News Wrap Up

There is a lot happening in our world right now! Make sure you stay informed by reading about five of the top news stories from this week below. 

On Sept. 22, an 89-year-old pizza deliverer received a $12,000 tip. Darlin Newey says he began delivering pizzas for Papa John’s because he couldn’t live off social security alone. Newey is known amongst his customers for his kind nature and friendly opening line, “Hello, are you looking for some pizza?” He recently became popular on TikTok when one of his customers, Carlos Valdez, started recording his deliveries. With over 53,000 followers loving videos of Newey’s deliveries, the Valdez family asked for donations to bless Newey. The response was overwhelming. The family received just over $12,000 and took a trip to Newey’s house to deliver the surprise tip. Newey was very thankful for everyone’s generosity. 

On Sept. 26, President Trump officially nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court. Judge Barrett is a conservative jurist who has taken a strong stand against several liberal movements, including abortion rights and gun control. If Judge Barrett is elected to the Supreme Court, it will tilt the court’s majority to the right. President Trump introduced Barrett as “a woman of unparalleled achievement, towering intellect, sterling credentials, and unyielding loyalty to the Constitution.” If Amy is elected, she will be the youngest justice sitting on the bench, as well as the first and only mother of school-aged children to serve on the court. In reference to this fact, President Trump stated, “Amy is more than a stellar scholar and judge… She’s also a profoundly devoted mother.”

This week, self-made billionaire, Chuck Feeney, completed his life goal of giving away all his money before he died. Chuck is an Irish-American citizen who was born into a middle-class family in New Jersey. He made his billions by working hard in the duty-free shopping industry. For the past 38 years, Feeney has made it his goal to give away his entire $8 billion fortune. He has often been called the “secret billionaire” because he gave away most of his money without anyone realizing it. Feeney believed in giving generously and was motivated by Andrew Carnegie’s essay, The Gospel of Wealth, that challenged, “The millionaire will be but a trustee for the poor.” 

A group of local dads have joined together to build free school desks for low-income students learning at home. Upon realizing that many young students were working on their beds or at crowded kitchen tables due to schools closing, Jessica Berrellez asked her husband, Al, to try building a cheap school desk. Berrellez’s project was a success, and he soon collected a group of local dads who were willing to volunteer their time to the charitable construction project. They call themselves Desks by Dads. As of Sept. 26, they have built and delivered over 40 different desks to students for free. Al Berrellez expressed his excitement over the work Desks by Dads has accomplished, saying, “Each volunteer who builds a desk makes it better, and that’s been awesome to watch.”

After a farmer’s heart attack, his neighbors worked together to finish harvesting his land. Farmer Lane Unhjem was hard at work on his 1,000-acre farm in North Dakota when he suffered from a heart attack. Though Unhjem was quickly transported to a hospital, his fields remained full of crops that needed to be harvested before winter. In a show of kindness and support, his community gathered together and worked hard to harvest his land in seven hours, a record time. Family friend Jenna Binde stated, “ I talked to a couple of farmers, got their equipment, and then other people just started calling, and we had equipment offered from all over the place in the county, and their workers to go with it.” In the end, about 60 volunteers showed up to help. 

Jordan Lance

Jordan Lance

Jordan Lance is the Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Runner.