School Bus Crashes Killing 2 Students, Leaving 3 Injured

Posted on by
Reply

Two students were killed and two other students were severely injured when a school bus careened off the 610 South Loop into a telephone pole in Southeast Houston. Police in Houston say that another drivers forced them off of the road. The bus was headed to Furr High School with 4 students on board including a 17 year old girl who died at the scene of the accident, and a 14 year old girl died later at the Memorial Hermann Hosptial. The two other students on the bus and the bus driver were severely injured but the police described their injuries as non life threatening. The driver that made them swerve off of the road has not been accused of anything yet but is being taken into questioning. Personally this event does affect me because I do not want to have the fear of being on a bus to go to my football game or something and have  in the back of my mind the thought a a car right beside us hitting us.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/officials-injured-houston-school-bus-overturns-33766217

U.S. to Take at least 10,000 More Syrian Refugees

Posted on by
Reply

President Barack Obama is wanting his administration to “scale up” the number of Syrian refugees that are admitted to the United States. He is wanting and preparing for at least 10,000 Syrian Refugees in the upcoming year. Before that announcement, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi was suggesting that only about 5,000 refugees would be admitted. She feared that 5,000 was for too low. A U.S. quota was of 75,000 admissions slated for the next fiscal year. The quota applies to all refugees from around the world. So far in all, about 1,500 Syrian Refugees have been admitted to the U.S. since 2011. They are pushing to have 1,800 refugees to be admitted to the U.S. by October 1st. This greatly impacts the world in many ways. One way is that the U.S. is trying to increase our numbers of refugees which is going to make jobs more hard to find than they already are. This in a way helps these Syrian people because of the Syrian Civil War taking place. This does not directly affect me and my life because I am only in high school but it is good for people of my age to know what is taking place in the world around us.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/10/politics/u-s-take-10000-syrian-refugees/index.html

Journalism: Could Video Evidence Deceive us?

Posted on by
Reply

On September 1st and unedited version of a video showing two San Antonio police officers shooting a man was released. During the short video, victim Gilbert Flores can be seen from a distance with his shirt off, running around in the front yard of his home. At one point he raises both arms, and then immediately after he is shot two times and falls to the ground almost instantly.
This article has really made me consider as to when our police officers should pull out their weapons. Yes, I know this was running around his front yard and being stupid but eventually he stopped and raised his arms up because the two officers had pulled guns out. This event definitely affects me because I don’t want to be in danger when I walk out of a grocery store or a restaurant and have the fear of being shot for no reason.
This event will definitely impact the world, mainly the United States, but probably security all around the world. I would not be the least bit surprised if body cams are given to all officers by the end of the year or early next year. People keep seeing and hearing about more and more people being shot for no reasons by police officers so it is making them stereotype them.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/01/opinions/cevallos-video-reliable-witness/

Swallowing Stones Book Review

Posted on by
Reply

Swallowing Stones is a book about choices. The book starts out with a surprising twist with the death of Charlie Ward all over the radio and news. Michael Makenzie is a popular seventeen year old track star who has just had his birthday party on the fourth of July. Mike and his best friend, Joe Sadowski, trot along into the woods to try out Mike’s birthday present (a .45-70 Winchester rifle) given to him by his grandfather. Michael was so eager to try out his new gun he fired one bullet into the air that later he finds out, has changed his life forever. He asks Joe Sadowski to keep this between them and make up a story to cover up any evidence the police can find. Jenna Ward’s father had been shot and was now dead. She has never had a steady relationship with her mother and they fought all the time. Jenna has no idea how she is going to handle life with her father being gone. Michael will struggle for the next two months of his summer vacation and going to his job (a lifeguard at the community pool) everyday. Mike feels guilty about what he has done so every night he goes to the church steps across the street from Jenna’s house and sits there ‘watching over’ her. Jenna has a boyfriend, Jason, and ever since her dad died she has been having these strange panic attacks when she is around him. Jenna has a friend Andrea and she is very fond of Michael Makenzie when she sees him at the community pool or around town. Another interesting character in this story is Amy Ruggerio, an easy girl that most guys take advantage of. Michael and her grow pretty close in the story but something happens and it all goes downhill. Amy develops a relationship with Jenna as well and Jenna finds out Amy is really a nice person. All throughout the story the cops question a lot of people and finally narrow down the bullet’s range to a four block radius (which includes Michael’s house). Will Michael and Joe confess to the police that they lied and tell them Mike shot the fatal bullet? Will Jenna ever be able to live the same? And will Mike and Amy’s relationship ever been the same? Read this amazing and shocking book to find out all the details.