SEPTEMBER 2019 NEWS RECAP

LOCAL NEWS: 

New changes at LHS

LHS underwent a few significant changes with the start of the new school year, including a new six-day rotating block schedule and a requirement for all students to bring school-issued Chromebooks to class, although seniors can opt out and bring their personal laptops. Additionally, a new LPS Strategic Plan has been incorporated into LHS; it includes eight core values, capturing the beliefs that guide the Lexington Public Schools. A new homework policy is being considered as well. 

Lex Climate Strike

Lex Climate Strike is a youth-led movement initiated by LHS students demanding action against climate change. The movement organized a strike during C block onSeptember 20th, concurrent with other strikes around the world led by youth climate activist Greta Thunberg. State Representative Michelle Ciccolo and State Senators Cindy Friedman and Mike Barrett spoke. 

Minuteman superintendent semifinalist for Award

Dr. Edward A. Bouquillon, Superintendent of Minuteman High School, was recently chosen as a semi-finalist for the 2019 National Superintendent of the Year Award given by the National Association of School Superintendents (NASS). 

High courts sides with D.A. over Straight Pride Parade arrests

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court sided with Boston’s district attorney Rachel Rollins in a dispute with a lower court judge over the prosecution of counter-protesters arrested during a “straight pride” parade in Boston on Labor Day weekend. A state Supreme Judicial Court justice ruled earlier this month that Boston Municipal Court Judge Richard Sinnott had “no authority” to force Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’s office to prosecute a counter-protester arrested at the parade. This clears the path for the D.A. to drop charges against other counter-protesters, although she said she is pursuing charges against the eight people who allegedly assaulted police officers.  

BIG HEADLINES:

Calls for impeachment after Trump’s Ukraine involvement

House majority leader Nancy Pelosi announced that house would initiate a formal impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Trump was accused of seeking foreign help from Ukraine in order to smear political rival Joe Biden, using military aid as a bargaining tool. A whistleblower has also reported that White House Officials hid the word-for-word transcript of Trump’s phone call with the president of Ukraine. President Trump has responded by calling these accusations as part of  “Witch Hunt” and that “no President in the history of our country has been treated as badly as I have.” Trump also noted that Vice President Mike Pence, too, spoke privately to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Pence said at a press conference that he told Zelensky that he would “carry back to President Trump the progress that he and his administration in Ukraine are making on dealing with corruption in their country.”       

New sexual misconduct allegations against Justice Kavanaugh

The New York Times has published an article that details a previously unreported allegation of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. When the article was released, many presidential candidates (Beto O’ Rourke, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren) called for Kavanaugh’s impeachment. However, the article has been criticized for leaving out the information that the victim did not recall the incident. Later, the New York Times added an editor’s note addressing the omission from the original story. 

Harvard, MIT, and Jeffrey Epstein

On September 12th, Harvard released a letter from its president, Lawrence Bacow, that stated the university had opened a review on Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with the university. Harvard had received approximately $9 million dollars from Epstein over the past years, however, the institution stayed silent for months after Epstein was convicted. Epstein was arrested in early July, and was found dead by suicide in his cell in August. Student Newspaper Harvard Crimson has published an editorial criticizing Harvard for it’s “deafening silence” on the matter. Bacow said that Harvard would donate $180,000 to organizations that support victims of human trafficking and sexual assault. The M.I.T. Media Lab has also been under scrutiny since its financial ties to Epstein became public. Richard Stallman, a renowned computer scientist from MIT, has resigned after his comments defending Epstein.

Hurricane Dorian

Hurricane Dorian is the first major hurricane of the 2019 Atlantic hurricane season. Dorian formed on August 24, 2019 and strengthened as it moved towards the Lesser Antilles. Reaching category 5, the hurricane is the strongest known tropical system to impact the Bahamas, where 53 people have died and 1,300 more have gone missing. On September 5th, the hurricane caused several tornadoes to touch down in eastern North Carolina, damaging numerous businesses and homes. It has also caused severe flooding on Ocracoke Island, where several were rescued by boats or airlifted mainland. More than 190,000 North Carolina homes lost power during the storm.

Chanel Miller comes forward, announces book Know My Name

Chanel Miller, formerly known as Emily Doe in court proceedings and to the public, has come forward and revealed her identity as the rape survivor from People V. Turner. Miller was a college graduate who was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner at a party at Stanford University in 2015. She drew national headlines in 2016 when she confronted Turner during sentencing with a powerful 7,100 word statement about how Turner devastated her life, first published in Buzzfeed. Her book "Know My Name” was released on September 24th and aims to help others who have been sexually assaulted.

