For three-ish months. The next election season won’t be until the fall, so we can breathe for like a month before the thoughts of planning the next election debates and articles come around. The citizens of San Andreas, or rather 191,420 voters, voted on who they wanted to fill the three vacant seats in the legislature. As announced by Becks Lawson of Shout News at the Election Results Party on Monday, Wyatt McKenzie, Maxine Finch, and Yuri Devlin won after the four rounds. Congratulations to the new State Representatives, and may the rest of the term be a productive one!
They Swore!
Not long after the election results party, both Wyatt McKenzie and Maxine Finch swore in front of Magistrate Judge Rajesh Gupta so they could officially start working as State Representatives as soon as possible. Yuri was sworn in shortly after, but I don’t think any media were present to cover that. I’ve already seen Maxine share on Y that they’ve had two meetings this week alone. The meeting notes from July 18th are already available for the public to read, and new ones should also become available for anyone interested in reading them as they happen, which is great for the transparency that the public has asked for repeatedly like every term from various departments.
In addition to the meeting notes that we can expect to be made public, it looks like State Representative Maxine Finch has already released her first press release this term. The Legislature voted this week. Yuri Devlin is now the Speaker of the Legislature, and Maxine Finch is back to being the Secretary, a position she previously held in the 8th Congress. Jack Burton is remaining as the Treasurer. Fingers crossed for a good term!
Nick!
Roughly a year ago in August, Nick Hulkenstein held his first festival. This year, the Nick Hulkenstein Fest 2.0 was held on Saturday, July 20th, Nick’s birthday! If you don’t know who he is, Nick Hulkenstein is a famous Formula 1 driver and rapper. He’s also a pretty fun guy. He made a grand entrance this year by driving in with a red F1 vehicle.
Friends posing beside Nick Hulkenstein and the red F1 car at the Nick Hulkenstein Fest 2.0. (Photo Credit: Niko McReary)
At this year’s fest, Nick performed 20 songs live on stage, with 5 of them being his original songs and 15 of them being covers, some of which he had never performed before until yesterday. If you’ve seen him perform before, you’ll know of his hit song, “My Own Way.” As part of this year’s fest, Nick performed a refreshed version of his hit song, which has a new beat to it. It’ll be available on his Soundcloud soon™. Happy 30th birthday, Nick Hulkenstein!
Stella Day performing alongside Nick Hulkenstein for Mr. Brightside at Nick Hulkenstein Fest 2.0. (Photo Credit: Niko McReary)
The Great Fish!
Yesterday, I went to a very special retirement party. It wasn’t for any plain old person. It was for a special K9, Fish! Fish has officially gone into retirement. He dug his last holes as a working doggo on the beach, surrounded by K9 friends and human friends. One of the fondest memories I have of Fish was from back in April at the blood drive that took place at the Galileo Observatory. I remember a group of officers and K9s were taking photos by a PD vehicle and they had helped the doggos onto the car so they could be higher up. When they were done, the doggos jumped off. Fortunately for Fish, someone was there to soften his landing. Unfortunately for the officer, the heavy Fish broke the officer so they had to get an ambulance right away. I’m going to miss seeing Fish out and about, but I’m happy knowing that he’s going to be safe and free to dig holes in his retirement era.
Stella Day posing with K9 Petra, Fish, Luna, Winston, and Kai at Fish’s Retirement Party. (Photo Credit: Roman Rossi of Momenti D’Amore Photography)
POLITICS IS CRAZY!
After two and a half hours in the City Hall courtroom, Governor Ella Bright-Starr was found guilty of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, which is a felony, in [2024-CM-222] – State of San Andreas v. Ella Bright-Starr. Some of the public has called for her to resign on her own rather than be impeached, while others say she has brought dishonor to the Starr legacy and that she should probably never show her face in public again for her own safety. In the mix of all that, people have also yeeted photos of cats being trapped or taken by force. Without a doubt, I think Y tonight shows an appropriate spectrum of how the state of San Andreas feels about the situation regarding Governor Ella Bright-Starr. As I continue to write the Scoops, the Legislature has issued a press releasefiling to impeach the Governor, and Bright-Starr has resigned and released a press release of her own. If you missed out on the entire trial, Weazel News has you covered with a recording, and Shout News has you covered with an article with several updates. Have at it!
Governor Ella Bright-Starr being escorted by Department of Correction officers out of the City Hall courtroom. (Yeeted by: Harvey Taylor-Mori)
Now, do you understand what even happened? Because I barely do. Shout News does! They did a deep dive into it and wrote an article about it earlier this week ahead of the trial. I didn’t have the time to read it beforehand, but I hope some of you find it useful now. Better late than never.
Upcoming Events:
July 25th @ 7PM ET: [2024-CM-224] – State of San Andreas v. Hope Caddel
July 26th @ 6PM ET: K9 Snack Contest
July 26th @ 9PM ET: Vixen Cabaret Grand Opening
July 26th @ 11:59PM ET: Food Truck Friday
July 27th @ 3PM ET: Meet Me at Oasis Music Festival
July 27th @ 6PM ET: Vixen Cabaret Opening Encore
July 28th @ 5PM ET: Paleto Bay Farmers Market
Stella’s Recommendation of the Week…
The state has been buzzing with excitement for the past couple of weeks, and it’s not related to politics. Just barely out of the city, the bees have arrived in their hives at the PAW (Pets and Wildlife) farm. I originally learned about beekeeping at a beekeeping class taught by a group of rangers and parks employees early in the month.
Stella Day smoking the bees to calm the honey bees. (Photo Credit: Liz Barber-Day)
As a beginner, I bought the necessary bee smokers and bee pollen to collect the honeycombs. What you do with the honeycombs afterward is up to you. There was an activity sheet posted there with different things you can craft with honeycombs, so I took a gander at it and tried to make some things. I found it fun and learned a new skill. Since the class, I’ve gone back up a couple of times and bad a new friend. I think this can become a new relaxing hobby for myself. Is this something you’re into? Let me know in the comments below!
Stella Day collecting honeycombs from the beehives from the calmed honey bees. (Photo Credit: Liz Barber-Day)
Have a Stella Day and a hardcore night, San Andreas!