Hurricane Melissa
On Oct. 21, the 13th named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season was formed near Jamaica. The storm, which was later named Hurricane Melissa, was classified as a Category 5 hurricane on Oct. 27. The storm reached sustained winds of 185 mph, with even stronger gusts, tying the storm with four other hurricanes as the second most powerful Atlantic storm since 1851.
Officials have confirmed that at least 19 people in Jamaica and 30 people in Haiti have died due to the storm. Disaster relief agencies are on their way to help the impacted communities of people in the area.
White House Ballroom
The construction started on the nearly $350 million ballroom to be added to the White House. The new ballroom is set to be 90,000 square feet, effectively looming over the main part of the Presidential Residence at almost double the size. The room is estimated to fit a seating capacity of 650 people at one time.
Money for the ballroom will be privately funded and will not come out of taxpayer dollars. The ballroom will be funded by “many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and yours truly,” President Donald Trump said.
A statement from the White House said that the reason the ballroom is being built is because the White House needs a larger entertainment space than it currently has. Currently, the space only fits around 200 people. The new ballroom is set to be completed sometime before the end of Trump’s term.
SNAP Benefits
Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) announced on Sunday, Oct. 26, that no benefits would be issued past Nov 1, 2025. The prolonged government shutdown has caused the U.S. Department of Agriculture to run out of critical funding for the SNAP program, causing up to 42 million people in the U.S. to have to find other ways to pay for groceries.
“I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible,” President Trump said on Truth Social. In the meantime, many states have been urging their SNAP beneficiaries to use their remaining food stamps wisely until a solution is found.
![Wildcats do their pre -race circle that consists of chants and cheers to hype up the team. “I think cross country is such an interesting sport, in the way we're all kind of struggling together at the same time," senior Emme Fogle said. "[We have] comfort knowing that everyone's kind of going through the same thing. It's kind of incredible.”](https://www.lhsdoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Screenshot-2025-09-25-3.14.42-PM.png)
