Your Summit Weekly Briefing

By Ashwath Vimal, Angela Hwang and Ethan Ignatovsky

Staff Writers

Disclaimer: Though the Weekly Briefings are no longer tagged in the Opinions section of Summit News and we try to remain as unbiased as possible, our opinions may show through in this article, especially in the “Actions” section.

Summit:

Hey everyone! From this issue of the briefing and going forward, we have a new writer on the staff: Ethan Ignatovsky from the Tahoma campus! Thank you to Lia for her time on the team, and we wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors! Sorry for the absence of a briefing last week, as we took that time to look for a new writer.
This will be the last briefing before our two-week winter break, so we wish you all a very Merry Christmas or Joyous Kwanzaa. If you celebrate any other holidays during this time, we hope you enjoy your celebrations as well! See you in the next year, make sure all your school work is done before break so you can relax and take it easy!
PSAT scores were recently released to all juniors, we hope thatr everyone was able to achieved the score the aimed for! If not, take this a chance to improve and prepare more for the SAT or ACT if you are taking them!

General News:

Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis officer who was convicted of murdering black civilian George Floyd, will appear at a change of plea hearing this Wednesday. Chauvin, one of the four officers involved in Floyd’s death, pleaded not guilty to his charges this past September along with the three other officers. The trial for former officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane will happen in March 2022, with Thao and Kueng being charged with not stopping Chauvin’s use of “unreasonable force” and Lane being charged with not giving Floyd medical aid after the fact.
The parents of Ethan Crumbley, the 15-year-old boy suspected of committing a school shooting at Oxford High School, are set to attend a preliminary hearing to decide whether or not a trial should happen. The parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, failed to appear at their arraignment and were found after a manhunt. They have already pleaded not guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter, as they supposedly bought their child a gun as a Christmas present and ignored multiple concerns teachers at the school brought up. Ethan Crumbley also pleaded not guilty on Dec. 1, facing even more serious charges as an adult for one count of terrorism, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of possession of a firearm. His preliminary hearing has been postponed until Jan. 7 of next year, with further delays probable as well.
An onslaught of tornadoes hit Illinois, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky, with the first four states having 16 deaths while Kentucky has at least 74, being affected the most. Thousands of people were left homeless and 109 people are left unaccounted for, with the tornadoes tearing through more than 1,000 properties in Kentucky alone. Additionally, as of Monday, 26,00 people were left without electricity and 10,000 buildings were left without water. President Biden has issued an order to “accelerate the availability of federal resources” for Kentucky, and is considering doing the same with Illinois.

Covid-19:

16- and 17-year-olds in the U.S. can now get the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine booster, after it was approved for this age group by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last Thursday. In order to be eligible to receive the booster, you must be at least 6 months removed from your second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. It is recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to get your booster if you are eligible so we can reach herd immunity as a nation.
We are still learning about the relatively new Omicron variant of Covid-19, but preliminary research done by Pfizer/BioNTech shows that if you have only two doses of their vaccine then you don’t have ideal protection against the Omicron strand. Yet, three doses seem to up your chances. Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla stated “Although two doses of the vaccine may still offer protection against severe disease caused by the Omicron strain, it’s clear from these preliminary data that protection is improved with a third dose of our vaccine”. The data shows that a person with 3 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will have similar protection to the Omicron variant as someone with the original dosages would have against the Delta variant. President Joe Biden told reporters last Wednesday “there’s more studies going on but that’s very, very encouraging”.

Politics:

On Friday, Nicaragua broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan then re-established ties with China. This move “[boosts] Beijing in a part of the world long considered the United States’ backyard, and [angers] Washington”. The Biden administration and President Ortega of Nicaragua’s government have not had good ties in the past year.
Also on Friday, SCOTUS declined to halt Texas’s Fetal Heartbeat law for the second time. California Gov. Gavin Newsom was so angry he “pledged to model an assault weapons ban” using Texas’s law. In essence, he is saying he would push for a law that allows “private citizens to enforce a ban on the manufacture and sale of assault weapons in the state” using the same power that Texas used for its law.
Snippet: The Senate raises the debt limit by $2.5 trillion, but are not likely to revisit the issue until the midterm elections.

