Highline finds funds to fight hunger
After the loss of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps or EBT, Highline College Foundation, in partnership with the Community Pantry, are stepping up to help students with an additional $100,000 in funding.
These efforts work towards keeping the campus hunger free.
Seattle elections have yet to be called
As of Thursday morning, neither of the closest-watched local elections have yet to be called. Girmay Zahilay leads by a slim majority against Claudia Balduccii for King County Executive, an office that has been occupied by Dow Constantine for nearly 15 years.
Incumbent Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell holds a steady lead in front of Katie Wilson.
AI cutting jobs at Amazon: Where does that leave us?
When I first heard that Amazon was cutting 14,000 corporate jobs because of artificial intelligence, I couldn’t help but feel a mix of shock and concern. To then find out that about 2,300 cuts were in Seattle alone, according to the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) website, was just further disappointment.
I couldn’t help but wonder: Where does that leave the rest of us?
The rise of Afrobeats in American media
Imagine heavy drums, legs bouncing, head nodding – this is what takes over when listening to Afrobeats. The category of music has been around since earlier than 2009 and is only growing in listeners in recent years.
Back then, Afrobeats music was spread throughout YouTube, Facebook, or you’d have to attend weddings and a dance hall to hear the new hits. But now it’s played on the radio!
Campus
After the loss of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps or EBT, Highline College Foundation, in partnership with the Community Pantry, are stepping up to help students with an additional $100,000 in funding.
These efforts work towards keeping the campus hunger free.
Have you ever wondered where gas, and waste run-off goes from the airplanes at the SeaTac airport? Join the ThunderPod on their private tour of the Des Moines Creek Basin. That’s not all, this week’s episode features a new co-host in Kabira Prim!
Check out the latest episode now.
Recent vandalism at Highline’s satellite campus in Federal Way, the Hub, provided a missed opportunity for Highline’s Executive Cabinet to take stronger stances against bias and antisemitism on campus.
Multiple instances of defacement have not been publicly condemned thus far, with only a single line addressing the existence of bias in a campus email.
After months of uncertainty following the loss of a major federal Title III grant, the Academic Success Center (ASC) at Highline College has secured new funding to keep the ASC in operation.
The solution came when interim Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Rolita Ezeonu identified emergency funds to support, offering a possible lifeline to students and staff.
The Associated Students of Highline College (ASHC) hosted an open mic yesterday for students to share their voices in concern directly with Highline’s Executive Cabinet (EC). The message these students received was clear: We know, get over it.
Highline’s 2025 fall quarter has been met with its fair share of obstacles. From losing Title III funding, to the rising cost of living in the area, students have been under months of duress.
These past few weeks there has been a bit of a dispute on campus concerning the south plaza outside of the library (Building 25) reserved for free speech where several men have planted themselves with anti-abortion posters. The President of Highline College sent out an email regarding this issue saying “As a State agency, guests may visit our campus to express personal views and opinions (WAC 132I-140-012).”
The proselytizers standing in the south plaza have very graphic posters of what they claim to be an aborted baby, or what can also be called a spontaneous abortion.
Community
As of Thursday morning, neither of the closest-watched local elections have yet to be called. Girmay Zahilay leads by a slim majority against Claudia Balduccii for King County Executive, an office that has been occupied by Dow Constantine for nearly 15 years.
Incumbent Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell holds a steady lead in front of Katie Wilson.
As 25 states across the nation sue the Trump administration for withholding funding for SNAP, more commonly known as food stamps, food banks prepare for an unprecedented surge. Washington state has ordered a weekly $2.2 million to assist food banks in preparation. Food insecurity relief can be found in community gardens and working together to ease tensions.
Nearly a million Washingtonians receive food stamps. According to the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), “If federal funding is not restored, DSHS will not be able to issue food benefits after Oct. 31.”
With the holiday season comes leaves changing color, sweaters pulled out of storage, the music of Vince Guaraldi Trio playing in the distance, and the beginning of Snoopy Mania. While a beloved cartoon Beagle since his inception, Snoopy has ascended to a new level of popularity adored across generations.
In recent years, Charles Schulz’s iconic “Peanuts” comics and cartoons have found a place in the hearts of Gen Z. In particular, Snoopy has become an icon, representative of cuteness, nostalgia, and positivity.
