National News - Page 185

How US Schools Are Defying State Mask Mandate Bans

By Dakin Andone The debate over masks in schools has reared its head once again with the new academic year, and a handful of states have taken steps to restrict local officials’ ability to implement their own masking requirements, either through the governor’s office or state legislatures. These restrictions — made despite guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommending masks for everyone in schools regardless of vaccination status — have prompted showdowns between state officials and some local school districts, who say they’re trying to protect their communities, particularly students who are ineligible for vaccines. Perhaps most prominently,

US Activates Civil Reserve Air Fleet for Afghanistan Evacuation

By Ellie Kaufman, Oren Liebermann, Veronica Stracqualursi and Alexis Benveniste The Department of Defense is mobilizing commercial airline flights to help with the United States’ evacuation efforts in Afghanistan, which has been chaotic as thousands are desperate to leave the country after the Taliban swiftly took control. The Pentagon announced Sunday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the commander of US Transportation Command to initiate stage one of its Civil Reserve Air Fleet to assist with flying US citizens, Special Immigrant Visa applicants and other vulnerable individuals out of Afghanistan. Austin’s directive will activate 18 commercial flights to help with the evacuation efforts: three each

Rev. Jesse Jackson and Wife Hospitalized with COVID-19

By Natalie Andes, Hollie Silverman and Alaa Elassar Rev. Jesse Jackson and his wife are both hospitalized after testing positive for Covid-19. “Doctors are currently monitoring the condition of both,” the Rainbow PUSH Coalition (RPC) said in a statement Saturday. “Anyone who has been around either of them for the last five or six days should follow the CDC guidelines.” RPC is a Chicago-based international human and civil rights organization founded by Jackson, according to its website. Jackson, 79, and his wife, Jacqueline Jackson, 77, are currently at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, the statement said. Jackson received his first Covid-19

FDA Nears Full Pfizer Approval as COVID Cases Surge in US

By Hollie Silverman As Americans face a daunting surge of Covid-19 hospitalizations — with the rates for children and adults under 50 hitting their highest levels yet — officials are hoping full approval of the vaccines could encourage more people to get vaccinated. Full approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is “imminent,” a senior federal official told CNN last week. Once it happens, it could help allay concerns for those who are vaccine hesitant, as all three vaccines available in the US have so far been distributed under emergency use authorization. The approval could also help businesses, schools and states enforce

Symbolic Gestures vs Real Change in US Racial Politics

Analysis by Brandon Tensley US politicians have a fondness for endorsing easy, cultural displays of solidarity. In a recent move that seemed to go largely unnoticed, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution designating August 11, 2021, as Hip-Hop Celebration Day, August 2021 as Hip-Hop Recognition Month and November 2021 as Hip-Hop History Month. It was a peculiar moment. No, not because hip-hop doesn’t matter — for decades, the genre has been fertile ground for emcees to fold history into bars and champion a feminist vision of sexual positivity. But because the resolution served as a reminder that, since last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, there

US Cancels $5.8B in Student Loans for Disabled Borrowers

By Paul LeBlanc The US Education Department announced Thursday it will cancel $5.8 billion in outstanding student loans for borrowers who are unable to work because of permanent disabilities. More than 320,000 “total and permanent disability” borrowers will benefit from the move, the agency said in a press release, and hurdles for relief will become automatic for those who qualify moving forward. “Today’s action removes a major barrier that prevented far too many borrowers with disabilities from receiving the total and permanent disability discharges they are entitled to under the law,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. The statement continued:

61% of US Households Paid No Federal Income Tax in 2020

By Tami Luhby Nearly 107 million US households — about 61% — owed no federal income tax in 2020, a huge spike from pre-pandemic times. But that increase should be short-lived. The coronavirus-fueled upheaval in the economy, which cost more than 20 million jobs in April 2020, and the sweeping federal relief packages drove up the share of non-payers by roughly 40%, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Only about 75 million households, or 44%, didn’t pay federal income tax in 2019, said Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the center, who called the increase for 2020 “eye-popping, but temporary.” Many

Atlanta School Faces Race-Based Class Assignment Dispute

By Nicquel Terry Ellis A mother’s claim that her children’s school was assigning Black students to certain classes has shaken up one Atlanta school community with some parents insisting the principal would never group students based on race. It’s also fueled a debate about whether the practice would even be considered legal or productive for the children. Kila Posey filed a civil rights complaint with the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights last month. She alleges that during the 2020-2021 school year Mary Lin Elementary School Principal Sharyn Briscoe designated only two second-grade classes for Black students without the consent of

Georgia Forms Panel to Review Fulton County Elections

By Fredreka Schouten and Dianne Gallagher Georgia’s state elections board on Wednesday named a three-person review panel to examine election operations in the state’s most populous county — under a provision of a new state election law that voting rights activists have warned could lead to a partisan takeover of a Democratic stronghold in this battleground state. The panel that will review the performance of Fulton County includes a Democrat, Stephen Day, who sits on the Gwinnett County election board, and a Republican, Rickey Kittle, who is chairman of the Catoosa County elections board. Ryan Germany, the general counsel in the secretary

Texas Schools Defy Abbott Mask Mandate Amid Covid Spike

By Eric Bradner Some Texas school districts and students are seeking ways around Republican Gov. Greg Abbott‘s ban on mask mandates as the state grapples with a spike of coronavirus cases. One of those cases is Abbott himself: The second-term governor, who has played to his party’s base and blocked health mandates intended to slow the pandemic’s spread ahead of a reelection bid next year and a potential presidential run in 2024, has tested positive for Covid-19, his office said Tuesday. He’s now isolating at the governor’s mansion and receiving the same treatment then-President Donald Trump did last year. The governor’s positive test

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