Disclaimer: The Black & White does not endorse any political candidates. However, it is part of our job to report on relevant and important news, including politics. Karin Derry contacted the Black & White to do an interview. Her opponent has been contacted. "I’m Karin Derry and I’m running for the Iowa House of representatives, District 39. District 39 includes Johnston, Grimes, and...

On Thursday September 6th two prime parking spots on the south side of the building in the main parking lot were obstructed. The parking spaces were blocked off by two cones and a stack of large wooden planks. Ryan Woods, Johnston's principal, stated, "I believe Buildings and Grounds were installing some parking signs at that time so they were trying to keep cars away from that area."

 London Orosco '21 walked into A+ lunch on the second day of school, looking for a place to sit, when she noticed none of her friends were in her lunch. She was confused on why the lunch room was not overflowing like a normal lunch at a high school. A+ lunch was a new addition to the 2018-19 school year. A+ lunch goes from 11:25-11:55, sharing five minutes with A lunch and five minutes with...

Emily Phillip's Clay II class went on a trip to the Des Moines Art Center to fire their raku pots with the help of professionals. Raku is a technique of 'baking' pots in an extremely hot kiln at about 1650 degrees Fahrenheit. Phillips decided to do a obvara style of firing, where students remove their pots from the still heated kiln using long tongs with small spikes for grip. The burning pot is...

Eighth grade history covers the colonies to the end of the Civil War. Ninth grade covers the Reconstruction to World War I. Tenth covers world history, and eleventh is a comparative overview of all American history. Twelfth covers government and economics. The United States is only 244 years old. By comparison, known world history goes back more than 10,000 years. Yet, from eighth grade to senior...

On Sept. 7, the music industry lost renowned rapper, Mac Miller to a drug overdose. News of his death quickly circulated, following a parade of condolences to the Miller family and acknowledges of Miller’s contributions to the music industry. However, these were not the main topics of discussion regarding Miller’s death to rock the internet. A swarm of Miller’s fans took to the internet to...

The Honorable Chuck Grassley Chairman, Judiciary Committee United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Hello. My name is Obsee Abbajabal and I am 17.5 years old. I am high school student in the Des Moines area that is very invested into politics. Hopefully, I will become a senator one day just like you. Even though I am not eligible to vote, I am sending you my concerns as a constituent...

The varsity girls cross country team won their last meet before the postseason begins, dominating the Augustine Invite hosted by Des Moines East, they also won the JV race. They were lead by Brooke McKee '20 and Paige Horner '20 finishing first and second respectively with times of 19:29 and 19:31. These two are both contenders for an individual state championship with Horner being last year's individual...

Dowling Catholic outplayed the Dragon football team 0-27 Sept. 7 at Dragon Stadium. "I thought the kids played hard and never quit at any point in the game, but bottom line, we didn't execute very well as a team,” coach Brian Woodley said.   The team’s record stands at 5-1 after they added wins against Muscatine and East the last couple of weeks. The Dowling Catholic game is the...

The girls Cross Country team added another meet win to their resume winning the Varsity at the Tom Karpan Invite hosted by Valley High School, they also finished third in the JV race. They won the race without their top five runners from their last meet at Marshalltown and sixth runner Samantha Strauss '21 lead the way for Johnston in this race finishing third overall with a time of 20:37. She was...

Misery by Stephen King was published on June 8, 1987. The book plot follows successful author Paul Sheldon the writer of the Misery series. After he becomes involved in a drunk driving accident, he is left with two crushed legs and a revival caused by Annie Wilkes. Annie Wilkes is a retired nurse who is obsessed with Paul's books the Misery series. After the books end in a way that Annie doesn't like,...

If you’re like me, you were excitedly counting down the days until July 20th, 2018 -- the premiere of "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again". After growing up with the first "Mamma Mia!" at the core of my upbringing, I could not contain my excitement at the prospect of a sequel.  My mom, aunt, and I had been eagerly discussing possible storylines for months leading up to the release. When the teaser trailer...

"To All Boys I've Loved Before" was aired on Netflix August 17 2018 and gained immediate praise across the world. I however find it to be another average entry into the teen romance genre. The story focuses on a girl named Lara Jean Covey who wrote five letters to her five crushes; Josh, her sisters boyfriend, Peter, her first kiss before high school, Kenny, from summer camp, Lucas from homecoming,...