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Category Archives: News

The Beginning of the End

March 28th, 2013
President Obama has announced the beginning of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan (image courtesy of whitehouse.gov)

President Obama has announced the beginning of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan (image courtesy of whitehouse.gov)

Written by Nolan O’Toole

The longest war in American history is finally coming to a close. In the recent State of the Union address, President Obama announced that 34,000 troops will be home from the war in Afghanistan by this time next year. The removal will reduce the number of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan by more than half.

The Afghan military has assured the U.S. of their readiness to take on the leadership role in defending the country against threats by the Taliban. In January, President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai met in Washington, D.C., where they discussed the upcoming U.S. military withdrawal. The extraction of troops and switch to Afghan forces taking the lead in combat was originally scheduled to begin during the summer of this year, but both sides agreed in the January meeting to move up the transition to the spring, according to CNN’s Jake Tapper. Afghan Defense Ministry Spokesman Zahir Azimi spoke to CNN, saying the Afghan forces are “completely ready” to take over the country’s security responsibilities.

Death Associated With A Nurse’s Refusal to Administer CPR Investigated

March 26th, 2013
By Taylor Murphy
(credit for image: abcnews.go.com) From left to right: Lorraine Bayless, and the senior living facility Glenwood Gardens.

(credit for image: abcnews.go.com) From left to right: Lorraine Bayless, and the senior living facility Glenwood Gardens.

A seemingly normal day at Glenwood Gardens senior living facility in Bakersfield, California, turned tragic after 87-year-old Lorraine Bayless suddenly collapsed. A nurse immediately called 911, but refused to follow the dispatcher’s directions to administer CPR. According to the nurse in question, company policy did not allow employees to administer CPR to residents of the living facility. Despite several desperate pleas from the dispatcher, Bayless went untreated, and she was announced dead later that day at Mercy Southwest Hospital. As a result, several investigations into the case were initiated.

Mind Reading Rats: Rodents Communicate Telepathically via the Internet

March 22nd, 2013
By Patrick Gonyo

A team of scientists, led by Miguel Nicolelis, has linked the brains of a pair of rats, allowing them to communicate over the Internet in order to share information with each other. This sensory information is then used to complete simple tasks in exchange for a reward. This breakthrough in Internet communication is a huge stride towards the world’s first “organic computer,” as the scientists call it.

Immigration Reformation

February 11th, 2013
By Nolan O’Toole
A group of protestors on the Brooklyn Bridge want immigration reform passed now. (Image courtesy of MSNBC)

A group of protestors on the Brooklyn Bridge want immigration reform passed now. (Image courtesy of MSNBC)

President Obama is in the process of fulfilling one of his campaign promises, the reformation of immigration in to the United States. The President, the Senate, and the House of Representatives are all working on proposals for bills, each one slightly different from the others’. The bills will specifically target the approximately eleven million undocumented workers currently living in the U.S.

Wacky Weather

February 8th, 2013

image courtesy by washingtonpost.com

By Marissa Romanek

The New Year started off with a lack of that winter feeling, but lately the crisp, cold weather has been consistent. Calvert County Public Schools have had 2 early dismissals, 1 day off, and 1 delay within the past 2 weeks. Students have lucked out with the slippery, snowy weather lately, but teachers around the county are a little bit less than excited.

Controversy Over Rare Female Execution in Texas

February 4th, 2013
Courtesy of: http://www.newsoxy.com/world/rare-female-execution-113719.html

Image of Kimberly McCarthy courtesy of: NewsOXY.com

 By Taylor Murphy

For the first time in two years, a woman is to be executed by capital punishment in the United States. Many people believed that this would be a routine execution with the only unusual part about it being the fact that a woman was being put to death this time instead of a man. This was true until a recent update in the case revealed that the accused murderer’s death sentence has been postponed due to racial bias. This now has many wondering whether or not it was really fair for a nearly all Caucasian jury to deliver the death sentence to an African American individual.

No Inductees into Baseball Hall of Fame

January 24th, 2013
By Nolan O’Toole

The Baseball Hall of Fame has announced that there will be no new inductees for the year of 2013. As the stars of the steroid age of baseball become eligible for induction into the hall, many are questioning whether those associated with performance enhancing drugs, or PEDs, will ever make it into Cooperstown.

In order to even be considered for election into the Hall of Fame, you must have at least ten years of Major League experience and make it past the screening committee, which weeds out the players of lesser qualifications. Members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, or BBWAA, with ten or more years of membership vote for the candidates. The final ballot usually consists of twenty-five to forty players, of which each writer may vote for ten. Players named on seventy-five percent of the ballots are then inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. However, for the first time since 1996, no players received the seventy-five percent of the writers’ vote necessary to make it into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Gun Gamble: Is Control the Answer?

January 18th, 2013

By Nolan O’Toole and Marcus Reid

In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, much controversy has sparked over the sufficiency of current gun-control laws. The entire nation was traumatized after Adam Lanza stormed into Sandy Hook Elementary School with an assault rifle and killed 20 children and 6 staff members before killing himself. This horrific act has caused Americans to wonder: are tougher gun laws needed?

Giant Squid Filmed for the First Time

January 14th, 2013
By Nolan O’Toole

For the first time ever, the giant squid has been caught on video in its natural environment. Japan’s National Science Museum, along with Japanese public broadcaster NHK and the Discovery Channel, succeeded in filming the deep-sea creature at a depth of more than two thousand, seven hundred feet.