The United States-China trade war has been a hot topic in the media for the past year or so. The trade war has been ongoing since early 2018, back and forth between China and America and it initiated when President Trump opened a government probe regarding China’s theft of U.S. intellectual property. Recently, there have been a great number of discussions among the U.S. and Chinese officials regarding the war, leading to hope for peace in the future.

On November 17, 2018, 300,000 French civilians all across France flooded to the streets - not to celebrate an important day or moment, but to protest the government. Protests were targeted specifically towards President Emmanuel Macron’s new taxation policy. November 17 was “Act I” of the “Yellow Vest” movement. According to CNBC, since then, nine “acts” have been demonstrated throughout the entirety of France. 

The government shutdown of 2019 has now become the longest in the United States, at 32 days at the time of this publication. President Trump called for a government shutdown after the Democrats refused to pay the over $5 billion needed to build a border wall. A government shutdown is not an actual shutdown, government workers, essential and non, still show up to work, but are not paid. Every non-essential government worker has been forced to work without pay including the TSA workers at airports, forest services, homeland security, and food stamp workers.

Northern New Jersey is under construction. Anyone who has driven through Rutherford in the last few years has seen the enormous construction project underway. The American Dream Mall has been on the books for over a decade now, and the light at the end of the tunnel can finally be seen. Triple Five is the notorious corporation behind the initiative and is also responsible for several other malls currently under construction around the country.

The minimum wage is the lowest possible rate that employers can pay employees.  It was first introduced in 1938 at a rate of $0.25 an hour. At the time, the purpose of setting a minimum wage was to stabilize a post-depression economy in the United States.  It was also used to protect the workers in a labor force.

American politics and media have been shaken by the progressive and socialist views of 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest female Congressperson in United States history. With strong viewpoints and a strong demeanor, she has garnered a lot of press - both good and bad - as she continuously captures the media’s attention with an uncanny ability to direct the public eye to issues she is talking about.

The Crisis Nobody is Talking About

With over 1,000 residents missing and nearly100 casualties and counting, the wildfires in California have been as devastating of a natural disaster as any in recent years. With billows of smoke traveling all the way across the country and reaching New York, the fire is breaking records of destruction in a place that is already in the midst of a drought and recently a mass shooting. With the fires beginning as early as September, the flames continue to grow with no end in sight.

Three-hundred seven. That’s the number of mass shootings that have occurred throughout 2018 in the United States. At press time, 1,579 people were directly affected  by these shootings and thousands indirectly; 328 people died. 

Country’s Diminishing Resources Leave People in Need

Yemen, a country which is located on the Arabian peninsula in Asia, is currently experiencing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The crisis primarily began with the 2011–2012 revolution against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had led Yemen for more than three decades. Issues intensified with the start of the Yemen War in 2015. The United States had 100 military advisors that were supporting the government’s fight against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  

On November 6, 2018, the Nutley residents came out to vote for or against the school district’s referendum. The referendum focused on additions to John H. Walker Middle School, Washington, Yantacaw, and NHS. If the referendum had passed, the trailers at Washington and Yantacaw would have been removed, with additional space added, the sixth graders would have moved into an expanded middle school and the high school would gain much needed space.  The proposals also added enhanced security to the district.

On November 1, 2018, CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos announced that Amazon would raise the minimum wage to $15, more than double the $7.25 federal minimum wage. This change was enacted after Amazon received backlash for having a low employee median income of $28,446 per year. “We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us,” said Bezos.

New Jersey is officially  one step closer to legalizing recreational marijuana. For many months, legislators have had false starts and delays to vote on a bill. However, on November 26, 2018, lawmakers finally advanced a bill that would legalize possession and recreational use of marijuana.

It’s that time of the year again, Thanksgiving. The one day families across the country gather around the table and give thanks. Through November and December, everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving and the holidays. Shopping and holiday preparation is underway during these two months.

On Tuesday, November 6, voters around the country hit the polls for the 2018 midterm elections. Up for consideration were 35 Senate seats, and all 435 spots in the House of Representatives.

Addressing Different Opinions on Brett Kavanaugh’s Nomination to the Supreme Court

Nutley High School received a security threat shortly after the Parkland shooting in Florida this past February. In addition to NHS, many schools throughout the state of New Jersey faced copycat threats during this time.  The threat prompted a quick response from the district and police, and Nutley Public Schools were closed for one day, following the threat. Since then, there have numerous evaluations and changes made to procedures and protocols to continue to protect the community, schools, students, and staff.   

Nutley High School is always looking to evaluate, change, and grow for the betterment of the student body, school and staff. The new 1:1 Chromebook Initiative is a perfect example of this. In an ever-changing technology-driven world, each student of Nutley High School received their own Google Chromebook at the start of the 2018-2019 school year. In previous years, students would access communal devices stored on carts, such as iPads or Chromebooks, in their classroom setting to aid learning.

NHS Students Take Online Financial Literacy Course During the Summer

Completion Expected in January 2019

Just as the 2018-2019 school year was about to begin this past September, the NHS auditorium experienced a partial collapse. Therefore, NHS began the year without use of the auditorium.

All Nutley teachers and staff reported to work on Tuesday, September 4 for an opening day meeting and to prepare for students’ arrival the following day.