IN THE NEWS – WEEK OF JANUARY 15th
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger Photographer: George Whylie Videographer: Maxine Nolan Photos Courtesy of A/P, ReutersThere was a wide range of newsworthy items that took center stage the week of January 15th.
Of course, the week began with a more detailed timeline of events unfolding on the doomed Italian cruise ship. Tapes were released of conversation between the Captain and the Coast Guard. The incident is still under investigation but a woman said to have had dinner at the Captain’s table also stood behind his actions. The possibility exists that unregistered passengers were on board making it difficult to determine the true count of the missing. At this time, it stands at 20. The dead is up to 12; 4 French, 1 Italian, 1 Hungarian, 1 German, 1 Spanish National and 4 unidentified bodies (1 female and 3 males).
Martin Luther King Day was celebrated across the nation on the 16th. The new Memorial erected in Washington, DC, was certainly a way to unite in memory of the civil rights leader. The President and his family took part in a volunteer project at Browne Education Center in Washington. This was an appropriate way to honor a great man.
We are all very familiar with Yahoo!. However, what some may not be aware of is that the Internet Company’s Asian assets have been struggling for quite some time. Yahoo! co-founder, Jerry Yang, decided to resign as Director and from the boards of Yahoo! Japan and Alibaba Group after being a large part of the start-up company back in 1995. It was a bittersweet ending culminating years of exciting and rewarding experiences. Stock shares climbed a bit on announcement of the news. Just weeks ago, Scott Thompson from Ebay’s PayPal unit, was appointed as Yahoo!’s CEO and this comes right on the heels of that transition.
Another established company has been a victim of the tough economic times. Eastman Kodak and imaging went hand in hand for decades. The 130-year-old company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. While in bankruptcy, the company is expected to continue to try to auction off a lucrative portfolio of 1,100 patents with the possibility of a $3 Billion worth. Although the company has been trimming staff and cutting costs over the last few years, this will allow them to emerge leaner and they may focus on becoming the leader in their industry again.
APPLE is at it again. On January 19th, the innovative leader announced iBooks2 for iPad. The future has arrived and textbooks are now interactive and will promise to make learning more fun. Diagrams, photos and videos make it exciting to go to school. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and McGraw-Hill are all on the iBookstore with prices of $14.99 or less. If you have a Mac, you can even create your own iBook textbooks. APPLE is stepping out to revolutionize the education world and make learning loads of fun.
One of the most controversial items of the week was the cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline deal. The proposal would have transported a low grade Canadian pseudo oil all the way from an Alberta province to Houston, Texas. Because of the route going from Canadian soil to US soil over 1700 miles, it required Presidential approval. There were many red flags which would have worked negatively against farmers and environmentalists. Republicans tried to sell the Pipeline through conveying the advantages as they saw them; creation of many more jobs and less reliance on the Middle Eastern oil market. Both were not truthful. Friction was created between Republicans and the President. The President denied moving forward with the initiative and laid the blame back on Congress. If adopted, this would have endangered the health and safety of the American people and more importantly, the environment.
As the week came to a close and another week was ready to begin, two announcements were revealed that had a large impact on the public.
Joe Paterno, famed Penn State Coach, succumbed to lung cancer at the age of 85. For almost half a century, college football was his life and it was evident in the success of his team. The last few months of his life were full of turmoil and heartbreak involving his cover-up of child molestation charges by his assistant, Jerry Sandusky. He was a legend in his time and loved by all that came in contact with him. Paterno took his team to the Orange Bowl and claimed victory. Recently he had spoken to the media to clear the air. He will be missed by all and many have gone to pay tribute to him and set up memorials with candles and flowers in order to pay their respects.
A year has gone by since the dreadful shooting in an outside Arizona shopping mall where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot and wounded. It is a miracle just how far she has come. She realizes the important topics in Arizona are jobs, border security and veterans and in order to accomplish the goals, everyone must work together. Giffords is so very thankful for the outpouring of support and prayers that her constituents have shown. In order to focus on her total recovery, she has made a decision to step down from office in order to do what is best for Arizona.
We now begin a new week with more news unfolding each day. We look forward to bringing you more informative news next week.
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