By: Molly Weisner
April showers bring May flowers. If by showers you mean torrents of news stories and by flowers you mean the aftermath of this month’s red-hot headlines, then the age-old saying stands true. This month has been filled to the brim with news stories you need to know about. In case you missed them the first time, here is your monthly news recap.
THE PATRIOT IS READ HIS RIGHTS: Probably the story with the most media coverage this month was the conviction and sentencing of New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez for first degree murder. Hernandez, at only 25 years old, will serve life in prison for murdering Odin Lloyd, a landscaper who has was also in a relationship with Hernandez’s fiancee’s sister. The jury labored over the case for 36 hours before delivering a verdict, but Hernandez ultimately got what he deserved.
“GRAY” SKIES OVER BALTIMORE: Freddie Gray, an African American man who was arrested April 12th for throwing “furtive” glances at police, was pronounced dead from serious spinal cord injuries. Upon being arrested, Gray asked for an inhaler as he was having trouble breathing, but instead of being taken care of calmly by police, he was handcuffed and thrown in the back of a police van, unbuckled. Gray was later rushed to the hospital after entering cardiac arrest, but he died shortly thereafter. Investigations have begun on the six police officers who were involved in the case, and the citizens of Baltimore have broken out in violent protests and riots in efforts to speak out on Gray’s behalf. Unrest has grown so exponentially in Baltimore that the National Guard was called into the city as of April 28th.
CLINTON 2.0: On April 12th, Democrat Hillary Clinton confirmed her candidacy for the 2016 presidential elections. Clinton’s announcement did not come as much of a surprise considering most of the American public had begun speculating her candidacy early on. Nonetheless, Clinton, if she wins, will set the record for the first woman president.
QUAKE HEARD ‘ROUND THE WORLD: Mother Nature wreaked havoc in Kathmandu, Nepal in the form of a 7.8 earthquake that also led to avalanches on Mount Everest and massive aftershocks. Ancient buildings and temples were destroyed, while the death toll continues to climb upwards from 4,000. Foreign aid and natural disaster relief programs are trying to enter the country, but unfortunately, the rugged terrain and sizable aftershocks are making efforts difficult.
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