Justin Trudeau’s photos in brownface emerge

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seeking re-election in the federal election on October 21st. Recently, a photo has surfaced of 29-year-old Trudeau wearing a turban and robe with dark makeup on his hands, face and neck. Trudeau says the photo was taken at a party with an “Arabian Nights” theme. Other videos have surfaced of Trudeau in blackface. His main political opponent, Andrew Scheer of the Conservative Party, has said that these images showed that Trudeau was “not fit to govern.”

POLITICS:

Joe Kennedy running against Ed Markey

US Senator Edward Markey from Massachusetts is defending his seat against Congressman Joseph Kennedy III (D4) in the upcoming 2020 Senate primaries. Markey’s team has accused Kennedy of taking corporate Political Action Committee (PAC) money, arguing that he is influenced by corporate interests. Earlier this month, Kennedy decided to forswear PAC money for his political campaign. Kennedy is the grandson of former US Senator and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and grand-nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. Many cite him as a “young, fresh face,” although Markey has a more progressive record than him.

Israel election

After polls closed, Prime Minister Netanyahu trailed his competitor Benny Gantz, a former military chief and the leader of the Blue and White party, in Israel’s parliamentary election. Traditionally, whichever candidate wins the most votes has a chance to create a coalition of parties that make up a majority of seats (61 out of 120) in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. In a surprise twist, the Israeli President decided to grant Netanyahu the first attempt to form a new ruling government. 

Corey Lewandowski in Congressional hearing

On Sept. 17, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandoski testified before the House Judiciary Committee in a presidential impeachment investigation. Lewandoski, along with Rick Dearborn (former White House deputy chief of staff) and Rob Porter (former White House staff secretary), had been subpoenaed by the committee to testify. Dearborn and Porter did not show up to the hearing. During the hearing, Lewandowski claimed that the White House directed him to refrain from disclosing any information about his discussions with the President. Lewandowski’s actions have been criticized as eroding Congress’s constitutional power to investigate.

Trump, Hurricane Dorian, and a Sharpie Marker

President Donald Trump is reported to have used black sharpie marker to alter an official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration map to include Alabama in Hurricane’s Dorian trajectory. Earlier, Trump posted a tweet that said Alabama would be hit by Hurricane Dorian, despite weather forecasts and NOAA stating otherwise. He then tweeted multiple times defending his statement. Many are criticizing Trump’s tone-deaf mentality towards those actually affected by Hurricane Dorian who need up to date information.

Two House Republicans retire ahead of 2020

On September 5th, two house Republicans (Texas Rep. Bill Flores and former committee chairman from Wisconsin Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner) announced retirement ahead of the 2020 elections. A spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee argued that “retirement in safe Republican seats like these have no impact on battleground seats.” Since thirty-four Republicans are not running for re-election in the 2020 House races, the highest number since 1930, Democrats have a shot at capturing at least four more red seats. These retirements reveals the House GOP’s instability as the party tries to find the path back to holding the majority in 2020.

Stacey Abrams’s “Fair Fight”

Former Georgia House Democratic Leader and 2018 gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams announced she would not run for the special election held to fill Senator Isakon’s remaining two year term after he announced his retirement. She has focused her efforts on heading her new organization Fair Fight, which mobilizes organizers to fight voter suppression in twenty battleground states ahead of 2020 elections. Abrams has stated this initiative is to “reclaim the notion of what a democracy means.”

State of gun control in Congress

A group of 145 CEOs from the largest corporations across the United States has sent a letter to senators urging for stronger gun control laws, calling firearm violence “a public health crisis that demands urgent action.” Among the signatories were the chief executives of Uber, Levi Strauss & Co., Twitter, and more. The letter came a day after many senators voiced their support for stricter background checks during a phone call with President Trump and his staffers. On September 10th, a House committee introduced legislation aimed at preventing mass shootings, considering bills that would limit access to high capacity gun magazine and more “red flag” laws that would provide incentives for states to adopt policies for extreme risk protection orders.

Republican Bishop wins NC special election

Republican Dan Bishop won the special election in North Carolina’s 9th District. House Republicans are now 3-0 in special elections. Rep. Bishop’s election strategy was to portray Democratic opponent Dan McCready as a political insider who supported Washington Democrats’ “socialist” agenda. Trump has backed Bishop, tweeting that he helped Bishop “change his strategy” in order to “[run] a great race.”