Are winter storms coming early? It seems so as fall weather is coming to an end. Recent weather patterns suggest an approaching winter for the PNW. The Farmers’ Almanac for the 2025-2026 winter forecasts “Chill, Snow, Repeat” weather patterns.
Fall did not seem to be in the cards this year for mother nature. It almost seems like we didn’t have much of a fall season at all due to the temperature drops across the month of October, including a fatal atmospheric river this past weekend.
There are plenty of items today that have been created by Black people that have changed our lives for the better.
One of the items that have made a drastic impact on the world is the three-position traffic signal, such as stop, go, and yield. Garret Morgan, a Black man, created it at the age 47, after witnessing car accidents that were often fatal, as well as roads often being congested with horse carriages, street cars, automobiles, bicycles and pedestrians. He decided to make a change on the roads that created a positive outcome.
In the broad morning daylight of Paris on Sunday, four professional thieves broke into the Louvre Museum, stealing French Crown Jewels from the Napoleonic Era. The heist took less than eight minutes, and the thieves made away with eight priceless artifacts.
Disguised as maintenance workers, the thieves rode up on scooters outside the museum, where accomplices waited with a basket truck to lift them up to the second floor of the Apollo Gallery.
Across cities nationwide, protesters gathered at “No Kings” rallies and marches to denounce what they see as the growing threat of authoritarianism under President Donald Trump’s second term. An estimated 2,600 events took place and attended by nearly seven million people, overshooting the four to six million who attended the first national protest in June.
With Halloween coming up and all of the haunted attractions starting to open for business, a lot of those attractions have a long and questionable history that have yet to be proven, but can still scare the daylights out of you.
Sports
Veronica Garcia is a grade twelve trans athlete who competes for Tumwater High School in Spokane Wash. She runs both cross country and track and field. During last year’s academic year, she competed at the state level for the 400 meter dash, where she placed first. Garcia also joined the girls 4×4 team, as they took home the third place trophy – against her teammates wishes.
Highline volleyball didn’t just show up Friday night – they took over the court. In a five-set battle loaded with momentum swings, defensive grit, and clutch plays at the wire, the T-Birds proved they could dig deep when it mattered most.
From huge blocks to relentless hustle, Highline outlasted Centralia 3-2 in a match that kept the gym buzzing until the final swing.
The Seattle Mariners stunning season ended on Monday night, coming up one run shy of advancing to the World Series. Entering game seven of the American League Championship Series (ALCS), the Mariners needed one more victory to advance to their first-ever World Series.
However, that dream was halted with a 4-3 defeat to the American League’s number one ranked team, the Toronto Blue Jays.
Arts
Imagine heavy drums, legs bouncing, head nodding – this is what takes over when listening to Afrobeats. The category of music has been around since earlier than 2009 and is only growing in listeners in recent years.
Back then, Afrobeats music was spread throughout YouTube, Facebook, or you’d have to attend weddings and a dance hall to hear the new hits. But now it’s played on the radio!
“Chicago” tells the story of rivaling Vaudeville performers in Chicago, Velma Kelly (played by Claire Marshall) and Roxie Hart (played by Ellie Roddy), and their endeavors with men who have wronged them and the criminal justice system.
After seven years, Chicago finally hit a stage in Seattle (the 2020 tour stops were cancelled due to the global pandemic) at the 5th Avenue Theatre from Oct. 22 – Nov. 2. Simply put, this show was worth the wait.
It’s been eight years since “Andromeda” was released and it’s time to give it a look back. “Mass Effect: Andromeda” is a sci-fi RPG developed by Bioware that was released in 2017. It is a spin off series that takes place 600 years after “Mass Effect 3” (though the characters started their journey after “Mass Effect 2”) in a different galaxy altogether.
Honestly, I rarely give media five stars or a 10/10 rating as I always see how it could improve in one way or another. “Good Boy”, however, has earned all five stars and all ten points.
Not only does it soar with its concept, it sticks an impeccable landing and even does an impressive pose at the end. I absolutely recommend “Good Boy” to anyone who loves horror movies.
