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TCU 360

TCU 360

All TCU. All the time.

TCU 360

Professor Todd Kerstetter leads the panel discussion with the Race and Reconciliation research team Lucius Seger, Marcela Molina, Kelly Phommachanh and Jenay Willis (left to right).
The fourth annual Reconciliation Day recognized students' advocacy and change
By Miroslava Lem Quinonez, Staff Writer
Published Apr 25, 2024
Reconciliation Day highlighted students’ concerns and advocacy in the TCU community from 1998 to 2020.

What we’re reading: O’Rourke gets musical

Willie+Nelson+and+Beto+ORourke+on+September+29th%2C+2018+in+Austin%2C+Texas.+Photo+by+Rick+Kern%2FWireImage
Willie Nelson and Beto O’Rourke on September 29th, 2018 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Rick Kern/WireImage

We’re back and we’re reading – everything from the the “Washington Post” to the “CBS News.” We’re trying to help you keep up to speed with the elections. Today we’ve got some hidden talents from BEto O’Rourke and Joe Biden confesses to why he’s been sick and tired as of lately. Could Trump be the cause of his illness?

O’Rourke brings out his musical talent in final attempt to win Texas votes

Whether you like him or not everyone knows Beto O’Rourke has public speaking abilities, but many were shocked to hear him debut a new ad with country legend, Willie Nelson.

The Rolling Stone reported the ad incorporates footage from Nelson’s earlier concert in September at Austin’s Auditorium Shores. The footage shows Nelson inviting O’Rourke on stage to sing a duet to Nelson’s hit “On the Road Again.”

The song is in reference to O’Rourke’s 20-month travel to Texas’ 254 counties.

“There is something special happening in Texas right now,” said O’Rourke in the ad. “In really small towns, in really, big cities, people are getting off the sidelines and into the game. We are meeting the divisiveness that dominates our politics today with a courage, a strength, a big heart that could only come from Texas.”

Incumbent Ted Cruz and O’Rourke are neck and neck in the final days of the race tied with 49 percent of the vote.

About 4.9 million Texans rolled in to the voting booths to early vote. This midterm election showed more early voting participation than in the entire 2014 midterm election.

Although Nelson received some backfire for supporting O’Rourke, he stood by his choice.

“People will sometimes get upset because I’ve got a vote, too,” said Nelson.

Amber Alert issued after kidnapping of girl, 13, in North Carolina

The Lumberton Police Department responded to the kidnapping a 13-year-old girl from a mobile park in North Carolina yesterday morning.

WFSB Channel 3 reported an Amber Alert was sent out in attempt to get information on Hania Noelia Aguilar, who is approximately 5 feet tall weighing 126 pounds.

Capt. Terry Parker told news outlets that witnesses described the male suspect wearing a yellow bandana over his face, grabbing Aguilar from a yard in the Rosewood Mobile Home Park before 7 a.m. Monday.

According to the report she has long black hair, brown eyes and braces. Aguilar was last seen wearing a blue shirt with a flower pattern and blue jeans.

Parker said Aguilar was seen forced into a stolen green 2002 SUV with South Carolina license plates.

To report any information regarding this incident call the Lumberton Police Department at 910-671-3845 or call 911.

Joe Biden blames the Republicans for his sickness

The Washington Post reported former Vice President Joe Biden has become extremely sick.

“I am sick and tired of this administration. I’m sick and tired of what’s going on. I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired, and I hope you are, too.”

Biden no longer wants to see votes in favor of Republicans because he disagrees with the president’s efforts on immigration, specifically sending 5,200 troops to the border to threaten and forbid others of U.S. citizenship.

He’s also sick and tired of President Trump playing the victim of mail-bomb attacks on his political opponents instead of addressing the real victims– victims of the synagogue massacre.

To add fire to the fuel, Biden has had enough of Trump’s support of a representatives physical assault of a reporter.

A meme of Joe Biden showing his dislike towards the president. (Pete Souza/AFP/Getty Images\Owned Television Stations

What has really gotten Biden’s blood boiling is Trump’s engagement in partisanship and referring to Democrats as “evil,” “un-American,” and “treasonous” individuals who are in alliance with criminals.

