Weekly Review
In Winder, Georgia, two students and two teachers were murdered by a 14-year-old student using an AR-style rifle that his father reportedly bought him for Christmas.1 2 “Today is not the day for politics or policy,” said Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, who since taking office has signed legislation that protects the privacy of gun purchasers and legalizes permitless carry; “I don’t like that this is a fact of life,” said the vice-presidential candidate JD Vance, who opposes the expansion of background checks and the existence of a federal gun registry, and who suggested the solution to school shootings was increased armed security in schools; “we’re going to heal our world,” said the presidential candidate Donald Trump, who, if elected, has vowed to roll back the Biden Administration’s gun control measures, and who, during his own term in office, promised to veto bills on universal background checks.3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 In Huntsville, Alabama, a 16-year-old was charged with murder after shooting another teenager; in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a 15-year-old fatally shot another 15-year-old while they were playing with a gun; and in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, an 18-year-old shot a 17-year-old while allegedly “fooling around” with a gun.13 14 15 In Athens, Alabama, a high school basketball team canceled a raffle offering an AR-15 rifle as a prize.16
North Korea launched a fresh salvo of trash balloons across the border into South Korea, and Sweden’s “Queen of Trash” went on trial for irresponsibly disposing of more than 200,000 tons of toxic waste as the owner of a company that transported garbage in hot-pink bags.17 18 19 A dead body was found on the conveyor belt of a recycling facility in Farmingdale, New Jersey, and a corpse was discovered at a recycling plant in Normal, Illinois.20 21 “There’s nothing normal about this!” a commentator said about Hunter Biden’s request for an Alford plea deal on the day his trial for tax evasion was due to begin in Los Angeles.22 23 A judge in Michigan was suspended after she was recorded using a homophobic slur and calling black people “lazy,” and a federal appeals court extended a 97-year-old judge’s suspension by another year over concerns about her fitness to serve.24 25 The Nigerian army refuted claims that soldiers were resigning en masse due to low morale and corruption, six top Ukrainian ministers resigned from their posts amid a cabinet reshuffle for “new energy,” and it was reported that Japanese workers are hiring resignation experts to help them leave their jobs.26 27 28
A high school principal in California resigned after a video that featured him giving and receiving lap dances in front of the student body with the school’s mascot, Thor, went viral, and it was reported that Vladimir Putin’s secret sons enjoy pretending to be Disney characters.29 30 31 A man was charged with stealing Jellycat plush toys in Warrington, England, and officials in India soaked stuffed animals in children’s urine to entrap man-eating wolves.32 33 Police in Rio de Janeiro carried out 16 search warrants for claw machines with stuffed toys that may have been used as a cash front for criminal gangs, and a man was convicted of smuggling more than $4,000 in cash stuffed in a teddy bear out of the Isle of Man.34 35 A man bit a police officer’s shoulder after attempting to steal more than $2,000 worth of Macy’s merchandise in San Leandro, California; a woman awaiting sentencing for her role in the Capitol riot attempted to bite an officer’s leg at Dr. Pepper Park in Roanoke, Virginia; and a man bit off a chunk of a cop’s ear while being arrested in Chelsea, Massachusetts.36 37 38 “I’m hungry for whatever’s next,” said Joey Chestnut after eating a world-record-breaking 83 hot dogs.39 —Megan Evershed
