Lila Grant, Newsville ES
“I still can’t believe we won. The state competition was on Saturday in Brookdale, about two hours away. There were 27 teams, and some of them had matching jackets and everything. Our robot is named ‘Sort-E.’ We designed it to separate plastic, paper, and metal using color sensors. It took us three months to build, and at one point it kept sorting everything into the ‘metal’ bin because of a loose wire. When they announced Newsville Elementary as the winner, my teammate Oliver started crying. Our teacher, Mrs. Royce, stayed after school with us twice a week to help. We get to display the trophy in the school lobby — right next to the chess club banner.”
Emma Brooks, Owner of Newsville Petting Farm
“Yes, Cinnamon the llama escaped. She’s three years old and usually very calm, but Tuesday morning around 8:15 a.m., one of our new volunteers forgot to latch the side gate after refilling the feed bucket. Cinnamon saw her opportunity and ran straight down Maple Street. I chased her in my rubber boots — which, by the way, are not made for sprinting. She knocked over two recycling bins and stopped traffic at the corner of Maple and 3rd for about 40 minutes. No one was hurt, but a delivery truck driver dropped an entire crate of oranges trying to avoid her. Police helped us guide her back using carrots. She’s perfectly healthy — just curious. We’re installing a double-latch system this week.”
Tyler Reed, Owner of Puzzle Palace, Newsville
“I promise we didn’t plan for the mayor to get locked in. We opened ‘Puzzle Palace’ last Friday at 3 p.m. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was at 4. The mayor insisted on trying the Wild West Jailbreak room to show support for local businesses. It’s designed to take 30 minutes. She didn’t solve the final clue, and our automatic timer malfunctioned. We had to manually override the door system, which took about one extra hour. She was inside for 60 minutes total but came out laughing. She even offered to come back and try again. We fixed the timer and lock that night.”
Mrs. Royce, Robotics Coach
“The competition began at 9 a.m. Saturday and lasted nearly six hours. Our team entered as underdogs — this is only our second year competing. Sort-E malfunctioned during the second round when a sensor wire came loose. The students fixed it themselves in under five minutes. The final score difference between Newsville and the second-place team was just four points. This win qualifies them for a regional invitational in June.”
Margaret Donnelly
“I close my bookstore at midnight on Saturdays. I’ve done it for 31 years. When I stepped outside this past Sunday at exactly 12:03 a.m., I noticed the town clock tower on the museum wasn’t chiming. It always chimes. Even during that windstorm in 2018. The hands were frozen at 12:00. I stood there for a full minute staring at it. A few teenagers nearby joked about ghosts, but I called the town maintenance office first thing Sunday morning. They told me the internal gears may have failed. That clock has been running since 1904.”
Thomas Whitaker, Maintenance Supervisor
“We were notified Sunday morning that the clock tower had stopped. Our inspection showed that one of the original brass gears had cracked. The clock is powered by a weight-driven pendulum system that dates back to 1904. Replacement parts are not easy to find. It likely stopped a few minutes before midnight, though residents noticed it exactly at 12:00 because that’s when the chime failed. We expect repairs could take up to two weeks.”
Officer Daniel Ruiz
“We received the first call at 10:52 p.m. reporting ‘unusual aerial lights.’ By the time officers arrived at Willow Lake around 11:05, the lights were gone. Witnesses described different colors — some said blue, others green or white. One person claimed they heard a humming sound, though others reported complete silence. We did not detect any registered drone activity in the area at that time, but hobby drones do not always appear in tracking systems. No physical evidence was found.”
Rachel Kim, HS Senior
“I was studying at my friend’s house near Willow Lake Tuesday night. It was closer to 10:30 p.m., not almost 11. We saw only two lights at first — not three — and they were greenish-blue, not bright blue. They weren’t in a triangle. They moved in a straight line, then one dropped lower toward the water before rising again. The whole thing lasted maybe three minutes before disappearing behind the trees. There were definitely more than just a few people there — I counted at least ten by the time police arrived. I filmed part of it, but the video is blurry.”
