Robertson’s Reportings: Catching Up From Winter Break

After an end to 2018 and the start of a new year, welcome back to Robertson’s Reportings! There were multiple reports of an unidentified, red sphere off of South Carolina’s coast on Christmas Eve. Many South Carolinians posted pictures and videos of the red object which has been reported before in the same area in previous including 2012. The object was described as a “phenomenon” and “fire in the sky.” Various reporters came up with the possibilities of the object being a drone or a Chinese lantern, but nobody knows for sure what was flying around in the sky on December 24. Another sky phenomenon similar to this “UFO” is coming in late January when super blood wolf moon eclipse is supposed to occur. This eclipse occurs when the moon passes fully into Earth’s shadow, and the moon has a hint of red.

The partial government shutdown has yet to end, as it enters its fourteenth day on January 4. Democratic Congress members have not budged in giving President Trump more funding to build the wall bordering America and Mexico. Due to this government shutdown, many people, such as workers of the National parks, are not coming to work since they are not getting payed. A man, Josh Snider, was found with a broken leg at one of the National Parks, and, since there were no workers, strangers helped carry him to safety. Luckily, the man is safe with no major injuries. Snider said, “I can only imagine what someone else might be going through right now who needs a service that they can’t get.”

On January 3, the 116th Congress took office. After the elections in November, Senators and Representatives prepared to take office. With these new Congressmen, the Senate is made up of mostly Republicans, and the majority of the House of Representatives is Democrats. This is the opposite of last year’s Congress. Also on January 3, a Speaker of the House was elected. Previously, Paul Ryan, a Republican, was the Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi, Democrat, was elected this session. Pelosi opposes President Trump’s building of a bigger and stronger wall, so her election will not help with the government shutdown standstill.

On January 3, a Chinese rover landed on the far, unexplored side of the moon that does not face the Earth. Some call this part the “dark side of the moon”, but it actually receives the same amount of sunlight as the Earth-facing side. The spacecraft lifted off of Earth on December 8 and entered the Moon’s orbit about four days later. In 2020, Beijing, the capital of China, plans to send out a spacecraft to Mars. In that same year, President Trump plans to establish a United States Space Force.

During the 2018-2019 academic year, all Guilford County schools are expected to get ID codes with a name and barcode that students swipe as they enter the school campus. Seven middle and high schools already have these cards. The ID cards that are required to be worn all day can be used for the lunch line and the library, but are mainly used to promote the safety of students and administrators. Each student has a certain number of backup cards that can be given to them if something happens to their first card, but students must pay for a new card after losing their set amount. See you next time on Robertson’s Reportings, coverage you can count on!