| Portland's police chief called out elected officials for not stopping violence in the city, after rioters threw burning debris at the mayor's apartment building Posted: 02 Sep 2020 04:33 AM PDT  Protests have been held nightly in the city since the police-involved killing of Black man George Floyd in Minnesota at the end of May.
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| Democratic presidential candidate Biden raised record haul of over $300 million in August: report Posted: 01 Sep 2020 09:39 AM PDT  Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was expected to report a record fundraising haul of more than $300 million for the month of August, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Biden, who is leading Republican incumbent President Donald Trump in most national opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 election, raised $140 million in July. The campaign was expected to see a boost from the Democratic National Convention and the naming of his vice presidential pick, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California, in August.
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| University of California system can no longer consider SAT, ACT results in admissions, judge rules Posted: 02 Sep 2020 09:12 AM PDT  A judge in California ruled that the system's "test optional" policy unfairly disadvantaged students with disabilities who could not access the SAT and ACT.
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| US Army pursues new mid-range missile, as tactical missile upgrade hits delay Posted: 02 Sep 2020 11:56 AM PDT  A recent strategic fires study is prompting the Army to go after a near-term, mid-range missile prototyping effort. But meanwhile, its cross-domain capability upgrade for the Army Tactical Missile System is delayed due to technical problems.
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| Hurricane Nana could form tonight. Hurricane center expects two tropical waves to merge Posted: 02 Sep 2020 06:09 AM PDT  Tropical Storm Nana could become the season's next hurricane Wednesday evening as it closes in on a Belize landfall early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said.
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| Bindi Irwin reflects on the moment she discovered she was pregnant Posted: 02 Sep 2020 08:59 AM PDT  "Discovering that I was going to become a mother will forever be a moment where time stood still," the daughter of the late Steve Irwin wrote.
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| Former friend of Melania Trump says the first lady painted a rosy picture of facilities holding migrant children Posted: 01 Sep 2020 09:37 PM PDT  First lady Melania Trump knew exactly what she was doing when she wore a jacket that read "I DON'T REALLY CARE, DO U?" while traveling to and from a Texas facility holding migrant children, her former friend and adviser Stephanie Winston Wolkoff says.In her new book, Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady, Winston Wolkoff said this attire was chosen specifically to "get the media's attention. Otherwise, no one would have covered the story."The trip took place in June 2018, and Winston Wolkoff said she later spoke with Trump about what she saw at the facility. The first lady told her people were going "crazy about the zero-tolerance policy at the border," but it wasn't as horrible as it sounded.Stating that she was directly quoting Trump, Winston Wolkoff writes that Trump said the children she met were "brought in by coyotes, the bad people who are trafficking, and that's why the kids were put in shelters. They're not with their parents, and it's sad. But the patrols told me the kids say, 'Wow I get a bed? I will have a cabinet for my clothes?' It's more than they have in their own country where they sleep on the floor. They are taking care nicely there."Winston Wolkoff writes that Trump went on to say mothers taught their children to tell border agents, "I'm going to be killed by gangs!" so they would be allowed into the United States. "They are using that line and it's not true," she said Trump told her. "They don't want to stay in Mexico because Mexico doesn't take care of them the same as America does."Speaking with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night, Winston Wolkoff said these were the first lady's exact words, and there is "no way to fabricate any of my story."More stories from theweek.com Pelosi says San Francisco salon 'owes me an apology for setting me up' The poisonous lessons of a potential Trump victory CDC 'urgently' tells states to get coronavirus vaccine distribution running by Nov. 1
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| New US sanctions on international tribunal prosecutor, aide Posted: 02 Sep 2020 07:52 AM PDT  The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and one of her top aides for continuing to investigate war crimes allegations against Americans. The sanctions were immediately denounced by the court, the United Nations and human rights advocates. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the moves as part of the administration's pushback against the tribunal, based in The Hague, for investigations into the United States and its allies.
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| Coronavirus live updates: US to shun world effort to develop vaccine; Here's who should get first vaccinations; Fauci debunks COVID theories Posted: 02 Sep 2020 07:24 AM PDT  NYC delays in-class learning to Sept. 21. California's last reopen plan draws scrutiny. Fauci cautions on Labor Day superspreaders. Latest COVID news.
