This week at Starr’s Mill, we had a movement — a T-Pose movement. During B lunch on Wednesday, a freshman stood in the outside part of the lunchroom and T-Posed for around ten minutes. A crowd of upperclassmen gathered around the boy and cheered him on. After the crowd dispersed and the boy came back into the cafeteria, the lunchroom erupted with cheers and applause. This kind of credit is also given to news from all over the world. With a helicopter crash, a global health emergency, and a meth heist, The Prowler has the stories. 

Dreadful helicopter crash takes life of Kobe Bryant (1/27)

Basketball star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryants were among the nine people who died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The helicopter crashed into a hillside Sunday morning at 10 a.m. The victims included John and Kelli Altobelli and their daughter Alyssa, Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton, Christina Mauser, and pilot Ara Zobayan.

Investigators worked Monday to determine the cause of the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board stated that the helicopter was climbing to avoid the layer of fog. However, the pilot of the helicopter was given clearance to fly amidst the weather. 

The perimeter of the crash site has been boarded off from the public after a large amount of unauthorized personnel visited. Deputy’s horseback and all-terrain vehicles have patrolled the area since then. Weather data, air traffic control, and pilot’s records will be investigated further throughout the week.

Meth operation discovered inside a Georgia county jail cell (1/28)

A man and his outside conspirator were caught organizing a meth operation from behind the bars of Hall County Jail. Investigators discovered that inmate Larry Termane Nuckles had been organizing deals with Gillsville resident Myria Bouchereau to transport illegal drugs.

Bouchereau, age 44, has been detained by law enforcement in possession of five ounces of meth. She was found at the 1000 block of Jesse Jewell Parkway, but not before crashing into an occupied police cruiser and almost hitting another officer. Bouchereau escaped the officers during the first encounter, but after an arrest warrant was put out against her, she was apprehended on Lathem Drive.

As a result of their crimes, Knuckles has been charged with an attempt to organize the transportation of meth and using communication for the benefit of drug transactions. Bouchereau currently faces three counts of aggravated assault on an officer and one count of drug trafficking.

White House threatens to block publication of John Bolton book (1/29)

White House security has threatened to block publication of former national security adviser John Bolton’s book unless he deletes information they claim is classified. The National Security Council determined that the book, which irritated President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, includes what they claim to be top secret items that could conflict with major national security. 

Bolton denied that the book included classified information. “We do not believe that any of that information could reasonably be considered classified,” Bolton’s attorney said in an email to an NSC official and released to reporters. 

Some of Trump’s critics say that the President is trying to prevent Bolton’s information from becoming public and they have suspicions as to why. “Nobody works this hard to keep the truth from coming out unless the truth is devastating,” Walter Shaub, former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, told USA Today. 

Coronavirus declared global health emergency (1/30)

The coronavirus, a disease sweeping China and now the world, has now been classified as a global health emergency. As the virus continues to spread outside China, the world waits for answers.

The coronavirus originated in China and now has a death toll of 170 people. Now 98 other cases are confirmed in a total of 18 counties. Overall there have been eight human-to-human contact cases outside of China.

The reason for the announcement is the spread of the disease. The World Health Organization’s real fear is for the countries with people with weaker immune systems. As the coronavirus continues to spread the World Health Organization urges people to take precautions.

Local film makers featured at Sundance Film Festival (1/31)

The film “Beast Beast,” filmed by Peachtree City locals Danny and Will Madden, is now showing at the Sundance Film Festival. The brothers have been working together on their independent films since they were kids. The boys say their mother, who works at Rising Starr Middle School, has been their biggest supporter throughout this process.  

Part of it was filmed at Starr’s Mill, and multiple students were featured as extras. The film “is about all the flavors, the micro-differences, you can have in a neighborhood,” Danny said to The Citizen.

When they talked about certain aspects of the filming and cast members, Danny said that he met the lead actress Shirley at her high school when they had a casting call for another film “Krista.” Shirley also played the main character in that film.