The black character always dies first. We all know it. It’s practically printed in the horror rule book right after ‘don’t split up.’ But “The Blackening” tears that page out, sets it on fire, and laughs while doing it. This movie takes that tired trope and says, ‘What if the Black characters didn’t die first? What if they lived, had fun, made jokes and had actual personalities?’
Radical. I know.
Released in 2023, “The Blackening” brought something horror desperately needed: a cast full of Black characters with range – messy, funny, chaotic, brilliant – and absolutely nobody here is the ‘token friend.’
Based on an odd yet relatively famous fanfiction, SenLinYu’s “Alchemised” takes the reader on a terrifying, heartwrenching, tearjerking journey through a dystopian war-torn society.
A colleague of mine explained the book “Alchemised”, saying “I can describe this book as a twisted blending of schoolyard magic and fucked up shit” and you know what? I can’t think of a better description for it.
With its soaring music and heartfelt storytelling, “Wicked” casts more than a spell – it sparks a conversation about identity, acceptance, friendship, and most of all, self-love. The Broadway-musical adaptation film invited audiences to look beyond its breathtaking visuals and magical setting to uncover a message about what it truly means to be human.
“Wicked” was one of the most anticipated film adaptations of 2024 and had very high expectations from fans of the beloved Broadway musical. Its release sparked plenty of conversation. While some viewers praised its stunning visuals and powerful performances, others felt it didn’t fully capture the magic of the stage version.
Once in a blue moon, an anime that changes up the formula and excels at it appears. This time around, it’s “The Witch and The Beast.” The anime focuses on the two main characters, Ashaf and Guideau, as they hunt down a legendary witch. To those who don’t want to be spoiled, don’t worry, this is a spoiler free review.
The show starts off strong with an action packed introduction that not only showcases the type of fight choreography the show employs, but also the inherent outlandishness of magic.
Science & Technology
Did you know that 11% of adults have nyctophobia? For the unfamiliar, Nyctophobia is the fear of the dark, and it often begins at a young age for a variety of reasons.
For example, nyctophobia can stem from traumas associated with dark places, or it simply could come from environmental factors like family members that also fear the dark.
Rebecca Skloot’s “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” provides an important perspective on consent with cell culture by examining the family of Henrietta Lacks. Should researchers be allowed to use cell samples for scientific research without patient consent? The knee-jerk reaction might be a resounding “No!” This topic is actually much more nuanced than that.
Henrietta Lacks was a Black woman from Baltimore who died of cervical cancer in 1951. During the treatment for her cancer, a sample of her cells was taken without her knowledge. These cells would later be cultured by Dr. George Otto Gey to form the famous HeLa (short for Henrietta Lacks) cell line. This cell line was the first and most prominent cell line to be immortal.
Opinion
When I first heard that Amazon was cutting 14,000 corporate jobs because of artificial intelligence, I couldn’t help but feel a mix of shock and concern. To then find out that about 2,300 cuts were in Seattle alone, according to the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) website, was just further disappointment.
I couldn’t help but wonder: Where does that leave the rest of us?
It’s only the first year of Trump’s second presidency, and it’s already proven to be an exhausting and brutal one. First the Trump administration impulsively renamed the Gulf of Mexico (only in the States at least), then they began sending the National Guard to attack “terrorist Antifa holdouts” in states considered highly left-leaning.
Now, the official White House twitter account is calling immigrants alien monsters. Yes, you read that right.
Young teens were exploited. They were trafficked, used, and discarded. This isn’t a rumor or a conspiracy, these are facts. So I ask: does Congress really care? Do the courts? Do the politicians, the CEOs, the celebrities, the royals, the financiers – do any of them believe the rules apply to them?
Whether you’re far on one side or far on the other, it feels like we’re living in the multiverse. Let’s talk about Epstein’s friends, shall we?
ThunderPod
With our second episode, of our second season the ThunderPod gets to know resident editor and staff member Lilah Nutting. Along with her experience the team shares an exclusive interview with the lead tutor of the Academic Success Center. This is an episode you won’t want to miss.
For long time listeners or first time viewers, Highline’s official podcast, the ThunderPod, has returned. This inaugural fall quarter episode marks new changes for the podcast as well as an exclusive interview with the Marine Science and Technology Center’s (MaST) new lead aquarist.
First and most notably of the ThunderPod’s modifications is the visual element. Now students, staff, faculty, and followers can view the podcast.