Man in Kansas City accused of shooting a 16 year old: A white man in his 80s shot and seriously wounded Ralph Yarl, a black teen, on April 13th in Kansas City, Missouri. Yarl, described as a “loving teen” who is in orchestra, was sent by his parents to pick up his sibling at an address on 115th Terrace. Ralph accidentally went to a house on 115th Street, where he was shot by the homeowner. The man who shot Yarl is not being charged at this time and was released from custody after two hours. The family spoke about the incident and reported that Yarl is in critical condition but alive. The family believes this was based on racial profiling. Many online also believe it is unfair that the shooter did not receive any charges. Many also agree that this was based on race. After the incident went viral on social media, many organized a protest to put the man who shot Ralph in jail. Protestors held signs that read, “Justice for Ralph”, “Black Lives Matter”, “The Shooter Deserves to Spend Time!”, and “Disarm Hate”. When asked whether or not the incident was racially motivated, the Police Chief responded by saying, “the information that we have right now, it does not say it was racially motivated”. This is still an active investigation taking place.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/17/us/kansas-city-teen-shot-wrong-house/index.html

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch- an ecosystem lives off it now: Scientists have found thriving communities of coastal creatures living miles away from their actual habitat, instead living on the plastic and trash of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a 620,000 square mile swirl of trash in the ocean between California and Hawaii. New research has revealed that many animal species have been thriving and living off of this trash that has been floating around for years. “It was surprising to see how frequent the coastal species were. They were on 70% of the debris that we found,” said Linsey Haram, the study’s lead author. Haram and her colleagues have found a surprising number of organisms that would usually be living in natural homes, on plastic. Haram said that the consequences of this new discovery are still unknown.

Sources: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/17/world/plastic-pollution-ocean-ecosystems-intl-climate/index.html

Germany Quits Nuclear Plants after closing three power plants: On Saturday, Germany finally said goodbye to their final three nuclear power plants in operation. This marks the end of an era after the country’s six decade nuclear power era. For some, this means the end of nonrenewable energy and the expansion of renewable energy, but others see this as a cut from fast and reliable powered carbon energy. “The position of the German government is clear: nuclear power is not green. Nor is it sustainable,” said Steffi Lemke, Germany’s Federal Minister for the Environment and Consumer Protection and a Green Party member. In 2000, the German government pledged to phase out nuclear power and start shutting down plants little by little. For those who support the shift away from nonrenewable energy and towards renewable energy sources, then this is a victory. Despite having made what seems a small contribution to the protection of the environment, this has made a big change.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/europe/germany-nuclear-phase-out-climate-intl/index.html