $275. Law enforcement has also increased to try and control the number of fatal accidents. Brad Norland, a Minnesota State Patrol Officer, thinks that law enforcement alone won’t fix this problem, however, and that soon every generation will use phones.

Already, there is a downward trend in serious car accidents due to distracted driving because of the new laws put into place, but the problem isn’t solved yet. The Minnesotans for Safe Driving organization is encouraging drivers to break their addiction to phones, and to have another person in the car take control of their calls, texts, and anything else that would take their eyes off the road for even a second.

Twenty-three years ago, eleven year-old Jacob Wetterling, his brother and their friend were biking home from a movie rental store in St. Joseph, Minnesota. That night, on October 22, a masked gunman encountered the boys and told the three young boys to lie down on the ground. After asking the children their ages and seeing their faces he told Wetterling’s brother and his friend to run away and not look back otherwise he would shoot.

That statement is alarmingly similar to the statement the gunman had said January 13, 1989 to a different twelve-year-old boy, Jared. Jared was walking four blocks from an outdoor ice rink to his home in Cold Spring, Minnesota. It was a quarter to ten when a man pulled over and asked Jared for directions. While Jared was describing where to go, the man forced Jared into the backseat of his car where he proceeded to drive five miles to an isolated area. Once they reached a northern area of north Richmond, Minnesota the man sexually assaulted the twelve-year-old boy and dropped him off two miles from his home and “told him to run and not look back or he threatened to shoot” according to reports from Saint Autumn blog.

That night Jared went to the hospital and later described a man between the ages of forty and fifty years old, between 180-190 pounds, who stood at about five foot eight inches with large ears and a beer belly. Jared’s description matched that of Daniel Heinrich. Heinrich, however, was let go due to lack of evidence and Jareds inability to identify him in a line-up. Due to modern-day advancements such as DNA  recognition, Heinrich had been proved guilty in the Cold Spring case but could not be charged due to the Statute of Limitations.

Back to when Wetterling was lying on the ground on that October night, it is believed that Heinrich possibly took the young boy and put him in an abandoned car. His whereabouts are still unknown.

In May 2014, investigators confirmed that they were taking another look at a series of attempted and actual child molestation’s that occurred in the Paynesville, Minnesota, area in the two years leading up to the Wetterling abduction. Between the summer of 1986 and the spring of 1987, five teenage boys were attacked without any guilty party arrested.  Authorities re-interviewed some of the victims and are working with the internet blogger who brought information to light.

After months of research and interviews with some of the victims, it is believed that these attacks were not random and that the culprit could be connected to the abduction of Wetterling, just 40 minutes away.

Today, November 4, 2015, Daniel Heinrich is undergoing a trial for five charges of possessing and receiving child pornography.

“A chilling context and a gravity of danger for the community,” said Magistrate Judge Tony Leung, who ruled that there was enough probable cause against Heinrich to keep him in custody. Authorities are still investigating Heinrich’s alleged involvement of Jacob Wetterlings kidnapping.