Current Events for December 17th

Local News On Wednesday morning, the Indiana Department of Education posted the results of the ISTEP test issued last August. Not surprisingly, Anderson Community Schools were below average, with 38 percent of 10th graders passing both the math and English portions of the test. The only two schools above state average were Valley Grove and Killbuck Elementary schools. ACS had the lowest average score in the surrounding area. Hmm… maybe if ACS spent more time and money teaching than checking dress code, maybe we would do better. Source: http://www.heraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_346111224.html Iraq/ Afghanistan On Wednesday, Iraqi police found a mass grave north of Baghdad in the Diyala province. There were at least 16 bodies found, all male. Local police believe that the al Qaeda was responsible for the murders and the grave. Another grave was found that contained 17 civilians who had been kidnapped. 2 other mass graves have been found this December, with a total of 38 corpses. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/12/13/iraq.main/index.html National News Tapes destroyed by the CIA in 2005 have come into question in the past week. However, the Bush administration and Attorney General Mukasey don’t want to pursue investigation on the subject. They claim that the tapes aren’t relevant to any judicial inquiries. The tapes contained the interrogation of two al Qaeda suspects, where interrogators used “unusual” methods. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/15/cia.tapes/index.html Health News A recent study done at St. Lawrence University found that college students who pull all-nighters have a lower GPA than those who don’t. Many college students don’t get adequate sleep because of excessive caffeine and time management. The body’s internal clock has trouble managing when it cannot get the sleep it needs. While many students think they are getting extra studying time at 4 o’clock in the morning, they are actually harming themselves, and will probably perform poorly on exams the next day. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/12/14/all.nighters.ap/index.html State News Julia Carson, a representative for Indiana, died peacefully on Saturday. Carson announced in late November that she had terminal lung cancer, and wouldn’t be seeking re-election in 2008 to the House. She had been involved in politics since the 1960’s and worked for the welfare of the poor and disadvantaged. Her family has announced that her funeral will be held December 22nd, after she lies in state in the rotunda at the Indiana Statehouse. Source: http://www.theindychannel.com/news/14861677/detail.html Science/ Technology News The H.L. Hunley, a Confederate submarine used during the Civil War, was found 12 year ago off of the Charleston coast and was raised in 2000. But a now a pocket watch has been found on the sub that may give clues as to what happened the night it sunk. Experts have discovered that the watch didn’t wind down slowly but was stopped immediately at 8:23. Historic reports claim that the Hunley sank at 9 p.m., close to the time of the watch. But now scientists are confused as to why the watch stopped so quickly and if that reason is why the Hunley sank. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22266374/ Election News Just 3 weeks before the Iowa Caucus, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama are in a dead heat for the Democratic lead. At the last debate in Iowa, Clinton tried to portray herself as a President of change, while Obama talked about federal budget and the war in Iraq. A month ago, most thought that Hilary Clinton would automatically be the Democratic nomination, but Barack Obama has become more popular and taken away Hilary’s lead. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/13/dem.debate.preview/index.html World News The Kenyan First Lady Lucy Kibaki is believed to have slapped a government official who introduced her by the wrong name. And not just any name, the name of the alleged second wife of the Kenyan President. Authorities have erased the tape of the First Lady slapping the official, and no charges have been filed. This comes just as President Mwai Kibaki is going up for re-election on December 27th. He is currently trailing in the polls, and Lucy Kibaki’s behavior probably won’t help him. Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/12/14/kenya.slap.ap/index.html Business News Many businesses are worried by the lack of customers and spending that has been taking place in December. Despite the abundance of sales and discounts, another slow weekend occurred just before Christmas. Online retailers also fell short and didn’t live up to the goals that had been set. Businesses are hoping that last-minute shoppers will pour in this week and boost profits. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22285952/ Sports News For the second time in a row, the Highland boy’s basketball team beat Anderson. Wednesday night proved to be a success for the Scots, with a score of 47-45. At one point in the game, the Indians led the Scots by 9 points. But Highland’s good defense in the second half helped them to come back in the 3rd quarter. During the 3rd quarter HHS kept Anderson to 4 points, while scoring 15 points themselves. Lead scorers were Anderson’s Troy Taylor and Highland’s Tyson McKinney. Anderson’s coach Ron Hecklinski called his team’s performance pathetic and said that Highland deserved to win. Of course Indian fans gave excuses and said that AHS was the better team and should have won, and the Herald Bulletin wrongly predicted the outcome of the game, but HHS prevailed and won anyways. Source: http://www.heraldbulletin.com/sports/local_story_346233120.html?start:int=0

