By Mike Ravas

This is the most debatable topic you can find on the news today. “We need to ban any and all guns that make Americans happy.” That is basically what the government is trying to do. Now, don’t get me wrong, some things I do agree with like having mental background checks before someone buys a gun. I understand and agree with that part. What I don’t agree with, though, is the fact that you are trying to take away assault rifles way from American people.

I believe that every American has a god given right to own and assault rifle just like it states in the second amendment that every American has the right to bear arms. Now, not everyone should be allowed to use an assault rifle especially people with mental disabilities, but normal gun-loving Americans should be allowed to own something that they feel would look good in their collection. The government is trying to be like “Big Brother” watching over our every move and trying to control us. Well, this is a direct message to the government from me: stop trying to control us and let us have free will that our ancestors fought to give to us.

By Rachael Cummings

St. Patrick’s Day as we all know, is a festive and fun celebration! All over the country many states, major cities and even small towns celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Pittsburgh loves its St. Patrick Day Parade. Chilly temperatures and drizzle didn’t stop thousands of people from heading downtown, regardless of their ethnic background. This year Pittsburgh celebrated the holiday like they always do with Pittsburgh’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It is a free parade — to celebrate the freedom to be Irish and to celebrate the holiday to it’s fullest. Music, floats, and festively decorated people fill the streets and thousands of people flock to the city to see the massive event. It’s the second largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the country. And it attracts people from all around and even those outside of Pittsburgh. It’s a lot of fun. It’s Pittsburgh’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. A fun filled time that continued its nearly 150-year tradition this past Saturday, March 16^th 2013.

By Jacob Dickey

A state judge shut down New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (D) proposal to ban sugary drinks in containers which hold over 16 ounces of said drinks. This proposal was rejected for many reasons but the three that rise to the forefront are:

1. Too many establishments were exempt from the ban described in this proposal. (supermarkets, gas stations, etc.)
2. Nothing is stopping people from simply buying multiple drinks.
3. Many people believe this ban would punish the poor who may have purchased a large drink to share (perhaps at the movies)

For these reasons this proposal was met with strong resistance from many New Yorkers, who saw it as a restriction of their freedom. This proposal was however very well intentioned. The proposal was intended to cut down on NYC’s skyrocketing obesity rates (65% of men and 40% of women). This proposal’s failure is simply more proof of how government regulation of business is not a solution to the many problems America faces in the 21^st century.

By Elizabeth Fernandez

Many restaurants like coffee shops, barbecue joints, and nightclubs with bottle-service are going to start selling smaller glasses of soda in New York. Many restaurants are unhappy about this new banning of the size of the sugary beverages. On March 12, all restaurants in NYC will be prohibited to sell glasses of soda over 16 ounces. At Brother Jimmy’s BBQ, customers will no longer be able to order 24-ounce glasses of soda. The city officials say it’s a new, practical step to help stop an obesity rate that has risen from 18 to 24 percent in the last decade among adult New Yorkers. Health officials say sugar-filled drinks are much to blame because they contain hundreds of calories. A 32-ounce soda has more than a typical fast-food cheeseburger and it doesn’t make people feel full. However, the new restriction does not apply to alcoholic beverages.

By Elizabeth Fernandez

A 12-year-old boy, named Bailey O’Neill, just died on Sunday, March 3, after being in a medically induced coma. Bailey had gotten in a school fight on January 10 at Darby Township School in Upper Darby, Pa. He allegedly was jumped by two of his classmates; one of them fractured his nose. His father, Rob O’Neill, spoke to ABCNews.com about what had happened to his son: “It was an altercation in the schoolyard where a kid wanted to fight my son and my son wanted to walk away. One boy pushed Bailey into the kid (who wanted to fight him). That kid then hit him in the face, then hit his head on the ground. One pushed him into the kid, then the other kid did the rest of the work.” Bailey had hit his head during the altercation, giving him a concussion. From then on his father noticed something seemed wrong with his 11 year old. He was not feeling good and he was very irritable, that’s when they found out he had a concussion. A week and a half later he began having seizures. He was taking to a hospital where he was placed in the medically induced coma. He turned 12 on March 2 and was taken off of life support Sunday Morning. His father thanked everyone for their support and prayers on the Facebook page Building Hope for Bailey.

