Millennium Falcon High School

Parkland High School, in Allentown, Pennsylvania opened in 1999. Recently however it's gotten a certain kind of notice.

Seen from above it has a striking resemblance to none other than the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars.

Officials at the school say that it wasn't planned, but clearly the force is strong with some engineer or architect.

Man Drowned by Swan

An Illinois man drowned Sunday after being attacked by a swan.

Part of the man's job is to ensure that geese are kept away from the condos he works for.

The condos brought in the swan to help chase geese away, and he was checking on the swan.

Apparently he got too close, and witnesses say it attacked him, he resurfaced but then went under again and did not resurface.

Sudan Bombs UN Camp

The UN is condemning a bombing raid by the Sudanese air force, which dropped bombs on parts of South Sudan, including a UN peacekeepers camp. The bombs that fell on the camp, injured none, but destroyed a radio and generator.

Per the South Sudan's information minister, Gideon Gatpan, bombing over the last few days has killed sixteen and injured a score more. Most of the bombings have targeted bridges and other routes that people use to cross the border from Sudan to South Sudan.

For the last week, the African Union and the UN have been condemning a raid by South Sudanese troops, that captured the Sudanese town of Heglig. The town is a center for oilfields, and fighting has been raging over it since.

Violence Continues in Syria

Violence continues in Syria, despite the UN's promise of a cease fire. Government forces have reportedly began an intense assault upon Idlib, and at least 45 are reported dead.

Syrian state news reported that "armed terrorists" were behind the violence. That has been their claim since violence began over a year ago.

Kofi Annan's brokered cease fire, never gave a single day without violence and death. While the UN, US, and others refuse to admit it, it is rather clear that the cease fire was a total failure, that accomplished nothing.

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition groups, such as the Free Syrian Army, have reported that they have gained weapons deals from Iraq and are working on the possibility with other countries.

UN Responds to North Korean Rocket Launch

The United Nations Security Council released a strong condemnation of North Korea's failed rocket launch. Even China, long time supporter and defender of North Korea, backed the statement.


"The Security Council strongly condemns the 13 April 2012 (local time) launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The Security Council demands that the DPRK (North Korea) not proceed with any further launches using ballistic missile technology and comply with (Security Council) resolutions by suspending all activities related to its ballistic missile program. The Security Council demands that North Korea abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner and not conduct any further launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests or any further provocation. The Security Council expresses its determination to take action accordingly in the event of a further DPRK launch or nuclear test."

They also called for the furthering of sanctions against North Korea, but did not actually propose any. China would have the option to veto any attempt to do so, which they would likely do. Russia might block such a move as well.

Best Buy Closing 50 Stores

As the government tells us that the economy is improving, Best Buy has announced that it will be closing fifty stores across the country by 2013.

Seven stores in California, and six each in both Illinois and Minnesota, mark those states as the hardest hit. Two stores already closed, in February. They were: Kansas City, MO (Metro North) and Scottsdale, AZ (Shea).

One of the next to do so, will be one of the Aurora, Colorado locations, at Arapahoe and Parker. That store will be closing May 12. Employees of that store, were just informed this Saturday.

Best Buy is working to find positions for their employees at other nearby Best Buy locations. If a position is not available, creatable, or won't work location wise for the employee, they are offering severance packages.

The full list of the forty-eight stores yet to close includes:

Casa Grande	1004 N Promenade Pwy	Casa Grande	AZ
Lake Pleasant	10134 W Happy Valley Rd	Peoria	AZ
East Palo Alto	1751 E Bayshore Rd	East Palo Alto	CA
Westwood	10861 Weyburn Ave	Los Angeles	CA
Manteca	934 Perimeter Dr	Manteca	CA
Moreno Valley East	27220 Eucalyptus	Moreno Valley	CA
Ontario	4120 E 4th St	Ontario	CA
Pittsburg	4405 Century Blvd	Pittsburg	CA
Jamboree	2857 Park Ave	Tustin	CA
Arapahoe & Parker	15800 E Briarwood Cir	Aurora	CO
The Forum	9370 Dynasty Dr	Fort Myers	FL
Oldsmar	11655 W Hillsborough Ave	Tampa	FL
Fayetteville	128 Pavilion Pkwy	Fayetteville	GA
Loganville	4014 Atlanta Hwy	Loganville	GA
Addison	1038 N Rohlwing Rd	Addison	IL
87th & Dan Ryan	8900 S Lafayette Ave	Chicago	IL
Deerfield	200 S Waukegan Rd	Deerfield	IL
Matteson	4707 Lincoln Mall Dr	Matteson	IL
Mundelein	1100 N Rt 83	Mundelein	IL
West Dundee	979 W Main St	West Dundee	IL
Speedway	10500 Parallel Pkwy	Kansas City	KS
Back Bay	360 Newbury St	Boston	MA
Wareham	2421 Cranberry Hwy	Wareham	MA
Inner Harbor	600 E Pratt St	Baltimore	MD
Hunt Valley	118 Shawan Rd	Hunt Valley	MD
Biddeford	405 Mariner Way	Biddeford	ME
Brooklyn Center	5925 Earle Brown Dr	Brooklyn Center	MN
Edina	3200 Southdale Cir	Edina	MN
Hutchinson	1350 Hwy 15 S	Hutchinson	MN
Lakeville	18350 Orchard Trl	Lakeville	MN
Rochester South	4540 Maine Ave Se	Rochester	MN
Rogers	20870 Rogers Dr	Rogers	MN
Ellisville	15678 Manchester Rd	Ellisville	MO
Monroe	3151 W Highway 74	Monroe	NC
Rocky Mount	1100 N Wesleyan Blvd	Rocky Mount	NC
Millard	12210 K Plz	Omaha	NE
East River Plaza	517 E 117th St	New York	NY
Steelyard Commons	3506 Steelyard Dr	Cleveland	OH
Salem Mall	5031 Salem Ave	Dayton	OH
Caguas	Las Americas Expry PR52 Zafiro	Caguas	PR
Middletown	890 W Main Rd	Middletown	RI
Hickory Hollow	5255 Hickory Hollow Pkwy	Antioch	TN
Techridge	12901 North I-35	Austin	TX
Woodlake Parkway	6218 Woodglen	San Antonio	TX
Landmark Mall	5901 Stevenson Ave	Alexandria	VA
Cosner's Corner	9745 Jefferson Davis Hwy	Fredericksburg	VA
East Richmond	4410 S Laburnum Ave	Richmond	VA
Mill Plain	16611 Se Mill Plain Blvd	Vancouver	WA

