News – In Brief: A look at national, local and school news

Biopharmaceutical company Merck went to the Food and Drug Administration seeking emergent authorization of their new antiviral COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir, on Oct. 11. 

Merck made this request after their phase-three clinical trial showed results that reduced infected patients chances of hospitalization by 50%. This is the first pill that would be used to treat those actively infected with COVID-19. 

“I hope this could be an additional layer of protection for [high-risk families at East] who are unable to receive the COVID vaccine for medical reasons,” East Nurse Stephanie Ptacek said. “I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to using this medication once approved by the FDA.”

This pill is an extra protectant for those infected with COVID-19 that will stop the replication of the virus once taking the pill, according to Merck’s clinical trials. 

“It’s reassuring that we are working on more [solutions] to prevent further cases and deaths,” senior Bella Wolfe, who has an autoimmune disease making her high risk for COVID-19, said. “Being high-risk, it’s reassuring to know that’s their goal.”

The federal government has placed an order of around 1.7 million rounds of the antiviral pill from Merck. If granted authorization, the federal government will distribute those rounds to pharmacies in hopes of decreasing hospitalization and deaths from COVID-19. 

This pill will help save lives, according to Dr. Celine Gounder, Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at NYU School of Medicine.

Three people were shot outside Ward Parkway Lanes, located at 89th and State Line Rd., on Oct. 3

Police were called to the scene at 11:15 p.m. and three people were taken to the hospital. One man is currently on life support, the other is in critical condition while the woman is facing non-life-threatening injuries. The shooter remains unidentified.

The East Unified Bowling team practices there on Monday and Wednesdays. Despite the shooting happening on a Sunday, the bowling team continued to practice the day after. Unified Bowling Coach Sheryl Kaplan feels uneasy that it happened so close to where the team bowls.

“Luckily we got to go on with practicing and our normal routine there,” Kaplan said. “But it’s our neighborhood bowling alley. It was scary how close this was to our community.”

Ward Parkway Lanes is only three miles, a nine minute drive, away from East. With such close proximity, this shooting has hit hard for some, specifically for a group of East students who work there, including senior Jaidyn Glover. 

“I had a bunch of friends that go to East text me after the shooting saying they had heard the gunshots go off from their homes,” Glover said. 

According to East senior and employee Brady Fankhauser, this was a targeted shooting, and since then Ward Parkway Lanes has increased their number of cops located at the building for security. 

“[KCPD] hasn’t identified the shooter yet but they know it was a targeted attack,” Fankhauser said. “[The victims] had driven from somewhere else to the bowling alley and were followed by their shooter to the lanes.”

KCPD is still looking for the shooter as of Oct. 13 and hoping to have more answers soon.

East held a voter registration on Oct. 12 in the school cafeteria during lunch.

This event was organized by the Shawnee Mission East Young Democrats Club. Anyone who who would be 18 by election day was provided with a voter-registration form and then instructed to text it to a county-approved number for finalization. 

Having voter registration at East made the process much easier for students, according to senior Maeve McGrath. 

“A lot of kids aren’t really sure how to register and think it’s more complicated than it really is,” McGrath said. “Having it at East made it super easy and being able to register with your friends made it fun.”

A total of 15 seniors registered, a successful number for the Youth Democrats Club as they were expecting 6-7 registrations according to club leader and senior Emma Kate Squires.

“Our main reason for holding it at East was to ensure that the younger generation is able to vote,” Squires said.

In the beginning of 2020, Kansas attempted to pass several laws tightening voting requirements. Pushing away the youth population from wanting to and trying to vote. However, in December of 2020 the Supreme Court ruled Kansas’ attempt as unconstitutional.

“There was a new law passed last year that made [voting registration] more difficult,” Squires said. “But that was just a motivating reason for us to do [registration at East].”

Allowing voter registration somewhere as convenient as East helped reassure the younger generation, according to Squires.