By Zachary Masters
On Campus, both international and local Appalachian State Students are participating in the International Appalachian’s annual Coffee Buzz 5k fundraiser. INTAPP is a student-run organization that aims to support and encourage App State students to participate in education abroad and uses The Coffee Buzz 5k to raise funds for the Landon Hill Memorial Scholarship. The Appalachian reports this scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate a financial need to be able to fulfill their educational goals through studying abroad. While registration has closed for the event, participants can complete the virtually formatted race from April 4th to April 18th.
In local news, Todd Ishee, the North Carolina Commissioner of Prisons, gave a presentation on the struggles with COVID-19 safety precautions and vaccine reluctance within the State’s prison system. The Appalachian reports that the early parts of the pandemic caused a large strain on prisons, primarily due to constant adaptations that needed to be made to conform to changing Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Guidelines. Ishee said, “People throughout the prison system, both our staff and offenders, began to get sick pretty quickly.” Ishee also went on to discuss the reluctance of both the incarcerated people and the staff members of the prison to receive the vaccine, with 65-75% of incarcerated people and 50% of employees willing to be vaccinated.
Nationally, The Wall Street Journal reports protests, looting and clashes with police resulted after a 20-year-old Black man was killed in a traffic stop near Minneapolis. Police reports state that the shooting took place around 2 p.m. Sunday and was the result of Daunte Wright reentering his vehicle after being pulled over for having outstanding warrants. Shortly after this, anywhere from 100 to 200 people marched on the Brooklyn Center police department, throwing rocks and breaking into businesses until the Minnesota National Guard and both state and local police departments dispersed the crowd.
This afternoon’s weather comes from BooneWeather.com. Today will be mostly sunny with more clouds making their way into the area in the evening. Expect a high of 65 degrees and a low of 43 degrees with gusts of wind reaching 10-20 mph.