Local Riders Found Dead

The local Trailriders Association is grieving this week after two of its members were found dead in Sugar Hills Park, following an end of the year ride. Chuck and Sarah Schmidt were found on the Seneca Lake Trail, with multiple injuries. Although the Ithaca PD and Park Rangers are still investigating, foul play is not suspected at this time.

Community Garden Graces Elizabeth Street Park

     Community organizers gathered to break ground on a new community garden this weekend, in the remains of the playground of the shuttered P.S. 21 on Elizabeth Street. Organized by local musician K, citizens of The City gathered to construct "winterized" raised bed planters and plant lettuce, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, and more.

     "Providing the insulated covers like this doesn't provide enough warmth to grow produce during the winter, unfortunately, but it does allow them to put down extra root systems, allowing earlier and greater production next season," one volunteer explained. "It would have been great if the city could have provided the permits sooner, but we'll still be able to supplement the diets of dozens of low-income families across Nolita."

    Organizers thanked K, known within the community as front-person of "K and the Apocalypse," for bringing further attention to mutual aid efforts in the neighborhood. "K really walks the walk, where a lot of other artists think that by just talking about issues they can affect change," said Saori Sano, leader of Hands Up for Nolita. "Without their help, we might have lacked the dozens of volunteers here today, helping to make this garden a reality."

     Locals expressed appreciation of the new project, as well. Les Quaker, who attended P.S. 21 when it was still a school, told reporters, "Ever since the City shut down the school, the community has been wondering, what was going to happen to it, to the space. People were talking about, oh, they're going to sell to out-of-town landlords, they're going to let crooked developers buy it, try to gentrify the neighborhood, drive rent prices up, we're all going to have to move out. So it's really nice to see that, for once, the City is thinking of the little guy. It kind of gives us hope for the community."

Readers who wish to visit the new garden can locate it just off Elizabeth St, between Prince and Spring streets, two blocks west of Sara Roosevelt Park. Although open to the public, organizers request that anybody who wants to participate in the garden contact Hands Up for Nolita.

Except from a Hunting Shack

[Begin Transcription]

[Sound of hinges squeaking]

"Oh my gosh, it's...it's empty. Completely cleaned out!"

"God bless you, Andy, but why couldn't you have just locked the God-bless-ed door?!"

"I'm sorry, Amos, but who could have predicted this? Our shack has been here on the edge of these woods for decades, and nobody's ever bothered it before. That someone would come to it and decide to take our supplies? Come on, who would ever have guessed?"

"You're....[a sigh] No, you're right. I'm sorry. I never locked it either. I'm just...I mean, why would anyone even take that old junk?"

"Well, I mean, I know cast iron has gotten popular again among city folk. I can't explain the rest of it, though."

"The chairs, the blankets? City folk wouldn't care about that."

[Approximately six seconds of silence]

"I'm real sorry, Amos. I know that was the blanket your Gran knitted you."

"It was. That's what hurts most, I think. They don't even know what they've got, what it costs. The rest can be replaced, but...that hurts."

"I tell you what. Elma knows the people who run the pawn shop in Fogelsville. I think I've got a picture from last season or two of you with the blanket wrapped around you. We'll spread it around, let people know we just want the blanket back, no questions asked. See if we can get lucky."

"I...I appreciate that, Andy. That's real fine of you. You're a good friend."

[Approximately four seconds of silence]

"D'ya ever wonder what's coming of this world? Like, even out here in the small towns, we're seeing more crime. Did'ja know Terrance told me he's found evidence somebody's been stealing into the stores on Main Street. Not taking anything that will be missed, he said, but still, what kinda weirdo sneaks into other people's stores and homes, like some kinda pervert?"

"Well, Pastor says we're in the end days, so I guess it's only to be expected. ...Anyway, come on, we can't use the hut like this. We'll have to restock supplies, and we might as well get Elma working on spreading that picture."

"Yeah, fair enough. Let's go."

[Sound of hinges squeaking]

[End Transcription]

APB BOTL: AMBER ALERT

ALL OFFICERS BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MISSING CHILD. 17 YEAR OLD O-TOKI [LASTNAME], 5 FOOT 5 INCHES 160 POUNDS ASIAN APPEARANCE WENT MISSING FROM HIS HOME ON FRIDAY NOV 22. REPORTED MISSING BY FATHER. FATHER REPORTEDLY WORKING AT TIME OF DISAPPEARANCE. MOTHER’S PRESENCE NOTED IN 1 POLICE PLAZA WITH LAWYER ON UNRELATED CHARGES, NOT CONSIDERED SUSPECT AT THIS TIME.

