Thursday, September 1 top stories
It is Thursday, September 1. Here are today’s top stories.
Serena Williams wins second-round match at U.S. Open
Serena Williams won her second-round match at the U.S. Open last night by defeating second-seeded Anett Kontaveit.
Many in the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium cheered on Williams, hoping to see her go deep in what is expected to be her final tennis tournament before she retires.
Tiger Woods was in the stadium cheering on Williams. Woods has been a mentor to Williams in recent months.
Williams’ third-round match is on Friday against Ajla Tomljanovic.
Elementary students’ reading and math test scores plunge
A report on test scores in reading and math tests among elementary students in the U.S. showed that scores plunged sharply after the pandemic.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) conducted the study by looking at tests given out to 9-year-old students who were mostly in fourth grade. The NAEP looked at scores in 2020 and 2022 and found the drop in scores.
The NAEP said “These results are sobering. It’s clear that Covid-19 shocked American education and stunted the academic growth of this age group.”
Sarah Palin defeated by Democrat Mary Peltola in Alaska
In Alaska’s special election for the state’s only U.S. House seat, Democrat Mary Peltola defeated Republican Sarah Palin with 51% of the vote.
The election was to replace the seat left behind by Republican Don Young, who held it from 1973 until he died in March at the age of 88.
Peltola will be the first Native Alaskan elected to Congress. She will serve out Young’s term, which ends in January.
There will be another election this November for the new two-year term and Peltola will go up against Palin again.
For Palin, it is considered an upset because she used to be the state governor and had the support of Donald Trump, who won the state during the 2020 election.
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Unarmed Black man in bed killed by Columbus police
A Columbus, Ohio police officer shot and killed an unarmed 20-year-old Black man named Donovan Lewis while he was on his bed. This happened on Tuesday morning around 2 a.m.
News reports explained that officers went to Lewis’ apartment home to arrest him on warrants for domestic violence, assault, and improper handling of a firearm.
Body camera video showed that there were three officers and a police dog that entered Lewis’ home after knocking on the door and asking for “Donovan.” There were two men, possibly roommates, who were led out and told to sit outside of the apartment.
An officer opened a door leading into Lewis’ bedroom and another shined a flashlight on Lewis, who seemed to be startled. He was shirtless and on his bed. He made a quick motion and an officer quickly fired one shot at Lewis, causing him to collapse and wither in pain. He was handcuffed and carried outside. He was later taken to a hospital, where he died.
The Lewis family attorney said there was no justification for the officer to shoot because Lewis was unarmed and was only trying to get up. The family plans to sue and wants to hold the officer accountable.
The officer’s name is Ricky Anderson. He is a 30-year police veteran. The Columbus police chief said Lewis had a vape pen-type device in his hand. It is possible that the police thought the pen was a weapon.
The shooting is under investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Update on DOJ vs Trump case on classified documents
Today representatives of the Department of Justice and Donald Trump made their arguments before a federal judge in Florida on whether there should be a “special master” brought in to review documents that the FBI seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
Trump’s side wants a “special master” because it believes that some of the documents seized were protected by executive privilege or attorney-client privilege. The DOJ said a “special master” is unnecessary and would only delay the investigation.
During the hearing, Trump’s representatives said the FBI was overly aggressive and damaging the institution of the presidency. DOJ’s representatives said Trump doesn’t have the right to be in possession of classified documents because he is no longer the president.
Trump’s representatives said the classified documents aren’t that of a big deal because he was once president and the papers were at a place where he frequently worked as a president. DOJ’s representatives said the documents had some of America’s most sensitive secrets and that there was nowhere on the Mar-a-Lago property that was authorized to keep these records and accused Trump of possibly hiding them.
The judge, Aileen M. Cannon, who was appointed by the Trump administration, said she would issue a written ruling on the “special master” request in due course. We do not know how long this will take. Cannon previously said she was leaning towards appointing a “special master.” We’ll see what happens.
UN inspectors visit Ukraine nuclear plant
A team of U.N. nuclear inspectors was able to make it to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant today to make sure that it is safe from a nuclear crisis during a time of war between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
The team consisted of 14 members and they were photographed wearing special vests and walking on the site of the plant. The group said they collected important information and would continue its assessment through Saturday.
The plant is occupied by Russian forces but is run by Ukrainian engineers. The team said the staff at the plant are doing professional work despite the difficult situation.
That’s all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/09/01/student-test-scores-plunged-pandemic/
https://www.axios.com/2022/09/01/democrat-mary-peltola-wins-upset-in-alaska-special-election
https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/results/alaska/special-election/us-house-district-1-final
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/01/serena-williams-tiger-woods/
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-united-nations-ce8c3e254c8dd44b8ae4eb3cea3c5907
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/01/trump-documents-special-master-hearing/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/31/trump-special-master-explainer