MCPS 2019-2020 school calendar released
The Board of Education adopted the school year calendar for the 2019-2020 school year during its Nov. 14, meeting. The school year will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2019, and the last day of school is scheduled for Thursday, June 13, 2020. The calendar includes 182 days of instruction; a shortened spring break; two closure days for planning and professional development; and two operational closures that coincide with Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. MCPS has received questions regarding the new 2019-20 school year calendar about certain holidays being off or not, the number of snow days. the length of holiday breaks, and more. The MCPS website addresses all of those questions.
Caps forward’s suspension reduced, Wilson back in action
Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson has had his 20-game suspension reduced to 14 by a neutral arbitrator and is eligible to play immediately. Wilson has already served 16 games of his suspension for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis forward Oskar Sundqvist in the team’s preseason finale. The ruling by allows Wilson to return as soon as Tuesday, Nov. 13 at Minnesota, and the 24-year-old will recoup $378,049 of the $1.26 million he initially forfeited as part of the suspension. The 20-game ban handed down by the NHL’s department of player safety came after Wilson was suspended three previous times in 13 months. Commissioner Gary Bettman upheld Wilson’s suspension on appeal before it went to Shyan Das, the same arbitrator who earlier this season reduced Nashville forward Austin Watson’s domestic violence suspension from 27 games to 18. “The league did what they thought was appropriate. When the league comes down like that, you’ve always got to re-think your game.” Pittsburgh Penguins forward Aston-Reese said to source when asked about Wilson’s latest suspension.
Amazon headquarters moving to New York City, northern Virginia
The company announced Tuesday it plans to locate its new “HQ2” headquarters in both areas, ending a year-long courtship by metropolitan areas across North America. “Each location will receive $2.5 billion in economic investment and see 25,000 new jobs,” Amazon said. The company selected the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens in New York and the National Landing neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. Both sit just outside massive urban centers and both emerged as late favorites in the search. “These two locations will allow us to attract world-class talent that will help us to continue inventing for customers for years to come,” CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement. “The team did a great job selecting these sites, and we look forward to becoming an even bigger part of these communities.”
-Josh Levine, staff writer
