World News: What about everyday Americans?

Thursday, August 25

Suzette Hackney tells us what she has coming up. It going to be great.

Today's newsletter intro comes from USA TODAY Opinion Deputy Editor and Columnist Suzette Hackney.

I am working on an occasional series of columns about everyday Americans trying to survive the clutches of poverty. As inflation rises, does the avalanche of folks who are struggling to make ends meet.

My first piece will highlight the challenges an Indiana woman faces as she recovers from leg amputation surgery. After Catherine Hembrecht, 70, pays for basic necessities like food and shelter, she usually has about $2 left to her disposal until her next Social Security check rolls in. During a good month, she'll have a $9 surplus.

"I really don't want anyone to feel sorry for me because I feel there are people out there who are worse off than I am," Hembrecht told me. "There are people living on the street, and we owe those guys and girls so much. The government is ignoring them. I have a roof over my head. I've got food. I've got clothes. I'm doing OK. Sometimes at the middle of the month I might have one or two dollars, but it's like, OK, I can do without things, too, because other people have to. So I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me."

- Suzette Hackney

What else has Suzette been writing?

•	We have a pandemic of poor policing practices on our hands, and lives are at risk
•	Why we'll miss Serena Williams after she retires and what she has meant to the world.
•	Jayland Walker left his gun in the car. Then Akron police shot him 60 times.
•	I mourn the future of women and unwanted babies, who will be ignored by those who 'saved' them

It's up to us students to help make schools safer from gun violence

By Hannah Beechler

In the late morning of May 25, 2018, my mother sent a text saying that someone was firing shots in the Noblesville West Middle School, only a five-minute drive away from me in Indiana. The school was under lockdown.

Hannah Beechler

Provided

Only later that day would I learn what had happened.

A seventh grade boy, brandishing two handguns, had shot classmate Ella Whistler and science teacher Jason Seaman before the teacher disarmed and tackled him. Both Whistler and Seaman were then taken to the hospital and underwent surgery for serious injuries. Read more...

What other columns should you read?

•	Biden's student loan forgiveness is costly for taxpayers and bad for higher education

President Biden makes a public address on Wednesday, August 24, 2022, in Washington, D.C.

USA Today

•	As CDC reckons with flawed COVID-19 response, approach to monkeypox is finally improving
•	Biden's student loan forgiveness is a good start, but it falls short for borrowers like me

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