By: Isabella Carstens

On February 16, 2026 Culinary Club made a meal for St. Joseph Evening Meal in Rock Island and they served it to the homeless. They cooked goulash, green beans, bread rolls, and brownies. The group showed up at the shelter around 5pm, set up, and served at 5:30pm. There were about 20-25 people who were in need of a hot meal, and were beyond grateful, many kept thanking the members who were serving. At around 5:50pm people started leaving to catch the bus and they were given takeout boxes for an extra meal. After almost all the people were gone, the group cleaned up and headed back. 

By: Sadie Appel

Recently, there have been many complaints regarding the conditions at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics indoor ice rink. Many figure skaters, speed skaters, and hockey players have reported the ice being slushy or soft, contributing to the many falls occurring this year. Milan had a new, eco-friendly cooling system installed for these series of games; however, this new addition was discovered to be sensitive to heat and moisture generated due to the packed arenas. Also, because of the warmer exterior temperatures, they are not cooling the rinks off as much as necessary for appropriate ice conditions. 

Popular 21-year-old figure skater, Ilia Malinin, had become a big watch to Americans, hoping to get gold in the freestyle skate. However, during his last performance, the skater fell not once, but twice, dropping him into 8th place. Although this was extremely heartbreaking for him and viewers cheering him on, it was also especially surprising, considering his performances are typically found to be flawless; so, many people are blaming the ice for his devastating downfall.

In the women's relays for speed skating, a crash allowed team USA to be knocked out of medal range, with many complaints about the ice’s temperature and texture.

Even in hockey, a contact sport, people are seeing more falls than usual occurring on the ice due to the extra slippery conditions.

Many people are pushing for reskates, requesting a do-over for the many athletes who were affected by the soft ice. However, no further action has been taken to assess these suggestions.

By:Bailee Ward

On February 19 an Australian climber named Thomas Plamberger age 37 has been found guilty of gross neglect manslaughter after leaving his girlfriend 33 year Kerstin Gurnetr to freeze to death on Grossglockner Austria’s highest mountain. He has received a five month suspended sentence and a 9,600 Euros ( 11, 380 us dollars) for abandoning her. 

During the incident the couple got into a difficulty near the summit in servere, freezing weather conditions. Plamberger, who is an experienced climber, left his exhausted partner to seek help rather than staying with her. The prosecutors argued that he failed his duty of care, nothing he didn’t use a emergency blanket or anything that would have helped them in that situation. Also in past situations his girlfriend has testified in 2023 that he had abandoned on another expedition. 

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, former Prince Andrew, Duke of York, has been arrested over his alleged connections with Jeffery Epstein that were made public in the newly released Epstein files.

The former royal was taken into custody by police in Aylsham, England on Thursday evening and was held for over 10 hours before being released. Searches were conducted in Norfolk and Berkshire, according to the Thames Valley Police, and an official investigation was opened, looking into “misconduct [while] in public office.” 

The arrest occurred after the U.S. Department of Justice released nearly 3.5 million new files relating to the Jeffery Epstein case. The ex-prince received major public backlash for being an acquaintance of Epstein after his conviction in 2008. More recently he was the target of a lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre,

 who claimed that she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to perform explicit acts with the former royal when she was 17. A private settlement was reportedly reached.

The last English royal to be arrested was King Charles I in 1646, nearly 400 years ago. While the ex-prince had his last remaining royal titles removed in 2025 by his brother, King Charles III, he is still technically in line for the British throne. This latest incident has led to an ongoing public outcry that he be removed from the line of succession, an outcry that could actually lead to this as the British government is now considering to introduce legislation that would remove him from the line of succession.

For now, an investigation is still underway at multiple royal homes, yet the former royal is still free. This could easily change if a substantial amount of incriminating evidence is uncovered. In a public statement, King Charles III said that “the law must take its course.”