With Thanksgiving break having come to a close, The Prowler shows that even as students take a much-needed vacation from school work, the rest of the world continues to turn. Read this week’s edition of “Keeping It Current” to discover what went down over Thanksgiving Break.

Chattanooga school bus crash kills five children (11/21)

Five Chattanooga Elementary School students were killed in what the Atlanta Journal-Constitution calls “the deadliest school bus crash in recent history.” The victims’ ages range from kindergarten to fourth grade. The bus driver, 24-year-old Johnthony Walker, was arrested and charged with five counts of vehicular manslaughter. Police say that Walker was speeding on a narrow, winding road and wrapped the bus around a tree. The crash left another 12 students from Woodmore Elementary School in the hospital with six in critical condition. An additional 19 children were treated at the hospital and released later Monday.

Chattanoogans flocked to donate blood in the aftermath of the crash. An impromptu memorial was arranged at the scene of the crash, containing flowers and stuffed animals. A local church overflowed during an evening prayer vigil as a choir sang and preachers and officials connected with the friends and families of victims through messages of strength and faith.

President-elect Trump will not prosecute Hillary Clinton (11/22)

Much to the surprise of both his supporters and opponents, Kellyanne Conway, president-elect Donald Trump’s former campaign manager and current top transition advisor, told viewers of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he would not try to prosecute Hillary Clinton after his inauguration. Trump said that he was “not looking to go back and go through this.” Conway said that “when the president-elect … tells you before he’s even inaugurated that he doesn’t wish to pursue these charges, it sends a very strong message” to congressional Republicans. This is one of the most recent and notable of Trump’s so-called “flip-flops,” as viewers of the debates will remember when he directly told Clinton that he would appoint a prosecutor to investigate her.

Hillary Clinton’s investigation by the FBI was a frequent talking point for the president-elect during his campaign, as well as a suggested reason for her loss. Trump’s rallies were rife with supporters chanting “lock her up,” and he himself voiced an opinion that Clinton was “guilty as hell.”

President Obama pardons his last turkey (11/23)

President Barack Obama got a jumpstart on Thanksgiving festivities as he continued the annual tradition of  pardoning a turkey. Two Iowa-born turkeys, Tater and Tot, were featured in the White House’s Rose Garden, both of which received the President’s clemency. Obama made fun of himself as he reflected on the past seven years of jokes and puns, mostly at his daughters’ expense. Taking Sasha and Malia’s place were Obama’s nephews, Austin and Aaron Robinson, who Obama said “still believe in bad puns. They still believe in the grandeur of this occasion. They still have hope.” Users on Twitter were asked by the official White House account to vote on which turkey would be pardoned, although both were ultimately spared. Biographies were given for the siblings, including information such as age, weight, and favorite snack. Tot was given the honor of being named the “National Thanksgiving Turkey” for 2016.

After one of the most controversial elections in American history, President Obama used the pardoning as a chance to reflect on American values and the spirit of Thanksgiving, saying that the Thanksgiving season is a time to remember that “we have a lot more in common than divides us.” Following the ceremony, the first family served meals to residents of Washington D.C.’s Armed Forces Retirement Home.

Native Americans defend South Dakota land (11/24)

Americans sat down to enjoy Thanksgiving on Thursday, celebrating family and appreciating what they had. The tradition of American Thanksgiving stems from the almost-legendary meeting and celebration involving the Puritan colonists at Plymouth Rock and the Native Americans people of the area in 1621. It is remembered as a peaceful time, similar to the 1914 Christmas ceasefire during WWI, before centuries of unfortunate conflict between Americans and various Native American tribes.

Ironically, as millions of Americans sat down to celebrate what they were most grateful for and remember that original dinner, Native Americans in North and South Dakota were fighting to defend ancestral land and water sources from the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a proposed oil pipe that would span 1,172 miles from the Dakota area to Patoka, Illinois.

Members of the Meskwaki and Sioux tribes, based at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, have protested the pipeline for fear that it would not only threaten their reservation, but contaminate surrounding land and water.

In September, the Obama administration delayed a final approval of the pipeline to allow officials to consult with Native Americans. The delay, however, has yielded no result. Policemen armed with concussive grenades, cold water hoses in below-freezing temperatures, and “rubber” bullets, metal bullets with a thin layer of rubber surrounding them, have clashed with nonviolent protesters, injuring both children and elderly tribe leaders.

Several notable Americans, such as Vermont senator and former Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, have asked President Obama to official reject the DAPL to end this conflict, to no avail.

Dylan Roof deemed competent to stand trial (11/25)

Charleston church shooter Dylan Roof was deemed competent to stand trial by a South Carolina judge. Roof is charged with the murder of nine African-American worshippers in a attack on a historic black church on June 17, 2015. Roof’s attorneys claimed that he was not fit to consult with them in their defense and that he did not fully understand the charges being levied against him. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel’s decision comes after a two-day trial to determine Roof’s fitness to stand trial for last year’s attack. The preliminary trial was kept private to prevent any potential jurors from being swayed by Roof or his lawyers’ statements.

With Gergel’s ruling that Roof can stand trial, jury selection can now begin. Roof is charged with several counts of manslaughter, hate crimes, and obstruction of religion after his racially charged attack on the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Should he be convicted, Roof could face the death penalty.