LOOKING TOWARDS 2020:

Highlights from the Third Democratic Debate

The third Democratic presidential debate, hosted by ABC News, took place on Thursday, September 12th in Houston, with the ten candidates who met DNC qualifications taking the stage: Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, and Julián Castro. Topics discussed included health insurance, Latin American foreign policy, gun control, and climate change. Highlights included a Biden-Castro stand-off, Biden attacking the cost of Medicare for All, Buttigieg’s coming out story, and O’Rourke’s impassioned show of support for stricter gun control in the wake of the El Paso shooting. Biden, currently number one in polls, was the most heavily attacked, especially regarding the divide over the Obama legacy, yet all of the candidates seemed to find common ground while calling out Trump. Also throughout the debate, the Warren-Sanders alliance was maintained and Yang declared that his administration would give ten families $1,000 a month for a year. 

Brief run-down of timeline until 2020

The first Democratic primary debates take more than seven months before voters caucus in Iowa and go to the polls in New Hampshire. The Massachusetts primary is March 3rd, 2020. Democrats are holding a series of twelve primary debates. While President Trump has several Republican challengers, there are no primary debates scheduled. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled from July 13th-16th, 2020, while the Republican National Convention is planned for August 24th-27th, 2020, with the Tokyo Olympics in between. Election day will be Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020.

CNN’s Democratic Climate Town Hall

CNN hosted a Democratic presidential town hall in New York City on September 4th, focused on the climate crisis. Many candidates have unveiled policy proposals to address the threat posed by a warming planet. President Trump has said he does not believe government reports that cast grave warnings about the effects of climate change.

List of 2020 candidates

The Democratic candidates for the 2020 election include Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang, Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke, Julián Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Michael Bennet, Steve Bullock, John Delaney, Amy Klobuchar, Wayne Messam, Tim Ryan, Joe Sestak, Tom Steyer, and Marianne Williamson. The Republican candidates are Donald Trump, Mark Sanford, Joe Walsh, and Bill Weld. So far, Democratic candidates Bill de Blasio, Kirsten Gillibrand, John Hickenlooper, Jay Inslee, Seth Moulton, Richard Ojeda, and Eric Swalwell have all dropped out of the race.

Andrew Yang left out of the media

Andrew Yang’s supporters claimed that their candidate was being ignored by the press and complained of a #YangMediaBlackout after CNN left Yang off on-screen polling graphics of 2020 hopefuls. In a graphic titled “Top choice for Dem. Nominee,” the network showed six candidates, including Beto O’Rourke, who registered one percent support in the poll. However, missing from the graphic was Yang, who was polling at three percent.

Republicans scrapping primaries in show of support for Trump

Four states are prepared to cancel their 2020 GOP presidential primaries and caucuses, a move that would not assist Trump’s long-shot primary challengers. Republican parties in South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, and Kansas finalized the cancellations in meetings earlier this month, according to three GOP officials who are familiar with the plans. Scrapping primaries is the latest move in Trump’s attempt to take over the entire Republican Party apparatus. They underscore the extent to which his allies are determined to snuff out any potential challenge en route to his renomination—or to deny Republican critics a platform to embarrass him.

Former South Carolina Governor announces presidential run

Former South Carolina governor and congressman Mark Sanford joined the Republican race against Trump on September 8th. “I am here to tell you now that I am going to get in,” Sanford said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. “This is the beginning of a long walk.”

Democratic candidates attend an LGBT forum 

Ten candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination—including Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Julián Castro, Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Joe Sestak, and Marianne Williamson—gathered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for the LGBTQ Presidential Forum on September 20th, cosponsored by The Advocate. It was the first public event of the 2020 election cycle to focus exclusively on LGBTQ issues. All candidates were largely united on passing the Equality Act, addressing violence against transgender women, and undoing president Trump's ban on transgender military service.

CULTURE:

New SNL cast member fired over racist videos

It was announced early September that Shane Gillis, an American stand up comedian, would join the cast of Saturday Night Live as a featured player. Shortly after, freelance journalist and poet Seth Simons unearthed videos of Gillis making discriminatory jokes. One clip showed Gillis making racist, homophobic, and ableist remarks. Similar clips circulated over the Internet and caused outrage among viewers. Presidential candidate Andrew Yang weighed in on the controversy by defending Gillis, arguing that he should not lose his job as that would be overly punitive. However, four days after being hired, Gillis was fired. 

Emmys

The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards was held September 22nd at the Microsoft Theatre in LA. Among the award recipients was Billy Porter, who became the first openly gay black man to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor. Game of Thrones was the winner of the Outstanding Drama Award. During the ceremony, actresses Patricia Arquette and Michelle Williams gave speeches that stressed the importance of equality. This year, Emmys decided to follow the lead of the Oscars and do away with a host. 