By Emily Efthimiades

A toddler that had been diagnosed with HIV at birth has been cured. This offers major medical opportunities when it comes to hopefully finding a cure for AIDS. If doctors can replicate this in other infants they can stop the spread of babies that are HIV infected with the potential of developing AIDS. “If we can replicate this in other infants … this has huge implications for the burden of infection that’s occurring globally,” said Dr. Deborah Persaud, a pediatrician at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

Over 1,000 infants infected with HIV are born daily according to the latest estimates from UNAIDS Global Report. This means that over 330,000 children could potentially develop AIDS. The most common way these children develop HIV is from paternal transmission. HIV transmission from an infected mother to a child while she is pregnant is possible when giving birth or when she breast-feeds the child.

The number of infants that have been diagnosed with HIV in the United States has gone down 90% since the mid 90’s. Most of this is because of the vigorous tests pregnant women are put through to test and see if the virus is present. If the mother is diagnosed however, there are many precautions the doctor takes to prevent the child from getting the disease, which usually works.

However in nations where the countries are still developing, and pregnant women do not have the opportunities to get these tests, if the have the disease they will most likely pass it to their child. Mothers are less likely to be treated with antiretroviral drugs that would prevent transmission during pregnancy. In North Africa and the Middle East, for instance, 3% of pregnant women with HIV received antiretroviral medications, according to the U.N. report. Some 23% in West and Central Africa did. Testing is also less sophisticated in these areas.

“We are enthusiastic about the potential of this case, but it is one case and it needs to be replicated and confirmed through future studies and clinical trials,” said Dr. Meg Doherty, the World Health Organization’s Department of HIV/AIDS coordinator of treatment and care. “We will not be changing any of our current guidance in this case, but we will continue to watch for new information and provide updates to our prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) and early infant diagnosis guidance as necessary.”

Medicines that treat HIV are very pricey, but it is cheaper to treat an infant for two years, rather then a whole lifetime of treatment after infection. Doctors are very optimistic and if this can be repeated, this discovery could make a huge difference internationally.

We say that every seven seconds an angel gets it’s wings.  Did you know though, that about every three hours someone dies from a texting related accident?  Over the past few months, the State House has been revising and negotiating the bill to ban texting while driving.  Yesterday the long debate on whether this bill would happen came to rest.  The House voted 188 to 7 to approve the bill for Pennsylvania.  The bill has to be sent back to the Senate for some language tweaking before moving on to the governor, Tom Corbett.  The process should not take long and once approved by both Pennsylvania will join the 30 other states that have past the texting while driving ban.

Senate Bill 314, states that drivers of all ages are prohibited from using interactive wireless communication devices for reading, writing, or sending text messages while driving.  Many Officials are for this bill including Representative Josh Shapiro.  He has been pushing for this anti-texting bill since the beginning.  He said, “This has been a long time coming.  This will no doubt make our roadways safer.”

With this bill, police will be able to pull over anyone texting without having any other problems. Although they can arrest you for texting, they cannot do it for cell phone use, but they can add it as an offense if a driver is pulled over for another offense.  This ban on texting while driving has a generally favorable review from drivers in Pennsylvania.  Folks from Northern Tier say that it is about time.  While this ban cannot stop drivers from texting while driving, it will hopefully make them think twice before texting and driving.

On October 20, Libyan leaders reported that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, who had ruled Libya for nearly forty-two years, was dead. The reports came after an attack on a convoy leaving Qaddafi’s hometown of Surt. The convoy left around 8:30 local time, and was set upon by an American Predator drone and French warplane before covering two miles. The convoy was stopped, and Anti-Qaddafi fighters chased after people fleeing from the convoy.

Libyan rebel leaders say that Qaddafi was found hiding in a drainage pipe, wounded but alive, and that he was taken away in an ambulance to die afterward. However, cellphone picture and video evidence from the events seem to show a different scenario: that Qaddafi was executed by the rebels. The videos showed Qaddafi being beaten and dragged through the streets after being taken captive. There is no clear evidence whether he was still alive when he was taken away in the ambulance.

Most Libyan citizens, as well as a large portion of the Arab world, do not care the way that Qaddafi died, and are simply happy that he is gone. NATO is expected to announce the end of its campaign in Libya, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy says that Qaddafi’s death means the end of military intervention in the country.

Libyan leaders on the National Transitional Council (NTC) must now decide what to do with Qaddafi’s body, and how to move forward. Under Islamic tradition, burial should take place as soon as possible, but NTC officials say that they will hold onto the body for a few days. There is speculation that the burial will occur in secret, or possibly at sea, so the final resting place cannot be turned into a shrine by followers, but no decision has been made yet.

Official inquiry of the circumstances of Qaddafi’s death is expected to occur.