Sports:

NBA:

On Dec. 7 the Portland Trail Blazers announced that star shooting guard CJ McCollum will be out indefinitely with a collapsed right lung, leaving in the fourth quarter of a game against the Boston Celtics on Dec. 4. The team initially believed that McCollum only had a rib contusion before a later CT scan revealed that it was a collapsed lung. According to MedLine Plus, a collapsed lung occurs when air escapes the lung, filling up the space between the lung and chest wall, creating pressure against the lung which hinders breathing. This is a very rare basketball injury but it’s believed that McCollum will be back on the court in just a few weeks, despite no official timetable for return.
The Golden State Warriors superstar point guard Stephen Curry started Tuesday’s game against the New York Knicks just two three-pointers away from surpassing Ray Allen’s record of 2,973 three-pointers made. Just four and a half minutes into the first quarter, Curry made his record-breaking shot, and with that, a new king was crowned. Play stopped as Curry celebrated his accomplishment along with teammates and family, as the crowd applauded and cheered for him. Ray Allen was also in attendance to congratulate Curry on his phenomenal feat.

MLB:

MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman revealed via Twitter on Sunday the New York Mets have narrowed their search for a new manager to Buck Showalter, Joe Espada and Matt Quatraro. Showalter, 65, is seen as the frontrunner for the job. In his career, Showalter has won three managers of the year awards but hasn’t managed a team since he was fired after the 2018 season by the Baltimore Orioles who had decided to commit to a major rebuild. Espada and Quatraro are both looking for their first managerial job after stints as coaches, and have also caught the eyes of the Oakland A’s.
2014 All-Star right fielder with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Yasiel Puig, now 31, has signed with the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization for one-year, $1 million. Puig last appeared in the MLB in 2019 splitting time with the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians. Covid, a sexual assault lawsuit against him and general questions of his character ruined his chances of playing in the MLB in 2020 or 2021. Heroes General Manager Ko Hyung-wook, however, says Puig is “devoted to family, and mature”.

NFL:

Demaryius Thomas, best known for his time as a wide receiver for the Denver Broncos, was found dead in his home last Thursday, according to Roswell police. He was just 33-years-old, and one year removed from his retirement. Prior to the Broncos’ home game against the Lions the weekend following his death, the team held a moment of silence for Thomas and played a video tribute as well as lining up in a missing man formation on the first play of the game. Thomas’s number 88 was present as a decal on the helmets of all the Broncos, and number 88 pins were worn around the league. Thomas was a two-time all-pro, a four time Pro Bowl player and a Superbowl 50 champion.
It was also announced recently that former New Orleans Saints lineman Glen Foster Jr., 31, died on Monday, Dec. 6 after he was arrested by the police twice in Pickens County, Alabama. Not much is known of his death at this time, including if he was still in custody, as information is being withheld while the case remains under investigation.

Entertainment:

The highly popular YouTube turned Netflix series “Cobra Kai” is set to release its fourth season on Dec. 31 of this year, exactly a day under a year after the release of season three. The trailer for this upcoming season was unveiled three days ago at the time of writing on Dec 9., amassing over two million views on just Netflix’s YouTube channel already. The trailer confirms the teased season-long presence of Terry Silver, along with a new character joining the Cobra Kai dojo played by Dallas Dupree Young, Kenny. We also get confirmation of a returning character, Piper, who is also joining Cobra Kai after dating the ever-peaceful Moon in season two. Additionally, we see the Cobra Kai defects and the Miyagi-Do students learn from each other’s techniques to be able to defeat the current threat of the current Cobra Kai dojo in the All-Valle Karate Tournament, with frenemy senseis Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso doing the same. At the end of the trailer, we see a small teaser of the tournament, foreshadowing what is to come.
Yet another trailer for a blockbuster project has been released this past week, this one on Dec. 10. We finally get a peek at the long-awaited “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”. This one, with Gellert Grindelwald now played by Mads Mikkelsen after Johnny Depp’s abuse scandal, already looks great visually with more creatures and magic to showcase. We also see creature-lover Newt Scamander team up with multiple other wizards and witches, along with his brother Theseus and Albus Dumbledore, to devise a plan to defeat the evil, power-hungry Grindelwald. Finally, we finally seem to see the true power of Obscurial Credence Barebone, with him seemingly fighting Dumbledore with ease. “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” is set to premiere on April 15 of next year, directed by Harry Potter director David Yates.