Amongst other things, Biden has an issue with Trump’s little to no care about right-wing terrorism, refusal to release his tax returns, constant lies about alleged riots in California and Twitter trolling.

Biden is so over the Republicans who have failed to investigate Trump’s ethical violations and those Republicans who feel entitled to the same bigotry Trump possesses.

“If you’re sick and tired, too, here is what you can do,” said Biden, a former Republican. “Vote for Democrats on Tuesday.”

Trump is building his wall

So all of that talk President Trump has been making about building a wall to keep immigrants outside of the U.S. is becoming a reality thanks to federal authorities who have given a $145 million contract to a Texas company.

CBS News reported SLSCO will begin building the six mile long, 18-foot wall along the U.S.- Mexico border in the Rio Grande Valley in February in McAllen Station.

Rio Grande, the busiest corridor for Mexican citizens to cross illegally, will be Trump’s first barrier.

The government has already taken action in California, building a 2-mile, 30-foot fence along that border.

Trump has people on his side, however.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has supported Trump’s order of 5,200 troops to the border.

“We’ve made clear to them they need to undertake every effort they can to stop this illegal migration from entering the United States, and the president’s made very clear they will not be permitted to enter our country unlawfully,” said Pompeo on “Face the Nation” Sunday.

Ecosystem may be changing after discovery of sperm whales in Arctic

Spotted in the Canadian Arctic: Sperm whales.

The Guardian reported scientists said this rare sighting of sperm whales in the region may point towards a changing ecosystem.

Marine Biologist Brandon Laforest, with the World Wildlife Fund, and guide Titus Allooloo spotted a pair of large whales outside of Pond Inlet.

Their project monitoring the effect of marine traffic on the Arctic region narwhal population led them to such discovery.

This wasn’t their fight sighting. In 2014 hunters from Pond Inlet also spotted them in the area.

Allooloo and Laforest has initially mistaken them for killer whales; however, the distinct shape of the dorsal fin caught Allooloo’s attention and made him take a closer look.

“They’re not known by us, we don’t know too much about them,” said Allooloo.

While many other whales have been known to survive in the Arctic, the possibility of sperm whales surviving in those colder conditions is slim.

“Inexperienced whales exploiting a northern habitat may not know to leave early enough before the sea ice forms,” said Laforest.

Scientists have had trouble tracking the changes in the ecosystem because of how large waters expand; however, they’ve been working with Inuit communities to gather further information.

According to a 2017 report by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the resident narwhal whales feed off of have changed behaviour.

“I think the narwhal are scared to death,” said Steve Ferguson, a co-author.

The department has also found a spike in chum salmon populations in the western Arctic.

Because temperatures in the Arctic have begun to warm up there’s been a big interest in expanding commercial fishing, but nine countries have banned fishing in the area until more information on the ecosystem is found.

British man guilty of killing wife

BBC News reported a British man admitted to killing his American wife after lying she went missing while on a boat ride.

Isabella Hellmann and her husband, Lewis Bennett were cruising on their catamaran boat off the coast of Cuba when Bennett claimed his wife went missing.

The couple had been married for three months and were traveling from Cuba back to their home in Delray Beach, Florida May 15, 2017 when Bennett made the emergency call.

After the investigation, detectives found the boat had been sunk on purpose.

Detectives are still looking for Bennett’s body.

Months after her disappearance, Bennett wanted her declared dead.

Bennett, 41, admitted to involuntary manslaughter at a hearing in Miami yesterday.

He was going to rough it out and stand trial in December, but he saw a deal and he took it.

The British-Australian dual citizen pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of unlawful killing without malice.

Prosecutors believe Bennett had monetary motives, for he not only would’ve inherited Hellmann’s apartment in Florida but also whatever she had in her bank account.

Bennett is guilty of more than just killing his wife. He is found guilty of smuggling stolen antique coins worth nearly £30,000, equivalent to almost $40,000.

He is currently serving a seven-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to transporting the coins and will serve an eight-year maximum prison term for his wife’s death.

That’s all we have for today. Check back tomorrow for more.

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