6ix9ine in court

6ix9ine, having pleaded guilty to federal Racketeering in January, is now a witness for a trial for two alleged members of the Nine Trey Gansta Bloods. The trial is expected to last over two weeks. During the trial, 6ix9ine revealed several details about Nine Trey, such has their handshake and hand signs. Sparking heavy media attention, 6ix9ine testified that Jim Jones and Cardi B were members of the Nine Trey Gang. Cardi B has denied such affiliation.

Antonio Brown 

Antonio Brown has been accused of rape by his former trainer, Britney Taylor. The Patriots reportedly were not aware of the allegations when they signed Brown earlier this month after he was released from the Oakland Raiders, which was not without its own controversy. Brown has denied the allegations through his attorney and has expressed the intention to countersue. After playing a game, Brown was released from the Patriots. Quarterback Tom Brady was “not happy” about the team’s decision to cut ties with Brown. 

Coco Gauff & Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka, a tennis player defending her U.S. Open title, embraced fifteen year old Coco Gauff after defeating her in the third round of the tournament on August 31st. Osaka then invited Gauff to join her for a post-match interview. Weeks later, during a visit on the “Today” show, Gauff told the hosts that she was “shocked” at the moment, adding, “I couldn’t thank her enough.” Gauff made history earlier this year when she became the youngest tennis player to qualify for the Wimbledon’s main event.

Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” hits Billboard #1

Lizzo has made waves with her breakthrough album “Cuz I Love You,” which recently climbed to the number four spot on the Billboard 200 chart. Her song “Truth Hurts” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, making Lizzo the first Black woman to have a chart-topper in 2019. She joins Beyonce, Rihanna, Janelle Monae, and Cardi B as the only Black women who’ve reached that milestone in the past decade. The lyric “I just took a DNA test and turns out I’m…” has become a viral sensation, with people inserting their own personality traits after the catchy line. 

Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen

Actress Scarlett Johansson has come in defense of her friend and three-time collaborator, director Woody Allen, who allegedly molested his daughter (Allen has been denying these allegations for decades). This controversy began in the early 1990s, when Allen began a relationship with Soon-Yi-Previn, his former partner Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter from a previous marriage. State agencies in Connecticut and New York investigated the case, and both concluded that there was no evidence to support criminal charges. The controversy resurfaced when Dylan Farrow, Allen and Mia’s adopted daughter, published a letter in the New York Times in 2018 calling out several people who had worked with her father.

Ariana Grande and Forever 21

Ariana Grande is suing Forever 21 for $10 million, alleging that the company “publish[ed] at least 30 unauthorized images and videos misappropriation Ms. Grande's image, likeness, and music in order to create the false perception of her endorsement.” Since filing the lawsuit, Ariana herself has been accused of stealing outfit designs from drag queen Farrah Moan, minority designer, and Black artists like Rihanna. Moan accused Grande of directly copying one of her “RuPaul’s Drag Race” outfits in her 2019 “7 Rings” video. Moan has said that Grande is “stealing from queer artists for profit.” The singer has previously been accused of appropriating Black, Asian, and queer culture. 

WHOLESOME NEWS:

Boy makes bow ties to help dogs get adopted

Darius Brown, a 12-year-old boy from Newark, New Jersey, designs bow ties to help shelter pets get adopted. He believes the bow ties help the animals gain more attention from potential families. “It helps the dogs look noticeable so they can find a loving home,” he told NBC. Brown’s passion for bow ties started at a very early age; he makes his own and wears a new bow tie every day. Brown launched Beaux & Paws to make custom bow ties for people and their pets. As his love for animals grew, he began donating bow ties to animal shelters and giving a portion of every sale to the ASPCA. Darius has won numerous awards for his efforts to help homeless pets and even received a personal letter from Barack Obama.

Michael Jordan donates $1 million to Hurricane Dorian relief efforts

Famed basketball player Michael Jordan announced that he would donate $1 million to organizations assisting with relief efforts in the Bahamas in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. “I am devastated to see the destruction that Hurricane Dorian has brought to the Bahamas, where I own property and visit frequently,” Jordan said in a statement. “My heart goes out to everyone who is suffering and those who have lost loved ones.” This is not the first time Jordan has pitched in to help hurricane relief efforts; last year, he donated a total of $2 million to the Red Cross and the Foundation for the Carolinas’ Hurricane Florence Response Fund.

A freshman bullied for his outfits gets new clothes from classmates

Michael Todd, a freshman at MLK Preparatory school in Memphis, Tennessee, was bullied because he wore the same clothes to school every day. Todd said his first weeks of high school were a nightmare. On September 12th, football players Kristopher Graham and Antwan Garrett surprised him with brand new clothes and new shoes. Todd told Yahoo News, “it was the best day of my entire life.”