News in Numbers
The amount that Philadelphia will spend to equip and train its police officers with stun guns before requiring officers to wear them while on duty. The announcement came on the anniversary of the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., a Black man who was having a mental health episode while holding a knife. Wallace Jr. was shot by two officers 14 times.
The proportion of Americans who want Congress to pass a bill ensuring more of the nation’s electricity will come from clean energy and less from fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas, which damage the climate. In a related survey question, 59 percent of Americans feel the Earth’s warming was a very or extremely important issue to them.
The inches of rain that Sacramento, Calif., accumulated on Sunday, Oct. 24, amounting to 81.9 percent of the total rainfall that the city got during the 2020-2021 water year. The rainfall also broke the city’s previous record for the most rain on a single day, which had stood since April 20, 1880.
The increase in electricity generation from coal this year as compared to last year, partially due to coal’s stable prices and a high natural gas cost. The increase comes after the industry hit a 50-year low in 2020 that idled or closed 151 coal mines across the nation.
The proportion of Americans who believe that social media companies, like Facebook and Twitter, do more harm than good, according to a new poll. Forty-seven percent of respondents said the government should be involved with regulating Facebook and Twitter, while 45 percent do not believe government should intervene.
The estimated number of children in the age group of 5 to 11 years old, who may soon be eligible to receive a COVID-19 shot. The White House has estimated that authorization for the Pfizer shot for elementary-aged children is within a matter of weeks.
The number of pregnant women who died from COVID-19 in August, a one-month record. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 161 pregnant women have died from the virus. The CDC has issued an urgent advisory that recommends pregnant women get vaccinated against the coronavirus to protect themselves and their babies.
The size of West Virginia’s broadband strategy that Gov. Jim Justice announced last week. The plan is expected to bring high-speed Internet to more than 200,000 homes and businesses across the state.
The decrease in President Biden’s net approval rating among Black voters since Sept. 8, the day before he issued vaccine mandates.
The proportion of American households that have had to delay care for serious illness because hospitals are filled with COVID-19 patients.
The proportion of eligible Americans who have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, an increase of 20 percentage points after the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate.
The number of times Americans quit jobs in August, the highest amount on record since December 2000.
The increase in homicides among people ages 19 and younger during 2020. As of Oct. 6, 2021, 1,165 people 17 or younger had died from gun violence and 3,216 had been injured.
The proportion of Black residents in 152 counties across 10 southern states that do not have access to the Internet in their homes, compared to only 23 percent of white residents in the same areas. The counties that were included all had populations with at least 35 percent Black residents.
The number of U.S. children who have lost a parent or grandparent who was a primary care and financial provider during the pandemic; more than half of the children who lost their primary caregiver are Black or Hispanic. Researchers estimate that the number of orphaned children increased by 15 percent due to COVID-19.
The proportion of Seattle, Wash., sworn police officers who have not submitted proof of vaccination against COVID-19. All city employees must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, unless they have religious exemption.
The amount that Tesla must pay Owen Diaz, a Black former worker, after a jury found that Diaz was subjected to racial abuse while working for the electric vehicle company. Diaz was an elevator operator at the company’s Fremont, Calif., factory for nine months.
The initial allotment of funds that states have spent so far from the American Rescue Plan championed by Democrats and President Joe Biden. Large cities have spent 8.5 percent. Many state and local governments reported they were still working on plans for their share of the $350 billion they received as part of the pandemic relief package.
The number of midwestern governors who are collaborating to develop a charging network for electric vehicles. Governors of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin have all signed onto the bipartisan plan, called the Regional Electric Vehicle (REV) Midwest Coalition.
The proportion of Americans who approve of Biden’s requirement that most workers get the COVID-19 vaccine or undergo regular testing. Approval is mostly split down party lines — 77 percent of Democrats approve of the mandate while 62 percent of Republicans disapprove.
The proportion of unvaccinated Americans who argue that booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine show they are not working as well as promised.
The date on which the United States will reach its debt ceiling if Congress does not act immediately to change the trajectory, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
The number of attorneys working for the St. Louis prosecutor’s office, half as many as five years ago.
The amount of Pennsylvania turnpike fees that went unpaid in 2020. A report found that as the turnpike transitioned into a “toll-by-plate” license plate camera system, some 11 million rides, approximately 7 percent of the total, generated no revenue for the agency.
The estimated amount two Tampa, Fla., men stole from the state in fraudulent unemployment claims in 2020. They could each receive up to seven years in federal prison for conspiracy and identity theft.
The number of years that former Fall River, Ma., Mayor Jasiel Correia will have to serve in prison on extortion charges. Correia, now 29, was elected when he was just 23 years old.
The number of Indigenous people, mostly girls, who have gone missing in Wyoming from 2011 to 2020. A recent report found 21 percent of Indigenous people are missing for 30 days or longer whereas only 11 percent of white people remain missing for that same duration. Additionally, only 30 percent of Indigenous homicide victims are covered by the media, while 51 percent of white victims receive coverage.
The amount of money allocated within the infrastructure bill for cleanup of defunct coal mines over the next 15 years. Some of these abandoned mines have been polluting rivers and streams for decades, causing harm to local ecosystems and contaminating drinking water.
The proportion of Americans who do believe that their social media activity is not very or not at all secure, according to a recent survey. Fifty-six percent of respondents had more faith in the private sector than the federal government when it came to handling security and privacy improvements.
The proportion of hospital ICUs across the nation that are now more than 95 percent full, an increase of 5 percent from July and 15 percent from June.
