Welcome to Optimize, a weekly update to keep you informed on what has happened during the week. Here are five national/international stories (and one local one) that you should know:
Women wear white to State of Union Address
“Dozens of female House leaders [wore] white at the State of the Union in the name of gender equality and women’s rights.” President Donald Trump took credit for the booming economy during the address, and he explained that he will continue to fight for the US-Mexican border wall.
Green New Deal
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey have created a proposal to address the environmental, economic and equity issues that are tied with climate change. The deal calls for an end to fossil fuel use and a complete transition towards renewable energy within “10-year national mobilizations.” The bill also calls for “high quality healthcare for all Americans,” thus combining climate related issues with more-progressive, economic issues within the deal.
Louisiana abortion laws
In a five to four vote on Thursday, the Supreme Court blocked a Louisiana law that would enforce new regulations on abortion clinics. The new law would’ve required all abortion providers to have admitting privileges in order to perform the operation, effectively shutting down two of Louisiana’s abortion clinics and therefore preventing many women from receiving abortions.
Jeff Bezos and extortion allegations
This Thursday, Jeff Bezos was extorted by “the Enquirer” who has inappropriate photos of the Amazon CEO. Now, “the Enquirer” is holding these pictures of Bezos and is supposedly going to release them if Bezos doesn’t stop the investigation. Bezos declared that he would not give into “the Enquirer”, so the pictures could possibly be released this week.
The United States and Russia plan to leave the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
Donald Trump accused Russia of violating the treaty that has been in place since the Reagan-Gorbachev era. Vladimir Putin declared intent to leave soon after Trump’s announcement.
Local Bonus: Extreme flooding throughout Bloomington
On Thursday, heavy rains caused immense flooding and that along with tornado warnings caused schools to dismiss early. One story from that day involves a flooded field that caused a manhole to shoot 30 feet into the air. Also due to the flooding, many roads were closed including areas surrounding the Jordan River on campus since it filled up past the capacity it could hold. Students were even urged to move their cars parked along Kirkwood at meters.
