1. President Donald Trump said he will allow the release of whose assassination files?
a. John F. Kennedy
b. William McKinley
c. Abraham Lincoln
2. Besides Birmingham and Huntsville, what other Alabama town set a bid to become the new headquarters for Amazon?
a. Cullman
b. Scottsboro
c. Jasper
3. Who is the new Red Sox manager?
a. Joe Girardi
b. Alex Cora
c. John Farrell
4. The Halloween costume of which historical figure was removed from stores across the country because it was deemed very offensive?
a. Martin Luther King, Jr.
b. Sitting Bull
c. Anne Frank
5. Which member of American race car driver Martin Truex Jr.’s crew died on Oct. 22?
a. James “Jim” Watson
b. Cole Pearn
c. Erik Jones
6. ________ out of the five Wheaton College football players accused of hazing plead not guilty.
a. Three
b. Four
c. Five
1. A. Trump tweeted on Oct. 21 that he will release the classified files about former President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 to the public through the National Archives. According to The Los Angeles Times, the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act in 1992 blocked the files from being released to the public to stamp down conspiracy theories. Government officials expected Trump to block the release because sensitive documents could be mixed into the collection of more than 3,000 files.
It is unclear whether Trump will release all the documents relating to Kennedy’s assassination or a partial amount. Trump has until Oct. 26 to change his mind to block the files’ release.
2. B. With a population of nearly 15,000, the small town of Scottsboro, Alabama, submitted a bid to become the new headquarters for Amazon. Scottsboro will be competing with larger cities such as New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Birmingham and Huntsville. Scottsboro and Jackson County officials decided it was worth a shot even if their chances of winning the bid were slim.
Alabama Media Group reported that Amazon is looking for a location with a population of over one million residents, relatively close proximity to an international airport, mass transit, quality higher education, an educated workforce, a business-friendly environment and high quality of life. The population specification could knock out Scottsboro in the competition, as they do not meet the recommended one million residents.
3. B. Professional baseball coach and former infielder Alex Cora was named the 47th Red Sox manager in club history on Oct. 22, entering a three-year contract that will run through the 2020 season. In his professional life, the Puerto Rican native Cora played with the Red Sox during 2005–08 seasons and was the former Houston Astros bench coach, according to the Providence Journal reported.
“We could not have found a better match for our players, our front office and for where we intend to go over the coming years as an organization,” said Red Sox owner John W. Henry.
4. C. Stores across the nation have removed Halloween costumes of Anne Frank that were deemed controversial. Frank was a German teenager who wrote a diary about how she and her family hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II and the harsh experiences after being discovered.
The Huffington Post reported the costume was taken off HalloweenCostumes.com’s site, and the spokesperson for the site, Ross Walker Smith, expressed the company’s apology. Some other companies changed the description of the costume to British children evacuating to London during World War II similar to the children in the Chronicles of Narnia.
5. A. James “Jim” Watson died at age 55 from a heart attack after he and the other members of the Furniture Row Racing crew had go-carted. Watson was rushed to the hospital on the evening of Oct. 21 but was pronounced dead the next morning.
According to the Herald Sun, Martin Truex Jr. didn’t know Watson as much as his crew members did, but the driver decided to dedicate his win at the NASCAR Cup Series on Oct. 22 to Watson. “Today the best we could do was win for him in his honor,” Truex said. “And we did it.”
6. B. The Chicago Tribune reports that four out of the five Wheaton College football players accused of hazing plead not guilty to nine different felony counts. Noah Spielman, 21; Samuel TeBos, 22; Kyler Kregel, 21; and Benjamin Pettway, 22 had their attorneys waive the formal reading of the indictment and entered not guilty pleas to Judge Brian Telander. The five players allegedly bound a freshman teammate with duct tape, placed a pillowcase over his head, and forced him into a car before leaving him partially clothed on a local baseball field.
The freshman received serious shoulder injuries that require surgery and reports that during the car ride, one of the other players attempted to put something into his rectum. The nine-count indictment against the players, alleging aggravated battery, mob action, and unlawful restraint. The five players who were accused are suspended from their team’s games and practices.
