by Christian James

Famous singer R. Kelly is under FBI investigation for flying a minor across state lines, one of many accusations in his controversial career. 

Robert Sylvester Kelly, famously known as R. Kelly, has already had many accusations of sexual assault with minors throughout his career. Although there is multiple counts of evidence against him, he has never been found guilty. 

R. Kelly went from a beloved American R&B singer to a social outcast in many societies. He started his career in the year 1990, where he signed his first contract with Jive Records. The next year, Kelly released his first album, “Born in the 90s,” with Public Announcement. This album began to give R.Kelly some recognition in the music industry.

In 1993, he decided to go solo and make albums on his own. Throughout the years, he would be known for his hit songs, “I Believe I Can Fly,” “Ignition” and “Bump N Grind.” R.Kelly would also become sort of an intimate icon in the music industry. While he was rising in success, so were the many accusations against him.

At age 27 in 1994, Kelly would marry another Jive Record singer, Aaliyah Haugton, which caused a good deal of controversy.

“Aailyah’s age is listed as 18 on the falsified marriage certificated, she is underage when she secretly married the R&B singer at a Sheraton Gateway Suites in Chicago,” accused The Cut.

Her real age would eventually be revealed to the public when she sadly died in a plane crash on August 25th, 2001. Aaliyah’s birth certificate determines she was 22 when she died, thus making her 15 when she married R. Kelly in 1994. While she was still alive, Kelly and her both denied ever being married to each other even though many sources had a copy of their marriage certificate from the annulled marriage. R. Kelly would not be charged with anything, but even more accusations against him would come to light.

More accusations of Kelly being with minors and having his own intimate club would begin to form, but he would still continue to be found not guilty. These accusations are now starting to catch up to the infamous R&B singer.

In 2017, a movement labeled #MeToo would emerge, causing many women to share their darkest secrets with the world. During this movement, many women would accuse R. Kelly of being intimate with them while they were minors.

Since then, multiple investigations have been in progress to determine the fate of Kelly. A groundbreaking documentary titled “Surviving R. Kelly” is not helping his case. In this documentary, there are even more women sharing their stories and experiences with the famous singer.

His once famous life of freedom has come to an end and now every move he makes is being monitored closely by the public.

by Samuel Rodriguez

The federal government’s shutdown occurred on December 22nd, 2018 and has set a record for the longest government shutdown in the modern era, surpassing the previous 21-day shutdown of 1995-96.

Credit // Kim Komando Show

Today, January 17th, marks the 27th day of the shutdown with no looks of it ending within the near future.

According to Business Insider, the shutdown seems to be due to a dispute between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats about funding for Trump’s border wall. However, the shutdown only affects a part of the government since 7 of the 12 bills that fund the government were passed in September.

Business Insider continues to say that some of the departments that have been affected by the shutdown are the departments of agriculture, homeland security, commerce, transportation, housing, and urban development.

The New York Times estimates that 800,000 federal workers are being affected by this shutdown while the loss of government services are affecting millions more. The shutdown has a widespread but uneven toll, affecting many American’s while going almost unnoticed by others. The New York Times continues to explain that President Trump waits for Democrats to accept his demand for $5.7 billion in funding for his border wall, which is highly unpopular.

The Trump administration has called back tens of thousands of federal workers to fulfill key government tasks in an attempt to numb the effects set upon by the shutdown. These workers are being put back to work without pay and, according to The New York Times, a typical federal worker has missed $5,000 in pay from the shutdown thus far.

“They’re not being paid right now because of the Democrats. People are impressed with how well the government is working with the circumstances we’re under,” stated President Donald Trump.

Even though many government officials are patiently waiting for the end of this shutdown to come, Democrats are asking Trump to reopen parts of the government that have nothing to do with the wall before they negotiate further on the issue, states The Washington Post. 

According to The New York Times, President Trump stated on Monday that he rejected a proposal by Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina to halt the shutdown for three weeks in an attempt to “breathe new life” into stalled talks with Democrats.