Mr. Carlos Alvarez
“I wasn’t planning to stay out late last Tuesday, but I had just finished grading lab reports and needed fresh air. It was around 10:47 p.m. — I remember because my phone battery was at 12%. I was walking my dog, Newton — he’s a golden retriever and hates thunderstorms — when I noticed three blue lights hovering over Willow Lake. They weren’t blinking like airplane lights. They moved in a triangle formation, then sort of drifted apart and came back together again. The whole thing lasted maybe seven minutes. A few other people were there — I recognized Mrs. Donnelly from the bookstore — and someone even dropped their fishing pole in the water. I don’t think it was aliens, despite what my students hope. It could’ve been drones or even ball lightning, though that’s rare. The police showed up about fifteen minutes later and told us to head home. By morning, everyone in town was talking about it at Daisy’s Diner.”
Harold Jenkins
“I’ve lived on Riverside Drive for 22 years, and I’ve never seen the Newsville River rise that fast. After the heavy rains on Saturday — I think the weather report said four inches — the water was only about two feet from my back porch by Sunday morning. City workers brought sandbags around 6 a.m. I was still in my pajamas. My neighbor, Linda, helped stack them. She makes excellent blueberry muffins, which she brought over later — but that’s not the point. The water never actually entered my home, but it was close. Officials said it reached 14 feet, just one foot below flood stage. I’m grateful for the early warning system and the city workers who helped out.”
Jenna Morales
“I had a 4:30 booking with my friends, but everything was delayed because the mayor’s group hadn’t come out. Staff members looked nervous and kept checking a tablet. I overheard someone say the override system wasn’t responding at first. The mayor finally came out around 5:05 p.m., and everyone clapped. She seemed in good spirits, but it definitely ran longer than planned.”
Maylor Linda Harper
“I was not ‘stuck’ — I prefer to say I was committed to finishing the challenge. The ribbon-cutting ceremony began at 4 p.m., and I entered the Wild West room at 4:05. The challenge is designed to last 45 minutes, not 30. There was no malfunction. I simply refused to use the optional hint system because I wanted the full experience. I exited at 5 p.m. exactly and congratulated the owner on a creative business.”
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Transcript
Lila Grant, Newsville ES
“I still can’t believe we won. The state competition was on Saturday in Brookdale, about two hours away. There were 27 teams, and some of them had matching jackets and everything. Our robot is named ‘Sort-E.’ We designed it to separate plastic, paper, and metal using color sensors. It took us three months to build, and at one point it kept sorting everything into the ‘metal’ bin because of a loose wire. When they announced Newsville Elementary as the winner, my teammate Oliver started crying. Our teacher, Mrs. Royce, stayed after school with us twice a week to help. We get to display the trophy in the school lobby — right next to the chess club banner.”
Emma Brooks, Owner of Newsville Petting Farm
“Yes, Cinnamon the llama escaped. She’s three years old and usually very calm, but Tuesday morning around 8:15 a.m., one of our new volunteers forgot to latch the side gate after refilling the feed bucket. Cinnamon saw her opportunity and ran straight down Maple Street. I chased her in my rubber boots — which, by the way, are not made for sprinting. She knocked over two recycling bins and stopped traffic at the corner of Maple and 3rd for about 40 minutes. No one was hurt, but a delivery truck driver dropped an entire crate of oranges trying to avoid her. Police helped us guide her back using carrots. She’s perfectly healthy — just curious. We’re installing a double-latch system this week.”
Tyler Reed, Owner of Puzzle Palace, Newsville
“I promise we didn’t plan for the mayor to get locked in. We opened ‘Puzzle Palace’ last Friday at 3 p.m. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was at 4. The mayor insisted on trying the Wild West Jailbreak room to show support for local businesses. It’s designed to take 30 minutes. She didn’t solve the final clue, and our automatic timer malfunctioned. We had to manually override the door system, which took about one extra hour. She was inside for 60 minutes total but came out laughing. She even offered to come back and try again. We fixed the timer and lock that night.”
Mrs. Royce, Robotics Coach
“The competition began at 9 a.m. Saturday and lasted nearly six hours. Our team entered as underdogs — this is only our second year competing. Sort-E malfunctioned during the second round when a sensor wire came loose. The students fixed it themselves in under five minutes. The final score difference between Newsville and the second-place team was just four points. This win qualifies them for a regional invitational in June.”
