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It's a health risk at any time and one that disproportionately affects Black individuals and families. During a pandemic, it's an unacceptable burden. Legislators are looking at ways to better cope with the problem.
Brian Lee, director of Families for Better Care, a nursing home advocacy group, said of the lack of testing at long-term care facilities. While residents and staff at these facilities make up almost 45 percent of the coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S., only seven states have required constant testing of residents and staff. (PEW — July 15, 2020)
The cost of presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden’s clean energy and economic recovery plan that he released on July 14. One of the plan’s goals is to stop all negative emissions from U.S. power plants by 2035.
The coronavirus pandemic has emphasized how much of Pennsylvania still lacks access to high-speed Internet. Lawmakers are making broadband access a priority and view it as an investment in the state’s well-being.
As unemployment numbers rise, many newly uninsured Wisconsinites are turning to free clinics for COVID-19 care. But some clinics don’t have the technology to provide telemedicine and volunteers are wary of exposure.
In some states, COVID-19 is classified as “ordinary disease of life,” like the flu, and is not covered by workers’ compensation. If it were covered, the health system could owe up to $16 billion in workers’ comp nationally.
In May, 17 counties submitted requests to reopen even though they lacked the minimum number of contact tracers per 100,000 people. California reopened anyway, and now the tracers are overwhelmed and outnumbered.
Less than 10 percent of police responses involve a violent crime. Rethinking policing involves more than how police behave on the job. Often, they may not be the right people to answer calls of distress.
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Coordination and consistency are key in getting the message out to citizens in times of crisis.
Kent Walker, Google’s senior vice president of global affairs, said of the tech company’s decision to fund 100,000 need-based scholarships for the new suite of Google Career Certificates, which will offer courses in data analytics, project management and user experience design. (The Hill — July 13, 2020)
The amount that Apple has committed to housing programs, to help fund over 1,250 new Bay Area affordable housing units. The donation comes in addition to the $2.5 billion pledge the tech company made in November.
Even with the coronavirus still at large across the nation, workers continue to encourage participation in the Census. Mask-wearing, social-distance-practicing enumerators will begin surveying in Tacoma by July 23.
The Harford County Sheriff's Office has participated in this agreement since October 2016 and it endows some immigration enforcement authority to correctional deputies. But not everybody agrees with the renewal decision.
In California, Black and Latinx women have seen a 23 and 22 percent employment decline, respectively, due to COVID-19. “This is really amplifying existing inequalities, especially racial and ethnic inequities.”
Of all the ways the 21st century might wish to memorialize Roosevelt, that statue was the least representative of the whole man, his staggering achievement and his largely untarnished place in American memory.
Over a long career, Eugene Jones Jr. has led several big-city public-housing agencies. In an interview, he discusses the federal landscape, affordable housing and political accountability.
How the city of Long Beach seeds entrepreneurship and economic vitality in all of its neighborhoods
Idaho Gov. Brad Little commenting on the state’s decision to reopen K-12 schools in the fall. The schools will start with traditional in-person methods, distance learning online and a combination of both teaching methods to protect the students and communities from COVID-19. (AP News — July 9, 2020)
The amount that South Carolina’s eight historically black colleges and universities are set to receive in coronavirus aid to bolster their distance-learning technology.
Many Massachusetts police departments would use body cameras for transparency, but the technology is too expensive. Even when they can afford the tech, there are additional costs, like storage and privacy, that add up.
Homicides are up in major cities. The combination of pandemic, recession and the two-way street of distrust between police and the communities they serve has created a "toxic mix of despair."
For some towns in Maine, the only sources of Wi-Fi are the library and school. But once businesses and schools shut down to stop the spread of COVID-19, many residents were without any Internet connection.
Gov. Jim Justice reallocated half of the funds that were going to the Division of Highways to broadband expansion. But health officials and lawmakers are concerned that none of the money is going to health departments.
The state is currently one of the world’s hot spots for COVID-19. Lack of testing, knowledge and preparedness have all contributed to the growing case numbers and inability to keep up with testing.
Hit hard by the pandemic, the Navajos have turned to their self-run government and strong family ties to overcome health problems, soaring unemployment and financial obstacles that have slowed recovery.
Tina Barton, the city clerk and chief elections official in Rochester Hills, Mich., commenting on the lack of funding to ensure voter and election safety for the upcoming presidential elections. (Reuters — July 10, 2020)
The lowest amount that the U.S. Roman Catholic Church received in coronavirus relief funds, with some aid estimates reaching as high as $3.5 billion. While religious institutions typically don’t qualify for small business loans, Congress made an exception for the Paycheck Protection Plan.
A bill that increased mail-in voting due to the coronavirus had an unrelated provision for photo ID requirements. Now, Republican legislators want it enforced. If they succeed, voters will be required to show ID to vote.
Washington state saw an 11 percent decline in unemployment applications in the week ending on July 4. But 736,000 are still jobless and the additional weekly $600 federal benefit payments are set to expire by July 25.
California has rolled out its high-speed commuter train plan that will connect San Jose and San Francisco in less than 45 minutes. Work on the project will begin even though the rail authority only has a quarter of the funds.
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