Three Things for January 24

1. Massechustes school unable to turn lights off due to glitch 

Lights at Minnechaug Regional High School have been unable to be turned off due to a computer error that occurred in August of 2021. The glitch has left taxpayers paying thousands of dollars a week in electricity bills.

The lights have been on for almost a year-and-a-half, but it gained traction when it was featured on Saturday Night Live during the Jan. 21 segment of Weekend Update. 

The company that installed the lights, Reflex Lighting Group, went through many staffing changes and hindered the process of fixing the lights. As of October 2022, the lights have been changed but the programming causing the original problem is expected to be fixed in February. 

For more information, read here.

2. third mass shooting in California in eight days leaves seven dead

67 year old Zhao Chunli was arrested on Jan. 24 for being the main suspect in the killing of seven Chinese-American farm workers in the Half Moon Bay area. Chunli drove himself to the police station after attacking eight workers on two farms, killing seven and leaving one in critical condition. 

This shooting comes after a series of shootings in California over the past week. California Governor Gavin Newsom was meeting with victims of a prior shooting when he was informed of the Half Moon Bay area shooting. 

Governor Newsom described it as “tragedy upon tragedy.”

BBC reports that this shooting was just one of 37 mass shootings that has occurred since the year has begun.

For more information, read here.

3. Rare green comet to pass by Earth

On Feb. 1 and 2, a rare green comet that passes Earth once every 50,000 years will be visible to the naked eye. 

C/2022 E3 (ZTF), the formal name for the comet, is more normally referred to as the “green comet” for its green hue. The comet is classified as a long term comet, one that takes over 200 years to orbit the sun. 

The comet can be viewed in an open area. Otherwise, the comet “will more likely look like a smudge in the sky" according to BBC’s Sky at Night magazine.

For more information, read here.