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| Spurned by allies, Saudi rethinks chequebook diplomacy Posted: 01 Sep 2020 07:53 PM PDT  From Pakistan to Lebanon, Saudi Arabia is scaling back its famed chequebook diplomacy, a longstanding policy of splashing petro-dollars in exchange for influence, which observers say has yielded few tangible gains.
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| Protests erupt in Inner Mongolia over China's plans for teaching in Mandarin Posted: 01 Sep 2020 06:18 AM PDT  Mass protests have erupted across northern China as tens of thousands of ethnic Mongolian students and their parents rally against government plans to phase out teaching in their language. The rare display of dissent in the Inner Mongolian cities of Tongliao, Ordos and the regional capital, Hohhot, began last week in opposition to a move by Beijing to gradually shift the language of instruction in schools from Mongolian to Mandarin Chinese in three key subjects. According to Radio Free Asia, pupils have boycotted classes and kneeling students at one school chanted: "Our language is Mongolian, and our homeland is Mongolia forever! Our mother tongue is Mongolian, and we will die for our mother tongue!" Riot police have reportedly been dispatched to other schools across the region, with accounts of the authorities locking down campuses and pupils bursting through police cordons to join their demonstrating parents at the gates. In one of the more disturbing RFA reports, a student is said to have died after jumping from the roof of his high school after seeing his mother detained.
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| ‘I’m Sad, I’m Mad’: L.A. Reels After Deputy Kills Black Man During Bike Violation Stop Posted: 01 Sep 2020 11:21 AM PDT  The family of a 29-year-old Black man fatally shot by deputies during a traffic stop over a bicycle code violation on Monday has demanded accountability and justice amid a fresh wave of protests.Family members say Dijon Kizzee was fatally shot by Los Angeles Sheriff's Department deputies after they attempted to stop him while he was riding a bicycle in violation of vehicle codes. Almost immediately after the incident, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in outrage, chanting for justice as they marched to the South L.A. Sheriff's Station on Imperial Highway. "Right now I'm sad and I'm mad at the same time" Fletcher Fair, Kizzee's aunt, told reporters on Tuesday. "Why us? We are tired. We are absolutely tired."The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department said that when the deputies tried to stop the man, he dropped the bike and ran—prompting a foot pursuit and a physical altercation. During the scuffle, the man allegedly dropped a bunch of clothes that were in his hand. Deputies said they spotted a black handgun and, at the same time, opened fire, hitting him several times. "Our suspect was holding some items of clothing in his hands, punched one of the officers in the face and then dropped the items in his hands," Sheriff's Lt. Brandon Dean said Monday evening. "The deputies noticed that inside the clothing items that he dropped was a black semiautomatic handgun, at which time a deputy-involved shooting occurred."It was not immediately clear what vehicle code Kizzee had violated while riding his bike.A doorbell video released by ABC 7 that reportedly came from residents who witnessed the shooting appears to capture at least 15 gunshots. > This is DijonKizzee, 29 yrs old and shot and killed by LA Sheriffs after being stopped for a bike violation. Cops handcuffed his lifeless body. While police investigations can drag on for months/years, cops have already claimed he ran away, and dropped clothes and a gun. BLM pic.twitter.com/pM6mQfWLeQ> > — Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) September 1, 2020Video of the incident shows a man running from deputies with what appeared to be a ball of clothing in his hands. The video then jumps to two deputies on the sidewalk with their guns drawn, while a man is on the ground. Another portion of a witness video, posted by Fox 11, shows the man's body on the ground behind a pickup truck as angry bystanders yell at deputies. At one point in the video, other deputies arrive at the scene and at least one appears to be leaning over the man and putting handcuffs on him. "How you gonna handcuff a dead man?" somebody is heard yelling on the video, though it is not immediately clear if the man is deceased.Authorities said the man was pronounced dead at the scene and a handgun was recovered.Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Kizzee's relatives and community activists confirmed the 29-year-old was carrying weapon—but said he wasn't wielding it at the deputies, nor did he reach for it from the ground when he was shot. They said he was therefore unarmed when he was killed.Anthony Johnson, the 29-year-old's uncle, told reporters on Tuesday that residents had to clean his nephew's blood off the sidewalk."They shot him. They killed him. The least they could have done was clean up after themselves," Johnson said.Ahmira Irene Roberson, a 22-year-old neighbor, told The Daily Beast that the Monday afternoon incident was "extremely traumatic" for a community that is used to heavy police presence."Because of the neighborhood it's common for helicopters to hover for maybe an hour, but the constant hovering was scary. People were out in their yards or on their porches talking about what happened," she said. "Some neighbors were crying, others were just upset."She said she believes Monday's incident "will make things a lot worse."