June 27, 2020

ACLU files second lawsuit to ban tear gas use by a law enforcement agency

INDIANAPOLIS — The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a second lawsuit Friday against an Indiana city for using force to deter citizens protesting police brutality and racial justice.

The ACLU of Indiana filed the latest lawsuit on behalf of individual protestors in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who allege the Fort Wayne Police Department, or FWPD, and officers with the Allen County Sheriff’s Department used tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray in several demonstrations.

The lawsuit demands law enforcement immediately stop using this force and also seeks damages for protestors who were subjected to the force amid protests that unfolded in Fort Wayne and around the country after a Black Minneapolis man, George Floyd, died when a police officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes.

“Police must not respond to protesters speaking out against police brutality with yet more brutality. We will not let these violent attacks on our constitutional rights go unchecked,” said Ken Falk, legal director at the ACLU of Indiana, in a statement. “Excessive use of force against protestors chills free speech, and widens the rift of distrust between communities and the police that are sworn to serve them.”

Read more: http://thestatehousefile.com/aclu-files-second-lawsuit-to-ban-tear-gas-use-by-a-law-enforcement-agency/42229/

June 27, 2020

Contact tracing helped control outbreak for UT students on Cabo spring break trip, CDC report finds

Rapid contact tracing and testing of all exposed people by UT Health Austin helped control the COVID-19 outbreak among a group of UT students who traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, during spring break, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Wednesday.

“A coordinated response with contact tracing and testing of all contacts, including those who are asymptomatic, is important in controlling future COVID-19 outbreaks that might occur as schools and universities consider reopening,” the CDC report said.

On March 27, one symptomatic student who traveled with the group from March 14-19 tested positive for coronavirus. On March 28, two more students on the same trip tested positive, which alerted the COVID-19 Center at UT Health Austin to initiate an outbreak investigation that day, according to the report.

UT Health Austin conducted contact tracing and linked the outbreak to the spring break trip. In the investigation, they tested 231 people for COVID-19, and 28% tested positive, according to the report.

Read more: https://thedailytexan.com/2020/06/24/contact-tracing-helped-control-outbreak-for-ut-students-on-cabo-spring-break-trip-cdc

June 27, 2020

Baylor to review statues, buildings over links to slavery

WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor University regents are creating a panel to consider whether any statues, buildings or other tangible tributes on the Waco campus reflect a racist past.

The regents adopted a resolution Thursday that recognizes that most of the university’s founding fathers were slaveholders, racists and white supremacists when the school was founded in 1845. Those persons included Judge R.E.B. Baylor himself, as well as the Rev. James Huckins, the Rev. William M. Tryon, most members of its initial board of trustees, and several early leaders of the institution.

“During Baylor’s infancy, a number of University leaders and prominent individuals connected to the institution supported Confederate causes and engaged in the fight to preserve the institution of slavery both during and following the Civil War, including some serving as members of the Confederacy’s armed forces,” the resolution states.

The regents created “a Commission on Historic Campus Representations" to review the historical context of “all statues, monuments, buildings and other aspects of the campus in reference to their physical location, placement and naming.” The committee would then make recommendations to Baylor administrators and regents for possible action.

Read more: https://www.oaoa.com/news/state/article_720bab69-7e62-5077-87a7-1cbd1e207863.html
(Odessa American)

June 27, 2020

Work search requirement to be reinstated July 6 for unemployment insurance

The Texas Workforce Commission announced June 16 that the work search requirements for Unemployment Insurance, which had been suspended due to the COVID-19 crisis, will be reinstated for all Texans receiving unemployment insurance benefits July 6.

Work search is a federal requirement to receive unemployment benefits. People will continue to receive benefits, but must document their efforts to find new employment, with the first report due to TWC on July 19.

Keep good records and save your work search documentation. Your work search efforts do not need to be sent in unless it is requested by the Commission.

Texas businesses are hiring right now. There are over 530,000 jobs available in Texas on WorkInTexas.com, the state’s online jobs portal, in addition to jobs available elsewhere. As more and more businesses come back online, those numbers should increase.

Read more: https://www.corsicanadailysun.com/covid-19/work-search-requirement-to-be-reinstated-july-6-for-unemployment-insurance/article_b8aabf38-b58a-11ea-b932-2b3b9e2d633e.html

June 27, 2020

Texas prepares for showdown Monday over sex ed curriculum

For the first time in more than two decades, the Texas State Board of Education is slated to make changes to its sex education curriculum, triggering a likely showdown between conservative and liberal state activists.

The last revisions to the health education standards were in 1997, and much of the debate is expected to revolve around issues of contraception, sexual orientation and gender identity.

