Weekly News Wrap-Up
Co-News Editor Audrey Parrish discusses a new law affecting transgender athletes, the State of the Union, Ukraine and other top stories you might have missed this week.
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Hi everyone and welcome back to this week’s West Side Story Weekly News Wrap Up! Today I’ll be bringing you an overview of what happened in the news this week at West, in Iowa, in the US, the world, and a bit of weird, fun news to top it all off. Let’s get started!
Over a million refugees have fled Ukraine since the war with Russia broke out, although many are still stuck with limited access to resources. The UN has also reported that 227 Ukrainians have been killed and an additional 525 have been wounded. In response, the UN General Assembly voted to demand Russia stop their attack, and the UN will deliver humanitarian aid to the people still residing in Ukraine, including food, water, shelter and medicine.
Tuesday, March 1st, was the State of the Union Address, a speech that the president gives every year to discuss the policies and events of that year, as well as policies they hope to enact in the future. This year, Biden discussed the situation between Russia and Ukraine, moving past COVID-19 and spoke out against the Defund the Police movement. Every year, the party in opposition to the president gives a rebuttal to the President’s speech. This year Kim Reynolds, the Governor of Iowa, was chosen. In her speech, Reynolds mentioned inflation and high prices, a surge in crime and poor international policy.
There is currently a bill in Iowa that would stop transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports that would apply to all school-sponsored events. It passed in both the Iowa House and Iowa Senate and was signed by the governor yesterday.
I hope your first week of the third trimester went well! Next week is the first full week of this new trimester and the last week before Spring Break!
Now for some fun news. Do you remember a few years ago when there was a mountain lion near West? There was a similar situation in California this week. The feline wandered around a neighborhood for hours before accidentally trapping itself in a yard. It was then captured by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and was released into the wild in King’s National Forest.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you all next week!
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Vivian Polgreen is a junior at West. She is the co-news editor for the online publication ad it is her second year working on staff. In her free time,...

(she/her) Audrey Parrish is a junior at West High. This is her second year on staff. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, baking, and playing...

Helelia Wa Kalala is a junior at West. This is her second year on staff working as a social media editor and videographer. She enjoys editing videos as...