EVIDENCE OF STRUGGLE NOTED AT RESIDENCE. EVIDENCE OF FIRE IN CHILD’S ROOM NOTED. DESTROYED PERSONAL EFFECTS IN CHILD’S ROOM NOTED. BLOOD SPLATTERS ON CARPET IN CHILD’S ROOM NOTED. BLOOD SAMPLES COLLECTED, OUT TO LAB FOR ANALYSIS. NO RESULTS AT TIME OF REPORT, REPORT TO BE UPDATED WITH ANY HITS ON CODIS. DRUG PARAPHERNALIA NOTED IN CHILD’S ROOM.

CHILD CONSIDERED IN DANGER WITH NO SUSPECTS CURRENTLY. POSSIBLE RANSOM MOTIVE. CHILD LAST SEEN WEARING GREY HOODIE SWEATSHIRT. APPROACH WITH CAUTION.

NOTE: CHILD IS GRANDSON OF SO-SOBO [LASTNAME], OWNER OF [COMPANY]. POTENTIAL MEDIA FALLOUT IF CHILD INJURED OR ENDANGERED BY DEPT. EXERCISE ALL AVAILABLE CAUTION.

“A Rockin’ Good Time

We here in the office of the Connecticut Scholar were delighted this week to be informed that Angouléme punk band “K & The Apocolypse” had agreed to play a private show for residents of the School. Headmistress Wiater made the announcement during dinner on Monday night, causing a great stir of excitement, especially among those who follow the punk-rock scene, but by Wednesday night, even some of the teachers were getting into the mood!

The band put on an “amazing” show, and to the total credit of the band, when some students began displaying their enthusiasm from their seats, the band didn’t miss a note, but continued playing long into the night! Even though some songs were repeated during the “set list,” when the band stepped off the stage, calls for encores followed them.

As bassist Kate Vills told our very own Star Shands, in a private interview following the show, “Listen, we don’t [care] what the rich and politically powerful [people] think, [Students] are people just like us. The real fight should be against the oppressive regimes which keep us all downtrodden under the heels of capitalism! There’s a place in that fight for everyone, whether [Student] or not.”

Right on, Kate! You guys are welcome back any time you care to come, and we hope it will be soon!

Heritage Party Victory

Following Tuesday’s election, Heritage Party candidate Nick Fuentes has been elected to Burough Council by thin margins. Declaring a mandate from the people, Fuentes promised to keep the Five Burroughs safe and free from what he called the “mutant scourge.” 

Critics have accused Fuentes of fanning the flames of hatred and violating the civil rights of an underprivileged minority group. Fuentes’ campaign mocked his critics, with his representative declaring, “Non-humans don’t get to have human rights just because they look like us and scare you. We wouldn’t extend them to a rapid chimpanzee, nor should we to these animals.”

The Infinity Uprising: A Look Back

February 14th, when most couples are visiting expensive restaurants and exchanging candies, marks for the LGBTQIA+ community the 45th anniversary of the Infinity Uprising, when homophobic acts of violence against club attendees at the Infinity Club led to all-out street warfare between the embattled gay community and the marshaled forces of the City Police, and eventually to a building fire which consumed the club entirely.

Occurring over a year before same-sex relationships in the City were de-criminalized in 1980, veterans of the Uprising (who insist that the use of the word “riots” was perpetrated only to justify police violence against club patrons) recall that the night began with attacks on gay men in the streets outside the club. Patrons of Infinity—notable for including lesbian and gender-nonconforming members of the community at a time when most bars and clubs were exclusive to one group or another—poured out to meet the threat on the cold streets. Dancers at the nearby hip-hop dance club Gallery soon joined the crowd, intent on showing a unified front. When police arrived, they reported “rioting in the streets,” and called in officers from nearby precincts, who arrived in riot gear, intent on “breaking those [homosexual’s] heads.”

The violence lasted into the early hours of the morning, leaving scores injured on both sides. At some point, Molotov cocktails were employed against the police, who responded with flashbangs and tear gas, which at the time released combustible gases. It remains unknown how the fire, which ignited in the pillow factory above the club, was started, only its outcome: The complete destruction of the building housing the club and factory. In the end, a City Fire Department tanker truck had to turn its hoses on both the Uprisers and the police in order to clear enough room for the CFD pumper trucks to approach and extinguish the blaze.

The ultimate outcome of the incident may have seemed to have been in the homophobe’s favor—the destruction of yet another safe space for the burgeoning queer community, and yet more hostility with the police, not even a decade after Stonewall. However, the LGBTQIA+ community, in response to the loss of Infinity, came together in a show of solidarity, and soon every bar and club in the Boroughs began allowing gay men, lesbians, drag queens, transsexuals, and the transgender community. Activist organizations sprouted from the ashes of Infinity to advocate for rights and protections, and less than two years later, homosexual activity was officially decriminalized within City limits. It was among the first of the significant victories which, from Stonewall to Obergefell, took the queer community from persecution to celebration over the course of nearly fifty years.

