President-elect Joe Biden’s first significant action regarding his presidency will be assembling his cabinet. The pivotal step of selecting who will be his primary advisors and who will run government agencies will set the tone for the next four years. Over the next several weeks, President-elect Biden will have to…
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COVID-19 Vaccine Update, 11/30/20
On Nov. 18, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their coronavirus vaccine trial had resulted in a very promising 95 percent efficacy rate. Only a few short days later, they applied to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization of their vaccine. This announcement gives the…
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The unraveling of the Trump-Fox alliance?
Since the days of his campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2016, President Trump has had a close relationship with Fox News. Reporters have noted a pattern between what Trump is tweeting about and what Fox News is reporting. The President has often called into Fox News shows for interviews, far…
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Opinion: Politics & the Holidays
While the holidays are supposed to be filled with joy and community, they often are a stressor, as dreaded conversations surrounding politics are inevitable. Like most people, I’ve experienced this stress first-hand and struggled to express my political opinions to my family who has conflicting views. This year is especially…
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Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shows promising results
After enduring almost nine months of COVID-19 in the United States, it seems as if a vaccine may not be far away. On Nov. 9, the biopharmaceutical company Pfizer and the biotech company BioNTech announced that their vaccine candidate was more than 90 percent effective in phase three trials. The…
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Drug reform efforts sweep 2020 election
In most ways, the 2020 election served to underscore how contentious American politics are. Poring over the results, analysts have already begun emphasizing how highly polarized Americans are by metrics such as generation, gender, race, education and geography. Overlooked in this analysis is one important policy area where people appear…
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Opinion: Jewell’s 2021 spring break model is flawed but responsible
On Oct. 29, William Jewell College Provost Anne Dema emailed all students announcing changes to the spring semester. The biggest announcement was the change to spring break. The five days that make up a regular spring break have now been spread out over the course of the entire spring semester,…
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Opinion: Election Day of the Imperial Core
(The following was written on Nov. 3, 2020, in the evening.) There is an energy about – at least here in Liberty, Missouri – perhaps too everywhere inside these boundaries called the United States. If I say this energy is palpable, this is said not entirely for cliché. That should be…
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Clay County reaches all-time COVID-19 high as Jewell enters Level C, MO cases increase
While the U.S. national election headlines have occupied the space usually reserved for COVID-19 related stories, there is still much to report about the progression of the pandemic. Across Missouri, including Clay County and Kansas City, the stakes of the pandemic are heightening. Such is also the case for both…
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