Category: National News

By Maddie Greves

There is a primary election on May 18th, in Pennsylvania. While it is not a Presidential or Senate primary, it’s just as important. In a primary, you can only vote for someone who is registered as the same party you are. On the ballot, this time for the entire state, are candidates for the PA Commonwealth Court, Superior Court, Supreme Court. 

 

What is the difference between all of these courts?

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is the highest in the state and focuses on cases that are final rulings on cases appealed from lower courts. The Superior Court focuses on cases that are appeals from criminal, family, and civil cases handled by county courts of common pleas. The Commonwealth Court focuses on civil disputes involving the state and hears appeals against decisions made by state agencies.

 

In this election, whoever earns the most amount of votes will go into the municipal election on November 2nd. There will be one Democrat and one Republican on the ballot in the November election: These are the candidates for each of the courts.. 

 

Candidates of PA Supreme Court

Maria McLaughlin – Democrat

Kevin Brobson – Republican

Paula Patrick – Republican

Patricia McCullough – Republican

 

Candidates for PA Superior Court

Jill L. Beck – Democrat

Timika R. Lane – Democrat 

Bryan S. Neft – Democrat

Megan Sullivan – Republican

 

Candidates for PA Commonwealth Court

Andrew Crompton – Republican (incumbent)

Stacy Wallace – Republican

Lori Dumas – Democrat

Sierra Street – Democrat

Amanda Green-Hawkins – Democrat

David Spurgeon – Democrat

 

Questions

There are four yes or no questions on the ballot. The first question is should the governor no longer have the power to keep a disaster declaration in place and instead the majority party be given the power to end it. The second question is should the limit to a disaster declaration be 21 days. The third question is whether the state constitution should specifically prohibit the denial of equal rights based on race or ethnicity. The fourth question asks should municipal fire departments or companies with paid personnel be allowed to apply for a loan through an existing state-run program for volunteer companies. 

 

Polls will open at 7:00 AM and will stop letting people in at 8:00 PM or send in your mail in ballot by May 18th. 

 

Sources

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/spl/pa-election-primary-2021-ballot-questions-guide-20210419.html 

https://ballotpedia.org/Pennsylvania_Commonwealth_Court 

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/a/pennsylvania-primary-election-2021-ballot-voting-guide-20210503.html 

https://www.abc27.com/news/us-world/politics/election/four-primary-ballot-questions-explained-three-pa-constitutional-amendments-referendum/ 

https://whyy.org/articles/a-voter-guide-to-pennsylvanias-2021-judicial-elections/ 

 

Photo

https://www.votespa.com/About-Elections/Pages/Upcoming-Elections.aspx

By Maddie Greves

Since the vaccine was approved, over 110 million vaccines have been administered. President Joe Biden promised early on that in his first 100 days in office there will be 100 million doses of the vaccine, so he is well-ahead of that schedule. Now he has promised that there will be 300 million doses by the end of May. At present, around 20% of Americans have received the first dose and around 10% have been fully vaccinated. 

The United States is currently using three different types of vaccines, Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson. But what is the difference between each one?

 

Pfizer

Pfizer, an mRNA vaccine, was the first vaccine to be approved by the FDA in the United States. This one requires two doses 21 days apart. According to the CDC, “COVID-19 mRNA vaccines give instructions for our cells to make a harmless piece of what is called the “spike protein.” The spike protein is found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19.” In clinical trials, the vaccine is 95% effective against COVID-19. 

 

Moderna

The next vaccine to be approved was from Moderna. This one is also a two-dose vaccine but instead, it is 28 days apart. Like Pfizer, Moderna’s vaccine is also an mRNA vaccine. In Moderna’s clinical trials, the vaccine is 94% effective. Recently they have been testing booster shots against new and upcoming variants that show some concern. The youngest age to receive this vaccine is 18, but Moderna has started a trial for babies and young children to see if that age restriction can be lowered.  

 

Johnson and Johnson

The most recent vaccine to be approved was from Johnson and Johnson. The biggest difference between this vaccine and the other two is that this one is only a single dose instead of two. This will cause the number of people fully vaccinated to increase at a faster rate than the other vaccines that require two doses. 