The state board is holding its first public hearing on the issue Monday with a final vote on the changes in November.

Texas law requires schools that offer sex education to promote abstinence as the preferred behavior for unmarried students. Most of those lessons are relegated to middle and high school levels.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20200626/texas-prepares-for-showdown-monday-over-sex-ed-curriculum

June 27, 2020

Pence following through with visit to Dallas church as pandemic rages

by Patrick Svitek, Texas Tribune


Vice President Mike Pence is moving forward with a trip to Texas on Sunday as the state rushes to respond to a coronavirus surge.

For over a week, Pence has been scheduled to speak at First Baptist Dallas, a church led by Pastor Robert Jeffress, an enthusiastic supporter of President Donald Trump. But the coronavirus situation in Texas has deteriorated quickly in recent days, and Pence indicated Friday that his Texas visit will at least partially focus on the outbreak now.

Pence, who chairs the White House coronavirus task force, said during a briefing that he will bring another task force member, Dr. Deborah Birx, to Texas on Sunday as part of a tour of hotspot states "to get a ground report." Pence's office announced later Friday that Pence will meet with Gov. Greg Abbott and his "healthcare team" following the church appearance.

The briefing in Washington came just a few hours after Abbott announced his most significant action yet to address the growing outbreak in Texas, closing bars and reducing restaurant capacity to 50%, among other things. Pence said Abbott was among the governors that he has spoken to in the last 12 hours.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/26/mike-pence-visit-texas-dallas-church-coronavirus/

June 26, 2020

Sit-In against racism set for Saturday at state Capitol

THURSDAY, June 25 — Tamilikia Foster, a nurse at McLaren Greater Lansing, since 2005, has been bitterly stung by racism and police brutality, but she still believes in the healing power of the word.

Foster, a poet and organizer of this Saturday’s Silent Sit-In Against Racism at the State Capitol, had very personal reasons to assemble a series of inspirational speakers and performers to create a “visually and verbally stimulating” event Saturday.

“I deal with racism a lot in my job,” she said. “You’d be surprised at the abuse we get from patients. I take my role seriously and other black nurses take their role seriously, but we’re not being recognized for who we are.”

One patient got angry when Turner touched her child.

Read more: https://www.lansingcitypulse.com/stories/sit-in-against-racism-set-for-saturday-at-state-capitol,14618

June 26, 2020

Women's World Cup heads to a welcome Down Under in 2023

Wellington, New Zealand – The Women’s World Cup is heading to Australia and New Zealand in 2023 after a concentrated effort by the joint bidders to secure the global soccer event in the southern hemisphere for the first time.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the mother of a 2-year-old daughter who should be old enough to watch some of the action live in three years, worked the phones overnight in a bid to lobby any members of the FIFA Council who hadn’t made up their mind.

It will be the first-of-a-kind World Cup, co-hosted by members of different confederations. Australia joined the Asian confederation after qualifying for the 2006 men’s World Cup, leaving New Zealand as the largest member of the Oceania confederation.

Ardern and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledged the full financial support of their respective governments, a fact not lost on the Asian Football Confederation president.

Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/2020/06/25/womens-world-cup-heads-welcome/112019000/

June 26, 2020

Former longtime Democratic state Sen. Art Miller dies

Former Democratic state Sen. Art Miller Jr., who served in the Michigan Senate for 26 years, died Thursday, his family confirmed.

"He lived a great life; and he truly had a gift to bring people together; and he genuinely loved people," said his son, Derek Miller, who has served as a state representative, Macomb County treasurer and assistant prosecutor.

He said his 73-year-old father loved his community, Macomb County and the city of Warren, where he lived.

He said his father had lung cancer, but was working and undergoing treatments since January. He died at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak after being hospitalized for a week.

Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2020/06/25/former-longtime-democratic-state-sen-art-miller-dies/3260936001/

June 26, 2020

Mayor to Detroit bars: Follow social distancing, mask wearing rules or be shut down

Mayor Mike Duggan threatened to shut down any Detroit bar or restaurant that does not enforce capacity limits or fails to require employees to wear masks.

"We saw a few incidences last weekend that were far too concerning," Duggan said during his Thursday briefing at Detroit Public Safety Headquarters.

"You could have two or three establishments spark a new burst of COVID in this community and we can't have that happen," the mayor said. "What's going to happen is what happened in Jacksonville (Florida) and a number of other places. And the (Florida) governor stepped back in and shut everyone else back down. I am not going to allow a handful of people who don't follow the rules to potentially shut down every other business in this town."

Duggan would not name names, but said he was referring to nightclubs and other establishments where even employees were not required to wear masks.

Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/06/25/detroit-mayor-threatens-shut-down-bars-ignoring-covid-rules/3259122001/