National News - Page 159

Democrats Push Biden on Eviction Moratorium After Expiry

By Devan Cole and Kevin Liptak Congressional Democrats are increasing pressure on their party’s leadership to act on the now-expired federal eviction moratorium as the White House shifts its focus to unspent housing assistance after the order ended and left millions of renters in limbo. The eviction issue has exposed a major and rare disconnect between President Joe Biden and his party on Capitol Hill that appeared no closer to resolution Sunday night nearly a day after the eviction moratorium expired. Each side privately accused the other of misreading the situation, but the resulting agony for tenants facing potential removal from their homes amounted

Delta Variant Surge Boosts US COVID-19 Vaccination Rates

By Madeline Holcombe The Delta variant is wreaking havoc through much of the United States, but the “silver lining” is that more Americans appear to be at the tipping point of understanding the importance of Covid-19 vaccinations, one expert said. “People are waking up to this,” Director of the National Institutes of Health Dr. Francis Collins told CNN Sunday. “That’s what desperately needs to happen if we are going to get this Delta variant put back in its place, because right now it is having a pretty big party in the middle of the country.” In the past two weeks, daily case

House Bill Targets Tribal Bias Against Freedmen Descendants

By Harmeet Kaur House lawmakers are considering legislation that would withhold federal funds from tribal nations who discriminate against Freedmen, the descendants of people they once enslaved. The House Committee on Financial Services held a subcommittee hearing on Tuesday to discuss reauthorizing the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act (NAHASDA), a federal government program that provides assistance to tribal governments to support affordable housing and infrastructure. Included in the draft bill is a provision that would require tribes to uphold their ends of agreements made with the US government and ensure full tribal citizenship rights to Freedmen before they can receive federal housing assistance. “This

CDC Updates Mask Guidance Amid Delta Variant Surge

Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf You could almost hear the collective groan of frustration around the country Tuesday when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention again updated its guidance, encouraging more Americans and all schoolkids and teachers to wear face masks to stop the spread of Covid-19. But the health community’s understanding of the coronavirus, its variants and vaccine efficacy has evolved with the virus itself, and this new guidance is based on new information. The country missed President Joe Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70% of adults with at least one dose by July Fourth, what he’d wanted to frame as a

Employers Push COVID-19 Vaccines as Delta Variant Surges

By Jason Hanna and Madeline Holcombe Unvaccinated American workers are facing increasing pressure to get Covid-19 shots, as the country sees a dramatic rise in the number of government and private sector employers pushing inoculations for those who want to come to work. The moves, which picked up pace this week, came as the highly contagious Delta variant helped send daily Covid-19 case rates higher and spurred the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue new masking guidance. Employers’ emerging vaccine policies take many forms, including those requiring shots for being on site, and those that provide alternatives such as strict testing and masking

FDA Reviews Full Approval of Covid-19 Vaccines Soon

By Kristen Holmes, Jen Christensen, Jeff Zeleny and Tara Subramaniam The US Food and Drug Administration insists it is working as quickly as possible to review applications for full approval of the Covid-19 vaccines as the number of cases continues to rise and vaccination rates decline across the country. Though the FDA has yet to disclose a time line for when its work will be done, medical experts and sources familiar with the process tell CNN that full approval could come within the next couple of months. While that would amount to a record fast pace, the urgency is rising for a fully approved

Sacramento Police Report Shows Racial Disparities

By Brittany Hope The Sacramento Police Department released a new report Tuesday, breaking down vehicle stops, pedestrian stops and use-of-force instances in the capital city based on race and equity. The report, compiled by the Center for Policing Equity, also breaks down the racial demographics of the department compared to the City of Sacramento. Data from 2014 to 2019 is used. Here are some highlights Non-traffic stops Black people experienced non-traffic stops 5.7 times as often as white people per year on average, and Latinos experienced non-traffic stops 1.3 times as often as white people per year on average (taking

Biden Requires Federal Workers to Get Vaccinated

By Kevin Liptak President Joe Biden, who for months used techniques like public service announcements and grassroots campaigns to persuade Americans to get vaccinated, is adopting a tougher approach as caseloads surge: vaccine requirements and blame. The shift toward placing the onus for the current situation on those who have refused to get vaccinated reflects Biden’s growing impatience that still-hesitant Americans are prolonging a crisis he said earlier this month was no longer paralyzing the nation. Instead of merely asking Americans to get vaccinated, the President on Thursday is set to take his first step toward requiring it. In afternoon remarks, Biden is planning

Bob Moses: Civil Rights Icon Who Transformed Voting Rights

By Nicquel Terry Ellis and John Blake  He spoke in a Boston-accented monotone that barely rose above a whisper, hated personal attention, and was a brilliant Harvard-trained mathematician who quoted Albert Camus. Bob Moses, who died this week at age 86, was an unconventional civil rights leader. He didn’t energize crowds with fiery speeches, and wasn’t known for leading marches, yet few leaders have inspired such veneration. Moses helped put the Black struggle for voting rights on the national radar at a time when many judges, politicians, and ordinary Americans were indifferent to the issue. He was beaten numerous times and

Santa Cruz BLM Mural Vandalized, Two Men Charged

By Amanda Jackson Two men are facing charges after a Black Lives Matter street mural in Santa Cruz, California, was vandalized, officials said. A picture of the damage provided by the Santa Cruz Police Department showed black tire marks across yellow “Black Lives Matter” lettering on a street. Santa Cruz police said during a news conference Sunday that they arrested and charged two men, 20-year-old Brandon Bochat and 19-year-old Hagan Warner, in connection with the vandalism. “This wasn’t just a couple kids fooling around doing a burnout on the street. This was an intentional act of vandalism on something that our community

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