> DijonKizzee, a 29yo Black man, was fatally shot by @LASDHQ deputies. Cops stopped him while riding his bike for alleged "vehicle code violation." They say he ran, dropped clothes and handgun. He didn't pick it up, but cops shot him in the back 20+ times then left him for hours. pic.twitter.com/CF1hVihywv> > — Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) September 1, 2020Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva offered his condolences to Kizzee's family and revealed that the 29-year-old was related to a department employee. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family, and that includes a member of my own department who is a cousin of the deceased," Villanueva said while speaking at a Board of Supervisors' meeting on Tuesday.The incident comes as intense protests continue in Kenosha, Wisconsin, over the shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, who was shot in the back seven times at close range on August 23 as he tried to get into a van with his kids. According to CBS-Los Angeles, while there were some reports of vandalism during the overnight march in Los Angeles, there were no arrests. In videos of the protest posted on social media, hundreds of residents are seen chanting "no justice, no peace" and "say his name" in the neighborhood where the Kizzee was shot before they were met by deputies in riot gear. After several hours, the crowd moved to the South L.A. Sheriff's Station."The police kill another Black man, another Black person, we're tired of the injustice, we're tired of the police brutality, we're tired of being looked upon as fourth-class citizens, we're tired of just not being treated equally," Raheem Taylor, a protester, told CBS-Los Angeles.> The family has requested the crowd to move to the sheriff's station, which they are doing now pic.twitter.com/ZjOnxlp9x1> > — Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) September 1, 2020Melina Abdullah, co-founder of the L.A. chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement, told the crowd: "They stole his life, they're going to assassinate his character, and they're going to try to criminalize this community." The Sheriff's Department confirmed to The Daily Beast that multiple independent investigations were underway in accordance with protocol for deputy-involved shootings.Unlike the Los Angeles Police Department, sheriff's deputies are not required to wear body-worn cameras. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the $25 million funding for body-cameras, but only at five sheriff's stations. The five stations don't include the station involved in Monday's incident. "We still have to conduct our interviews of the investigating officers to see exactly what happened and transpired during the deputy-involved-shooting," Dean said during a Monday press conference. "But if this individual was reaching for a semi-automatic handgun, I would suggest that—you know—that's probably why deadly force was important.Kizzee did not have any children and is survived by his younger brother, who just graduated from high school, family members said. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Moon booster rocket fired up in critical test Posted: 02 Sep 2020 02:30 PM PDT  Engineers in Utah fire up a booster rocket that will help send astronauts back to the Moon.
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| Rep. Omar demands apology for Islamophobic comments from Joy Reid Posted: 02 Sep 2020 08:04 AM PDT  The host of MSNBC's 'The ReidOut' compared President Donald Trump's inflammatory rhetoric to 'how Muslims act.' Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is demanding an apology from MSNBC's Joy Reid after the host of "The ReidOut" compared President Donald Trump's inflammatory rhetoric to "how Muslims act."
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| 73-year-old woman uses American flag to defend family from intruder, Utah cops say Posted: 02 Sep 2020 07:27 AM PDT  "I whooped his a-- and I'll whoop it again."
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| 2 pythons weighing 100 pounds collapse ceiling in Australia Posted: 01 Sep 2020 07:05 AM PDT  An Australian returned home and was surprised to discover that his kitchen ceiling had collapsed under the weight of two large pythons apparently fighting over a mate. David Tait entered his home in Laceys Creek in Queensland state on Monday and found a large chunk of his ceiling lying on his kitchen table. "I knew we hadn't had rain, so I looked around to find what had caused it," Tait told Nine Network television on Tuesday.
