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Panther Prowler • Jan. 22, 2021
Joe Biden is inaugurated as president Abby Gorman Editorial Editor
Adalia Luo DPS Editor
On Jan. 20, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took the oath of office and officially became the president and vice president of the United States. Harris, sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, made history as the first Black, AsianAmerican and woman as vice president. Some changes to the inaugural ceremony were made in order to comply with social distancing guidelines. Attendance was reduced to about a thousand guests, a small crowd in comparison to the amount that typically gathers across the National Mall; for reference, it is estimated that 1.8 million people attended Barack Obama’s first inaugural ceremony in 2008. Security issues were also of concern following recent events at the Capitol. As a result, much of the city’s transportation was put on halt, and 25,000 National Guard troops were deployed to the surrounding area, a larger perimeter than in years past. Also notable about the ceremony was former Pres. Donald Trump’s decision to not attend; although former Vice President Mike Pence was present, this is the first time an outgoing president has not attended since 1868. The ceremony featured several guest speakers and performers, including the national anthem sung by Lady Gaga and the invocation led by Rev. Leo J. O’Donovan. Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman read a poet she wrote for the occasion following the recent events at the Capitol, titled “The Hill We Climb.” Biden delivered a 21-minute inaugural speech addressing the nation. “To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America, requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: Unity,” Biden said. “Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this. Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation. And I ask every American to join me in this cause.”
Salute- Following the ceremony, Biden and Harris visited Arlington Cemetery to perform Salutethe traditional wreath-laying event at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Abby Gorman/ Prowler
Acacia’’ Day of Service provides for all Sarena Kabir News Editor
Unity- As the Acacia PTA Board hosts their food drive, Acacia teachers Ms. Nystrom, Ms. Sonstegard and Ms. UnityVillanueva helped bring bags of food for collection. “We had teachers from Acacia...packing bags. It was definitely a nice way to do something for someone else, and feel safe.” Beth Neal said. Beth Neal/With Permission
Beth Neal, vice president of the Acacia PTA Board, hosted a food drive on Jan. 17 at Acacia Elementary School in order to help those in need of food. People across the entire community were able to come together and donate about 4000 pounds of food to Adelante Comunidad Conejo. According to their website, Adelante is an organization that strives to “address concerns within the Conejo Valley Spanish speaking community regarding opportunities and services offered to our children in the local public schools.” Neal came across Adelante because of Dr. Betsy Connolly, former school board trustee, and Carol Shelton, one of the board members of Adelante. “I said ‘Listen, if I can pull together like a drive-thru food drive, where people just drive through our little circle, pop the trunk, you know, we take the stuff, you say goodbye... If I can pull that off, can you open up Adelante on Monday the 18th so we can drop off the donations?’ [Shelton’s] like, ‘Yeah, totally,’” Neal said. This is Neal’s third year of hosting this drive; however, this year’s drive was especially successful despite the pandemic. “The community support was just overwhelming. I do believe that we’re in that weird time, where people are…aching for a way to help their neighbor and they don’t know how,” Neal said. “I [also] think for our volunteers, [that there was a] boost to their mental health by being able to help somebody. I think they probably received more gifts that day than they ever expected because they were able to do something and feel good.”
Democrats take government trifecta with twin victories in Georgia Carter Castillo Features Editor Democrats have officially won control of the presidency, the House of Representatives and the Senate after Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock won their special elections in Georgia. On Jan. 5, Georgia held two runoff elections, one between incumbent appointed Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Warnock for a two year term in a special election. The other race was between incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Ossoff. Both Loeffler and Perdue have conceded their races. Runoff elections were triggered because no candidate received over 50 percent of the vote in either of the general elections. Republicans only needed to win one seat to maintain their Senate majority, but Democrats needed to win both races to create a 50-50 Democrat-Republican split in the Senate. This would give Vice President Kamala Harris the tie breaking vote where she will hand Democrats the slimmest Senate majority since 2000. With the power of the Senate now in the hands of Democrats, they will control a government trifecta for the first half of Biden’s presidency, with both the executive and legislative branch being run by Democrats. Democrats still face many challenges, in large part due to the Senate filibuster that requires 60 votes to end debate on any topic. However, Senate control does at least give Biden a fighting chance for his policies.
Carter Castillo/Prowler
