Most Notable Newsworthy Events of August
Editor Zach Myers writes “This year has not had that many mass shootings compared to previous years, but that has not been the case lately. This one occurred when an unnamed shooter fired upon Centers for Disease Control facilities near Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia” (Jadyn Jacobs).
September 4, 2025
Zachary Myers, Editor
I usually never get interested in following up on the news. I never watch 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.
Sunday the 3rd-Saturday the 9th:
This year has not had that many mass shootings compared to previous years, but that has not been the case lately. This one occurred when an unnamed shooter fired upon Centers for Disease Control facilities near Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The shooter was found dead at a building across from the CDC facilities, where the police recovered the long gun he used, along with three other guns. The only other death in this shooting was Officer David Rose of the DeKalb County Police Department. No CDC personnel were harmed in the shooting, and Director Susan Monarez said that Monday would be a remote workday, so they could conduct security checks.
While we can’t speculate on the motive of this unnamed individual, mass shootings that target federal buildings indicate that the person was upset with the government, in particular, the CDC. The CDC has come under controversy during the leadership of current DHHS leader Robert Kennedy Jr due to his controversial practices related to vaccines. The shooter likely was upset with the CDC’s direction and decided to target this particular facility. It can also be assumed that the person has severe mental issues since they decided to commit a shooting in the first place. Hopefully, we learn more about this shooter and their motives.
Suspected gunman and police officer dead in shooting near the CDC and Emory University, police say
Sunday the 10th-Saturday the 16th:
Recently, two world leaders held a meeting that could hold massive stakes for world peace. US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska to discuss the war with Ukraine that Russia has been fighting for over two years. The two leaders talked for 2.5 hours, and while they failed to reach an agreement on how to end the war, Trump said the talks went well and that they agreed on many points. Putin spoke first, noting the historical relationship between the US and Russia/The Soviet Union, while saying that both countries share values and that if Trump had won the election in 2020, the war in Ukraine would not have happened. Despite their long talk, Trump and Putin did not come to any direct end to the Ukraine war and the post meeting press conference lasted just 15 minutes, although Putin did invite Trump to Moscow.
It may seem comforting to see these two meet to discuss peace, but it feels like the opposite. Trump has been a known supporter of Putin ever since his first term in 2016 and considering how combative the two are to their own countries, them agreeing on certain issues may not be great for everyone. Trump, as a direct result of the talk, has also said he wants to end mail-in ballots for elections due to security concerns and fraud risks. This is the same man whose first term was allegedly rigged by Russia and really only complains about fraudulent results when he loses. I am humble enough to trust until I no longer can so hopefully these two can come to a peaceful conclusion to this war, but it will be hard to take the two leaders seriously.
Takeaways from the Trump-Putin meeting | AP News
Note: For the last two stories, both are from the last week of August because they are both major news stories and while the story I was going to include for the week of the 17th was a big deal, it paled in comparison to the two breaking news stories of the last week of August.
August the 24th-August the 31st (Part 1):
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, arguably the most popular celebrity couple, announced their engagement recently. The Chiefs tight end was the first to announce the news on his Instagram, with Taylor later tagging Kelce in a post she jokingly captioned “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married." The relationship between the two sparked after Kelce attended one of Taylor Swift’s shows during her Eras tour, with the official confirmation coming after Swift attended a Chiefs game. Since then, Swift has been a media field storm for the NFL, with seemingly every publicized Chiefs game featuring a few cuts to her during the game. Due to this romance, there are unconfirmed rumors that Swift will perform the Super Bowl halftime show.
I will keep my recap of this pretty succinct: I could not care less about this news, and I am only discussing it because it is probably the most notable news story of the month. It’s cool that they’re getting engaged and that they genuinely care about and love each other, but I can live my life not caring about their relationship, especially when I have to hear about it every single time I watch the Chiefs.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce get engaged: Famous singer, Chiefs tight end announce they are 'getting married' - CBSSports.com
August the 24th-August the 31st (Part 2):
This news story is not as fun and will be easier to share my opinion about. At a Minneapolis Catholic school, two children and 17 others were killed in a mass shooting during a prayer. The deceased shooter has been identified as 23 year old Robin Westman, who was known as Robert before transitioning to female. Westman uploaded a manifesto to YouTube before the massacre, detailing his admiration of the Sandy Hook shooting while also referencing his confliction with his gender identity. His mother used to work as a secretary at the school, which Westman also referenced as a motive for the massacre, noting he wanted to avoid parent drop off and pick up. Ever since the shooting, conservative politicians and content creators have drawn ire over the fact that a transgender person attacked a Christian school as well as the fact Democratic politicians have denounced thoughts and prayers in wake of the massacre.
Mass shootings are horrible to hear about, but it is ten times worse when the targets are young kids. It should be a general rule that kids are innocent and don’t deserve to be the target of violence. I’m not going to go into the gun control issue on this one since I’ve sort of accepted that nothing will be done on this front. I do believe that there is too much of an issue being made of the fact that the shooter is trans. While some notable mass shootings have been committed by trans people, that is an extreme minority of mass shooters. It is also a way for bigots to vilify trans people when the average one is just a normal person. As someone who goes to a college with a large LGBTQ population, I can say that most trans people are nice and that the ones committing crimes are one in a million. Hopefully people can focus on the main issue, which is the dead children in a place of supposed safety.
Minneapolis shooting live updates: Latest on Catholic school active scene
