News recap for the 2018 holiday season
Bryce Faulkenberry, Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com
Texas bus driver gives gifts to kids
Curtis Jenkins, a Texas school bus driver, decided to go above and beyond for his group of students. To do this he asked every student what they wanted for Christmas. On Dec. 21, 2018, Jenkins went out and purchased those gifts with his own money. This kind act did not go unrecognized either, because the parents of the students hit social media and praised Jenkins for this act. Jenkins simply replied with, “If you show a lot of kids a lot of love they will do the same.”
Fire dept. helps a 104 year-old-lady
Katherine Birkle, 104, lives in Queens, N.Y. and wanted to go out and celebrate the Christmas holidays. Noticing that this would be a struggle for Birkle, her niece, Kathleen Caraccia, went to the local fire department and asked a favor. Delighted to help, 4 firefighters helped transport Birkle to her Christmas party. They also helped make sure she made it home safe. Birkle said that she expected one, but not four firefighters, and was in tears because of this event.
The Huddle Telescope captures cosmic images
Over Christmas break, the well known Huddle Telescope was busy at work. Some of the pictures that were captured by the telescope were breathtaking. These pictures also fit with the Christmas season, because the solar system arranged to look like a Christmas wreath. The main attraction of the photo is the star that goes by RS Puppis. This star is 200 times the size of Earth’s sun.
Dwayne Johnson’s mom gets a house for Christmas
Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson took to Instagram on Dec. 29, 2018, to present the new nickname of Dw-anta. The reason for this new nickname is because he surprised his mom with a new house for Christmas. His caption on Instagram explained, “This one felt good”, and also that Johnson will make sure that his mother and father will always have everything they’ll every need – houses, cars, etc.
Veteran’s ashes returned for a Christmas miracle
Shane Hanna, construction worker, noticed an urn in a dumpster at her work one day. This urn portrayed a Navy Seal on it. After picking up the urn, Hannah discovered it belonged to Ronald Lee Pruitt. After extensive research, Hanna located the family whom the urn belonged to. Hanna drove 3 hours to deliver the urn to the sister of the Navy Seal. The sister of the Navy Seal, Barbra Dixon, stated, “It is a Christmas miracle. It’s a miracle that all these people went above and beyond to find me.”
Queen Elizabeth II annual Christmas speech
Queen Elizabeth II always takes time during the Christmas season to reflect on the past year with an annual speech. In Dec. 2018, the event took place in St. Mary Magdalene Church, but the younger audience was taken to the Sandringham House. The Queen touched on the fact that 2018 was a very busy year due to 2 babies and 2 weddings. The service lasted for a total of 45 minutes, and during the service, they played traditional carols. The service was followed by Christmas lunch.
Police give gifts to family that had gifts stolen
Over Christmas break, a N.J. family had their car stolen by a person nicknamed “the Grinch.” Their car contained many Christmas gifts. Hearing of this crime, the local Florence Police Dept. came together with help from the community to give the family an unforgivable Christmas.
