Monday News: Climate Crisis – Siberian Town Hits 100 Degrees; “WHO reports largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases”; Bolton Wants Trump Defeated; “Police use chemical agents to disperse ‘unlawful’ gathering at J.E.B. Stuart statue in Richmond”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Monday, June 22.

VIDEO: Listen to me yell “I’m press” at officers as they started to use pepper spray on demonstrators. They sprayed me in my face and covered my phone. Shortly after, I was thrown to ground my an officer I bumped into. pic.twitter.com/Z6JJ79TSdY

— Andrew Ringle (@aeringle) June 22, 2020

• WHO reports largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases (“The U.N. health agency said Brazil led the way with 54,771 cases tallied, and the U.S. was next at 36,617.”)
• Europe’s Thinking Shifts on Supporting Renewables as Part of Green Recovery Package (“A proposed 15-gigawatt EU-wide renewable tender is losing support while a new plan is taking shape.”)
• Coronavirus cases surge in U.S. and Brazil as Germany reports more outbreaks, but markets don’t seem worried
• Trump’s Retreat From Germany Is a Victory for Putin
• Exclusive: Trump held off on Xinjiang sanctions for China trade deal
• Exclusive: Trump cold on Guaidó, would consider meeting Maduro
• Exclusive: Saudi dissident warned by Canadian police he is a target
• Bolton: Trump And China’s Xi Talked ‘Frequently’ About Trump’s Reelection
• A Siberian town near the Arctic Circle just recorded a 100-degree temperature (We are in a climate emergency and had better start acting like it ASAP!)
• A 90% Clean Grid Can Be Achieved Quickly. What’s Holding It Back?
• Exclusive: After BP Takes a Hit, Investors Widen Climate Change Campaign (“Investors managing £1.8 trillion ($2.2 trillion) in assets are widening a campaign pressing oil majors to better reflect climate risks in their accounting, and will soon target other businesses with heavy fossil fuel exposure, the group said on Monday.”)
• Democrats push for ousted U.S. attorney’s testimony (“Geoffrey Berman, the ousted U.S. attorney for southern New York, had been involved in a number of high-profile investigations involving people connected to the president.”)
• Trump’s Latest Firing May Have Violated Four Core Values Of American Democracy (“Equal justice under the law…Independence of law enforcement…Accountability and oversight…Media and public scrutiny”)
• All eyes on Roberts ahead of Supreme Court’s abortion ruling
• Trump’s ‘kidding’ on testing exposes his negligence as virus spikes (Just appalling and irresponsible.)
• Trump’s COVID Testing ‘Joke’ Has His Health Officials Livid (Definitely NOT funny)
• White House: Trump Was Just Joking About a Deadly Pandemic (Hilarious, huh?)
• John Bolton says he won’t vote for Trump and hopes he is a one-term president
• Exclusive: John Bolton says Trump’s White House was ‘like living inside a pinball machine’
• John Bolton exclusive interview: Trump does not represent the Republican cause that I want to back
• John Bolton Unloads On Former Boss Trump, Even If It’s A Little Late Now
• Bolton says he hopes Trump is 1-term president, warns country imperiled by his reelection
• Bill Barr, Not Geoffrey Berman, Should Have Lost His Job This Weekend (Bill Barr should have lost his job many times by now.)
• For Barr, Standoff With Prosecutor Adds to String of Miscues
• Trump’s problem in Tulsa wasn’t just empty seats. It was empty rhetoric.
• Trump saw his Tulsa rally as a chance to reset his reelection campaign. It did not go well. (“Despite boasting of more than a million ticket registrations, Trump spoke before a mostly empty stadium.”)
• With ‘kung flu,’ ‘thugs,’ and ‘our heritage,’ Trump leans on racial grievance as he reaches for a campaign reset
• Trump rally highlights vulnerabilities heading into election
• The President’s Shock at the Rows of Empty Seats in Tulsa (“Inside the campaign, advisers believe disappointing attendance at the rally shows genuine fear of the coronavirus and the reality of President Trump’s sliding poll numbers.”)
• Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump ‘pissed’ at Trump campaign manager over his rally crowd size predictions, source says —
• Trump ‘furious’ about ‘underwhelming’ crowd at Tulsa rally
• Brad Parscale faces Trump ‘fury’ after Tulsa comeback rally flops
• Signs That Trump Was Furious in Tulsa (“Watching the president read from a prompter is like watching a man slip into a straitjacket.”)
• Trump’s Campaign Faces Reckoning After Falling Short in Tulsa
• https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/22/democrats-dreamy-polls-2016-nightmare-329663 (“Democrats are having a hard time accepting some good political news.” And for good reason!)
• Kamala Harris Is Seen As The Clear Front-Runner To Be Joe Biden’s Running Mate
• Trump allies see a mounting threat: Biden’s rising evangelical support
• Trump AG Barr will escape impeachment thanks to ‘corrupt’ Republicans – Nadler
• Bill Barr’s Above the Law. The Only Answer Is to Impeach Him. (“The special counsel regulations don’t contemplate investigating a potentially corrupt AG—because a corrupt AG would never invoke the regulations to investigate himself.”)
• Juan Williams: A bad moon on the rise (“At a time when Trump has expressed overt authoritarian tendencies by praising dictatorial thugs in other countries like Russia and North Korea, his focus on law enforcement takes on a new sense of urgency.”)
• Trump’s Bible photo-op threatens his legacy — and his reelection (Stupid headline; for starters, what “legacy?”)
• Trump says niece “not allowed” to write book because of nondisclosure agreement
