News
The Herald Briefing - Recent News
Emily Chilton and Sarah Kiser, Co-Editors-in-Chief
California - Raging wildfires have
devastated Northern California,
killing at least 15 people and
damaging hundreds of acres of
property and land. The New York
Times reported that “state fire
officials estimated that 17
separate fires...had burned about
115,000 acres over eight counties.”
The fires are still active, and
tolls of dead and injured are
expected to rise as firefighters
continue their attempts to stop the
blazes.
Harvey Weinstein - Even more
women have come fonward with
stories of sexual harassment or
assault by Harvey Weinstein, the
former head of The Weinstein
Company and Miramax Studios.
An investigative report by the
Times came out on Thursday, Oct.
5, chronicling Weinstein’s history
of abuse and cover-ups. Since
the report, actresses including
Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina
Jolie have come out with their
stories of harassment encounters
with the erstwhile studio head; the
number of accusers has grown to
over a dozen.
Contraception Rollback -
President Trump has changed
health care law so that companies
and nonprofits are no longer
required to provide birth control
to their employees if the company
has a religious or moral objection.
Roger Severino, director of the
Health and Human Services
Office of Civil Rights described
it as a “limited exemption.” But
health policy analysts have said
that the policy changes allows an
easy loophole that any employer
can claim. The attorney generals
of Massachusetts and California
filed lawsuits to block the new
law.
Catalonia - On Sunday, Oct. 1, the
Catalonia voted overwhelmingly to
secede from Spain and become
an independent country. However,
the leader Carles Puigdemont has
stated that the secession process
will halt until his government
can negotiate with the Spanish
government in Madrid. In a speech
on Tuesday, Mr. Puigdemont
seemed to advocate the right and
intention of Catalonia to become
independent, while also hesitating
to announce that independence,
leaving time and goodwill to speak
with the federal government of
Spain. Madrid has denounced the
vote as illegal and invalid, and
Spanish police attempted to stop
voters from casting their ballots
in multiple places during the
referendum.
Local Sports - On Sunday, the
Carolina Panthers overcame a
multitude of penalties in the first
quarter to snag a 27-24 win over
the Detriot Lions. This win comes
after another close one against
the New England Patriots on
Oct. 1. Even closer to home, NC
State football has also had two
recent wins against Syracuse and
Louisville. Go Pack!
Information gathered from The
New York Times and NPR.
Puerto Rico Still Recovering From Hurricane Maria
Rachel Crawfard, News Sectian Editar
On Wednesday, Sept. 20, the
3.4 million people of Puerto Rico
were hit by Hurricane Maria, the
most powerful storm to hit the
island in over 80 years. Hurricane
Maria left Puerto Rico in chaos,
as the storm caused immense
damage to the power grid, ceil
reception, banking, transportation,
infrastructure, homes, and public
health.
San Juan mayor Carmen Yulin
Cruz stated that elderly residents
face the most danger because
they are the most isolated and lack
access to medical care. People
of all ages and backgrounds
have struggled to find shelter,
access cash, fill their vehicles
with gas, and use safe drinking
water. According to the Wall Street
Journal, catastrophe-modeling
firm AIR Worldwide estimated that
Hurricane Maria caused $40 billion
to $85 billion in insured losses,
mostly in Puerto Rico. Even the
disaster managers of the area
were left without answers because
they had no prior experience in
handling such a catastrophic
event.
President Trump's response
to the storm has been mixed. On
September 19th, the day before
Maria hit Puerto Rico, Trump
tweeted, “Puerto Rico being
hit hard by monster hurricane.
Be careful, our hearts are with
you — will be there to help!” To
help the island’s recovery. Trump
temporarily lifted the Jones Act,
a maritime commerce law that
restricts the amount of aid Puerto
Rico could receive. He additionally
agreed to provide federal funding
for 100% of the island’s needed
recovery. At the same time.
Trump has been criticized for the
response to the crisis in Puerto
Rico. He has issued condemnatory
comments regarding Puerto
Rico’s devastation by the storm,
for example in his Twitter thread
beginning with, “Texas & Florida
are doing great but Puerto Rico,
which was already suffering from
Photo Courtesy of Gerald Herbert/AP.
broken infrastructure & massive
debt, is in deep trouble..” [sic].
Some have criticized Trump for not
lifting the Jones Act earlier and for
only lifting it for ten days. Mayor
Cruz has been one of Trump’s
strongest critics, claiming that the
United States bureaucracy has not
been able to prevent the deaths of
Puerto Ricans.
Moments of crisis like this
can feel overwhelming, but there
are many ways that you can
help Puerto Rico today. There
are several organizations on the
ground in Puerto Rico, including
the One America Appeal, UNICEF,
the Center for Popular Democracy,
and the Unidos fund through the
Hispanic Federation. To donate to
the Unidos fund, which is donating
100% of funds to Hurricane
Maria relief, you can text “Unidos
[Amount] [Your Name]” to 41444.
(An example text would look like
Unidos 50 Rachel.) If you like
Lin-Manuel Miranda, you can
download his song “Almost Like
Praying” because 100% of the
proceeds from that song will go
to the Unidos fund. Additionally,
if you are wary of larger nonprofit
organizations, you can search
GoFundMe for Hurricane Maria-
related crowdfunding sites run by
individuals or small groups.
Celebrate
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