Most Notable Newsworthy Events of April
Editor Zach Myers writes “Instead of talking about politics, let’s start April by talking about a Maine sports legend (still in the making). Duke’s freshman forward Cooper Flagg, a native of Newport, Maine, recently won the AP college basketball player of the year award…” (Jadyn Jacobs).
June 19, 2025
Zachary Myers, Editor
I usually never get interested in following up on the news. I never watch it on the news because nowadays it has become so untrustworthy and biased towards certain sides of the aisle (republican or democrat). What I usually do is read articles for anything interesting, and I thought of something. Why not break down the most important/notable news headline of each week of each month? I will break down the news of the week based on the facts and offer my insight into them.
Tuesday the 1st-Saturday the 5th:
Instead of talking about politics, let’s start April by talking about a Maine sports legend (still in the making). Duke’s freshman forward Cooper Flagg, a native of Newport, Maine, recently won the AP college basketball player of the year award, beating out Auburn star Johni Broome. He becomes the fourth freshman player to do so, joining Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, and Zion Williamson. This season, Flagg is averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game while leading the Blue Devils to their 18th Final Four appearance in their history. Many speak highly of Flagg’s all-around game, with his coach Jon Scheyer saying, “He plays so hard, he’s competitive, a great teammate.”
I have watched plenty of Duke games this year, and I can say with certainty that Cooper Flagg is an amazing player. His all-around skills are great, especially his physicality in the paint, both on offense and defense. He also doesn’t seem to succumb to the pressure of being the top college basketball prospect. Flagg displays a coolness both on and off the court that is remarkable to see in a young man with such a celebrity status behind him. It is also cool to see someone from Maine succeed so well in athletics, as Maine has never seen a notable athlete ever. Despite Duke losing to Houston in the final four, I think Flagg will go down as one of the best Duke college basketball players ever.
https://apnews.com/article/ap-player-of-year-cooper-flagg-60d4c6ebd4ec4fa4fc2b07d73bed73f0
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/cooper-flagg-1.html
Sunday the 6th-Saturday the 11th:
We’re back to politics, folks, and you should know who is involved in this one. Initially, Donald Trump levied tariffs against a host of countries across the world. Now, he has centered his tariffs squarely on China, raising tariffs on them to a drastic 125%, while suspending tariffs for every other country he raised them on. In the 90-day pause for the other countries, tariffs will be at a reciprocal rate of 10%. Trump said he didn’t pull the tariffs on China due to people’s concerns about the stock market. Not surprisingly, everyone surrounding Trump has praised his actions, with his Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying walking back tariffs is part of his strategy, and that the world is reaching out to America for stocks, not China. The sentiment of goodness is not shared with World Trade Organization head, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who says that the US-China trade war, “could severely damage the global economic outlook” and warned of “potential fragmentation of global trade along geopolitical lines.”
I am not going to pretend I know anything about the stock market, which it seems is Trump’s main target with his tariffs. However, I do think the instigation on both sides is bad for not just the US economy, but for the overall world economy. The US and China are two of the biggest economic suppliers in the world, China arguably being the biggest (look at the made in label under any product you have). If this war continues to escalate, as it seems it will, the US economy will continue to dive deeper than it already seems to be. Prices will increase, families will be unable to afford basic necessities, and Trump’s lack of ability to de-escalate a situation will not help anyone.
Sunday the 13th-Saturday the 19th:
Another mass shooting recently happened, which is not surprising to hear about. Recently, 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner killed two and injured six in a shooting at Florida State University, which caused the university to cancel any planned weekend sporting events. Ikner used a gun that belonged to his mother, who used to be a Florida sheriff’s deputy. There is no clear motive for Ikner’s actions, and despite being an FSU student, he had no discernible connection to any of the victims. Since then, students at Ikner’s former college Tallahassee State College shed light on his extreme political beliefs, including his Nazi support and claiming that Rosa Parks was “in the wrong.” His poor childhood included being taken out of the country by his biological mother (not Jessica) when he was 10 years old. Jessica has been serving as a sheriff for 18 years and has not responded to comments since the shooting. Police recovered an additional AR-15 at the scene of the crime, indicating the potential for more victims, had Ikner not been caught. He will face first-degree murder charges when he is released from the hospital, after being admitted there because he was shot by police.
It would be beating a dead horse to give my condolences to the victims of this terrible tragedy (which I still do). Mass shootings have been going on in this country for over 60 years and no politician on any side of the aisle has done a freaking thing about it. Liberals will say it is because of guns, and conservatives say it is because of mental health. What no politician will say is that shootings are caused by a combination of factors. We need better mental health support in this country without question, and we also need to prevent automatic-style weapons from getting in the hands of mentally ill people. If you need three references to get a 9-5 job in an office, you should need double that to own a gun. Even the most mentally functioning person in America does not need a high-action gun for any purpose. Even saying these things, I know most likely nothing will be done, considering how many mass shootings happen and will continue to happen.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/17/us/florida-state-university-shooting-phoenix-ikner-invs/index.html
Monday the 21st-Wednesday the 30th:
Oftentimes, celebrity deaths will be the most publicized headlines of the day, especially if the person reached worldwide notoriety. Pope Francis, the head of the Vatican and the Catholic Church, died at the age of 88 on April 21, 2025. He died of a stroke, causing him to fall into a coma and causing heart failure. The pope had been dealing with health issues for months before his death, including being hospitalized for over a month with double pneumonia. Pope Francis was introduced in 2013 as Pope, and since then has been one of the most popular religious figures, with some of his most notable moments including giving women bigger voting roles in the church and allowing the Vatican to be used as a place of refuge for those in need. He did have some controversies to his name, including his support of the LGBTQ community, which angered conservatives in the church, and his mishandling of a clergy sex abuse scandal in Chile. Catholic cardinals will elect a new pope on May 7 in a secret meeting called a conclave.
I can’t really give a great opinion on Pope Francis, as I am not a big religious follower, and am in some ways opposed to it. However, I do recognize the significance of the death of the Pope and the legacy he leaves behind. While he is at the forefront of many abuse allegations related to the Catholic church, he did a lot of good to help those in need. While at times he seemed flashy based on the rich places he traveled to, he did seem to care about his followers and was a very approachable man. May he rest in peace and find peace in a place he preached so often about.
