COVID-19 Updates 

The KPS mask mandate will stay and the school board plans to reevaluate on April 21.

KPS News 

Standardized state testing occurred this week, with juniors taking the SAT on Wednesday and WorkKeys on Thursday, sophomores taking the PSAT 10 on Wednesday and freshman taking the PSAT 9 on Thursday. 

Loy Norrix sports schedules can be found on LN Knights and Knight Life in the sports column.

Local News

A house fire took place in Wakeshma Township, in Kalamazoo County, on April 10.  It started before 2 a.m. and was reported by a neighbor who noticed the fire.  Eight people lived in the house that is now destroyed, and two people were injured. 

A 16-year-old boy is facing charges for shooting his father after an argument between them.  Witnesses in Kalamazoo say they heard three shots fired, and the teen was then seen leaving his home before turning himself in on April 12.  According to NBC 25, “As of April 12, the father was still in critical condition at the hospital but is expected to survive.” 

State News  

On April 4, a Grand Rapids police officer fatally shot a 26-year-old black man, Patrick Lyoya. The altercation happened when Lyoya and an unnamed passenger were pulled over by the officer and, according to the Grand Rapids Police Department, Lyoya took off on foot and the officer chased after him. After a physical altercation, the officer shot Lyoya in the head and killed him. The dashcam footage  was released to the public by GRPD and the incident is under investigation.

Gretchen Whitmer pledged to file a lawsuit  to keep abortion legal in Michigan on April 7. If Roe v. Wade is overturned nationally, Michigan will default to a 1931 law that bans abortion. According to her Facebook post, Whitmer plans to “use all the tools I have as governor to ensure reproductive freedom is protected.”

National News 

South Carolina man Richard Bernard Moore will be put to death on April 29 by firing squad by choice. Moore has been on death row since 1999 for the murder of a convience store worker. The last death row inmate to be executed by firing squad was Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010 in Utah.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to the Supreme Court by the Senate on April 7, 2022. She is the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court in American history. Jackson will be replacing Justice Stephen Breyer. 

International News

Pakistan has a new prime minister after the previous one, Imran Khan, was removed from office by the Pakistani Parliament in a no-confidence vote. The new prime minister Shahbaz Sharif was elected Monday this week after the opposing party resigned. The former prime minister, Imran Khan, is currently heading protests about his removal and, according AP News, blames the U.S.

French President Emmanuel Macron is in a close race against National Rally candidate Marine Le Pen. Le Pen is known for far-right tendencies and anti-Islamic immigration policies according to Britainnica. She also has had ties with Russia and Putin, while Macron continues to favor the EU and NATO according to AP News.

According to Ukrainian officials, at least 52 individuals died from a missile strike at a train station in Ukraine, Friday, April 8. Most of the deceased were women and children fleeing the area after calls for evacuation. Ukraine and multiple world leaders are denouncing the attack as another Russian war crime while Russia states they don’t use the type of missile that hit the train station according to AP News.