By: EMMA CHEATHAM / PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Music's Biggest Stars Took on the iHeartRadio Music Awards
The iHeartRadio Music Awards were held this past Tuesday, March 22. Fan voting determined this year’s Best Fan Army, Best Lyrics, Best Cover Song, Best Music Video, the Social Star Award, Favorite Tour Photographer, TikTok Bop of the Year and the first-ever TikTok Songwriter of the Year and Best Comeback Album. “Levitating” by Dua Lipa won Song of the Year, Olivia Rodrigo won Female Artist of the Year, Lil Nas X won Male Artist of the Year, and Best Duo/Group of the Year was won by Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic. You can view the full list of winners and categories at www.etonline.com.
Mayor Eric Adams Tosses Vaccine Mandate for Pro-Athletes
Mayor Eric Adams exempts COVID-19 vaccine mandate for professional athletes and performers. Many people are angry at this decision, especially with new COVID variants spreading. Adams said he's allowing the specific group to go unvaccinated to help the city function and bring in money. "Tough choice. Difficult choice, but that's what I was elected to do," Adams said.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Begins Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for days of grueling testimony this past week. Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey and the only Black member of the committee, reflected on the historic nature of her testimony and reminded Judge Jackson and the country, of the significance of her quest when he brought up Harriet Tubman’s struggles from slavery to freedom. “You are my star. You are my harbinger of hope,” he told her. “This country is getting better and better,” he continued, thus eliciting tears from the nominee. Republicans in the Committee pressed Judge Jackson on her sentencing history, specifically against child sex crimes. Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri asked the nominee about a specific child pornography sentence to which she responded, “What I regret is that in a hearing about my qualifications to be a justice on the Supreme Court, we have spent a lot of time focusing on this small subset of my sentences..."
Omicron Variant BA. 2 Becomes the Most Dominant of All COVID Variants
The more transmissible BA.2 omicron variant of COVID-19 has now achieved global domination, accounting for about 85% of all COVID-19 cases. BA.2 is thought to be at least 30% more transmissible than BA.1, the original omicron strain. According to the World Health Organization, there were increases in new cases of 20% or greater this week in 10 countries in Europe. Per Johns Hopkins University, the appearance of BA.2 in U.K. cases rose from 33 percent to 85 percent. “We are seeing an increase in the proportion of BA.2 that is detected,” warned the World Health Organization’s technical lead on COVID-19, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove. “Of the sequences that are available, about 75 percent are BA.2 and 25 percent of those are BA.1," said Van Kerkhove.
St. Peter's Take on March Madness Sweet 16
The St. Peter’s Peacocks of Jersey City, NJ have quickly become the biggest upset of the Sweet 16 in March Madness. The small, Jesuit, commuter school quickly rose to the top after beating Purdue 67-64. St. Peter’s became the first number 15 seed to reach the Elite 8 of the college basketball tournament. The Peacocks have never won a national championship and have had zero players in the NBA, so after beating number 2 seeded Kentucky, number 7 Murray State and now number 3 Purdue, everyone following the tournament are excited for what comes next.