CDC on Autism
By Harper Scully
Recently, the CDC’s website changed its language when addressing vaccines, stirring controversy and confusion. Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “personally ordered” the CDC to change their firm belief on vaccines. On the “Autism and Vaccines” page on the CDC’s website, it now states that the claim that “vaccines do not cause autism” isn’t an “evidence based claim” when before it stated simply that “vaccines do not lead to autism.” Other public and medical health organizations, along with the autism community, have spoken out criticizing the CDC. Independent researchers from several countries have all conducted high quality studies with over 5.6 million people researching the effects vaccines have on autism, and they found no correlation. Many doctors and other CDC officials worry about the effects of a decline in vaccines, especially for children. “I think when we start to see (and we will) outbreaks that don’t normally happen–-more food-borne outbreaks, Legionella outbreaks, rising measles cases, people will start to care,” Dr. Jennifer Layden, a former CDC official, said.
Cheetos and Doritos New Simply NKD
By Tatum Trammell
Doritos and Cheetos have just announced their newest creation, Simply NKD. This new line will produce the same spicy snacks, just without the infamous Red 40 food dye. Due to the increasing speculations of potential health risks caused by Red 40, Frito-Lay chose to make an alternative. These new chips look just a bit pale, but don’t worry, because they still have the same flavor. But for those who couldn’t care less about the risks of Red 40, the regular, iconic chips will still be available. Frito-Lay announced this release two weeks ago, and it officially became available in stores yesterday, Dec. 1. Next time you stop by your local grocery store, give them a try!
College Football Rivalry Week
By Shaw Gordon
This past week was Rivalry Week in college football, also known as “Hate Week.” Rivalry week features games like Alabama vs. Auburn, Texas vs. Texas A&M, Ohio State vs. Michigan, and the battle for our home state, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech. Rivalry Week always takes place on the last week of the regular season; it’s a game to show who has what it takes to “win the state.” 2025 had a great slate of rivalry games. #16 Texas upset #3 Texas A&M at home to force Texas A&M out of the Sec Championship. #1 Ohio State dominated #15 Michigan 27-9 despite being doubted after losing the last four rivalry games. The Iron Bowl, a matchup between Alabama and Auburn, was close once again. #10 Alabama came out on top, 27-20, after mishaps late in the game from the Auburn team. #4 Georgia beat #23 Georgia Tech at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with the final score being 16-9, securing a spot in the SEC Championship and also establishing an eight-game winning streak against Georgia Tech.
Deadly Fire Breaks out in Hong Kong
By Riley Jones
On Nov. 26, a deadly fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in Tai Po, Hong Kong, killing at least 159 people aged between one and 97. The Court was undergoing extensive renovation that left the building covered in bamboo scaffolding and green nets. According to preliminary investigations, the fire started on a lower scaffolding net on one of the buildings before spreading to the styrofoam panels on the windows. The panels caught fire, spreading the fire inside the buildings. Eventually, the fire spread to seven out of the eight complex buildings. Initial tests of the scaffolding nets found them up to code; however, of 20 new samples taken by investigators, seven failed safety standards. Hong Kong officials ordered the suspension of all other building projects undertaken by the contractor renovating Wang Fuk Court. Some residents at the complex had reported safety concerns about the renovations over a year before the fire. First responders also noted that some fire alarms within the building did not sound when tested.
Election Day Case Against Trump Dismissed
By Akiva Bryant
On Nov. 26, the final court case that accused President Donald Trump and his allies of overturning the 2020 election between him and former President Joe Biden was dismissed. The case was brought by the Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis, indicting Trump on 41 counts of racketeering under Georgia’s racketeering laws. However, Willis was disqualified from the case in a 2-1 decision by Judges Todd Markle, Trenton Brown and the opposing Benjamin Land in Dec. of 2024 due to a romantic relationship she pursued with a prosecutor she hired to help work on the case. As a result, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia, Pete Skandalakis, took over the case soon after. Skandalakis decided to dismiss the entire case, a decision granted by Fulton Superior Judge Scott McAfee. Skandalakis stated that the prosecution should be held in a federal court rather than the state of Georgia and that Georgia citizens would not benefit from their pursuit of the case over the next couple of years.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
By Brett Schlossberg
On Thanksgiving Day, the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade took place. This year’s parade, which was the 99th annual edition, had the largest total audience in history. 34.3 million people across NBC and Peacock watched the event. The parade included 34 balloons, with 6 new balloons, namely Buzz Lightyear, Derpy Tiger, Mario, Pac-Man and Shrek’s Orange Carriage. In addition, new floats were added this year, which included the very popular Labubu float.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Resigns
By Trey Voegtlin
On Friday, November 21, 2025, Georgia’s republican congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene, announced her resignation from Congress in a video, effective January 5, 2026. Her resignation followed several disagreements between her and current President Donald Trump, specifically over his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein and the delayed release of the Epstein files. Although she resigned on her own, she was faced with death threats and online rhetoric due to her critiques of Trump from many including the president himself, with President Trump dubbing her as “Wacky Marjorie.”
