This week’s news cycle was dominated by President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address, Grammys aftermath and controversial sports logos. Here are the top stories from the past week.
Indians will no longer use Chief Wahoo logo
The Cleveland Indians are phasing out Chief Wahoo.
The baseball team announced Monday that players will no longer wear the controversial logo on their uniforms. For years, Chief Wahoo has been criticized for being a Native American caricature with red skin, a feather and over-exaggerated teeth.
Prior to the announcement, the Indians had already taken steps to decrease Chief Wahoo’s presence. In 2014, the team announced that a red block C would replace Chief Wahoo as the team’s primary logo.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Indians owner Paul Dolan released a joint statement explaining the rationale for abandoning the logo.
“While we recognize many of our fans have a longstanding attachment to Chief Wahoo, I’m ultimately in agreement with Commissioner Manfred’s desire to remove the logo from our uniforms in 2019,” Dolan said.
State of the Union
Trump emphasized job creation and immigration during his first State of the Union Address on Tuesday night.
Trump spent the first 20 minutes of the joint-session speech touting his administration’s economic success stemming from the December’s tax reform legislation.
“Since we passed tax cuts, roughly 3 million workers have already gotten tax cut bonuses-many of them thousands and thousands of dollars per worker,” Trump said.
Later, Trump also warned of potential immigration issues with chain migration and open borders.
“My duty, and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber, is to defend Americans because Americans are dreamers too,” Trump said. “Struggling communities, especially immigrant communities, will also be helped by immigration policies that focus on the best interests of American workers and American families.”
Throughout the speech, Trump honored many dignified individuals, such as Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean defector, who was tortured during the Kim regime.
Charlie Walk exits The Four after sexual harassment allegations
Music executive Charlie Walk has been suspended by Republic Records after being accused of sexual harassment by a former employee.
Tristan Coopersmith, Walk’s former employee, penned an open letter Monday, accusing Walk of making sexual remarks and putting his hand on her thigh without consent. Two other women have also come forward with similar allegations.
Walk is a panelist on Fox’s The Four: Battle for Stardom, a reality singing competition that premiered less than a month ago. While he appeared in yesterday’s pre-taped episode, Walk announced Wednesday that he would not attend the show’s season finale, which is scheduled to tape Friday.
Bruno Mars wins big at Grammys
Bruno Mars became most decorated artist during Sunday night’s 60th Annual Grammy Awards after winning three of the “Big four” categories.
Mars took home awards for Album of the Year for 24K Magic, Record of the Year for “24K Magic,” and Song of the Year for “24K Magic.” Alessia Cara won for Best New Artist, rounding out the "big four."
Kendrick Lamar also received love from the Recording Academy, nabbing five awards, including Best Rap Performance for “Humble” and Best Rap Album for Damn.
Social issues took center stage during many of the evening’s performances. The Time’s Up initiative underscored an emotional ballad from Kesha, while Logic, Cara and Khalid stressed suicide prevention during a performance of “1-800-273-8255.”
You can find a full list of Grammy winners here.
