April 28, 2025 by Olivia Clemmensen (‘26)
Local:
-Elise Stefanik Plans to Attempt to De-Fund SSCSD over its DEI Initiatives:
Representative Elise Stefanik is demanding that the U.S. Department of Education file an investigation on SSCSD’s school district, after the Saratoga Springs Board of Education reaffirmed their “diversity, equity and inclusion” efforts in late March, which defy President Trump’s Executive Order on transgender students and athletes. Stefanik has “blasted [SSCSD’S] ‘gender-expansive’ policies and warned federal funding could be at stake” reported the New York Post. Regardless of if some politicians may think that this policy restricts “civil rights” and Title IX protecting women in sports, the Saratoga School Board continues to stay strong in their commitment to inclusion and equal opportunities. Photo source: tjvnews.com
Springs schools DEI investigation | 518 Politics | dailygazette.com
National:
-House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries Joins Sen. Cory Booker in a Sit-In Protest:
Starting at sunrise on Sunday, Senator Cory Booker and House member Hakeen Jeffries sat on the steps of Capitol Hill in protest of the “congressional Republicans’ upcoming push to pass a budget reconciliation bill that they hope will cut $1.5 trillion in federal spending” said NBC News. This spending goes toward payments and funding of Medicaid, which provides federal health insurance to low-income families in America. The two political leaders live-streamed their protests and conversations on the Capitol Hill’s steps as thousands of people joined them for more than 9 hours of protest. Photo source: CNNPolitics.com
-Suspect from the April 17th Shooting at Florida State University Identified: On April 17th, a gunman opened fire on a Tallahassee campus of Florida State University, leaving two people dead and six injured, and after this horrific incident, students of FSU stood in front of the Florida Capitol to demand stricter gun laws to prevent future events such as this. 20-year-old FSU student and suspect Phoenix Ikner is known at FSU to be involved in many white-supremacist groups and reported by to be infamous for his extremist “conspiracy theories and hateful ideas” said USA Today. Ikner is currently under arrest and is likely to face several criminal charges in the coming days including first-degree murder.
Florida State University shooting: Marches, victims, suspect Thursday update
Florida State University mass shooting updates: Students demand action
-2025 NFL Draft Ends April in a Stir: The 2025 NFL Draft was held in Green Bay, Wisconsin from Thursday the 24th to Saturday the 26th. Round one picks were announced beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, rounds 2-3 were on Friday, and the last day of the draft was for rounds 4 through 7 on Saturday. Over 257 players were drafted in this year’s event, including quarterback Cam Ward at No. 1 overall, who was drafted by the Tennesse Titans. However, after this pick, the draft got extremely chaotic, stated CBS Sports, who explained that “the biggest storyline [of the draft was] about the player who didn’t get selected. Shedeur Sander, seen as a top quarterback prospect before the draft, still didn’t hear his name called after 102 picks”. Sanders eventually was picked by The Browns, but due to his previous high ranking, this late pick was shocking to many NFL fans, however not the only shocking pick of the night. While some teams came out of the draft with only 5 picks, there were many teams who left with 11 new draft picks to hopefully bring into their next season.
2025 NFL Draft: Every team’s full set of picks
-President Trump’s Approval at 100 Days is the Lowest it’s Been in 70 Years:
After 100 days in office, an AP-NORC poll found that even republicans are “not overwhelmingly convinced that his attention has been in the right place” states AP News. According to the poll’s results, around 4 in 10 American adults approve of how Trump has handled several issues such as immigration, with 7 in 10 democrats recording that he has been a “terrible” president since the beginning of his second term, and only around half of American republicans thinking Trump has focused on the right priories in his presidency. These statistics have given Trump an overall 41% approval rating- making it the “lowest for any newly elected president at 100 days dating back at least to Dwight Eisenhower- including Trump’s own first term” stated CNN this past Sunday. Photo source: The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research
Only about half of Republicans say Trump’s priorities are right, poll finds | AP News
Poll: Trump’s approval rating at 100 days in office | CNN Politics
Global:
-Over 400,000 People Attended the Funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday:
After months facing severe health complications, Pope Francis died on April 21st at age 88 due to a stroke, only hours after giving his annual Easter Blessing at the Vatican for their Easter Sunday celebration. Pope Francis’ death was the sad aftermath of weeks spent in hospital care with double pneumonia and a respiratory tract infection. On Saturday, world leaders and members of the Catholic Church gathered to mourn the death of this prominent world leader. Pope Francis’ funeral mass was held at St. Peter’s Basilica inn Vatican City, where figures such as former President Joe Biden, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky among the many more shared their condolences for and support of the late Pope. Who will be the Catholic Church’s new pope? Well, fifteen to twenty days after the death of the Pope, the College of Cardinals will meet and secretly vote in St. Peter’s Basilica (a conclave) until one candidate wins a two-thirds majority vote to become the next pope- a process that has yet to happen in Italy after the death of Pope Francis. Photo source: cnn.com
Francis celebrated as ‘pope among the people’ in Vatican funeral attended by massive crowd | CNN