 

How are other countries distributing the vaccine and how effective has it been?

Worldwide there have been over 381 million vaccines administered. In Europe, many countries have suspended the usage of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to cases of people getting blood clots. As of right now, it is unknown if or when they will get back to using this vaccine. 

 

While the number of people being vaccinated is increasing and cases are dropping, the CDC still strongly recommends that we continue to wear masks and practice social distancing. 

 

Sources

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-19-vaccine-doses.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/Pfizer-BioNTech.html 

https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-publication-results-landmark 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/Moderna.html 

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/16/world/covid-19-coronavirus 

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-vaccinations-tracker.html 

 

Photo 

https://www.pennstatehealth.org/coronavirus/vaccine

By Adity Kamath

Andrew Cuomo has been all over the news recently. He is currently facing allegations of a Covid-19 cover-up, bullying, and harassment. Before we get into the details of these claims, it is important to know who Cuomo is. Andrew Cuomo has been the Governor of New York for a decade now, and he is part of the Democratic Party. During the early days of the pandemic, he received many praises for his managerial approaches to the health crisis, and for telling the people the harsh truth about Covid-19; Cuomo even released a book in October called American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Now, however, he is under scrutiny from his party for the way he handled the crisis. One can imagine how much controversy was stirred up by these allegations against Cuomo.

 It all started when Lindsey Boylan, Cuomo’s former aide accused the governor of sexual harassment and kissing her against her will. Around the same time, Cuomo faced a brutal report from his own party’s state attorney general, Letitia James, stating that the state had undercounted nursing home deaths from the virus.  After a month, two more women, Charlotte Bennett and Anna Ruch spoke up against Cuomo and accused him of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior. Andrew Cuomo denied all of the accusations. 

Letitia James has ordered a former prosecutor and employment lawyer to investigate the allegations. Cuomo is also facing bipartisan calls for an investigation and his limitations on his executive powers after his administration was accused of delaying the release of data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths because of concerns of a potential investigation by the Trump administration. There has been an ongoing dispute between Andrew Cuomo and former president, Donald Trump. Being from opposite parties, the clashing of heads was inevitable, especially in these times. People praised and supported Cuomo because of his honest, realistic approach to the pandemic which contrasted to Trump’s policy of denial, grand lies about the condition of America, and childish Twitter meltdowns. Sources say that Cuomo’s notable administration was all an attempt to cover up the sexual misconduct, COVID-19 deaths, and years of mismanagement. 

Andrew Cuomo is now under pressure to resign from both sides of the aisle as more evidence is being discovered. A call from one of Cuomo’s aides regarding the nursing home deaths has been leaked, adding to the pile of evidence against him. More women and aides are starting to speak up and talk about their experiences with Cuomo, and the harassment they endured. Just a couple of months ago, people were singing his praises, but now the accusations and critiques are endless. It doesn’t look like this issue will be going away anytime soon. 

 

Sources:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/19/andrew-cuomo-political-crisis-covid-death-probe-bullying-accusations.html

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/19/andrew-cuomo-the-king-of-new-york

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/02/cuomo-faces-crisis-over-alleged-nursing-home-death-cover-up.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/nyregion/new-york-nursing-homes-cuomo.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/15/politics/andrew-cuomo-covid-19-controversy-explained/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/14/opinions/cuomo-sexual-harassment-alaimo/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/15/politics/andrew-cuomo-covid-19-controversy-explained/index.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/03/16/andrew-cuomo-donald-trump/%3foutputType=amp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-nursing-home-deaths-leaked-conversation-melissa-derosa-2021-2%3famp

Picture:

https://deadline.com/2021/03/new-york-governor-andrew-cuomos-sexual-harssment-albany-policy-1234712455/

 

By Madison Gilchrist

Leovardo Perez, right, fills a water jug using a hose from a public park water spigot Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in Houston. Texas officials have ordered 7 million people to boil tap water before drinking it following days of record low temperatures that damaged infrastructure and froze pipes

 

It feels like ages since that major February snowstorm covered the United States with a white blanket of fresh powdery snow. The snowstorm brought many joys into our lives, such as snow days and playing in the snow, amidst the darkness and dreariness of the pandemic. Fortunately for us, our residential state of Pennsylvania and other states in the northern part of the country were able to enjoy these niceties. However, those in the southern parts of the nation were forced to endure the harsh cold that a winter storm can bring. 

