Article 1:The GRAMMYs
Written By: Jenny Zhao
Edited By: Zoe Ng
On Feb. 4, the 66th annual Grammy Awards was held in Los Angeles and aired live for viewers on CBS Television Network and streamed on Paramount Plus. Some notable moments were Taylor Swift becoming the artist with the most Grammy wins for Album Of The Year, Phoebe Bridgers having the most wins (four in total), as well as SZA earning the most nominations of the year with nine nominations.
The Grammy Awards is a music award show presented by The Recording Academy to honor and recognize musicians within different categories. The Grammys, originally named The Gramophone Awards, was first hosted in 1958. Its origin came during a period when only awards acknowledging artists of the film and television industry existed. The 1950s Hollywood Walk of Fame project shed light on the industry once more when professionals were tasked with recognizing musicians for said project. This consequently led to the start of The Grammys, as these professionals realized that many influential artists were unable to be honored despite their contributions to the industry.
Beginning with just 28 categories, The Grammy Awards has only added more and more categories as the years went by, with there being a total of 94 categories for the most recent 2024 award show. Within this number includes the three new categories added by The Recording Academy: Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album, and Best Pop Dance Recording. These new additions are part of the award show’s newest motives to have a "more fair, transparent and accurate" awards process.
Article 2: 2024 Super Bowl Highlights
Written by Adrian Wu
Edited by: Anderson Li
On Feb. 11, the 2024 Super Bowl was underway, featuring the Kansas City Chiefs versus the San Francisco 49ers. The Super Bowl kicked off with the NFL preshow featuring many artists, the first being Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton singing their new duet, “Purple Irises” to celebrate Valentine's Day and their marriage of two and a half years. Next was Golden Globe Winner Andra Day, singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. Third was rapper and singer Post Malone singing “America the Beautiful,” played simply with an acoustic guitar. Finally, Reba McEntire ended the preshow performances with her rendition of the “The Star-Spangled Banner”. The first quarter was uneventful, as both teams played amazing defense and ended with 0-0. However, the beginning of the second quarter began with a record-breaking 55-yard field goal by Jake Moody of the 49ers, the longest field goal in Super Bowl history. The end of the first half ended with the 49ers leading 10-3 with a touchdown by running back Christian McCaffrey and field goal by Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker. Next came the Super Bowl halftime show, featuring Usher with other artists, like Alicia Keys, HER, Lil Jon and Ludacris, making guest appearances. After the halftime show, the Chiefs got straight into action by breaking the longest field goal record again with a 57-yeard field goal by Harrison Butker making the score 10-6. After that the chiefs scored a touchdown by recovering their own punt, making the score 13-10. The 49ers match the touchdown with wide receiver Jauan Jennings catching a pass making the score 16-13. Jake Moody kicked another field goal giving the 49ers a 19-16 lead. However, the Chiefs scored their own goal leading to a tie, and the second time the Super Bowl has ever gone into overtime. In overtime, the Kansas City Chiefs pulled out the win, with wide receiver Mecole Hardman Jr. scoring the winning touchdown, making the score 25-22. The Kansas City Chiefs have won it again in the 2024 Super Bowl.
Article 3: Pigeon Suspected of Spying for China Gets Released after 8-month Detention.
Written by: Suhyeon Kwon
Edited by: Jessica Kwok, Zoe Ng
On Jan. 30, a pigeon accused of spying for China was freed after eight months of captivity in Mumbai, India. Indian authorities reported that the bird was not an avian spy agent but most likely a Taiwanese racing bird that got lost during a race. It is not uncommon for birds to be lost in such ways. In the Taiwanese bird competition, the racing birds are sent 124 miles to 310 miles offshore, which often results in lost birds in neighboring countries or boats.
The pigeon was found by Indian police last May near a port area. The alleged spy agent gained suspicion when they found two metal rings attached to the pigeon’s leg with Chinese writings under its wings. The pigeon was held in custody for eight months until it was released only weeks ago. Mumbai Police notified that the pigeon was released in good health after a proper and thorough investigation period revealed that no suspicious material was found with the pigeon.
The release process was supported by the non-profit organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In regards to the situation, “After learning that a pigeon was held at the Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals in Parel as case property for an astonishing eight months, PETA India sprang into action to secure the bird’s freedom from captivity.” PETA India director Poorva Joshipura also added that all pigeons should be free to fly in the skies, to seek food and to mate, just like all other birds.
According to PETA, millions of pigeons die in Taiwan Sea Races. Some drown from exhaustion, die amidst unexpected storms or get killed for their disqualification as racing pigeons. The “alleged spy pigeon” case is entertaining and interesting to the public, but it also brings attention to the millions of deaths of racing birds that occur for mere human entertainment.
Article 4: Rise of ‘Cop Cities’ in U.S. States
Written by: Carmen Tan
Edited by: Zoe Ng
TW: death
The construction of Atlanta’s “Cop City,” a project for training grounds reserved for city police to practice in a highly militarized setting, began in 2023 with a budget of $90 million. As of February 2024, the budget sits at $110 million. The city of Atlanta attributes the increase in budget to protestors’ damages towards the project, as many civilians share the sentiment of its unimportance and negative effects on the community. The discourse around “Cop City” includes social issues along with environmental issues. One such issue is that the training grounds will be constructed on previous forestlands, where the discourse lies with the forest defenders who struggle to protect the grounds with the new plans. More uprisings occur as protestors are killed and injured by police officials during protests. Many concerns have arisen within the Atlanta community, only for the local government to overlook such debates and continue their plans. The disagreement between the city and its civilians have led to more radical actions, such as condemning the movement in total.
Similarly, the city of Lacey, Washington, plans to enact a similar project. The construction of a $61.5 million police department and training ground serves to benefit the community, according to the local government. Compared to Atlanta, Georgia, there are sparse resources that cover the "cop city” being created in Lacey, Washington. Civilians argue a similar strand to those in Atlanta, finding that the construction of such large training grounds is an unnecessary and poor use of taxpayer dollars, and they would rather have the money allocated towards other resources. Due to the lack of widespread news coverage of the “cop city” in Lacey, controversy around the compound has stayed local. Thus, the local government of Lacey has decided to move forward with the project without addressing it with the general body of civilians.
Many residents of these communities have turned to social media platforms to voice their opinions and try to spread awareness on the topic. However, it appears that regardless of these efforts, little to no change will occur with the project and the “cop cities” will continue to be constructed.
Kommentare