Most Notable Newsworthy Events of February
“I usually never get interested in following up on the news. I never watch it on the news because nowadays it has become so untrustworthy and biased towards certain sides of the aisle (republican or democrat). What I usually do is read articles for anything interesting and I thought of something. Why not break down the most important/notable news headline of each week of each month? I will break down the news of the week based on the facts and offer my insight into them” (Zachary Myers).
March 23, 2025
Zachary Myers, Editor
I usually never get interested in following up on the news. I never watch it on the news because nowadays it has become so untrustworthy and biased towards certain sides of the aisle (republican or democrat). What I usually do is read articles for anything interesting and I thought of something. Why not break down the most important/notable news headline of each week of each month? I will break down the news of the week based on the facts and offer my insight into them.
Saturday the 1st-Saturday the 8th
Recently, Donald Trump has done more to draw controversy to his presidency. He recently placed harsh trade tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. Trump said this was to “protect Americans”, pressing all three countries to curb the manufacturing of fentanyl and for Canada and Mexico to stop illegal immigration. These tariffs have the potential to worsen inflation and cause prices of gas and groceries to rise. Both Canada and Mexico have spoken up about the tariffs, with Canada explaining how the actions by Trump will divide the countries while Mexico took more direct action and imposed tariffs of their own. China also retaliated against the tariffs, noting that they have done a counternarcotics operation with the US, and also saying that they will file a lawsuit through the World Trade Organization against the US for wrongful trade practices. In the past few days, however, Trump has put a 30-day hold on the tariffs on Canada and Mexico in exchange for concessions on border control and crime enforcement. He is still keeping the tariffs on China, continuing to say that he will increase tariffs if the fentanyl issue does not get worse, with China saying that the fentanyl issue is the US’s problem.
While I think it is a good thing that the tariffs on our allies have been paused, the fact that they were placed in the first place is damaging to the US’s reputation around the world. The last thing America needs is rising prices for already pricy goods. While Trump believes he is doing this for the good of the country, he needs to realize that antagonizing countries for his personal beliefs will do more harm than good. Then again, Trump doesn’t seem to care who he offends as long as he gets his agenda across. As Americans, we just have to stand together and hope for meaningful change from this administration.
Sunday the 9th-Saturday the 15th
Super Bowl Sunday is often the most anticipated day of sports in the US and for football fans outside of Kansas City, Missouri, it certainly lived up to the billing. The Philadelphia Eagles crushed the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59 with a final score of 40-22. Jalen Hurts won MVP for his efforts, completing 77 percent of his passes for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns. The defense was also key for the Eagles, sacking Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes three and a half times while intercepting him twice, with cornerback Cooper Dejean returning one of them for a pick-six. Mahomes, despite the final stat line, did not have his best game, as he threw those aforementioned two interceptions, and the offense was lost throughout the game, being down by as much as 34 in the third quarter. The halftime show was also of note, with Kendrick Lamar highlighting the show, with a contributing performance on Luther and All the Stars by SZA. Kendrick himself performed his biggest hits, such as DNA, Humble and his most popular song of the year “Not Like Us", a diss track aimed at Drake. There were cameos by Samuel L Jackson and Serena Williams as well, and while the performance has been received mostly positively by younger people, older crowds have voiced their displeasure with the performance.
Usually, when a football score is as lopsided as it is, I will turn the game off. That was not the case with this game. The result of this Super Bowl was so much more satisfying for me than I could have ever imagined, as while I don’t hate the Chiefs as much as others, I still wanted them to lose because of all the bullcrap that went their way this year. I watched every moment and kept watching even after the score was 40-6. I especially liked the halftime show, as I am a decent fan of Kendrick Lamar, and I liked his performance. The subtle teases he did early in his performance and right before he rapped “Not Like Us” were hilarious, and the fact he allowed Drake’s ex Serena Williams to crip walk on stage was great. The devious smile into the camera when he sang “Say Drake” after avoiding it for most of the performance was also great and punctuated. It was one of the best halftime performances in recent Super Bowl history (much better than Usher).
Sunday the 16th-Saturday the 22nd:
Most of Donald Trump’s early actions as president have been controversial, with one of these being an executive order that banned transgender people from competing in women’s sports as “a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.” There have been many states unwilling to comply with this order, with Maine being one of them. Trump recently said that he would withhold federal funding from Maine if it continued to defy this federal order. Recently, he and Maine Governor Janet Mills got into a heated argument about this, with Mills claiming that she’ll see him in court. On the same day, Maine Republican lawmaker Lauren Libby drew praise and criticism for a social media post showing a transgender male athlete on the podium with girls in a high school sports setting. Interestingly, she publicly named and showed the face of the person also remarking on how the athlete was not very good in men’s sports.
The topic of transgender athletes is extremely difficult to discuss, especially under this new administration. In my opinion, people should be allowed to choose the gender that aligns with them best, whether it be a man wanting to be a woman or vice versa. That being said, there is a distinct advantage with a biological man competing in a women’s sport. It would depend on the sport but in the more physical sports like football, basketball, wrestling, etc, men will oftentimes have a physical/testosterone difference. That being said, I don’t believe that transgender athletes shouldn’t be allowed to compete. I believe there should be a league for them for all sports at all levels, that way competition is fair. As much as this administration would have us believe, transgender people are not evil and harmful but fairness does need to be taken into account. Also, this congresswoman posting this minor online publicly is completely wrong and will be detrimental to this teen’s mental health. You may not like someone for the decisions they make in life but that does not give you the right to publicly shame them for something they decided would be best for them. Politicians should not be using anyone, especially minors, as publicity for their cause.
Sunday the 23rd-Friday the 28th
Celebrity deaths are sadly common but rarely stay newsworthy for long unless they are suspicious enough to investigate. Famous actor Gene Hackman (95), his wife Betsy (64), and their dog were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico home on Thursday, February 27th. A maintenance worker found the door to their home open and called neighborhood security, who found the deceased pair and their pet. Police found the door open, but said there was no sign of forced entry and based on the decomposition of their bodies, they had been dead for some time. There was a space heater next to Betsy along with an open bottle of prescription pills, but there was no sign of foul play or trauma to either victim. The Santa Fe fire department was dispatched to test a possible carbon monoxide leak but no such leak was found.
I can’t really say much about how I feel about Gene Hackman as an actor or person, as I have never seen one of his movies or really heard of him before the tragedy. The true crime aspect of this case is what draws me in. While it may not seem suspicious to hear a 95 year old man died in his home, the fact his wife and dog were found with him raises some suspicion for me. The open bottle of pills next to Betsy, the mysterious report of a gas leak and their door being open leads me to believe that no one found dead in that house died naturally and that the family was murdered by an unknown assailant. This is obviously a very fresh story, so in lieu of thinking of conspiracy theories, we should let the police do their jobs and give our deepest condolences to the Hackman family for their terrible loss.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gene-hackman-wife-deaths-suspicious-search-warrant/