A Quiet Visit

O-Natsu has visited her grandmother in the hospital for a quiet, if productive, chat.

Mogul Family Mansion Drama!

Police have arrested a scion of industry this week after an alleged poisoning of her grandmother, in what police are calling an inheritance scheme. Unusually, they claim she used arsenic, reminiscent of what some are calling a theatrical script.

The family are not releasing any information at this time.

Big Trouble in Little Chinatown

Terror overtook Dayton Street today when a Triad execution turned a latent psychic’s ability against the community, turning hundreds of citizens into zombie-like assailants. The attack lasted almost one hour before riot police were able to restore order. 
Damage estimates range in the tens of thousands of dollars, and dozens remain in the care of local hospitals. At this time, police have arrested six suspects, but are not releasing further details.

Heritage Party Debate Results

Following last night’s debates, the Heritage Party of Statelandia candidate David Fuentes, 45, has surged ahead in the polls, leading his primary opponent, Jordan Kirk, 54, for the first time since March, 49% to 44%.

Mr. Fuentes had been seen as a dark horse for the avowedly anti-Mutant party, after it was discovered that he met with infamous parahuman 2Capes, also known as Parish Williams, 28, on Keen’s Island last October. Although Mr. Fuentes had attempted to dissemble after his trip was discovered, claiming his meeting was with Keen’s Warden to discuss the intricacies of imprisoning and housing dangerous Mutants, video footage was later released of the two chatting and laughing in an Interview Room outside the presence of prison officials. 

During last night’s debate, however, Mr. Fuentes’ principal opponent, Mr. Kirk, appeared to fumble during key policy explanations, seeming to walk back previous declarations that all mutants be imprisoned for civil safety reasons.

”The simple truth is, not every Mutant is dangerous, just as not every Human is safe,” Mr. Kirk explained, in response to a question of funding secure cells for Mutants. “Certainly the majority of Mutants need to be segregated from society, but some might prove they can be of benefit to polite Human society, in one way or another, and those Mutants ought to be, while monitored, certainly, also utilized for the greater good.”

Mr. Fuentes seized upon this perceived flip-flop by his opponent to double down on his own rhetoric of parahuman use.

“If it can be proven that Mutants can be made suitably docile, a prospect which by the way I very much doubt, but if it can be proven, then wonderful; let the States decide whether to rent or even lease out bonded Mutants to trusted businesses and individuals. Some States, I am sure, might even contemplate the sale of Mutants to trusted owners, although I myself think this would be a terrible proposal here in L’Orange,” said Fuentes, referring to the popular nickname for Citieston. “The prospect of money in their pockets might blind our local lawmakers to the inherent dangers these creatures pose, and those which ought be put down for safety might be suffered in pursuit of the almighty dollar. That’s not a risk I feel comfortable asking Joe and Jane Stateslandia to bear, honestly.”

The two remaining candidates, Fatema Moser, 37, and Mike De Witte, 53, both dropped out of the race last night, neither polling above five percent recognition. The Heritage Party of Stateslandia primary will take place next month.

Battle on the Bridge!

Dozens were left stranded yesterday after a new villain made his appearance over the upper deck of the First President’s Bridge on the Upper West Side. Flying through the air on what appeared to be a technologically advanced surfboard, the latest menace, dressed in yellow-painted plate mail, formed globes of green energy in his hands before hurling them to the ground to explode with terrifying energy, according to eyewitnesses. Although it appears the villain may have been trying to rob an armored Margins truck, his aim was apparently as poor as his plan, and the truck—which sources report was carrying just under six million dollars—was able to escape with little more than cosmetic damage.

”It’s a tragedy that we even live in this world,” said Margins representative John McDermott. “When the hard-working men and women of this country have to worry about parahumans showing up and trying to steal what belongs to other people, it just goes to show how much the current administration has bent over backwards for these so-called ‘supers.’ It’s really a shame, a damn shame.”

Although the new threat was unable to achieve his nefarious goal, nearly ten private vehicles were wholly or partially destroyed in his attack, and the center-right lane on the upper deck of the First President’s Bridge received extensive damage. Estimations extend into the hundreds of thousands of dollars for repairs, and traffic will remain congested along the upper deck until repairs are completed, estimated to be sometime late next year.

When asked about the event, Police Commissioner DeWolff praised local first responders. “I’m proud of the hard work and sacrifice of our boys in blue. These are men and women who risk their lives every day to keep the public safe, and although this new villain escaped today, rest assured we will not rest until he—or she—is safely behind bars in our new parahuman detention facility.”

New Players in the Supernatural World

Three new young people have been spied shaking hands with a creepy stranger in a bright orange suit. Stay tuned for more!