Another Weekend of Tornadoes in US

Storms ravaged parts of the central United States on Saturday and the early hours of Sunday morning. Specifically hit were Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Reports came in of up to ninety-seven tornadoes.

Woodward, Oklahoma took a direct hit from a tornado just after midnight. Five people are reported dead there, with others in serious to critical condition. Eighty-nine houses and thirteen business were destroyed.

Another twister struck near Wichita, Kansas. Damage is reported at McConnell Air Force Base and the Spirit AeroSystems and Boeing plants. Luckily no one was badly hurt.

Around seventy-five percent of Thurman, Iowa was destroyed by a tornado. The rest of the town of 250 has been evacuated due to the damages. Only minor injuries were reported there.

In Petersburg, Nebraska cars looked as if they had been shot up. Baseball sized hail struck the town overnight. Again, luckily no one was killed or seriously injured.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma began issuing warnings for that time, two days in advance. Tornadoes may still be individually hard to predict, but storms that will produce the deadly storms are predicted further and further in advance, thanks to the advances in technology.

Remembering: Jackie Robinson

Born January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia, Jack Roosevelt Robinson was meant to do great things in sports and in life. At UCLA he became the first athlete to letter in four varsity sports: baseball, basketball, football, and track.

He would serve in the WWII Army, but was honorably discharghed after facing insubordination charges, when he refused to move to the back of a segregated bus.

It was then that he really began to play baseball. In 1944, he joined the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League, playing shortstop. By 1945, he had been picked up by the Dodgers, and was playing for their Montreal Royals farm team. There he led the league in batting.

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson debuted in Major League Baseball, playing first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was the first black player to play in the majors. Jackie would face the racism aimed at him, by becoming the first ever Rookie of the Year.

In 1949, he would move to second base, and be named Most Valuable Player for the National League. 1950 saw him become the highest payed player, earning $35,000. When he retired in 1956 he had a career batting average of .311, 1,518 hits, and 137 home runs. In 1962, his first year of eligibility, we was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. On the 50th anniversary of his debut, MLB retired his number 42.

Remembering: The Assassination of Lincoln

John Wilkes Booth

April 14, 1865, it's been four years and two days since the Civil War began, and five days since General Lee surrendered. The North begins to celebrate the end of the war and the South begins to face the war is over, and they lost.

For the last ten days, President Lincoln has been troubled by a dream, but on this night he is going to a play at Ford's Theater, and has a small chance to relax some. His biggest ordeal is over, the country has been preserved, and soon they'll have to start working on reconstruction and try for healing.

John Wilkes Booth's plan to kidnap the President on March 20, and ransom him in exchange for southern independence, fell through because Lincoln didn't show where he was scheduled to be. Now the Southern cause he believed in lays destroyed, Richmond has fallen, Lee has surrendered, the war is over. Vengeance is all that is left.

Booth tell his conspirators of a change in the plan. Lewis T. Powell will go to Secretary of State Seward's home and kill him. George A. Atzerodt will kill Vice President Johnson. And Booth will go to Ford's Theater, where Lincoln is supposed to be and assassinate him as well. The triple death should throw the nation into chaos, without a clear chain of command. Maybe somehow the South will be able to rise out of the mess, an independent country.

Powell is successful in seriously injuring, but not killing Seward. Atzerodt loses his nerve and flees. Booth though is unnoticed as he slips into the President's box, and shoots him in the back of the head. Jumping down to the stage he shouts, "Sic semper tyrannis! (Thus always to tyrants) The South is avenged!"

Booth escapes Washington DC, only later to be cornered in a barn, by federal troops on a man hunt. Lincoln dies of his wounds the next morning, his dream having come true. Of the eight other people convicted of conspiracy four were hung, four were jailed.

Remembering: Hail and Lightning Kill 1,000 English Soldiers

April 13, 1360, while burning the suburbs of Paris, and preparing to march on Chartes, English troops find themselves in the middle of a storm. The storm, reportedly came out of nowhere, making the day "foul with mist, lightning, and hail".

As lightning struck killing some troops, hail fell killing hundreds of others. Around 1,000 English troops, including two of the leaders, were killed by the storm.

The heavy losses from the storm, were seen as a sign from God, that He was against the war, and England sued for peace. A treaty was signed on May 8, ending the first part of Hundred Years' War, which had began in 1337.

The war would renew in 1369, when the French attacked English holdings in Brittany. The second phase would last until 1453.