It was another hectic week in the news, but what can you expect from a 24 hour news cycle? Alas, there was a lot of important news that slipped through the cracks of your frontpage, or social media newsfeed. Here are four stories you might have missed.
Tammy Duckworth
Tammy Duckworth is a US Senator from Illinois and already has a long list of accomplishments to her name. Not only is she a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, but she is also expecting. In a tweet this week, she announced her pregnancy and will be the first woman to have a baby while serving in the US Senate. She has already accomplished many firsts, such as being the first disabled woman elected to Congress, one of the first Asian-American Congresswoman, and being the first congress member born in Thailand. Many women and men in politics and across the world have reached out to congratulate Senator Duckworth and offer their support, including fellow Senator Kirsten Gillibrand who is also one of the ten women in history to give birth while serving in the House of Representatives.
Kentucky Shooting
On Tuesday January 23rd, a tragedy happened in Benton Kentucky. A school shooting happened Tuesday morning at Marshall County High School, which left 2 students dead and 18 others injured. Recently the identities of those who were killed have been released, Preston Cope and Bailey Holt, both were 15. This tragedy is nothing new in America, and according to The New York Times there have been 11 shootings on a school campus since the beginning of 2018. Not all of these shootings resulted in injuries or hurt others besides the shooter in the cases of suicide, but it is still shocking to hear how many have happened. Many people are pushing for new gun control laws and schools are implementing school shooting drills to prepare.
Cape Town and Water
Cape Town, South Africa, could possibly be the first major city to run out of water. The city and Western Cape have been in a drought for about three years, and are about 90 days from running out of water. Now, they won’t really run out of water, but on “Day Zero” the city will turn off the taps and the citizens will be restricted to about 6 gallons per day per person. At “Day Zero” the reservoir will be at 13.5%. The city is working to use groundwater extraction, though it is unlikely this can be successful before “Day Zero”.
The Grammy’s
Now this one probably didn’t run under your radar, but it’s important. This was the first time in Grammy history where the Album of The Year didn’t include a white male. In the past award shows such as The Grammy’s and The Oscars have faced major backlash for the lack of people of color and representation in their nominations. And while The Grammy’s were much more inclusive this year, a lot of people still believed certain artists didn’t get their due justice or that other celebrities are overrated. In summary, SZA (though she had 5 nominations, the most out of the women this year) went home empty handed and Bruno Mars won all 6 of his nominations. Performances that must be mentioned are Kesha’s dedication to the #MeToo movement, and Kendrick Lamar’s stunning performance which included a guest performance with Bono. A full list of winners can be found here.