Home From Space!
Last year, btw brought you news of the launch of the longest-ever consecutive space mission. The two-man mission was made up of Russian Cosmonaut, Mikhail Komiyenko and American Scott Kelly. They were gone for nearly a year (340 days), traveled a total of 143,846,525 miles (circling the earth 5,440 times), and return-landed via parachute in […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Was 2015 a Good Year for Jobs? In the years since the Great Recession, our economy has reported many episodes of upturn. But 2015 was the first prolonged stretch of job creation since the late 1990s. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (the government agency that collects economic data and distributes it to the American […]
Year in Review: National News
As we close the page on another year, btw brings you its traditional year-end look at what events that took place in 2015 that most captured our attention. This week we focus on those things that took place close to home. Anniversaries/Commemorations 2015 marked the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, the charter that brought to […]
UN Climate Change Conference
Over the years, btw has brought you stories about Climate Control—what it is, what it does, and measures proposed to slow its effect. Last week, around 25,000 representatives from nearly 200 countries came together in Paris for talks aimed at creating a legally-binding agreement to reduce carbon emissions globally. Key Issues From November 30 to […]
Obama Rejects Keystone Pipeline (Again)
Last year, btw wanted to know your thoughts about the Keystone XL Pipeline. Earlier this month, President Obama formally rejected the permit that would allow its completion. Let’s take a closer look about what has happened and what it means. Pipeline Timeline It begins with TransCanada, the company that wants to build a 1,179-mile pipeline […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Two-Dollar Photo Worth Millions If you’ve ever seen the PBS television show Antiques Roadshow, you know that there is a lot of old stuff out there that people desperately hope has great value. Often, however, they are mistaken and disappointed. But sometimes they hit the jackpot. This happened recently to one lucky couple in Fresno, […]
Another Episode of Gun Violence
On October 1, a shooter opened fire on a classroom of students at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. Ten people died (nine students and a teacher) and seven others were wounded before the shooter turned the gun on himself. The gunman spared the life of one student, to whom he gave an envelope […]
The Struggle to Combat ISIS
Last fall, btw brought you a story about President Obama’s address to the nation regarding a strategy to combat the Islamic State. A year later, the threat remains as strong as ever, as world leaders continue to struggle over the best way to defeat the militant extremist group. What’s Going On Again? Unlike conflicts that […]
A History of Educational Fixes
Right about now, more than 55 million kids are starting back to school in the United States. Thirty years ago, our nation’s education system was ranked one of the best in the world. Today, that brag is slipping further out of our grasp as our math rankings in particular continue to fall below our expectations. […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Minimum Wage Gaining Maximum Attention Last month, the City of Los Angeles, California passed a landmark ordinance to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. Similarly, the City of New York announced that it received a recommendation from its “wage panel” (appointed by NY Governor, Andrew Cuomo) to raise rates for those […]