Texas was one of the states that was hit hardest by the storm; in its wake, it left millions without power, heat, food, or even clean water. All over the Lonestar state people lost their access to clean water in their homes mainly due to busted pipes, water main breaks, and frozen or broken water lines. People didn’t have even limited access to clean bottled water due to grocery stores’ food shortages prior to the storm. Once the storm cleared, people were forced to take extreme measures to provide clean drinking water for themselves and their families. One of the methods was that people had to use the freshly fallen snow as a clean water resource: they would rake the snow off of their roofs and collect it from their yards into buckets to melt and later drink it. Millions were forced to go under “boil-water” advisories as utilities struggled to get water pressure back up to safe levels. Fortunately, for many people, these boil water advisories have been lifted. However, there are still hundreds of thousands who are still reaping the repercussions of this terrible disaster. 

Even though this water crisis has recently garnered national attention, this is not the first time that America has had to face the challenges of a water crisis, specifically in the city of Flint, Michigan. In April 2014, Flint residents were starting to complain about the look, smell, and taste of their tap water. Even after city officials were shown jugs of tap water by frustrated residents, officials still deemed the water safe. It was ultimately realized that the Flint River, which served many purposes such as “an unofficial waste disposal site for treated and untreated refuse from the many local industries that have sprouted along its shores, from carriage and car factories to meatpacking plants and lumber and paper mills”, had contaminated the tap water with lead and therefore made the water unsafe. 

Sources

https://www.insider.com/hundreds-of-thousands-of-southerners-still-dont-have-clean-water-2021-3 

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/24/texas-water-winter-storm/ 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/01/us/texas-winter-storm-aftermath/index.html 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/millions-texans-still-without-safe-drinking-water-after-winter-storm-n1258476 

https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-winter-storms-2021/2021/02/22/970241763/monday-update-8-7-million-people-under-boil-water-notices-in-texas 

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/flint-water-crisis-everything-you-need-know#sec-summary 

Picture Source

https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/texas-power-outages-below-500000-but-water-crisis-persists/

By Maddie Greves

President Joe Biden has started meeting with world leaders not long after his inauguration. Even after he was called to be the president elect on November 7th, many world leaders congratulated him and stated how they were excited to start working together. Leaders of nations that have close ties to the United States like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, quickly came out with responses to Biden’s victory. Macron stated, “We have a lot to do to overcome today’s challenges. Let’s work together!” and Merkel stated, “Our trans-Atlantic friendship is irreplaceable, if we want to overcome the great challenges of our time.” There were messages of wanting to strengthen the relationships the United States has with these nations and a desire to get to work as soon as possible. Even those who have been associated with Trump like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave congratulations to Biden.

While there have not been many meetings with world leaders, President Biden started with two countries that the United States has had notably strong relationships with for centuries. Biden’s first meeting was the day after his inauguration with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. Their meeting consisted of strengthening the U.S – Canadian relationship, which is known as one of the strongest relationships the United States has. One of the main points that they talked about was Biden’s decision to stop the construction of the XL pipeline, a decision Trudeau was not thrilled about. 

Biden’s next meeting was with the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, which took place on January 23. Like Canada’s relation with the United States, England has an incredibly strong relationship with the U.S. In November when the election was called, Johnson replied with, 

Congratulations to Joe Biden on his election… and to Kamala Harris on her historic achievement. The US is our most important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security.

 

Most of what they discussed was to continue strengthening the relationship the U.S and the U.K have and work on their roles in NATO to ensure the best interests for both countries. 

On January 23, Biden’s last meeting was with Mexico’s President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Trump did not have the best relationship with Mexico, most notably calling for a wall to be built on the border and having Mexico paying for it. In Biden’s meeting, they did not talk about the two countries’ relationship from the past four years. Instead, this call focused mostly on immigration and how to control the number of immigrants in both countries.