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| More than $130K raised for California family after girls seen using Taco Bell WiFi for school work Posted: 01 Sep 2020 01:04 PM PDT  A now-viral photo of two young students using the free WiFi in a Taco Bell parking lot for online learning highlights unequal access to internet.
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| Iran hails support for nuclear deal against US Posted: 02 Sep 2020 02:14 AM PDT  Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday hailed the show of unity by parties to a 2015 nuclear deal, after they defeated US efforts to restore international sanctions.
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| Israeli flight attendant says "shalom" to UAE, bye to airline Posted: 02 Sep 2020 01:03 AM PDT |
| How do you get rid of cops without creating another George Zimmerman? Groups aiming to defund the police have an idea. Posted: 01 Sep 2020 10:59 AM PDT  Groups working to overhaul law enforcement and reimagine public safety told Insider that "defund the police" isn't just about having fewer cops.
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| China’s Horrifying War on Uighur Women Posted: 02 Sep 2020 03:30 AM PDT  China's abuse of Uighur Muslims is finally getting some much-needed global attention, with reports of millions herded into political-reeducation camps that recall history's worst atrocities. Now, a groundbreaking new report by Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, reveals that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been systematically targeting Uighur women in a draconian birth-control campaign.Chinese officials have been ruthless in their pursuit of limiting new Uighur births. Uighur women are subjected to forced pregnancy checks, medication that stops their menstruation, forced abortions, and surgical sterilizations.The Chinese government has a long history of perpetrating such horrors on its own citizens. The "one-child policy" was infamously enforced, before eventually being loosened at the end of 2015 to allow couples to legally conceive two children. But even as the CCP regime was easing reproductive restrictions on Han Chinese, it was drastically increasing systematic control of Uighur women in Xinjiang, a province in Western China. Since 2017, the CCP has systematically detained over 1.8 million Uighur Muslims in "political reeducation" camps, and used them for forced labor.Zenz's research reveals that birth-control violations are punishable by extrajudicial internment in "training" camps, and evidence from the leaked "Karakax List" document states that such violations were the most common reason for internment. According to Zenz's report, "in 2014, 2.5 percent of newly placed IUDs [intrauterine birth-control devices] in China were fitted in Xinjiang. In 2018, that share rose to 80 percent, far above Xinjiang's 1.8 percent share of China's population. Between 2015 and 2018, Xinjiang placed 7.8 times more new IUDs per capita than the national average."A Uighur woman reported that in 2018, she was offered "free" surgical sterilization and threatened with internment if she refused. According to her Uighur doctor, her fallopian tubes were cut in the resulting tubal-ligation procedure, making her sterilization irreversible — a common experience for Xinjiang's minorities.China's goal, it seems, is to eradicate future generations of Uighurs by maliciously and ruthlessly controlling Uighur reproduction. This, in itself, is nothing new. The Chinese Communist Party has waged a long and dreadful war against women, more specifically against baby girls. Through the coercion of the one- and two-child policies, it created a gender imbalance as stark as 120 boys for every 100 girls. Families in China often had to seek the approval of local family-planning officials just to have a child, even if they hadn't already reached the one-child cutoff. To meet quotas and restrict population growth, women were subject to forced abortions, and men and women to forced sterilizations.Where the CCP applied the one- and two-child policies relatively equally, however, the Uighurs are being targeted for their membership in a particular religious and ethnic group, making their mistreatment even more pernicious.On July 2, after Zenz's report was released, members of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, noting as much, sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arguing that the U.S. may have grounds to publicly and formally declare an atrocity to be occurring. They claim that forced sterilization and forced abortion constitute attempts by the CCP to limit, and maybe even eventually exterminate, the Uighur population.Limiting births on the basis of membership in a particular group may be enough to prove the CCP's intent to commit genocide against the Uighurs — a legal standard that must be met in order for Pompeo to take such a step. Furthermore, officials responsible for human-rights violations against Uighurs may be subject to targeted sanctions like the ones now being applied to senior CCP official