MARTA Rapid A-Line Bus Will be Completed by April
By Kaden Bruton
MARTA has announced that the Rapid A-Line, which will be a bus rapid transit (BRT) line, will be completed in April. This line will connect Five Points MARTA station, Downtown Atlanta, City Hall, Summerhill, Peoplestown and more. This project started construction in 2023, but there were lots of delays due to construction obstructions such as unexpected water lines, old streetcar/trolley tracks and underground parking garages. BRT is a high capacity, efficient and fast bus network that functions similar to a subway with dedicated bus lanes and signals for buses. This is very important for Atlanta since MARTA does not have enough funding to expand the subway and hasn’t had any expansions since the year 2000. MARTA has also been lacking adequate ridership, which has been dropping since the COVID lockdown, and has been described by Atlanta citizens to be inefficient, late and slow. BRT tends to be cheaper than a subway, as it has benefits of both a subway and a bus. This will greatly improve Atlanta transit and provide a new opening for future expansions in Atlanta, which can hopefully fix traffic congestion and help end the cycle of induced demand.
Rockdale Inmate Escapes From Grady
By Sabenah Abudu-Abrams
At around 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 1, inmate Timothy Shane fled the hospital while under a deputy’s custody. Shane was transported to Grady Hospital on Nov. 30 after a failed suicide attempt and just hours later fled on foot. He allegedly stole a nearby SUV, which he later crashed. After the accident, Shane fled once again on foot and later hopped on an Uber to evade the police. Upon further investigation, the owner of the vehicle reported a missing Glock handgun that was in the car. Shane’s initial arrest was on Nov. 23 after police witnessed a woman mouthing the words “help me” after she had been kidnapped by the fugitive and forced to withdraw money from an ATM. The incident quickly escalated to a high-speed car chase, which ultimately resulted in Shane’s arrest. On Wednesday, Dec. 3, Shane was captured by police after he was seen knocking on doors at around 1 a.m.
Sri Lanka Cyclone
By Joy Ferguson
On Nov. 28, Sri Lanka had one of its worst cyclones, Cyclone Ditwah. The cyclone caused the worst flooding in decades, killing hundreds of people. The mudslides and flooding killed more than 330 citizens and caused over 200 people to be reported as missing. 20,000 homes have been destroyed, and the cyclone has sent 108,000 people to shelters all around the island. The highest number of deaths has been reported in towns Kandy and Badulla, where areas have been completely shut down. A third of the country has been without electricity and running water ever since the cyclone. Sri Lanka’s President, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, said it’s the most challenging disaster in history.
Trump Aiming to Terminate Any Biden Bill Signed With Autopen
By Alex Piazza
On Friday, Nov. 29 President Donald Trump announced he would try and reverse any measure former President Joe Biden signed with an autopen. An autopen is a machine that perfectly replicates a signature, and has been used by presidents before Joe Biden. In 2005, the Department of Justice ruled that the president can use an autopen to give their signature. Despite this ruling, Trump said that he would repeal all executive orders, pardons and laws that were signed by autopen. His reasoning being that Joe Biden did not intend for those documents to be signed. According to Fox News contributor Marc A. Thiessen, there were “people making decisions for him all the time.”
White House News Bias Checker
By Daniela Palatchi
On Friday, Nov. 28, the White House launched a new section of its official website dedicated to exposing media stories it claims as misleading and biased, as well as criticizing the news organizations and journalists behind the stories. The website, referred to as a “Media Bias” Portal, features broad claims made in the news they deem biased, misleading or offensive and cite various articles as evidence. The site names the journalists and the news outlets behind the claim and categorizes the offense into categories based on the subject of the claim, such as “misrepresentation, omission of context, bias, malpractice, left-wing lunacy” and others.
