“A federal judge on Thursday ordered that gun shops across Massachusetts can reopen this weekend, ruling that Governor Charlie Baker’s decision to shutter them along with thousands of other “nonessential” businesses infringed on people’s Second Amendment rights.”
Category: Current Events
This is the facility my dad works at as a social worker.
“Since March, 91 of the facility’s residents and 11 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, while 22 have tested negative, Tim Killian, public information officer for Tennessee-based Life Care Centers of America, said Thursday.
“Six Life Care Center of Auburn residents have died, Killian said.
“Six (deaths) may sound like a lot, but we have to keep in mind that in a typical facility like this, you might have three to seven deaths a month for any number of reasons,” he said. “This is not to say that more won’t come. It’s still possible.”
“Some of the residents who tested positive for the coronavirus at the Life Care Center of Auburn have been transferred to area hospitals, Killian said.”
“In addition to the 11 employees who tested positive, three other results are pending, Killian said. The facility, which has 154 licensed beds, typically employs 250, Killian said.”
“Asked what the facility has done thus far to limit the spread of the virus, Killian said, “Immediately upon testing, we isolate all positives into their own wing of the facility from anyone who’s tested negative … We isolate staff who are working on all the patients so that there’s no crossover between the positive and the negative wings. Those are the primary focuses to this point.”
“Killian said none of the patients who tested positive and remain at the facility are showing symptoms.
“Nobody is exhibiting signs or symptoms of COVID-19 within that population of positive patients,” he said.
“There are 208 Life Care Centers in the country, including 15 in Massachusetts.”
“Nearly 3.2 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the business shutdowns caused by the viral outbreak deepened the worst U.S. economic catastrophe in decades.
“Roughly 33.5 million people have now filed for jobless aid in the seven weeks since the coronavirus began forcing millions of companies to close their doors and slash their workforces. That is the equivalent of one in five Americans who had been employed back in February, when the unemployment rate had reached a 50-year low of just 3.5%.”
“20% of US labor force lost work since coronavirus outbreak”
“Economists are projecting that the gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of economic growth — is contracting in the current April-June quarter by a shocking 40% annual rate. As it does, more layoffs appear to be spreading beyond front-line industries like restaurants, hotels and retail stores.”
“… the job cuts have hammered workers at restaurants, hotels and retail firms particularly hard. According to the payroll processor ADP, about half the total jobs in the hotel and restaurant industry — 8.6 million — disappeared in April, based on data from its corporate clients. A category that includes retail and shipping shed 3.4 million workers.”
“The action will install a stalwart Trump ally to lead the Postal Service, which he has railed against for years, and probably move him closer than ever before to forcing the service to renegotiate its terms with companies and its own union workforce. Trump’s Treasury Department and the Postal Service are in the midst of a negotiation over a $10 billion line of credit approved as part of coronavirus legislation in March.”
“After Four Antibody Tests, I’m Still Not Sure I’ve Had Covid-19”
“The tests that many hope might get us back to some sense of normalcy seem to be alarmingly contradictory.”
“Trump is once more pushing to have his border wall painted black, a design change that is projected to add at least $500 million in costs, according to government contracting estimates”
“…military commanders and border officials believed as recently as last fall that they had finally talked him out of it. They consider the black paint unnecessary, costly and a significant long-term maintenance burden, and they left it out of the original U.S. Customs and Border Protection design specifications.”
“The Post obtained a copy of painting estimates that federal contracting officials produced, and it shows costs ranging from $500 million for two coats of acrylic paint to more than $3 billion for a premium “powder coating” on the structure’s 30-foot steel bollards, the high end of the options the officials have identified.”
“There’s no technical reason to paint it”
“…probably would need to be repainted after about 10 years”
“Democrats are seeking to raise benefits as research shows a rise in food insecurity without modern precedent amid the pandemic. But Republicans have balked at a long-term expansion of the program.”
(www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/us/politics/coronavirus-hunger-food-stamps.html)
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“South Dakota is fast becoming a mini-Switzerland for the world’s rich. Analysts and local politicians estimate that $250 billion to $900 billion is now stashed in South Dakota trusts by the likes of Chinese billionaires looking to keep their fortunes out of reach of the government, Europeans looking to avoid taxes and Americans looking to shield wealth from spouses.”
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