Similar to early on during the pandemic when California led the country in stay at home orders, now Sonoma County has taken the initiative as the first county in the state to mandate masks be worn in all public settings. While the initiative was announced on April 13, it was not enforced until April 17. However, declaring this public health order led multiple counties in the Bay Area to follow suit.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge throughout California and the surrounding United States, Sonoma county has been faced with over 100 cases. One of these cases resulted in the untimely death of Marylou Armer, a beloved police detective with the Santa Rosa Police Department.

After 20 years of serving her community, her end of watch was on March 31 after becoming ill following a positive diagnosis for the COVID-19 virus. She was the first to fall victim to the virus in Sonoma County.

Throughout the world, COVID-19 continues to filter its way through each country. The number of documented illnesses continues to climb as the total number across the globe has reached and surpassed its one-millionth case.

However, 300,000 of these cases belong to the United States. This means the US is the epicenter of the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

The world is on lock down under the grip of the COVID-19 virus with no clear end in sight. As some countries begin to lighten their societal restrictions, other countries are just beginning to enact their own. The new hot-spot for COVID-19 is within the borders of the United States, and according to the Worldometers’ coronavirus tracker, the U.S. now has over 100,000 cases of the virus across its 50 states.

Santa Rosa School District is looking at a multi-million dollar budget cut after a steady decline in enrollment. The decrease in the budget creates financial stress for the school district to provide special programming to specific groups of students as well as keep jobs related to that special programming.

This cut will affect English language learning programs due to a decrease in two currently staffed positions. While enrollment has gone down, these programs are still of great value to the school district. These positions travel throughout the schools in the district in order to provide this special programming.

War is a big business in the United States. With an annual national budget of $778 billion, according to the United States Armed Forces, the U.S. leads the world in military spending. This number is only projected to rise throughout the upcoming years.

This budget is only second on the list of U.S. spending, coming in directly after Social Security spending. According to the Balance, the military budget consists of many components that influence its large spending habits, however, it could do away with certain aspects of its spending in order to reduce its overall total.

Democratic candidates are gearing up for the most substantial primary voting day, Super Tuesday, occurring on March 3. This event consists of the greatest amount of states voting on the same day, which means it is a crucial day for candidates, as it can decide who will drop out or stay in the running to get the party’s nomination.

Super Tuesday is important because more a third of all available delegates will be awarded on one day. The states voting Tuesday include Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. States that have already voted in early primary voting are Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. After Tuesday, 18 states will have made their decision on who they want to delegate their votes to. However, the remaining 32 states still have their heavy percentage of delegations to allot after the infamous Super Tuesday.

Students: do not be fooled, the university’s “Big Cats” night is not merely limited to what its title suggests; the event offers an experience larger than what the average student, attendee or not, may even think to be the case.