![]() McKenzie Feldman Staff Writer All cameras were on the sky during Sunday night’s light show as the sun, the Earth, and the moon lined up in a row to form a dazzling eclipse. The rare celestial event not only captured a total lunar eclipse, but it combined with the so-called ‘supermoon’. It was the first time the two events made a twin appearance since 1982. Astronomers say that it will not make another twin appearance again until 2033. The event occurred at 10:11 p.m. ET and lasted about an hour on the U.S. East Coast. In Europe the occurrence unfolded before dawn Monday. Overcast skies canceled the show for most of the United States, but NASA streamed it live for those who missed it. A supermoon is said to occur when the moon is in its closest part of orbit to Earth. This makes the moon appear larger to viewers. The supermoon is said to be seen four to six times on average a year. The supermoon on September 28, 2015 presented the closest supermoon of the year. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth’s shadow blocks the sun’s light, which is reflected of the moon. This can only occur when there is a full moon. The total lunar eclipse that was witnessed on Sunday night was able to occur because the sun, the moon, and the Earth were perfectly lined up. This lunar eclipse was deemed special because it was last in the series of four lunar eclipses, spanning two years. Some people refer to the totally eclipsed moon as a “blood moon” due to the red-orange color change once the moon is completely in the Earth’s shadow. With over 1.7 million tweets, the rare appearance was trending worldwide. The beautiful occurrence brought a very nice treat to the world, and here’s to the next one in 2033!
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![]() Montserrat Rivera Staff Writer The life of a child is a precious one; this is why whenever their safety has been compromised, it is seen as a huge tragedy. On June 26, a woman was out walking her dog when she came across a plastic bag along the Deer Island shore. After the woman looked into the bag, she called the police. They investigated and found the body of a toddler (thought to be around four years old with brown eyes and brown shoulder-length hair, weighing about thirty pounds and was three and a half feet tall). The little girl had no shirt but was wearing polka-dot leggings and was beside a zebra print blanket. Unaware of her identity, the police referred to her as ‘Baby Doe’. Police said she was in the early stage of decomposition when Baby Doe was found, and a computer-generated image of her shown what she might’ve looked like. The photo was shared or been seen by more than 53 million people, but this did not lead the authorities any closer to understanding what happened to Baby Doe or who she was. Although many tips suggested that Baby Doe was a 3-year-old girl named Aliayah Lunsford, who went missing in West Virginia in 2011, this was later ruled out. Baby Doe’s body had shown no signs of violence. Investigators began looking into the possibility have her being poisoned. Despite being found by the shore, police did not believe she had been in the water and was most likely a local who had been dropped off by the shore. The police could not identify the exact cause of her death and encouraged the caregivers to come forward. Hailey Loftin
Staff Writer The Apex varsity soccer team traveled to Cardinal Gibbons High School on Saturday, Sept. 19 to play in the finals of the Wake County Cup. Both teams were undefeated going into the game, but the Cougars played well and prevented Cardinal Gibbons from scoring. Seniors Patrick Bailey, Will Tomlinson, and Kian Charkhesht each scored one of the Cougars’ goals, and senior goalkeeper Corey Vodicka had nine saves throughout the game. Vodicka was a key factor in Apex’s victory over the Crusaders. In the first ten minutes of the game, he had four saves. He made two saves in three seconds when Cardinal Gibbons shot the ball, rebounded, and shot again. Goalkeeping against an undefeated team that is trying to win back-to-back Wake County Cups was not an easy task. It was a challenge, however, that Vodicka was ready to meet. The Cougars scored all three of their points in the first half. Neither team scored at all in the second half, but that was just fine for Apex. This was the third year of the Wake County Cup. Apex won against Sanderson High School the inaugural year, but last year Cardinal Gibbons defeated Sanderson to win. In the week and a half since winning the Wake County Cup, the Cougars have moved up in the rankings and are now ranked number one in the country. Apex hopes to continue their undefeated season and win the state championship in November. ![]() Nick Stines Staff Writer On the weekend of Sept. 19, Apex Ultimate Frisbee won the first tournament of the season, Fall Brawl, at Holly Springs High School. They won all six games in back to back years. It’s another vital win for the program as they push to set up a fresh line of freshmen and sophomores for next year. Currently there are only two juniors playing, with no new underclassmen on the roster. Players Nathan Williams and Logan Fox, both seniors, showed up to play in hopes of learning more about the game before joining the roster. Joe Lawrence, a junior transfer from Cary High School to Apex High School this year, came to play this weekend. Apex Ultimate was third in North Carolina last year, with an overall record of 40-10. While the team’s high average age is an advantage now, their lack of replacements could pose an issue for the future. Due to this, Captain Rhys Gretsch hopes that the team will recruit underclassmen to live up to the accomplishments of last year’s team. In all, Apex was very satisfied to win the tournament for the second time in a row against Pine-Richland Ultimate who were sent packing back to Pennsylvania. Apex practices at Davis Drive every Monday and Wednesday from 3:00 to approximately 4:45. Whether one knows how to throw a disc regardless of skill, the team is looking to train underclassmen to carry on the tradition. Ultimate was established at Apex High School in 2010, and each year has left an inspiring mark and a high expectation for