Current Events for November 5th

World News


Hurricane Noel, a catagory 1 storm, has recently hit the Bahamas and Cuba. The death toll has risen to 115 as the storm has flooded neighborhoods and stranded families. The Cuban army rescued approximately 24,000 individuals from their homes and about 2,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. About 2,000 tons of crops have been destroyed in central Cuba, which may lead to the rise of prices in the supermarket. The storm is moving northeast and is not expected to hit the United States at all, though the east coast will receive 2-6 inches of rain.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21526342/

Iraq/ Afghanistan News

After recent spats between the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) and Turkey, Iraq has agreed to take action against the PKK. The Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki promised on Saturday to take measures such as closing businesses linked to the Kurdish Workers Party and introducing stricter controls on the group. The Iraqi government will also work with Turkey to defeat terrorism that is affecting the Middle East. The PKK wants an independent Kurdish state and has been attacking Turkey from within Iraq. Turkey has responded by posting 100,000 troops near the Iraqi border.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/03/turkey.kurds/index.

html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCText

Business News

After two straight days of negotiation, Ford Motor Co. and the United Auto Workers Union reached an agreement on Saturday. The new agreement will probably shift billions of healthcare costs for hourly retirees into union-controlled trust funds. This will affect about 55000 union members. Ford will have to pay $20 billion more dollars more that what the company usually pays for healthcare. This is bad for Ford, because it’s stocks have been dropping in the past year, and an additional $20 billion dollars is not going to help the company.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/02/news/companies/ford_deal/index.htm? postversion=2007110310

Election '08

John McCain, an Arizona senator who is running for President, has begun to question his fellow GOP candidates on their lack of military experience. He says that the next president needs to be experienced in military issues, and that he is the most qualified to do so. Other Republican candidates have never served during war, and are open to practices such as torture which McCain is against. As John McCain’s poll numbers go down in South Carolina, he has become increasingly critical of his fellow GOP candidates.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21598410/


Health

On Saturday, the agricultural business Cargill Inc. said that it was recalling more than 1 million pounds of ground beef that potentially could be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. This meat was distributed to 10 eastern states. No illnesses have been reported yet, but Cargill Inc. is working with the USDA to prevent any possible illnesses. The E. coli was found in a sample of beef made October 8th, and was probably caused by improper butchering techniques.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/03/beef.recall.ap/index.html

National News

A suspicious device caused the lockdown of the nation’s largest nuclear plant on Friday. One of the plant’s employees entered work when he was stopped for a pipe bomb found in the back of his truck. The man was taken in for questioning and his apartment was searched. Authorities say that they doubt that the man has ties to terrorists, or that the bomb was intended to be used in a terrorist-like way. The nuclear plant, located in Arizona, took the necessary precautions and eventually lifted the lockdown.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21599833/

Sports

Ryan Shay, a 28 year-old top distance runner, collapsed and died during the U.S. men’s Olympic marathon trials on Saturday. He collapsed 5 ½ miles into the race and received immediate attention. Shay was taken to Lenox Hill hospital and died soon after. He was a favorite for this race and was expected to make it to the 2008 Olympics. Ryan Shay is survived by his wife Alicia, who was also a top distance runner.
Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/olympics/11/03/bc.oly.marathon.death.ap/index.html?cnn=yes

Local News

On Monday representatives from the Department of Justice will be coming to Anderson. They will be observing Tuesday’s election to make sure that everything is done properly. The observation comes after complaints from May’s primary. These complaints consisted of voting irregularities and absentee voting problems. The Madison County Election Board is not sure which districts will be under scrutiny until the day before the election.

Source: http://www.heraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_306203951.html

Science/ Technology

Scott Parazynski, an astronaut on the Discovery, was forced to make an emergency repair to the space shuttle on Saturday. There was a ripped solar panel on the wing which stopped the crew from fully extending the wing. The solar panel is very important because it helps capture sunlight needed to supply energy to the space shuttle. Not repairing the wing would have caused a hazard to the international space center and could have caused the wing to become unstable. The wing and solar panel was fully repaired and can now function smoothly.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21607468/

State News

Last Thursday, Vice President Dick Cheney visited Indianapolis and spoke at the Indiana War Memorial. He defended the war on terror and urged Indiana residents to support the war. He also discussed torture techniques such as waterboarding and said that these were needed to extract information from terrorists. About 350 people attended the event, which was closed to the public. Protestors were outside demonstrating against Cheney and the Bush administration.

Source: http://www2.indystar.com/articles/0/253184-8440-127.html