China and Japan have been arguing over the seas that border them, claiming certain seas as theirs. However China brought this to a new level with their most recent foreign policy. This new policy allows Chinese Coast Guard vessels to fire upon any foreign vessel in Chinese waters. This means Chinese Coast Guard vessels can destroy objects placed on reefs in their seas by a foreign power, board and search foreign vessels, and fire on foreign vessels.

Through the year 2020- 2021, the country has taken notice of a lot of things; one of them being racial injustice. Nutley Public Schools and the township have taken their own steps with this.  NHS now offers a new scholarship for African American students. This scholarship has many opportunities for these students available for them. 

On January 20, 2021, Joseph R. Biden Jr. was sworn in as the President of the United States of America. He had previously served as Vice President alongside former President Barack Obama for two terms (2008-2017). Former president, Donald Trump, has left the office after only serving for one term. As President Biden gets situated into office, he strives to change some of the executive orders that former President Donald Trump had released. 

Over this last month, the number of Americans in hospitals with Covid-19 fell below 100,000 for the first time since December 2020. Vaccine rollout continues nationwide as new variants of the virus, originating in the UK and South Africa, are appearing in the U.S. While vaccinations are assisting in the fight to lower the Covid outbreak, variants present new challenges.

On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden officially began planning America’s future. It came as a shock that many executive orders were being put in place by President Biden on his first night in office. One of the biggest actions the President is taking is in regard to climate change. 

President Joe Biden and Madam Vice President Kamala Harris took charge and immediate action during one of the most challenging times in history. They are coming into the White House very prepared with specific plans, timelines, and changes that are needed to get America back on track. President Joe Biden shocked America when he publicly signed 17 executive orders on his first night of being President. 

On January 20, 2021, Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Kamala Harris were sworn into office and officially became the 46th President and 49th Vice President of the United States. Throughout the Inauguration, millions of Americans watched as President Biden delivered his Inaugural Address, prominent musicians performed, and politicians congratulated the president.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit countries all around the world hard. Thousands of people every day get infected with the virus as doctors race to treat patients and countries race to vaccine residents.

COVID-19 has been a global pandemic since early in 2019. It is over a year old and has killed over 2 million people, worldwide. It is one of the most infectious diseases in history, requiring several lockdowns and quarantines worldwide. However, hope finally may be coming to the world. Vaccines, developed by the companies Pfizer and Moderna, have been released and are being implemented all around the world. Is the nightmare finally over? Or is it not as effective as it may seem?

On January 6, Congress was holding a meeting at the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. to officially certify Joseph R. Biden as the 46th President of the United States. Right outside the Capitol, was a group of people, supporters of President Trump. The group was coming back from a Trump rally and were protesting against the certification of Joe Biden as President. No one was prepared for what was about to happen next.

A Presidential Election occurs every four years. This year Election Day was on November 3, 2020. It was the deadline for mail-in ballots to be received by the election officials in each state. Most of the states got their results within hours. 

The earliest recording of execution in the United States of America was in 1608. Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia was a spy for Spain. To pay for his treason, Kendall was executed by a firing squad. He was the first person to be executed by capital punishment. Around Kendall’s death, the littlest things such as stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians could get you sentenced to death. Britain influenced the United States to use the death penalty.

Following a contested election full of false allegations of voter fraud, dangerous partisanism and continuous misinformation, tensions reached a boiling point on January 6 as the Senate met to confirm electoral votes certifying Joe Biden’s November win. 

Every year Nutley High School holds an Instant Decision Day for eligible seniors to receive admissions and scholarships on the spot that day.

Going back to school was very questionable this year as  COVID-19 cases rose across the local area, state and country this fall. After many Board of Education meetings, Nutley Public Schools opened to hybrid learning for elementary levels, beginning on October 19th with a phased-in approach. By November 9, the Board of Education voted to not bring back middle and high school students and to keep all students and teachers virtual after Thanksgiving, beginning Monday, November 30.  

The Medal of Honor is the highest military medal awarded by the United States and must be awarded by the President. The requirements for the medal are: “risk of their own life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy of the United States.” This makes it a very rare medal to see on a soldier not to mention on a living one. However on September 11, 2020, Army Ranger Sergeant Major Thomas “Patrick” Payne was awarded the Medal of Honor and still continues to serve to this day. 

November 7, 2020, Democratic nominee Joseph R. Biden was officially declared President-Elect. Following a stressful week for the nation and a much more stressful month of ballot counting for poll workers, the call was made by the Associated Press the first Saturday of the month, four days after Election Day. As of a December 9 update made by the Associated Press, Biden received 306 electoral votes, winning over 51.4% of the U.S. population, thus making him the first President-Elect to receive over 80 million votes in a single election.

Tragically, on October 10, 2020 a massive house fire broke out in Nutley causing a death of a 74-year-old man, Joseph Collar. The fire, on Myrtle Ave., killed one while two members of the household were sent to the hospital and taken into immediate care. A bystander, who watched the fire go down, says he “heard a male voice calling help me.” Montclair, Bloomfield and Lyndhurst fire fighters were also on the scene due to the severity of the fire although Nutley was the first to respond.

Since the Coronavirus pandemic started, there has been a total of more than 15 million cases in the United States. The United States has surpassed China, which once had the world’s record breaking amount of Covid-19 cases. Over the past months, there has been a new surge in Covid19 cases. This has led to ICU beds being limited as well as the space in hospitals. All around the world, people have been quarantining and taking precautions.

Since the coronavirus first invaded the country, there have been 303,963 deaths (and counting) and there are 16,771,562 cases currently. As the year has progressed, Americans have seen how the coronavirus has taken over the country and continues to burden daily lives.