In The News: Ten headlines you need to know this week
1. Russian navy bombards ISIS targets
Russia has launched a heavy offensive on ISIS in Syria. According to CNN, four ships fired 26 missiles into Syria, hitting 11 targets.
The strikes were launched from the Caspian Sea, as Russia tries to extend a massive presence in the Middle East. Syria worked with Russia to launch coordinated attacks on the Islamist factions in Western Syria. However, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter called the Russian attacks a “fundamental mistake.” CNN reports that Russia was willing to help in the Middle East and work with the U.S., and that feeling is not 100% reciprocated.
-Oct.7,
CNN
2. Hurricane Joaquin causes deadly flood
A rainfall that was spurred by Hurricane Joaquin has put South Carolina into a state of emergency. “We are at a 1,000-year level of rain,” said Governor Nikki Haley.
This was not an exaggeration, as the frightening amounts of rainfall have caused five deaths thus far. As of Sunday, the rain has still not ended.
Surrounding states (including New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia) are also in a state of emergency.
-Oct. 4,
CNN
3. Ailing girl ‘healed’ by Pope Francis
Following Pope Francis’s visit to the United States last week, there has been buzz about a potential miracle. This miracle resides in the life of Julia Bruzzese, a 12-year-old girl from Brooklyn, New York. Bruzzese has been confined to a wheelchair due to a surprise paralysis that has baffled doctors.
During the Pope’s stay, she had the chance to meet him and be blessed.
“It was the most precious moment of my life,” said Bruzzese on the meeting. Following this event, Bruzzese’s diagnosis became much clearer, as her doctors have now found Lyme’s Disease present in her blood.
This was a diagnosis that was not present before meeting Pope Francis. Bruzzese and her family are convinced it was a true miracle of God.
-Oct. 4,
FOX News
4. American flag fight commencing in Utah
Residents of a Utah condominium community say they are being fined for an American flag display that their Homeowner’s Association considers “exterior decorations,” meaning they can only be displayed around holidays.
Erin Worthen, of Murray, claims that she was issued a $75 fine last week for the American flag display at her Chestnut Place residence, along with a notice from the Homeowner’s Association that said “all exterior decorations must be removed within 10 days following the holiday…Please remove your flag from the common area.”
Worthen told “Fox & Friends” Sunday she was “very frustrated and angry” at being told she can only fly the flag around holidays. Her father and grandfathers were Navy veterans, and she said it has meant a lot to her to be able to display the flag every day.
Although it was against the rules of the condo facilities, Worthen continued to pit against the condo association and raise her voice among her neighbors and community.
5. Zimmerman retweets photo of Martin’s body
An admirer of Zimmerman’s posted a disturbing photo to Twitter of Trayvon Martin’s lifeless body. Trayvon Martin is the teen of whom Zimmerman was controversially acquitted of killing in 2012.
User, Super Star Destroyer, captioned the photo: ‘Z-Man is a one man army.’ Zimmerman then retweeted the photo on Friday to his more than 10,000 Twitter followers, reports the Daily Mail. The tweet has since been deleted.
-Oct. 4,
WPXI
6. Greene County farmer named to PUC
Raising sheep on a 210-acre farm in Greene County reminds the newest member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission of his home roots.
Last Thursday, Andrew Place was sworn into office in Harrisburg. He will be dividing his time between offices in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh and his farm in Greene County.
“We raise sheep on 210 acres in Washington Township. We’ve been there since 1989. It’s a very important part of my life. Living in Greene County keeps you grounded,” Place said.
As part of his new duties, Place will participate in monthly hearings for rate changes and other matters that come before the commission.
Place said he also would like to use his new position to educate consumers in western Pennsylvania and to bring the resources of the region to his work with the PUC.
-Oct. 4,
Greene County Messenger
7. California students arrested in shooting plot
Four students were arrested Friday in Tuolumne, California, after police discovered a “detailed” plan to “shoot and kill as many people as possible” at a local high school, the sheriff said. These students attended Summerville High School in Tuolumne, which is about 55 miles away from Stockton.
The plan concocted by the students was reported to be specific, including the names of potential victims, locations and methods of how the shooting would occur.
“Cyber bullying is a problem in our society,” according to Tuolumne sheriff James Mene. “Children today have a hard time trying to understand what is reality and what is fiction.”
-Oct. 4,
NBC News
8. PA Turnpike turns 75 years old
The nation’s first superhighway, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, turns 75 years old as of Oct. 1. Turnpike commissioners expected about 12,000 people to drive the first 160 miles of the turnpike over its first weekend.
As many as 10,000 people a day showed up instead, sending home “Greetings from Pennsylvania Turnpike” postcards with images of the road’s tunnels, service plazas and toll booths. The turnpike cut the travel time from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh in half.
Originally, there was no posted speed limit on the turnpike, so more daring drivers would go over 90 mph.
Harkins doubts that the legislators today would invest in something as revolutionary as the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
“The sentiment wouldn’t be there today, with everyojhbne wanting to cut costs and spending,” Harkins said. “I admire the stick-to-it-iveness, I guess you’d say, of the people who had the foresight to invest in the turnpike and invest in the future of transportation. They changed our world.”
-Oct. 2,
WTAE
9. World Bank: Poverty at an all-time low
According to the World Bank, for the first time in history, less than 10% of the world’s population will be living in “extreme poverty” by the end of 2015. The bank says the downward trend was due to strong growth rates in developing countries and investments in education, health and social safety nets. However, it said the “growing concentration of global poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is of great concern.” The president of the World Bank thinks highly of this statistic. “We are the first generation in human history that can end world poverty.”
-Oct. 4,
BBC News
10. Mammoth skeleton discovered in Michigan
Two farmers in rural Michigan have uncovered a wooly mammoth skeleton in a soybean field.
It is one of the most complete sets ever found in the state.
The animal was an adult male in its 40s, and researchers excavated its skull, tusks, vertebrae and other bones, says theDetroit Free Press.
The discovery was an accident. The farmers were digging a drainage ditch when they hit what they first thought were large pieces of wood.
It is extremely rare to find a mammoth skeleton in Michigan, let alone to find one in such great condition.
-Oct. 2,
BBC News