Weather:

Atlas (West Seattle): Highs will drop slightly this week: 41°F on Thursday, 42°F on Friday, 45°F on Saturday, 42°F on Sunday, 40°F on Monday, 39°F on Tuesday and 38°F on Wednesday. Lows will follow a similar pattern: 37°F on Thursday, 38°F on Friday, 39°F on Saturday, 36°F on Sunday, 35°F on Monday and 34°F on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will be raining all week except Tuesday.

Summary: Highs in the low 40’s, lows in the mid 30’s, rain.

Olympus (Tacoma): Highs will fall slightly this week: 42°F on Thursday, 43°F on Friday, 47°F on Saturday, 44°F on Sunday, 41°F on Monday and 40°F on Tuesday and Wednesday. Lows will follow a similar pattern: 37°F on Thursday, 39°F on Friday and Saturday, 36°F on Sunday, 35°F on Monday and 34°F on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will rain all week except Sunday.

Summary: Highs in the mid 40’s, lows in the mid 30’s, rain.

Sierra (Seattle): Highs will drop slightly this week: 41°F on Thursday, 42°F on Friday, 45°F on Saturday, 42°F on Sunday, 40°F on Monday, 39°F on Tuesday and 38°F on Wednesday. Lows will follow a similar pattern: 37°F on Thursday, 38°F on Friday, 39°F on Saturday, 36°F on Sunday, 35°F on Monday and 34°F on Tuesday and Wednesday. It will be raining all week except Tuesday.

Summary: Highs in the low 40’s, lows in the mid 30’s, rain.

Denali (Sunnyvale): Highs will hold pretty steady this week: 55°F on Thursday and Friday, 56°F on Saturday and Sunday, 55°F on Monday and Tuesday and 54°F on Wednesday. Lows will rise then fall this week: 40°F on Thursday, 37°F on Friday, 44°F on Saturday, 42°F on Sunday, 43°F on Monday, 44°F on Tuesday and 41°F on Wednesday. It will rain every day except Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Summary: Highs in the mid 50’s, lows in the low 40’s, rain.

Everest and Prep (Redwood City): Highs will fall slightly this week: 56°F on Thursday, 55°F from Friday to Tuesday and 53°F on Wednesday. Lows will hold pretty steady this week: 42°F on Thursday, 39°F on Friday, 45°F on Saturday, 43°F on Sunday, 44°F on Monday, 45°F on Tuesday and 43°F on Wednesday. It will rain every day except Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Summary: Highs in the mid 50’s, lows in the mid 40’s, rain.

K2 (El Cerrito): Highs will fall slightly this week: 55°F on Thursday, 54°F on Friday, 53°F on Saturday, 54°F on Sunday and 52°F from Monday to Wednesday. Lows will hold pretty steady this week: 41°F on Thursday, 39°F on Friday, 43°F on Saturday, 42°F from Sunday to Monday and 41°F on Wednesday. It will rain every day except Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Summary: Highs in the mid-to-low 50’s, lows in the low 40’s, rain.

Tam (Richmond): Highs will drop slightly this week: 55°F on Thursday, 54°F on Friday, 52°F on Saturday, 54°F on Sunday and back to 52°F from Monday to Wednesday. Lows will hold pretty steady this week: 41°F on Thursday, 39°F on Friday, 43°F on Saturday, 42°F on Sunday and 41°F from Monday to Wednesday. It will rain Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Summary: Highs in the mid-to-low 50’s, lows in the low 40’s, rain.

