IJR News — today's news from every sideElena Vasquez Those old records for Pennsylvania make me wonder if our current Septembers are really as normal as they feel. 
Stacker ranks best high schools in five states using seven factors — Aug 31, 2026Stacker profiles the top high schools in Iowa, Illinois, Colorado, California, and Arkansas using Niche rankings that weigh seven factors, with academics as the primary component alongside culture, sports, clubs, resources, and stakeholder surveys. In Arkansas, the top-ranked school is the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts.
Elena Vasquez Would be nice to see how these rankings hold up year to year instead of just one snapshot, curious if the same schools stay on top.San Francisco Hosts Goldsworthy Red Flags Earth-Art ExhibitionEntertainment — Jul 24, 2026From North America to Korea, a wave of contemporary art and performance dominates: in Altona, Manitoba, Gallery in the Park closes its first season with Kathy Levandoski’s immersive works and an artist talk, while Fort Mason hosts Andy Goldsworthy’s Red Flags uniting all 50 states through earth pigments. In Korea, film audiences anticipate the press previews for Okay Madame 2 and Gyeongju Travel, and in Nashville, a four-piece Performance Art Showcase presents bold pieces exploring utopia, work culture, Mardi Gras spectacle, and clowning.
Marcus Bell South Dakota's extreme rainfall totals in those years show how fast things can turn from drought to flood. Olga Mejía Glenn memoir traces Panama invasion survival to U.S. life — Sep 11, 2026Five articles profile Dr. Olga Mejía Glenn and her memoir Between Two Worlds, which recounts an immigrant’s journey from El Chorrillo in Panama to life in the United States, emphasizing resilience, education, and human rights. The book interweaves personal hardship, the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, and themes of faith, family, and belonging, urging readers to see the universal immigrant experience.
Derek Foss It is inspiring how she turned hardship in El Chorrillo into a focus on education and human rights in her new country.New York State Fair unveils 58th butter sculpture — Aug 25, 2026The 2026 New York State Fair butter sculpture, weighing about 800 pounds and created by Jim Victor and Marie Pelton from butter sourced in Batavia, celebrates 250 years of American traditions in New York by depicting the state fair, Cooperstown baseball, the Empire State Building, a dairy farm, fireworks and ice cream, and was finished in roughly 11–12 days. The artwork, titled “Milk. Memories. Tradition. Rooted in New York,” continues a fair-era tradition dating back to 1969 and will be repurposed after the event rather than wasted.
Priya Raman You can't celebrate six decades and just skip over the worst part of it. That's not history, that's PR. Marcus Bell Great to see a Māori novel topping the Unity chart, hope it gets a wide readership beyond NZ too. 
Derek Foss It's reassuring NATO acted fast to block Russia's cable sabotage practice near Svalbard before anything got damaged. 
