National News - Page 92

An anti-racist author, a documentary filmmaker and a computational virologist are among the 2021 MacArthur Foundation ‘genius grant’ winners

By Amir Vera, The MacArthur Foundation announced its class of 2021 Tuesday that includes an anti-racist author, a civil rights activist and a computational virologist. Colloquially known as the “genius grant,” MacArthur fellows are awarded a $625,000, no-strings-attached grant paid out over five years. Since 1981, 1,061 people have been named MacArthur Fellows, according to the foundation’s website. There are no restrictions on how the money is spent, the foundation said. “As we emerge from the shadows of the past two years, this class of 25 Fellows helps us reimagine what’s possible,” said Cecilia Conrad, managing director of the MacArthur Fellows.

Black women will be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for the first time

By Scottie Andrew, The National Inventors Hall of Fame lineup is full of familiar faces: Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright brothers and Eli Whitney, along with many other mostly White men. Joining them in the next class of inductees are two Black women inventors who changed the way we work and see. Marian Croak and the late Dr. Patricia Bath will be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, alongside the inventors of the sports bra, ibuprofen and the Super Soaker toy. They’re the first two Black women to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame. Croak, now a vice president at Google, developed Voice over Internet

Oregon approves the nation’s first new congressional map

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By Chandelis Duster and Ethan Cohen, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed the state’s redistricting bills Monday, hours before a deadline that would’ve taken the process out of the legislature’s hands and making Oregon the first state with a new congressional map after the 2020 Census. The new congressional map is a compromise that’s expected to create four Democratic-leaning seats, one Republican-leaning seat and one more competitive seat. An earlier proposal would’ve made that sixth district more Democratic as well. “For the first time in forty years, Oregon is gaining a congressional seat — another delegation member to advocate for the common good

Blackness and Latinidad are not mutually exclusive. Here’s what it means to be Afro-Latino in America

By Amir Vera and Alexander Pineda, Joel Alvarado was 6 years old when his mother pulled him aside and asked him to be discreet as he was getting ready to meet his grandmother in Puerto Rico. “She made me aware that my grandmother was much darker than my other relatives, especially from her side of the family, and she didn’t want me to say anything out of turn or something about her skin color,” said Alvarado, 50, the executive vice president of the Atlanta-based government relations firm Ohio River South. “These are my blood relatives, what does that make me?”

Lawmakers set to grill top military leaders on Afghanistan for first time since troop withdrawal

By Zachary Cohen, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley are set to testify publicly before Senate lawmakers Tuesday, marking the first time that top military officials will appear before Congress since the full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Austin and Milley will be joined by the leader of US Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie, who played an integral role in facilitating the evacuation from Kabul — an effort that has been the focus of immense bipartisan criticism since the last American military aircraft departed the Afghan capital. All three officials will

Democrats say a Civilian Climate Corps will create jobs. Here’s how it could work.

By Rachel Ramirez and Ella Nilsen, When he met with governors this summer from Western states wracked by wildfires and drought, President Joe Biden highlighted one way to tackle the climate crisis that goes beyond more funding for aerial firefighting and better forest management: a Civilian Climate Corps. The corps is now one of several key climate provisions that are planned for Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget bill, alongside a clean electricity program and tax credits for renewable energy. Inspired by the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s, the Climate Corps would put people to work in short-term jobs or training programs that would focus on renewable technology and building

Concerns about Delta transmission, overburdened hospitals and Covid-19 deaths drove recent rise in vaccinations, poll says

By Virginia Langmaid, A new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) poll found that the highly transmissible Delta variant, overburdened hospitals and knowing someone who has died or become seriously ill from Covid-19 drove recent increases in vaccination. Among those vaccinated since June 1, 39% said they were motivated by transmission of the Delta variant, 38% by the growing burden of Covid-19 on hospitals and 36% by knowing someone who became seriously ill or died. Thirty-five percent said a major reason was to participate in activities where vaccinations are required, such as traveling. Nineteen percent said it was because it was mandated by their

R. Kelly convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking by a federal jury in New York

By Sonia Moghe, Jurors have found R&B singer R. Kelly guilty of racketeering, including acts of bribery and sexual exploitation of a child, along with separate charges of sex trafficking. In this federal case in the Eastern District of New York, Kelly faced a total of nine counts — one count of racketeering, with 14 underlying acts that included sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping, bribery and sex trafficking charges, and also eight additional counts of violations of the Mann Act, a sex trafficking law. Kelly was found guilty of nine counts — one count of racketeering and eight counts of violating

Covid-19 vaccine boosters can begin for some US adults as CDC partially diverges from its advisers’ recommendations

By Jamie Gumbrecht, Following days of lengthy debate among vaccine experts, booster shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine can now be officially administered to some adults in the United States. Early Friday morning, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky diverged from the agency’s independent vaccine advisers to recommend boosters for a broader group of people — those ages 18 to 64 who are at increased risk of Covid-19 because of their workplaces or institutional settings — in addition to older adults, long-term care facility residents and some people with underlying health conditions. The CDC recommendation

These families of missing Black people are frustrated with the lack of response to their cases

By Nicquel Terry Ellis, David Robinson has been in Arizona for the last three months searching for his 24-year-old son, Daniel Robinson, who went missing after leaving a work site in the desert in his Jeep Renegade on June 23. Robinson, who lives in South Carolina, hired an independent investigator and assembled a volunteer search team when he says he felt the police weren’t making progress in the investigation. He also says he failed to get the amount of media coverage he believed the case needed. The case was reported by the local media as early as July 9. Robinson

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