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May 26, 2023 | Vol. 2 Iss. 21
Covering Your Community
MHS attends UHSMTA show Students among finalists
page 6
MORGAN COUNTY NEWS Since 1929
NEWS BREAK Franchise first: Nuggets advance to the NBA Finals The Denver Nuggets swept the Los Angeles Lakers to win the Western Conference. Nikola Jokić and Aaron Gordon helped lead the Nuggets to their first NBA Finals in franchise history. Jokić was named as the MVP of the Western Conference Finals as he recorded his eighth triple-double of the playoffs. The winner of the series between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics will advance to the Finals to compete against the Nuggets.
Nanny repeats daily affirmations with 5-yearold with Down syndrome
“Finished Business!”--Morgan Girls’ track celebrates after taking first at State
Trojans run away with girls and boys state track titles
By Liisa London Mecham
“I
t’s a great day to celebrate our Morgan track family,” head coach Brennen Fuller shared after the state meet. “We preach family, and these kids came through for each other and for the team!” Coach Fuller added, “After taking two second place trophies last year, our team motto/slogan for this year was ‘Unfinished Business.’ We emphasized that it would take this whole
track family to redeem ourselves.” “On our wristbands we passed out before the state meet, it said ‘unfinished business’ and ‘F.O.E, Family Over Everything.’ These kids came and took over the state meet as a family!’ In the end, they can now say they finished the business!! “ In a historic year of firsts for the Morgan High girls’ sports programs, the Trojan girls’ track and field team joined the girls’ golf team in bring-
Origins of Memorial Day By Verlene Johnson
W
hen the last Monday of May rolls around families tend to gather together for BBQ’s and picnics to kick-off summer. It also means that the end of the school year is near; and most people get a three-day weekend. But most importantly headstones at cemeteries are adorned with colorful flowers. Many places across America claim they are the originators of Memorial Day. The most likely origin comes from General John A. Logan, the commander-in-chief of the Union veterans’ group known as the Grand Army of the Republic. According to History. com, in May of 1863, he issued a decree that May 30 should become a nationwide day of commemoration for the more than 620,000 soldiers killed in the Civil War. Logan dubbed it as Decoration Day. He encouraged Americans to lay flowers and decorate the graves of the war dead “whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” For more than 50 years Decoration Day only commemorated those who were killed in the Civil War. Once the U.S. entered World War I, it was expanded to include those killed in all American wars. For over 100 years Decoration Day was celebrated on May 30 until the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 caused the holiday to be moved to the last Monday in May.
MEMORIAL DAY on page 9 MORGAN'S AMERICAN LEGION and VFW during 2022 Memorial Programs.
Courtesy photo
ing home a first-ever Track and Field State Championship! With two events remaining the girls trailed Juan Diego in the team race 63 to 67. But Morgan’s coaches weren’t worried, they knew they had seniors Lucy Tripp and Grace Gordon, who had already racked up three individual gold medals between them, running in the 200m race and the 4x400 relay. Tripp and Gordon went 1-2 in the 200m to
STATE on page 7
Every day before school, Cohen, a young boy with Down syndrome, recites positive affirmations with his nanny, Eva Abfalter. Daily affirmations have become popular among parents as seen in various videos on Tik Tok. Abfalter saw one of these videos on the social media platform and decided to start reciting them with Cohen. As a college student studying speech and language pathology, Abfalter hoped that the affirmations would help Cohen to practice his speech and build his confidence as he started attending school. His nanny hoped that the affirmations would serve as a great positive reminder if Cohen was having a difficult day. The nanny sent a video of Cohen to his mom who remarked that it made her feel “so emotional” to see her son reciting the affirmations: “I am smart, I am handsome, I am going to have a good day, I am important.”
Colorado River deal set to conserve water supply In an effort to save the Colorado River, Arizona, California, and Nevada agreed to a deal to conserve water over the next three years. The Colorado River provides water to millions of people in the western United States. However, recent years of drought have led to a limited water supply and a large imbalance between the water supply and demand. This deal, while only a temporary solution, will help to avert the Colorado River crisis by limiting the water usage in these three states. The three-year plan is set to conserve 3 million acre-feet of water. These states will receive $1.2 billion in compensation from the Biden administration for their conservation efforts.
Arraignment held for suspect in the death of four University of Idaho students After shocking the nation last fall, the case against Bryan Kohberger was brought into court at the arraignment on Monday, May 22. Kohberger’s attorney informed the judge that they would be “standing silent”. In response, the Latah County Judge entered in “not guilty” pleas for all charges on Kohberger’s behalf. The next phase in the University of Idaho murder case will likely begin in October of this year, but prosecutors will announce in the next two months if they will be seeking the death penalty. The upcoming trial is expected to be moved from Latah County in hopes of finding an impartial jury for the highly publicized case.