Chen Quanguo. As the architect of the surveillance state that made it possible for over 1 million Uighurs to be held in reeducation camps, as well as for similar rights violations in Tibet, Chen is finally facing repercussions for his actions. He and three other CCP officials were sanctioned just last month. Other officials responsible for the injustices uncovered by Zenz may be similarly vulnerable to sanctions.Secretary Pompeo should establish a new position within the Department of State to coordinate the U.S.'s diplomatic, political, and legal response to the gross violations of universally recognized human rights in Xinjiang. This person would play a similar role to that of the Special Coordinator for Tibet and would ensure that the U.S. government is responding as effectively as possible to the crisis in Xinjiang.China's draconian and systematic abuse of Uighur women must be stopped, and the global community should boldly call on the Chinese Communist Party to end its persecution of Uighurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in China altogether. Any holistic strategy to meet the challenges the CCP's actions increasingly pose to the world has to be built on a strong moral foundation, and speaking up strongly and clearly for the Uighurs is the right place to start.Olivia Enos is a senior policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center. Chelsea Patterson Sobolik is the policy director for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
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| Trump calls "FAKE NEWS" on reports of his "mini-strokes": Journalists say, "What reports?" Posted: 01 Sep 2020 11:29 AM PDT  A report alleges that Pence was prepared to take over during Trump's rushed visit to Walter Reed Hospital
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| Bethenny Frankel shares selfie to show lines on forehead: 'No work on this face' Posted: 01 Sep 2020 09:42 AM PDT  When critics claimed a recent filter-free selfie proved she had fillers, Botox and more, the former "Real Housewives" star shot back with evidence to the contrary.
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| 5 things to know about Japan's World War II surrender Posted: 01 Sep 2020 08:11 PM PDT  Wednesday is the anniversary of the formal Sept. 2, 1945, surrender of Japan to the United States, when documents were signed officially ending years of bloody fighting in a ceremony aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. A: An abbreviation for Victory over Japan Day, marked by the United States and its allies in the war and by the Asian victims of Japan who won their liberation from years of atrocities and oppression. Others, including the United States, mark the day on Sept. 2, while the Philippines, China and Russia observe Sept. 3.
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| Beijing pillories Pentagon report on Chinese military ambitions Posted: 02 Sep 2020 04:28 AM PDT  China on Wednesday condemned a Pentagon report for claiming Beijing wants to double its stockpile of nuclear warheads within a decade as it seeks to deter the United States from any intervention linked to Taiwan.
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| Thailand’s king reconciles with ousted wife Posted: 02 Sep 2020 05:51 AM PDT  Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn has reconciled with his royal consort, whom he stripped of her titles last year.
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| Mexico violence: Gunmen kill six at wake in Morelos Posted: 02 Sep 2020 04:46 AM PDT  The gunmen opened fire at the wake of a youth killed in a motorcycle accident in Cuernavaca.
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| Broiling heat wave expected in California Posted: 01 Sep 2020 10:42 PM PDT  California's last heat wave, less than three weeks ago, coincided with two of the state's three largest fires.
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| Republican Sen. Joni Ernst promoted a far-right conspiracy theory that falsely claims coronavirus cases are inflated by healthcare providers Posted: 02 Sep 2020 01:54 PM PDT  Sen. Joni Ernst questioned whether the confirmed number of COVID-19 cases in the US are being overcounted.
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| Venezuela opposition must stop pretending to be government, Capriles says Posted: 02 Sep 2020 05:24 PM PDT |
| A "Corn Moon" rises tonight — and it only happens every 3 years Posted: 01 Sep 2020 12:18 PM PDT  Don't miss tonight's full moon, which has a special twist this year.
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| US Special Operations Command gets first brand-new Chinook variant Posted: 01 Sep 2020 11:55 AM PDT  Boeing has delivered the first MH-47G Chinook to U.S. Special Operations Command on time.
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| COVID-19 death tied to Sturgis Rally reported in Minnesota Posted: 02 Sep 2020 02:12 PM PDT  A Minnesota man who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota last month has died of COVID-19, officials reported Wednesday.
