News Roundup 03/25/19
1. Two Survivors of the Parkland Shooting Committed Suicide Last Week
Last week, two survivors of last year’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting committed suicide. On Mar. 17, Sydney Aiello took her own life at the age of 19. At the time of the massacre she was a senior and one of her friends, Meadow Pollack, was killed. Her mother told CBS Miami that Aiello “struggled with survivor’s guilt and had recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.” Some days later, another survivor committed suicide. The name and age of the student have not been released to the media due to it being an ongoing investigation. If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
Source: The Washington Post, CBS News
2. Apple Reveals New Streaming Service
In Cupertino, Calif., CEO Tim Cook revealed Apple’s latest project, Apple TV Plus, on Mar. 25. The latest project is a new streaming TV service that will contain a news app, a video game service and a credit card. Apple is entering the competitive streaming market to compete with Netflix and Hulu by featuring original series and not feature ads. Cook was joined by Oprah Winfrey, Steve Carell, Jennifer Aniston, and Steven Spielberg, all whom have partnered with Apple to create content for the new streaming service. Apple TV Plus will be a paid subscription service and is set to release in the fall.
Source: The Los Angeles Times
3. Gronkowski Announces Retirement
New England Patriots’ tight end, Rob Gronkowski, announced his retirement from the NFL on Monday Mar. 25. He was drafted by the Pats back in 2010 and has played 9 NFL seasons with them. The three-time Super Bowl champion took to his Instagram to announce his retirement and express his gratitude towards the NFL, the New England Patriots and his fans: “Thank you for everyone accepting who I am and the dedication I have put into my work to be the best player I could be.” Gronkowski has established himself as one of the most dominant players at his position.
Source: Associated Press
4. Super Bloom in Lake Elsinore, Calif. has Become a Problem
For the last couple of weeks, huge crowds of people have visited Lake Elsinore’s Walker Canyon to view the abundant fields of California poppies. Heavy rain throughout this winter has fueled the huge bloom of flowers across Calif., including Lake Elsinore making it a popular destination for thousands of people on weekends. Big crowds have caused the park to close and created city roads into parking lots, prompted people to illegally park on the side of the 15 Freeway and led to several poppy flowers to be trampled on. City officials announced some strategies to relieve the congestion by enforcing visitors to pay for a $10 shuttle service to the fields, closing nearby roads and asking residents to stay home or take alternative routes.
Source: The Press-Enterprise
5. Pope Francis Accepts Chile’s Top Cardinal’s Resignation
After two years, one of Chile's Cardinals Ricardo Ezzati, resignation was finally accepted by Pope Francis for “covering up the sexual abuse of Catholic church members and discrediting victims”. Ezzati was in charge of Chile’s most important archdiocese in the country’s capital of Santiago. During his 2018 visit to the country, Francis was made aware of the Ezzati’s cover ups and scandals and had Vatican investigators look further into the claims. The investigators produced a 2,300-page report alleging the cover-up of abuse claims. This resignation comes at a time of growing criticism over the Church's response to a decades-long sexual abuse crisis.
Source: NPR