Margaret Donnelly
“I close my bookstore at midnight on Saturdays. I’ve done it for 31 years. When I stepped outside this past Sunday at exactly 12:03 a.m., I noticed the town clock tower on the museum wasn’t chiming. It always chimes. Even during that windstorm in 2018. The hands were frozen at 12:00. I stood there for a full minute staring at it. A few teenagers nearby joked about ghosts, but I called the town maintenance office first thing Sunday morning. They told me the internal gears may have failed. That clock has been running since 1904.”
Thomas Whitaker, Maintenance Supervisor
“We were notified Sunday morning that the clock tower had stopped. Our inspection showed that one of the original brass gears had cracked. The clock is powered by a weight-driven pendulum system that dates back to 1904. Replacement parts are not easy to find. It likely stopped a few minutes before midnight, though residents noticed it exactly at 12:00 because that’s when the chime failed. We expect repairs could take up to two weeks.”
Officer Daniel Ruiz
“We received the first call at 10:52 p.m. reporting ‘unusual aerial lights.’ By the time officers arrived at Willow Lake around 11:05, the lights were gone. Witnesses described different colors — some said blue, others green or white. One person claimed they heard a humming sound, though others reported complete silence. We did not detect any registered drone activity in the area at that time, but hobby drones do not always appear in tracking systems. No physical evidence was found.”
Rachel Kim, HS Senior
“I was studying at my friend’s house near Willow Lake Tuesday night. It was closer to 10:30 p.m., not almost 11. We saw only two lights at first — not three — and they were greenish-blue, not bright blue. They weren’t in a triangle. They moved in a straight line, then one dropped lower toward the water before rising again. The whole thing lasted maybe three minutes before disappearing behind the trees. There were definitely more than just a few people there — I counted at least ten by the time police arrived. I filmed part of it, but the video is blurry.”
Mr. Carlos Alvarez
“I wasn’t planning to stay out late last Tuesday, but I had just finished grading lab reports and needed fresh air. It was around 10:47 p.m. — I remember because my phone battery was at 12%. I was walking my dog, Newton — he’s a golden retriever and hates thunderstorms — when I noticed three blue lights hovering over Willow Lake. They weren’t blinking like airplane lights. They moved in a triangle formation, then sort of drifted apart and came back together again. The whole thing lasted maybe seven minutes. A few other people were there — I recognized Mrs. Donnelly from the bookstore — and someone even dropped their fishing pole in the water. I don’t think it was aliens, despite what my students hope. It could’ve been drones or even ball lightning, though that’s rare. The police showed up about fifteen minutes later and told us to head home. By morning, everyone in town was talking about it at Daisy’s Diner.”
Harold Jenkins
“I’ve lived on Riverside Drive for 22 years, and I’ve never seen the Newsville River rise that fast. After the heavy rains on Saturday — I think the weather report said four inches — the water was only about two feet from my back porch by Sunday morning. City workers brought sandbags around 6 a.m. I was still in my pajamas. My neighbor, Linda, helped stack them. She makes excellent blueberry muffins, which she brought over later — but that’s not the point. The water never actually entered my home, but it was close. Officials said it reached 14 feet, just one foot below flood stage. I’m grateful for the early warning system and the city workers who helped out.”
Jenna Morales
“I had a 4:30 booking with my friends, but everything was delayed because the mayor’s group hadn’t come out. Staff members looked nervous and kept checking a tablet. I overheard someone say the override system wasn’t responding at first. The mayor finally came out around 5:05 p.m., and everyone clapped. She seemed in good spirits, but it definitely ran longer than planned.”
Maylor Linda Harper
“I was not ‘stuck’ — I prefer to say I was committed to finishing the challenge. The ribbon-cutting ceremony began at 4 p.m., and I entered the Wild West room at 4:05. The challenge is designed to last 45 minutes, not 30. There was no malfunction. I simply refused to use the optional hint system because I wanted the full experience. I exited at 5 p.m. exactly and congratulated the owner on a creative business.”