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| New Taiwan passports to emphasize distinction with China Posted: 02 Sep 2020 02:55 AM PDT  Taiwan plans to issue new passports emphasizing its independent identity and downgrading connections with China. The foreign ministry on Wednesday released images of the new document that features "Taiwan" in large capital letters on its cover and minimizes the English wording "Republic of China," the island's official name according to its constitution. Taiwan was handed over from Japanese to Chinese rule in 1945.
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| Florida couple arrested after shooting at Black father, son returning U-Haul Posted: 01 Sep 2020 05:28 PM PDT |
| Indian special forces member killed in China border showdown Posted: 01 Sep 2020 12:45 PM PDT  A Tibetan-origin soldier with India's special forces was killed in the latest border showdown with Chinese troops on their contested Himalayan border, a Tibetan representative said Tuesday.
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| Jared Kushner's supermodel sister-in-law Karlie Kloss plans to campaign for Biden Posted: 02 Sep 2020 02:46 PM PDT  Karlie Kloss has long been vocal about her liberal values, despite having a brother-in-law who works for President Donald Trump.
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| It Doesn’t Matter Who Is Pushing for Masks, This GOP Governor’s Answer Is No Posted: 02 Sep 2020 01:13 AM PDT  Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt hasn't been willing to order masks statewide in his conservative stronghold no matter who's come calling. He hasn't been willing to take further steps requiring face coverings as a public health measure even as local mayors have hoped to see more action from the governor. When the head of a House subcommittee charged with monitoring COVID response scolded him for his approach, he didn't budge. Even after some Republican governors relented and ordered facial coverings as the coronavirus ravaged their states, Stitt hasn't moved. Not even reports from the White House Coronavirus Task Force that have recommended in recent weeks that the state implement a mask requirement has changed his mind. "I'm not going to mandate something statewide," Stitt said during a press conference Tuesday, saying the decision should be left to the local level. "Every community is different." That lack of follow-through from the governor has disappointed some elected officials in the state as they try to contain the coronavirus through a patchwork of local mask requirements. As of Monday, 17 cities and towns had mask ordinances according to the Oklahoma State Medical Association. "It really is much less effective than if the governor would take action,"said John Browne, the Democratic mayor of McAlester, Oklahoma. "Because I can have a mask requirement in my town and the town next door not have it. So you're not getting the benefit that you would get if everyone were following the same rules." The push for a statewide mask order has continued as documents from the White House Coronavirus Task Force have shown the state's coronavirus situation at an alarming level. In the most recent report published online and dated Aug. 23, the task force said the state had the "12th highest rate in the nation," for new cases out of 100,00 population as well as the "8th highest rate in the nation," when it came to positive COVID-19 tests. "With the continued geographic expansion of COVID-19 spread, a mask mandate needs to be implemented statewide (in counties with greater than 20 cases) to decrease community transmission," the report says. "Bars must be closed and indoor dining must be restricted in yellow and red zone counties and metro areas." In earlier reports dating back to Aug. 2 the task force had also recommended statewide mask action, saying bluntly in the Aug. 16 report "mask mandate needs to be implemented statewide to decrease community transmission." Those reports, which the state began posting online late last month, were only made public by the state after Stitt caved to outcry from officials, according to The Oklahoman. "We're a very red state and you have the Trump administration and the White House task force that are recommending that we have a mask mandate, so I don't understand it politically," said Dr. Dale Bratzler, the chief COVID officer for the University of Oklahoma who supports a statewide mask order. "I don't think there's any good political reason not to have a mandate. I just don't get it." An email seeking comment for this story from Stitt's office was not returned this week. Oklahoma was also highlighted as a place of concern by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis on Monday. In a scathing statement paired with the weeks of state by state reports from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, the head of the select subcommittee, said "the President and his enablers kept these alarming reports private while publicly downplaying the threat to millions of Americans." The committee's press release went on to note that from June 23 on Oklahoma was among 14 states in a dangerous "red zone," category that avoided ordering masks across their respective states. "When people are giving you guidance and you're not following it, what kind of message are you sending to your residents?" said Breea Clark, a Democrat serving as the mayor of Norman where a mask requirement is in place, told The Daily Beast. "You know, I'm asking people to wear masks, but if the governor can't follow guidance from