Local News-
On Oct. 16, the Rhode Island Department of Health approved a petition from parents, allowing them to use medical marijuana to treat children with autism. This petition was filed in April, which requested the use of Cannabidiol (CBD) to treat autism which does not contain Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), also known as the ingredient in marijuana that causes a “high.” Doctors in Rhode Island can legally prescribe medical marijuana for several other conditions outside of autism, such as cancer, seizures, glaucoma and post traumatic stress disorder.
On Oct. 15, the Providence bus strike ended after 11 days. This followed an agreement reached on Oct. 12 between First Student, Inc. and Teamsters Local 251, the union that represents the bus drivers. The resulting four year contract promises more contributions to the drivers’ defined-contribution retirement plan, but also prohibits the drivers from staging another strike throughout the four years of the contract. One hundred sixty-five students missed all 11 days of school during the strike and forced over 9,000 students to find alternate transportation. Christopher Maher, the superintendent of Providence schools has said the district will help all of the students who missed school because of the strike catch up on any learning time they lost.
National News-
On Oct. 15, Senator Elizabeth Warren released a DNA analysis revealing that she does in fact have a Native American ancestor from approximately eight generations ago. President Donald Trump, who has frequently called her “Pocahontas,” mocking what he believed to be false claims of being Native American, said that she owes America an apology when asked whether he owed Warren an apology. In July, Trump had said that if she could prove through a DNA test that she has Native American ancestry, he would donate $1 million to the charity of her choice: the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. He has called her a “phony” on Twitter. The Cherokee Nation Secretary of State, Chuck Hoskin Jr., released a statement in which he said that the usage of a DNA test to dishonors “legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven.”
On Oct. 16, a federal judge dismissed Stormy Daniels’ defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump. She made the decision to sue him after Trump tweeted that her story of a man threatening her not to come forward publicly about their alleged 2006 affair was a “total con job.” Trump celebrated the dismissal by going to Twitter again the following day, this time to call her a “horseface.” There is still an unrelated case in which Daniels is suing Trump and his formal personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 payment Cohen made to her to keep their alleged affair quiet in the weeks before the 2016 election.
International News-
On Oct. 2, Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi Arabian journalist who lived in the United States, disappeared and was allegedly killed. Turkish officials claim he was killed and dismembered inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, which has heightened tension between Saudi Arabia and Turkey as well as the United States. It has also severely damaged the reputation of Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohammed BBin Salman.
On Oct. 16, U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, met with King Salman and Prince Mohammed as the Saudis have been under great pressure to explain what has happened to Khashoggi. According to CNN’s sources, the Kingdom will publicly acknowledge and give an explanation as to the death of Jamal Khashoggi. Pompeo is flying to Turkey tomorrow to meet with their foreign minister.