Shasta (Daly City): Highs will drop slightly this week: 55°F on Thursday, 53°F on Friday and Saturday, 54°F on Sunday, 53°F on Monday and Tuesday and 52°F on Wednesday. Lows will hold pretty steady this week: 42°F on Thursday, 41°F on Friday, 45°F on Saturday, 44°F on Sunday and Monday, 45°F on Tuesday and 43°F on Wednesday. It will rain every day except Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Summary: Highs in the mid 50’s, lows in the mid 40’s, rain.

Tahoma (San Jose): Highs will hold pretty steady this week: 54°F on Thursday, 55°F on Friday, 56°F on Saturday and Sunday, 55°F on Monday and 54°F on Tuesday and Wednesday. Lows will rise then fall this week: 39°F on Thursday, 36°F on Friday, 43°F on Saturday, 42°F from Sunday to Tuesday and 39°F on Wednesday. It will rain every day except Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Summary: Highs in the mid 50’s, lows in the low 40’s, rain.

Cooking: Gingerbread Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

By Sally on Sally’s Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

10 Tablespoons (2/3 cup; 145g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
2/3 cup (160ml) unsulphured molasses
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 and 1/2 cups (438g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon ground ginger (yes, 1 full Tablespoon!)
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
optional: easy cookie icing or royal icing

Instructions:

In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar and molasses and beat on medium high speed until combined and creamy-looking. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Next, beat in egg and vanilla on high speed for 2 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. The butter may separate; that’s ok.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves together until combined. On low speed, slowly mix into the wet ingredients until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick and slightly sticky. Divide dough in half and place each onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Wrap each up tightly and pat down to create a disc shape. Chill discs for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this cookie dough. I always chill mine overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
Remove 1 disc of chilled cookie dough from the refrigerator. Generously flour a work surface, as well as your hands and the rolling pin. Roll out disc until 1/4-inch thick. Tips for rolling– the dough may crack and be crumbly as you roll. What’s helpful is picking it up and rotating it as you go. Additionally, you can use your fingers to help meld the cracking edges back together. The first few rolls are always the hardest since the dough is so stiff, but re-rolling the scraps is much easier. Cut into shapes. Place shapes 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Re-roll dough scraps until all the dough is shaped. Repeat with remaining disc of dough.
Bake cookies for about 9-10 minutes. If your cookie cutters are smaller than 4 inches, bake for about 8 minutes. If your cookie cutters are larger than 4 inches, bake for about 11 minutes. My oven has hot spots and yours may too- so be sure to rotate the pan once during bake time. Keep in mind that the longer the cookies bake, the harder and crunchier they’ll be. For soft gingerbread cookies, follow my suggested bake times.
Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. Once completely cool, decorate as desired.
Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Actions:

Editor’s note: The “Actions” section includes petitions to sign, prompts and scripts to write officials with as well as other opportunities to engage in your local, national and global communities.

This actions section will be in light of the upcoming Holidays, considered the best time to give back!:

Head to a local Walmart that is collaborating with the charity The Salvation Army to donate gifts such as clothes and toys for families in need!
Donate to the Christmas Spirit Foundation to make sure families of people who are serving in the army are all able to celebrate the Holidays with a free Christmas tree!

And, as always:

Watch or listen or listen to this playlist. All advertisement revenue goes to Black Lives Matter. Do not skip the ads, the donations will not go through otherwise.
Watch or listen to this video. All advertisement revenue goes to various aid organizations easing the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Please note it is blocked on school-issued Chromebooks due to being in the “Entertainment” category
- Learn more about the crisis at www.monareliefye.org/.

Featured Image (at the top of the post): Stephen Curry lines up a shot PHOTO CREDIT: Keith Allison on Wikimedia Commons