• Is Police Reform A Fundamentally Flawed Idea? (“There’s a lot of research to support the idea that putting more money into resources that improve people’s lives — like health care, housing and education — can reduce crime. The more nebulous question is how removing funding for police departments will affect public safety. But Jennifer Doleac, an economics professor at Texas A&M University who studies crime, suggested policymakers and researchers should prioritize listening to the experiences of people who are interacting with police and make sure those are taken into account when deciding which policies are implemented and how to evaluate their success.”)
• Republican dark money groups set sights on taking control of 2020 district maps (Democrats need to fight back against this, big time.)
• Trump’s Tax Cuts Were a Disaster. Naturally, Republicans Want Even More. (Have Republican tax cuts *ever* worked?)
• Facebook still refuses to block Trump’s lies as it launches ‘voter information’ effort (F*** Z***)
• What’s Facebook’s Deal With Donald Trump? (Start with Zuckberberg being evil.)
• Trump Wants To Move On, But The Coronavirus Is Surging In Parts Of Red America
• More young people across the South are testing positive for coronavirus, officials warn
• Steve Bannon’s COVID Podcast Is Being Distributed by a Convicted Crook
• Fox & Friends hosts defend Trump’s remarks about slowing down COVID-19 testing: “That’s part of his delivery” (What a pathetic bunch of losers.)
• NASCAR probes noose found in Bubba Wallace’s garage in Talladega
• Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says Trump and His “Henchman, Mr. Barr” Are “Willing to Get Rid of Anyone…Investigating People That Get Close to Donald Trump”
• A Look at the Potential Republican Challengers to Senator Mark Warner (Not much information in this article.)
• Andrews defeats trio to win GOP nomination in 10th District (Also not much information in this article, including about Andrews’ far-right views. God, the media sucks.)
• VA10 GOP Works Very Hard to Out-Extremist VA05 GOP; Elect “Homosexual Pirates” Guy, Clarence Thomas’ Far-Right Wife as RNC Delegates; “Obama Zombie” Guy as VA GOP Central Committee Member
• With Juneteenth holiday, Northam turns his greatest liability into a redemptive moment
• Video: Final Day of 2020 DPVA Virtual Convention Features Reps. McEachin and Connolly; State Sens. McClellan, Locke and Deeds; LG Fairfax; Dels. Jones and Price; etc.
• Kim Bobo column: Virginia’s workers and employers need emergency regulations
• David Marsden column: I’ve got your back
• Virginia road traffic is returning to normal, VDOT says
• Virginia’s COVID metrics are trending down. Here’s why the state isn’t reopening faster. (“There are multiple factors to consider, according to Dr. William Petri, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Virginia. For one, the national outlook is different, with 27 states reporting increases in cases. Then there’s the state’s own data, which shows a decline — but not a total stop — in new transmissions. ‘I think it’s the right decision,’ Petri said. ‘The main message is that we’re not out of the woods quite yet. So, to me, it seems the prudent thing is to go in a slow, measured way.'”)
• Sunday (6/21) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +561 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 57,994), +33 Hospitalizations (to 5,840), +4 Deaths (to 1,611) From Yesterday
• Virginia reports four new coronavirus deaths as percentage of positive cases continues to drop (“The percentage of coronavirus tests that come back positive continues to decline, with the seven-day average falling below 7% for the first time on Sunday, state data shows.”)
• Virginia solar program on track to maintain momentum despite pandemic
• Despite another setback, corporate customers stick with Mountain Valley Pipeline
• Editorial: Democrats now ‘own’ Southside and Southwest economies (100% ridiculous. In fact, Southside and Southwest Virginia have *tons* of Republicans as local and state officials, and have for many years.)
• Roanoke County, with 20% of population lacking high-speed internet access, seeking proposals for broadband expansion
• Young immigrants, advocacy groups in Hampton Roads find relief in Supreme Court’s DACA ruling
• City council members call for immediate removal of Confederate monuments after police intervene when protesters try to pull down J.E.B. Stuart statue (“12:50 a.m. update: Richmond City Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch, who represents the 5th District, said in a tweet after midnight Monday morning that she and 9th District council member Michael Jones are calling for immediate removal of the monuments for ‘public safety reasons.'”)
• In Richmond, another tense face-off between protesters, police (“Crowds try to topple statue of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart on Monument Avenue.”)
• Police use chemical agents to disperse ‘unlawful’ gathering at J.E.B. Stuart statue in Richmond
• Editorial: Tourism effort shows promise of regional partnership (“Cooperation between Norfolk and Virginia Beach on a tourism campaign shows how partnership can serve the region.”)
• Without international students this summer, Virginia Beach hotels, restaurants need workers
• Marchers return to sidewalk across from Roanoke police, resume protests
• Video: Prince William County Supervisor Has No Idea Who the Great African-American Sociologist, Civil Rights Activist, Writer, etc. W.E.B. DuBois Was
• Opinion/Editorial: UVa offers some clarity on athletics
• Hundreds bike through Richmond for Black Lives Matter Fathers Day event
• Fairfax, Loudoun County Schools Consider Options for Fall Reopening
• Hot, humid and sometimes stormy through midweek (“Drier, less humid air should visit Thursday and Friday.”)