Your weekly news breakdown from the Talon Online News out of Colonial Forge High School. This weekly update is for January 15 through January 21, 2022.

Script:

Welcome back to your weekly news bite. I’m your host Kieran Murphy and this is Eagle News Now.

After a brutal eruption of the Pacific Island Hunga Tonga volcano on January 14, the full scale damage is still unknown. The eruption had more power than a nuclear bomb and could be seen from space, and caused ash to fall on the small country as well as hitting it with tsunami’s which reached as far as Peru.

As of recording, 3 people are confirmed to have died as a result of this eruption and subsequent tsunami damage. 

Contact-free Relief has started to pour in from the neighboring countries of Australia and New Zealand, which includes many important necessities for survival, but chiefly fresh water which the Tongan government had asked for due to it being extremely difficult to get after the tsunamis caused by the volcano damaged the island.

Over the course of the pandemic, Tonga has had only one case of COVID-19, so they are struggling to accept aid both in terms of the destruction and protecting citizens from the deadly virus.

After standing in front of the New York’s Museum of Natural History for over eight decades, the statue of President Theodore Roosevelt was removed. The statue in question is of Roosevelt traveling on horseback with two men, one African and one Native American, following on foot. The statue has been controversial and problematic for many years due to the racial hierarchy associated with it. 

The museum gained permission from the city of New York as well as from Roosevelt’s great-grandson to remove the statue in June of 2020. 

Its removal began Wednesday night.

Illinois Democrat Tammy Duckworth plans to unveil a new Senate bill to provide benefits for officers who took their own life and/ or suffered from PTSD as a result of the insurrection on January 6th.

“Those who have died or are disabled as a result of suicide or post-traumatic stress disorder do not qualify for the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program. “ Public Safety Officer Support Act of 2022” aims to cover that omission 

Ultimately, the bill would provide benefits for the officers and families who have suffered long term damage due to catastrophic events.

In Local News, at an emergency meeting of the Stafford county school board last night,  the board voted 5-2 to keep the mask mandate after consulting with their lawyers. 

On Saturday, January 15th, Governor Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order to remove the mandate on masks that made every child in Virginia’s public schools required to wear a mask in school, effective Jan 24.

Though with COVID-19 cases for children on the rise at a 69% increase last week, many parents are questioning the decision.  Currently the executive order is being challenged in the Virginia Supreme Court as jurisdictions struggle to follow contradicting laws and executive orders.

As for Colonial Forge, we have some events such as All County Guitar and All County Orchestra, which will both take place on the 21st and 22nd. Be sure to cheer on your fellow Eagles.

That’s your update for this week. This is your host Kieran Murphy signing off, see you next week.