News in Brief – Issue 5, 2019

The stories you need to keep you in the know

Anna Sung, Staff Writer

Second Boeing 737 MAX 8 Crash

All 157 people on board an Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane were killed when it crashed shortly after takeoff on Sunday, March 10. This marks the second fatal crash of this new model plane in the last six months. All 189 lives were taken in a previous crash off of Indonesia’s coast last October.

Both planes were brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8s; this particular model has been very popular in the world since it came on the market in 2017, with more than 4,000 orders placed in the last six months. It was popular due to its fuel efficiency. A definitive cause for these crashes has not been found yet, but due to how similar both crashes were, speculation has caused Boeing stock to drop 10 percent, and many European countries, Indonesia and China have ordered that Boeing 737 MAX 8s may not fly in their airspace. At press time, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines continued to express confidence in their aircraft and have not grounded these flights.

Flu outbreak:

The Centers for Disease Control stated recently that there is about a 90 percent chance that the flu season has peaked, with flu activity “likely to remain elevated over the next month.”

As of 2018-2019’s flu season, a total of 64 deaths were caused by influenza; the CDC believes, however, that the number of deaths is much higher due to the fact that not all flu-related deaths are reported. 48 states and Puerto Rico are still reporting widespread activity and as many as 26.3 million flu illnesses and 347,000 flu hospitalizations have occured since October. The H1N1 virus strain has been dominating the country this season; the H3 viruses have also been circulating the Southeast, creating a double-barreled influenza outbreak this year. CDC cautions people to wash hands thoroughly and receive the flu shot if they have not done so this year.

College admissions scandal:

Federal prosecutors arrested over 50 wealthy celebrities and prominent business leaders in the largest college admission cheating scam ever prosecuted in the US on Tuesday, March 12. Full House star Lori Loughlin was one of the many parents caught paying college prep organizations to manipulate scores and college coaches to admit  their children as recruited athletes into elite schools of their choice, such as USC, Georgetown, Stanford and Yale.

FBI Special Agent Joseph Bonavolonta informed the press that the parents spent anywhere from $200,000 to $6.5 million to guarantee admission for their children. The CEO of Mossimo Giannulli has been arrested by the FBI with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, and a warrant has been put out for the the arrest of Loughlin.