the White House, why would my residents follow guidance from their mayor?" Stitt's approach has been problematic at times throughout the pandemic. In mid-March, the governor was called out for posting a photo with his family at a busy restaurant even as the coronavirus was in the early stages of causing problems in the United States. By late April and early May, he was at the forefront of Republican governors rushing to begin reopening from the pandemic. And in June, despite well-founded fears about the president holding an indoor rally, he enthusiastically embraced President Donald Trump campaigning in his state. By July, the governor announced he had tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first governor in the nation to publicly announce a positive test. On Tuesday, Stitt donned a mask while he wasn't speaking at the press conference, and urged people to "wash your hands, watch your distance and wear a mask." Some in Oklahoma, like Bixby mayor Brian Guthrie didn't take issue with Stitt's lack of action on a statewide mask order, with the Republican saying "I can stand behind him on his decision," because of how the virus is impacting parts of the state differently. And the mayor of Midwest City, where an indoor mask order is in place locally, said he could see both sides of the situation facing the governor. "I just don't know to be honest with you, I just don't know," Republican Matt Dukes said when asked if he wanted to see a statewide mask order. "I'm not trying to dodge the question, I just don't really know how much more effective it would be than doing it at a local jurisdictional level." Mask mandates, though initially resisted by Republican governors, have become more widely accepted throughout the summer. States led by conservative governors like Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi eventually conceded to statewide mask orders as the virus situations in their states grew more concerning. But even after the president publicly came around on wearing a mask in public, that messaging has become more difficult for GOP officials following the largely maskless crowd that Trump invited to the lawn of the White House for his GOP nomination speech last week. As a part of their investigation into the guidance Oklahoma received from the Trump administration, Clyburn wrote to Stitt on July 29 that the governor "appears to be following the contradictory public messaging coming from the Administration." In subsequent letters to Clyburn, Stitt defended his approach emphasizing in one "we believe strongly in providing local municipalities with data that enable them to make the right decisions for their residents." But that deference to localities is leading to clear concern for some cities who have taken the extra step of a mask requirement, even as many others haven't. "The communities that are trying to be safe and protect its citizens is having an extra difficult time doing that because of the lack of participation of other cities and towns," Anadarko mayor Kyle Eastwood said. Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
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| Reopened, but left behind: Nail salon workers face hardships of virus and racism Posted: 01 Sep 2020 09:36 AM PDT  Prolonged salon closures, low wages and anti-Asian racism stress a labor force that's nearly 80 percent foreign-born, three-quarters of which is from Vietnam.
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| Boston University won't notify professors if a student in their class tested positive for the coronavirus, and faculty and students are not happy about it Posted: 01 Sep 2020 10:56 PM PDT  A Boston University professor accused the administration of taking an "individualized" approach to a "community health problem in too many ways."
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| Louisiana governor saw the impact of Hurricane Laura. It's 'probably worse' than Hurricane Rita, he says. Posted: 02 Sep 2020 03:18 AM PDT  With 600,000 Louisianans still without clean water following Hurricane Laura, nine parishes are now eligible for FEMA help.
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| Mexican court to hear youths' climate change case against government Posted: 02 Sep 2020 05:07 PM PDT  A Mexican court will later this week hear a case brought on by 15 young people demanding the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador set out clear policies on climate change, documents show. Lopez Obrador is under increased pressure to help mitigate the effects of climate change. The plaintiffs from the state Baja California filed a legal stay of proceedings, known locally as amparo, before a district court in administrative matters, several documents related to the case show.
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| Mayor one-ups Black Lives Matter rally with his own plans Posted: 02 Sep 2020 10:47 AM PDT  Atlantic City is attempting to co-opt plans by protesters to paint "Black Lives Matter" on the seaside gambling resort's famous Boardwalk by doing the same thing in a place of its own choosing — on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, in front of its civil rights memorial. Mayor Marty Small, who is Black, said at a news conference Wednesday that painting the historic Boardwalk is illegal and that the city will host a community event about 90 minutes after the scheduled start time of the protest rally that was to include the Boardwalk painting. "Painting on the Boardwalk is prohibited."
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