Texas, Maine, and Alabama are holding primaries and runoffs today: Politico asks, will Jeff Sessions survive? (Probably not.) Will Trump's former doctor go to Congress? (Probably not.) And how much money will Sen. Susan Collins's likely challenger, Sara Gideon, get when she wins her primary? (Lots.)
The federal government executed a man by lethal injection early this morning: The man was "convicted of murdering an Arkansas family in a 1990s plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest," according to the Associated Press. After some legal back-and-forth, the Supreme Court paved the way for the feds' first execution in 17 years.
With pandemic job losses, five million Americans lost their health insurance: "And those losing coverage could face staggering costs if they are struck by Covid-19, which has sent the seriously ill to hospital intensive care units for weeks, sometimes months," reports the New York Times.
Worker advocates say meat companies JBS and Tyson Foods discriminated against Black and Latino workers by failing to protect them from coronavirus: "The complaint alleges that the companiesâ failure to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance at their processing facilities â social distancing on meat processing lines, the use of personal protective equipment â had a discriminatory impact on the predominantly black, Latino and Asian workforce," the Washington Post reports. Black, Latino and Asian workers make up 70% of processing line workers in meatpacking plants, but whites dominate management at Tyson and JBS.
While you were complaining about dead people getting stimulus checks: Banks were "skimming" $18 billion in processing fees from the Paycheck Protection Program. Unlike European countries, the U.S. ran its stimulus package through private banks, which increased their revenue and likely contributed to inequitable outcomes in distribution. According to The Intercept, "New Jersey-based Cross River Bankâs estimated $163 million haul would be more than double its net revenue last year. JPMorgan Chase could make $864 million."
Violin vigils in honor of Elijah McClain: The New York Times writes up a few of these powerful elegiac concerts for McClain, 23, who died while being detained by police in Aurora, Colorado. He was a player, too.
Two military cops fired after one stood on a black woman's neck: In SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil, but you could already tell I wasn't talking about the U.S. because the officers suffered actual consequences for their alleged actions. After FantĂĄstico TV broadcast footage of the incident, which happened in May, State Governor JoĂŁo Doria "said he would not tolerate such abuses," according to the BBC, and "added that 2,000 police officers in the SĂŁo Paulo force would now be equipped with body cameras."
If you don't wear a mask in shops anywhere in the country you'll be fined ÂŁ100, as this is a new rule imposed today in all of England, a country with a much lower positive test rate than ours. "The move will bring England into line with Scotland and other major European nations like Spain, Italy and Germany," according to the BBC.
Let's check in real quick with the President just to see if he's taking the pandemic more seriously now thatâoh, no, okay, his comms guy is posting anti-Fauci cartoons on Facebook:
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Director of Social Media posts cartoon and message on FB attacking the nationâs leading infectious disease expert for telling the truth about this deadly pandemic. https://t.co/lqwUFHTCYP pic.twitter.com/gR3oHoV1eH
â Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 14, 2020
I wonder if this country's idiocy about this is new or if it'sâ
Honestly, we could just recycle some of the smallpox and Spanish Flu ads & cartoons today. pic.twitter.com/t5IwoUNfAm
â adland Âź (@adland) July 13, 2020
Also, FYI, NYT columnist Bari Weiss has resigned "with sadness:"
đ€đ€đ€https://t.co/KfPWyUKR3a pic.twitter.com/SB3Wz1kZBu
â Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) July 14, 2020
State says coronavirus deaths have fallen: Washington state health officials said Monday night there have been 1,399 total COVID-19 deaths in the state, 39 fewer than the day before, but did not immediately respond to requests for an explanation, according to the Seattle Times.
Five shot in Kent, one injured: Five people were shot near La Plaza Shopping Center Monday evening, and one person was injured. The male victims, ranging from ages 16 to 49, were in critical and serious condition, KING 5 reported. Cops detained three people, though their level of involvement in the incident is unknown, and said "the violence does not appear to be random."
One officer dead, one injured in Bothell shooting: At 9:40 p.m. last night a traffic stop turned into a car chase that turned into a footrace. Somewhere in there a cop was shot and killed, and another was shot and taken to the hospital in "satisfactory condition," according to the Seattle Times. Cops have one suspect in custody. They found him hiding on a rooftop.
One person shot in Renton: A 15-year-old was injured inside a Target within a shopping center after an argument apparently escalated into a shooting Monday evening, according to the Seattle Times. The suspect fled the scene, police said.
Tear gas industry built on tax breaks, low-wage temp workers: You can draw a straight line from a million dollar tax break in Florida to the gassed out intersection at 11th and Pine in early June. According to NBC, two of the biggest tear gas manufacturers rely in part on such breaks, and also on overworked, low-wage temp workers.
So here's the video, from TeebsGaming on https://t.co/DafGnlPdl3 , of an officer smacking the phone from a protester's hand into the window of the PPA building. And the broken window is what they then used as their reason to declare a 'riot' and gas people. #PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/x8iqQMFvTx
â KBOO Community Radio (@KBOO) July 14, 2020
Diaz Love now in stable, satisfactory condition: âI want to thank everyone for reaching out to check on my condition as I recover,â Love said in a statement, according to KING 5. Love was hit by a driver on I-5 along with Summer Taylor, who was killed. Dawit Kelete has been charged with vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, and reckless driving.
Seattle teachers express no chill about the prospect of schools reopening: The president of the Seattle Education Association, the union representing teachers, says it is not yet safe to return to school buildings. "Barring proper funding, adequate safety precautions from the district, and widespread transmission rate decreases, [the union] is not comfortable being reckless with the safety of our students, families, and educators,â the union said in a statement, according to KOMO.
A majority of people in the country agree with Seattle teachers: A little over half are "very" or "extremely" concerned about sending their kids back to school, and over 71% see it as a moderate or large risk, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll.
Oh look, Mike Solan made an appearance on KOMO: âCops are human beings,â he says. Solan claims crime will âskyrocketâ and asks the public to âpush backâ against the city councilâs support of defunding the police. (Stay until the end of the segment for a statement from the Downtown Seattle Association, which predicts âchaos in our communities.â)
Solan's call tracks with something I overheard at Walgreens the other day: On Saturday officers responded to an incident at the Walgreens on Capitol Hill, where I happened to be picking up a box of nicotine gum and a prescription. From what I could overhear as I was checking out, the store manager claimed a person who'd been sleeping outside for several days and peeing on the store had bought a case of beer and started throwing its contents at people. After listening to the manager's story, the officer said, "This is the new normal. We're encouraging people to contact their city officials, because they're talking about defunding us by 50%...I'm about done with it myself. You shouldn't have to deal with it, you shouldn't have to deal with people pissing on the sidewalk, I mean...and then this nonsense over here," the officer said, gesturing toward the CHOP 2.0 on the lawn at Seattle Community College. The cop is half right, of course. Every time that managerâor anyone else, for that matterâsees someone pissing on the side of a building, or sees someone sleeping out in the street, they should call their representatives. But they shouldn't call to demand more police, who, in this case at least, did not prevent the incident from happening. They should call to demand more public toilets for people to piss in, and more taxes on the rich to pay for housing.
This was the last nice thing that's happened. pic.twitter.com/06YeD0aby1
â Mike Scollins (@mikescollins) July 14, 2020