The shutdown looks to continue on as President Trump and the Democrats stand their ground and have not reached an agreement yet.

by Lucas Agatep

For the past nine weeks, protests continue to rage on all over France – mainly in Paris – by a group called the “gilets jaunes” or the Yellow Vests.

What started as a peaceful protest against a controversial fuel tax and economic reform has turned into riots demanding the resignation of French President Macron. 

The fuel tax that President Macron implemented to cut down 40 percent of carbon emissions on pollution faced much resistance due to the increased price of gas. After the protest began and turned violent, Macron backtracked on the fuel tax and suspended the tax as well it cut from the 2019 budget.

The anger from the people hasn’t stopped however, and the violence still goes on. Now, the protests have turned into anti-government riots, which occur weekly.

In the latest week of protests, authorities deployed 80,000 officers around the country to control the violence that occurs every time protesters emerge on the weekends. From the protests, vast amounts of damage has been done to businesses and property, government or privately owned. An estimate of 60 percent of the speed camera network of France has been destroyed or vandalized, stated the country’s interior minister.

The protesters consists the majority of the middle class who reasons vary amongst themselves. Coming from both Left and Right political views and parties, one common thing to which they compare is there distrust and hatred for President Macron. The group doesn’t have a leader to their protest, but rather just people uniting against the government.

For the Yellow Vest, there isn’t a specific or symbolic reason why they wear the yellow safety vest when protesting. Their reason to wear it is simply so the protesters have something in common to wear. 

Recently, Macron has asked for direct dialogue with the protesters in a month long debate between the two. President Macron seems to be willing to discuss his policies that he wants to implement and some of his actions. In a 2,330 word letter that he published towards the Yellow Vest protesters asking for dialogue, Macron added in a series of questions which he hopes to be answered. 

Some questions are listed below:

• Which taxes do you think we should cut?
• What kind of public spending savings do you think we should make a priority?
• Should we use referendums more often and who should be able to trigger them?

The Yellow Vest protest in France has influenced anti-government sentiments amongst other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Canada. In the UK, Brexit protesters have decided to dawn the yellow vest in solidarity towards their cause and distrust into the imposed government. They as well stand for a variety of reasons. A leaflet about what they support and are against was recently passed around and posted on social media.

The Canadians that wear the yellow vest in protest to their Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are over gas laws and immigration. However, they are a smaller group and not that renowned compared to their European counterparts.

by Matthew Ruiz

As Los Angeles Unified School District teachers fight for smaller classrooms sizes, better pay, school funding, and an increase in school staffing, a huge strike has occurred within the district.

There are roughly 1,240 schools affected by this teacher strike and 600,000 students. Around 32,000 educators are going to be on strike. LAUSD has had to hire 500 substitute teachers in response.

Teachers have been talking to the state superintendent, the Mayor, and the Governor. Jerry Guzman’s daughter is among the children affected by this teachers strike.

“Our children need to be in school, and our teachers also need the tools they need to successfully do their job,” said Guzman.

As of Friday, the last proposal to the United Teachers of Los Angeles was made and was rejected.

“The strike won’t create the funding we need to boost teachers salaries or hire new educators,” argued LAUSD superintendent Austin Beutner yesterday.

The last strike of this magnitude was 30 years ago. These teachers are fighting for the same rights as those of the past.

Teachers are speaking out on this matter as well.

“We know that parents don’t have the means to provide adequate care during the strike. We hope the district and union come to resolution fairly quickly,” said Lisa Duarte, a teacher in the LAUSD.

Teachers are asking for class size reductions through the hiring of more teachers. Most argue that 40-50 students at a time is way too many students in one classroom.

“We want to ensure no increase in any class size, increase nurses, counselors and librarians at all schools, along with a 6 percent salary increase and back-pay for the 2017-2018 school year,” was the official statement released by the Teacher’s Union.

According to the LA Times, Los Angeles Unified School District schools lost $15 million on the first day of the strike.