Biden touts new incentives in July 4 vaccination push
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, facing a self-imposed July 4 deadline to have 70% of U.S. adults at least partly vaccinated against the coronavirus, tried Wednesday to rally the nation to meet that goal, announcing an offer of free child care for parents and caregivers while they receive their shots and a national canvassing effort resembling a get-out-the-vote drive.
Editorial: Make tax-dodging companies pay
American companies and companies that make money in the United States are not paying enough money in taxes. Even as profits have soared, tax payments have declined. Fifty-five of the nation’s largest corporations — including FedEx, Nike and the agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland — paid nothing in federal income taxes in 2020, despite collectively reporting more than $40 billion in profits, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
Derek Chauvin found guilty of murdering George Floyd
Derek Chauvin was found guilty of two counts of murder on Tuesday in the death of George Floyd, whose final breaths last May under the knee of Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, were captured on video, setting off months of protests against the police abuse of Black people.
Adults in all states now eligible for vaccination
All adults in every U.S. state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, meeting the April 19 deadline that President Joe Biden set two weeks ago.
Editorial: Too many people are locked up for small thefts
The United States has made some progress in reducing the shockingly large share of the population that lives behind bars, mostly by dialing back the War on Drugs. Building on this progress requires similar changes in the treatment of nonviolent property crime.
Biden, CDC director warn of virus rebound if nation lets up
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and a top health official warned Monday that too many Americans are declaring virus victory too quickly, appealing for mask requirements and other restrictions to be maintained or restored to stave off a “fourth surge” of COVID-19. The head of the CDC said she had a feeling of “impending doom” if people keep easing off.
Motive in Boulder shooting is still a mystery, police say
BOULDER, Colo. — Investigators searching for answers after the mass shooting in Boulder this week still do not know why a gunman fatally shot 10 people at a crowded grocery store, the police chief said Friday.
Fox News faces second defamation suit over election coverage
Fox News and its powerful owner, Rupert Murdoch, are facing a second major defamation suit over its coverage of the 2020 presidential election, a new front in the growing legal battle over media disinformation and its consequences.
House passes bills to expand and strengthen gun background checks
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday approved a pair of bills that would expand and strengthen background checks for gun purchasers, as Democrats pushed past Republican opposition to advance major gun safety measures after decades of congressional inaction.
California condors get an assist from an unlikely source: A wind power company
In an unusual — and somewhat controversial — move, federal wildlife officials in California are teaming up with a wind power company to breed endangered California condors in captivity, in an effort to replace any that might be felled by turbine blades.
New York governor, contrite over sex harassment accusations, refuses to resign
ALBANY, N.Y. — In his first public remarks since a sexual harassment scandal enveloped his administration, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that he was embarrassed by his actions and apologized, but said that he would not resign from office.
Editorial: Desperate times, creative measures
Millions of Americans are approaching a grim anniversary: one year without paid work.
The era of vaccine diplomacy is here
It is only natural that the American government and the American people have focused on getting coronavirus vaccines to as many of its people as possible, with the most vulnerable first in line. But as the pace of domestic vaccination accelerates, two facts are worth bearing in mind.
Missteps in vaccine rollout proving costly
A few weeks into her part-time job vaccinating nursing home staff members and residents against the coronavirus, Katherine, a pharmacist, noticed a problem: Roughly 15 to 20 vaccines were being thrown away at the end of each vaccination session. That’s because the number of doses that she and her co-workers had prepared — per the protocol established by Katherine’s manager at CVS, the pharmacy she works for — exceeded the number of people who showed up to be inoculated, often significantly.
Editorial: Governors easing restrictions at wrong time
When reports emerged that a new, potentially more contagious version of the coronavirus was circulating in Britain, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York implored major airlines to require anyone entering the state from another country to first submit a negative coronavirus test. Scientists still had much to learn about the variant, but Cuomo was following a principle that has become scripture among public health experts: To defeat the coronavirus, you must act quickly. You cannot wait for certainty to arrive.
Your cat isn’t just getting high off catnip
For a lesson in euphoria, look no further than a house cat twined around a twig of silver vine. When offered a snipping of the plant, which contains chemicals similar to the ones found in catnip, most domesticated felines will purr, drool and smoosh their faces into its intoxicating leaves and stems, then zonk out in a state of catatonic bliss.
New bat species discovered in West Africa
In 2018, scientists set out on an expedition to survey the habitat of an endangered bat species in the West African country of Guinea. One night, a trap turned up something unusual: a new species of bat with a fiery orange body strikingly juxtaposed with black wings.
Jellyfish build walls of water to swim around the ocean
Locomotion through the seas can be arduous. Water is more viscous than air, and so underwater creatures must overcome strong frictional resistance as they swim.
The problem with problem sharks
The war on sharks has been waged with shock and awe at times. When a shark bit or killed a swimmer, people within the past century might take out hundreds of the marine predators to quell the panic, like executing everyone in a police lineup in order to ensure justice was dispensed on the guilty party.
Electoral College votes today. Here’s what to expect.
The members of the Electoral College will gather in their respective states today to cast their official ballots for president. Ordinarily, the process is little more than a formal duty to rubber-stamp the results of the November election.