each proceeding line of players. ![]() Andrew Bulieris Staff Writer The start of the NFL opened with a bang including many crazy catches, controversial play calls, and some great games played. Millions of people around the country were more than excited this weekend as every team in the NFL opened their season this past week. Overall the opening weekend for the NFL was an exciting one worth talking about. Tom Brady made his not so long return to the NFL with a bang throwing for four touchdowns in his season debut, three of them to Rob Gronkowski. The Steelers battled back late, but Tom Brady and company were too much to handle with a final score of 28-21. In the first Sunday game, the Indianapolis Colts traveled to Buffalo to face the Bills who took a strong lead early and never looked back as they skyrocketed over the Colts 27-14. New quarterback Tyrod Taylor made it look easy against the Colts’ defense with a fifty-one yard touchdown pass to Percy Harvin that set the tone of the game. The Jets looked improved from last season as they crushed the Browns 31-10. New York ran all over the Browns on Sunday with 154 rushing yards in total and two rushing touchdowns. Receiver Brandon Marshall also chipped in touchdown reception of his own with 62 yards receiving to finish the day. The Packers opened their season against a damaged Bears winning 31-23. As usual Aaron Rodgers stole the show throwing for three touchdown passes two of those going to not-so-new newcomer James Jones. On the other end running, back Matt Forte had a monumental game, rushing for 141 yards and one score on the day. The Chiefs beat the Texans 27-20. Alex Smith started his season throwing for three touchdowns, two of them to rising star Travis Kelce. The Texans defense held things together while the offense was a mess. The next game was a big one; the Rams shocked the Seahawks 34-31 after a controversial onside kick in overtime led to a St. Louis field goal. ![]() Kenison Garratt Editor-in-Chief and A & E Editor Wake County’s removal of seventy school buses from service and their alteration of the transportation strategy for this school year has caused a bit of unrest. While in the 2013-2014 school year, the county relied on 925 buses; Wake now uses 835 buses to transport eighty thousand students every day to school. Over the last two years, Wake has taken ten percent of buses off the road. While fewer buses has stopped the severe shortage of bus drivers, and the money saved on transportation may go towards the classroom, there are a few inconveniences including longer walks to bus stops, longer rides on the bus, and crowding. ![]() Taylor Tyson Staff Writer On September 9, 2015, Apple held their annual press releases in Toronto, Canada, San Francisco, California, and Toronto, Canada. The releases were nothing short of astonishing, and according to Apple’s press release, Apple expects customers to “love them.” Products such as the new iPhone 6S, iPad Pro, Apple Watch, and Apple TV were all talked about in this release. Their upgrades are explained below. Jessica Stiehm
News Editor Many European countries are facing pressure from the public to admit fleeing migrants into their counties by the public after the photo of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying dead on a Turkey beach went viral. Aylan and his family were fleeing Syria, but during transit, their boat overturned, and Aylan, their brother Galip, and his mother perished at sea. Abdullah Kurdi, Aylan's father, managed to keep from drowning until help arrived. Aylan’s death brings a very important issue to the headlines of our world: Europe’s migrant crisis. What defines a refugee? That is the question many European countries are debating due to the overwhelming numbers of fleeing Syrian people. A refugee is someone who has been forced to leave their home country because of dangerous conflict that makes their safety uncertain. They are entitled to basic international rights, as stated in the 1951 Refugee Convention, and allowed to stay in the country they have escaped to. In contrast, a migrant is someone who chooses to relocate for a chance at a better life. They are bound under their destinations immigration laws. Montserrat Rivera
Staff Writer Viruses are a scary thing, obviously, and with modern technology we’re able to create vaccinations that prevent us from becoming ill, but what happens when an ancient virus is discovered that we have little to no knowledge of? Over 30,000 years ago a squirrel stored away fruit seeds in the Siberian permafrost, only to be just recently discovered. Russian scientists regenerated the seeds into full flowering plants and discovered an ancient virus (Mollivirus sibericum) in the soil. The name Mollivirus sibericum comes from the French word Molli—meaning soft or flexible, and Sibericum for the location it was found in. Jean-Michel Claverie, professor of medical genomics and bioinformatics at the University of Mediterranean School of Medicine in Marseille, France, stumbled upon research on reviving a plant from an ancient seed, and launched collaboration between Russian and French research teams to see what else they would find. Claverie’s team received the sample and was sure to not expose the virus to any animals or humans, as they did not know what this virus could result in. Jessica Dorcelien
Staff Writer A $5 meal plan for a high school student can sound like a blessing to keep a student’s funds relatively in check, but really the idea of spending only $5 for lunch is far-fetched and very unlikely. So could the average student live on $5 a day, a budget roughly $.80 higher than the families supported by federal food stamps? I say no, taking into consideration that lunch will cost the average student between $6 and $9 each day. Eating out for lunch every day inevitably adds up. Whether or not you are spending money provided from your parents or pulling from your own pocket, spending more than $5 a day for even three out of the five school days each week adds up to over hundreds of dollars spent by, in its simplest form, ingesting the necessary vitamins and nutrients to allow for a functioning body. |
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