 

What do these meetings mean for Biden and the United States?

Having these meetings with countries that have had long time relations shows that Biden is willing to work to ensure the best interest for the United States and other countries. On Friday February 19th, Biden met virtually with G7 leaders for the first time at the Munich Security Conference.  During this meeting, Biden declared that the United States would no longer have an “America First” diplomacy and instead would be focusing on working with allies to benefit each other. Points that were brought up were how is a post Trump era going to look and figuring ways of finding a common approach with Russia and China, and    As President Biden said during the conference, “America is Back America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back. And we are not looking backward; we are looking forward, together.”   

 

Sources

• https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/europe/global-reaction-joe-biden-inauguration-intl/index.html  
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/22/readout-of-president-joe-biden-call-with-prime-minister-justin-trudeau-of-canada/ 
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/23/readout-of-president-joe-biden-call-with-prime-minister-boris-johnson-of-the-united-kingdom/ 
• https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/world/americas/biden-international-reaction.html 
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/01/23/readout-of-president-joe-biden-call-with-president-andres-manuel-lopez-obrador-of-mexico/ 

• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54845979 
• https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/world/americas/biden-international-reaction.html 
• https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/25/politics/biden-lpez-obrador-call/index.html 
• https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/19/world/g7-meeting-munich-security-conference 
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/02/19/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-2021-virtual-munich-security-conference/ 

 

Photo

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/europe/global-reaction-joe-biden-inauguration-intl/index.html

By Adity Kamath

In February 2020, Trump was impeached on two charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. It all started when he asked the President of Ukraine to investigate the company, Bursiman, for which the son of current President, Joe Biden, worked.  In exchange for the investigation, Trump would agree to a face-to-face meeting with the President of Ukraine. After numerous public hearings and an extensive investigation, he was acquitted of his impeachment.

On January 13th, 2021, former President Donald Trump became the first president to face two impeachments. The House of Representatives voted 232-197 to impeach Trump for his role in the January 6th riots. Trump’s second impeachment charged him with incitement of insurrection. In his first impeachment, no Republican voted to impeach, but in his second impeachment, seven Republicans voted for his impeachment. Adding to the historic nature of the proceedings is that he is no longer in office and the members of the Senate who decided his fate were among the victims of the Capitol Hill siege. 

Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial was held on Tuesday, February 9th, beginning with constitutional arguments such as whether Donald Trump is subject to the jurisdiction of a court of impeachment. The trial went on for three more days addressing arguments on the substance of articles of impeachment, followed by questions from the senators. On Saturday, February 13th, both sides received the opportunity to present further evidence as well as their concluding arguments. At the close of final arguments, the Senate voted on the conviction or acquittal of Donal Trump. The vote was 57-43 in favor of conviction, but a two-thirds vote (67) was required to convict Trump. Seven Republicans voted to convict Trump, making it the most bipartisan impeachment vote in US history. 

Donald Trump’s acquittal means that he is free to run for public office again, including in the 2024 presidential election. He gets to keep all of his benefits from being a former president, his annual pension, for example. However, a few government officials aren’t satisfied with the verdict. Georgia prosecutors have opened up an investigation into a phone call Trump made to Georgia’s Secretary of State during his presidency, asking him to “find more votes.” Another investigation is going on in New York with a focus on potential financial crimes Trump may have committed. 

 

Sources:

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/impeachment-process-works/story?id=51202880

https://en.as.com/en/2021/01/14/latest_news/1610637719_701767.html

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/trump-acquitted-in-lightning-fast-impeachment-trial-results-what-did-trump-say-what-happens-next/

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/05/politics/senate-impeachment-trial-vote-acquittal/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-impeachment-trial-02-13-2021/index.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/26/trump-impeachment-five-gop-senators-vote-trial-constitutional/4265752001/

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/trump-acquitted-in-lightning-fast-impeachment-trial-results-what-did-trump-say-what-happens-next/

Photo:

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2021/front-pages-on-trumps-impeachment-again/