As students are getting ready for Friday night’s rivalry game against Whitewater, our writers have been hard at work to bring a new set of KICs. We have a savior whale, a Georgia community mourning a firefighter who died of Covid-19, the United States exiting the Paris agreement, 2020 election results still unannounced and protests breaking out, and no evidence of ballot tampering being found.

“Saved by the Whale’s Tail” (Nov. 2)

At the De Akkers metro station in Spijkenisse, a whale tail statue saved a runaway metro train from a 30-foot drop. The train only was carrying the driver and he was able to make it out of the train safely. The statue was placed there 20 years ago. The artist was surprised the statue was able to hold up the train because it was made of plastic.  

The artwork is now renamed “Saved by the whale’s tail.”  Authorities have started considering a plan on how to remove the train before the statute breaks from the weight. Experts are unable to identify the cause of the train going off track.

The crash has become a point of interest from many of the locals. The driver of the train is also being questioned about the cause of the crash.

Georgia Community mourns firefighter who died of Covid-19 (Nov. 3)

The DeKalb County community is mourning a local firefighter and grandfather who died of COVID-19. Monroe County Emergency Services said Harold Boone died Nov. 2 from complications of the coronavirus. Boone, 49, had been hospitalized and on a ventilator in Macon since September.

Boone joined the U.S. Army Reserves after high school, before joining the fire department in Macon where he worked for 25 years. Then he joined Monroe County Emergency Services, working as a firefighter and emergency responder for a part-time basis in 2016, then moving to full-time in 2018.

 Sharon Boone said she was not able to see her husband for the last month of his life due to COVID-19 restrictions. She only was able to talk to him one time on the phone while he was in the hospital when he told her he had requested to be put on a ventilator. 

United States exits Paris agreement (Nov. 4)

President Trump officially withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, a climate change agreement among over 200 countries. Trump believes this agreement could have been harmful to the United States economy over time, and he estimated a loss of 2.5 million American jobs by 2025 if the country would have remained a member.

The Paris Agreement’s goal is to take steps to prevent Earth’s temperature from rising two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial revolution temperatures. Some experts say that rising temperatures could lead to higher sea levels and extreme weather events, like wildfires, hurricanes, and droughts. Such weather events are expected to lead to mass migrations and food production shortages.

The United States may reenter the Paris Agreement if Former Vice President Joe Biden wins the presidential election. If President Trump wins a second term in the White House, he is willing to renegotiate a deal that he feels is fairer to Americans.

President of the 2020 election still unannounced as states count ballots (Nov. 5) 

States continue to count thousands of ballots today, two days after Election Day on Nov. 3. As of this morning, several battleground states still have not officially declared the final results of the popular vote for either incumbent candidate Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden.  

President Trump currently has the greatest support of the swing states in Georgia and North Carolina. Although the President held a lead in Pennsylvania early Wednesday, the number of votes for Biden has since increased in comparison. Recent results show that Biden is also pulling ahead slightly in both Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan. He is also winning in Arizona with an approximate 69,000 vote lead. 

Legal action is being taken by the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania and Michigan, and recounts are being called for in Wisconsin. In order for President Trump to win re-election, he must gain full electoral support in North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Alaska. Otherwise, Biden is likely to secure the 270 electoral votes to win the 2020 presidential election.

Protests break out across the U.S. due to the unsettled election (Nov. 5)

As votes continue to be counted, groups of Americans have taken to the streets of several cities in the United States. Their intent is to urge elected officials to “count every vote.”

In New York on Wednesday, about 20 people were arrested after their protesting shut down traffic in the West Village. The same day, about 150 President Trump supporters came together at the Maricopa County Recorder’s building in Phoenix, Arizona. Several people carried firearms and criticized Fox News for calling Arizona for Joe Biden.

Protests also continued in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia, regarding policing and racial injustice. One lawyer who was a part of a protest in Minneapolis, Nekima Levy Armstrong, said, “Our focus is on not allowing Donald Trump to steal this election from the American people.”

Ballots have not been found outside Spalding County Elections Office dumpster (Nov. 6)

Spalding County’s Sheriff Darrel Dix provided details regarding a Sheriff Office supervisor who responded to a call from the Election’s Office last night. 

The complaints about being denied access to the Election Office were reported to the Secretary of State’s Office. When there was a third call reported to the Secretary of State’s office about paperwork being found in the dumpster, the supervisor responded to the scene. Local investigators and crime scene investigators were contacted to come to the scene. No ballots were found in the 18 dumpsters that were searched.

The investigation has since been closed. However, it is likely that a new investigation will involve looking into the people who claimed they were denied access to the Election Office.