1. On the week of Jan. 7, California officials announced formal charges against David and Louise Turpin, the couple suspected of starving and shackling their children to their beds. How many children do the Turpins have?
a. 9
b. 4
c. 13
2. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is seeking to run for a fifth full term this year. Throughout her career, she has been known as a compromiser, with the ability to get things done in Washington. However, she has been receiving heavy criticism lately. Why?
a. She supported the recent tax reform
b. Her moderate attitude toward President Donald Trump
c. Her support of the DACA repeal
3. Colin Campbell, a California resident with Lou Gehrig’s disease, spends $4,000 a month on home health care. Campbell does have Medicare, which can help cover his costs. However, he has been turned down by how many home health care agencies that are unwilling to accept his insurance?
a. 30
b. 2
c. 14
4. On Jan.14 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, notorious stowaway Marilyn Hartman managed to sneak past Transportation Security Administration officials and fly without a ticket or boarding pass to which city?
a. New York
b. London
c. Paris
5. During the Women’s March on Saturday, in which city was there a small confrontation between marchers and Trump supporters?
a. Los Angeles
b. Chicago
c. Seattle
6. Which national monument was kept open with state funding after the government shutdown on Saturday?
a. Aztec Ruins National Monument
b. Statue of Liberty
c. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
1. c. According to the Los Angeles Times, the 13 children of David and Louise Turpin have gone through years of starvation and abuse at the hands of their parents. Last week, the Turpins were charged with multiple felony counts of torture, child abuse, abuse of dependent adults and false imprisonment. This was the first time the couple has been reported to the authorities.
2. b. Sen. Feinstein has faced criticism because of her recent moderate attitude toward President Trump, according to the Los Angeles Times. In a speech to San Francisco residents regarding Trump’s actions after Hurricane Harvey, Feinstein said, “I think we have to have some patience.”
Since then, state Senate leader Kevin de Leon has announced his plans to run against her. Feinstein has now taken a more aggressive stance against Trump, stating, “If the president can’t control himself and lead this country with the authority, dignity and leadership it requires, then he shouldn’t be the president. There’s no room for racism in the Oval Office.”
3 c. According to Kaiser Health News, 14 home health care service providers have told Campbell he cannot use his Medicare coverage to pay for his home health care services. This is incorrect, and some feel that Medicare coverage laws are not being enforced.
This leads to many chronically ill people being unable to stay in their homes. Federal law requires Medicare to pay for home care if it has been ordered by a doctor and if patients can only leave their homes with great difficulty.
4. b. Marilyn Hartman snuck onto a plane bound for London and managed to actually make it to London’s Heathrow Airport without detection, according to the Chicago Tribune. A customs agent at Heathrow flagged her as someone entering the country without proper documentation, and she was sent back to Chicago. Upon arrival, Hartman was arrested and later charged with felony theft and a misdemeanor trespass charge.
5. a. Dozens of police officers kept watch during a minor confrontation at the end of the Women’s March route in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times. Eight Trump supporters waved flags and yelled through their bullhorns at the marchers shouting phrases like, “Go back to Mexico.” Marchers responded with “Go home, racists.”
6. b. According to the New York Times, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Sunday that the Statue of Liberty would reopen. New York state paid about $65,000 a day out of its state tourism budget to keep the monument open during the government shutdown.
