by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Wednesday, September 9.
- Italy’s Bergamo is calling back coronavirus survivors. About half say they haven’t fully recovered.
- Will Navalny Attack Spur Russia’s Protest Vote?
- These three women stood up to Europe’s longest-serving dictator. Here’s what happened to them
- Oxford vaccine trial on hold because of safety issue
- Trump planning to withdraw more US troops from Iraq
- Uighurs accuse China of mass detention, torture in landmark complaint
- Poland to accelerate coal phase-out, spend billions on renewable and nuclear energy
- A robot wrote this entire article. Are you scared yet, human? (“I am here to convince you not to worry. Artificial intelligence will not destroy humans. Believe me.”)
- It Will Take More Than a Vaccine to Beat COVID-19 (“Vaccines are making progress, but they may not defeat the virus completely. Luckily, other therapies are on the way, too.”)
- Hundreds of thousands of acres are ablaze in Oregon, California and Washington (This is the climate crisis. Time to stop consuming fossil fuels, ASAP.)
- Trauma, fear and homelessness: the struggles of Paradise’s fire migrants show the future of climate crisis
- Federal Report Warns of Financial Havoc From Climate Change (“A report commissioned by President Trump’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued dire warnings about climate change’s impact on financial markets.”)
- NREL’s solar cost projections plummet in new forecast (“The lower projected costs for PV could help guide some utilities to plan for more PV capacity, as the utilities develop their long-term resource plans.”)
- Interconnection queues across the US are loaded with gigawatts of solar, wind and storage (“Texas and California lead the green grid trend, with PJM not far behind. ERCOT has 75 GW of solar in its interconnection queue — but how fast clean energy can displace natural gas and coal remains a key issue.”)
- NPR Poll: Financial Pain From Coronavirus Pandemic ‘Much, Much Worse’ Than Expected (“In America’s four largest cities, at least half of people say they have experienced the loss of a job or a reduction in wages or work hours in their household since the start of the coronavirus outbreak.”)
- Joe Biden Urges Donald Trump To Pledge He’ll Heed Scientists On Vaccine Safety (“The president’s challenger calls on him to stop putting the FDA under political pressure in the fight against COVID-19.”)
- Virus seems to be leveling off, but numbers remain high (“The coronavirus continues to spread, causing about 40,000 new U.S. cases a day and fears of a post-Labor Day spike.”)
- Trump assaults rule of law in reelection fight (“Trump called on supporters to act as poll watchers, to watch out for ‘thieving, and stealing and robbing’ that he is warning without evidence will taint Election Day”)
- Fact check: Trump makes false claims about Biden at rally
- Michael Cohen memoir calls Trump “a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator” (All those things, apparently, are what Trump’s “base” *likes* about him. Because, apparently, it’s all about the cruelty for these people.)
- Crowds eschew masks at Trump rally as president mocks Biden over social distancing (“The president also chose to ridicule the mass protests against racism and policing, saying, ‘We call our rallies peaceful protests’”)
- Trump just said the corrupt part out loud — with a bullhorn (“For weeks now, scientists inside and outside the government have been warning that President Trump will corrupt the vaccine vetting process and make some sort of coronavirus vaccine-related announcement before Election Day …”)
- GOP tries to gut protections for workers in new virus relief bill
- Senate GOP emergency relief plan leaves out direct aid to states
- The Senate is back from recess — and still at an impasse over stimulus
- Republican ‘Skinny Stimulus’ Bill Just a Feeble Gesture
- Justice Dept. Intervenes to Help Trump in E. Jean Carroll Rape Lawsuit (Appalling, but not surprising under the horrible Bill Barr.)
- U.S. Seeks to Defend Trump in Rape Accuser’s Defamation Suit
- The election choice: The America of Bull Connor, or of John Lewis?
- The curious non-defense of Trump’s reported contempt for the military
- Trump keeps insulting the military (“He cannot help himself.”)
- The Latest On Republican Efforts To Make It Harder To Vote
- Is America in the Early Stages of Armed Insurgency? (“One of the world’s leading counterinsurgency experts is alarmed by what he sees.”)
- For the First Time, America May Have an Anti-Racist Majority (“Not since Reconstruction has there been such an opportunity for the advancement of racial justice.”)
- Trump, Biden take fight to campaign trail as finish line nears
- Only one candidate actually recognized Labor Day (“Trump has gone full plutocrat.”)
- The Electoral College Will Destroy America (“And no, New York and California would not dominate a popular vote.”)
- Biden leads Trump by 12 points nationally among likely voters: Reuters/Ipsos poll (“52% of likely voters planned to support Biden, while 40% would back Trump. Three percent said they would vote for another candidate, and just 5% said they remained undecided with less than two months to go until the Nov. 3 presidential election.”)
- Poll: Biden leads by 9 in Pennsylvania
- Poll: Trump and Biden are tied in battleground Florida
- POLITICO Election Forecast: Trump running out of time to turn around 2020 campaign
- A classy Fox News reporter nails Trump
- Trump’s lost summer: Focused on Fox News, not on battleground states (“An analysis of his campaign’s TV spending reveals that the president has sacrificed targeting swing-state voters in favor of his favorite station.”)
- Biden proposes a tax penalty for offshoring and new credits for manufacturing investments
- Biden to Unveil Offshoring Plan as Trump’s Edge on Economy Dims
- Seven Election Day Nightmares (“We asked security experts to tell us what keeps them up at night — and what to do about it.”)
- Republicans have insufficient evidence to call elections ‘rigged’ and ‘fraudulent’
- “They’re extremely sophisticated”: DHS confirms white supremacists remain the biggest threat to U.S.
- Another Facebook worker quits in disgust, saying the company ‘is on the wrong side of history’
- Special Report: How a small group of U.S. lawyers pushed voter fraud fears into the mainstream (“Four nonprofits run by or linked to this network of lawyers – the Public Interest Legal Foundation, the American Constitutional Rights Union, Judicial Watch and True the Vote – have been involved in at least 61 lawsuits over election rules since 2012, according to a Reuters examination. More than half have been initiated since Trump took office in 2017, including 11 cases concerning absentee or mail-in voting. “)
- Democrats Made Gains From Multiple Sources in 2018 Midterm Victories
- New Oscars standards require best picture contenders must be inclusive to compete
- Senate Dems probe political donations surrounding nomination of Louis DeJoy’s wife to be ambassador
- Sinclair’s America This Week pushes more dangerous claims about COVID-19 (Reminder that if you live in the DC metro area, do NOT watch Sinclair-owned WJLA-7 “news.” And don’t watch Sinclair-owned “news” anywhere else, either.)
- White House lawn, Rose Garden being re-sod after damage from GOP convention
- Rochester police chief, entire command staff retire suddenly following protests over death of Daniel Prude
- Williams: Black lives don’t matter less now than in June. We must push past fatigue to give this moment lasting meaning.
- Sturgis rally may have caused more than 250,000 new coronavirus cases, study finds (“Economists researching the cost of a ‘superspreading event’ estimate that the public health price tag of Sturgis could be more than $12.2 billion.” Disaster, yet South Dakota’s Tea Party governor thought the rally was a great idea.)
- SD Gov. Kristi Noem (R) – Who Amanda Chase Praised and Plagiarized – Welcomed Sturgis Motorcycle Rally To Her State; Now, >250k COVID-19 Cases Are Tied To It.
- North Carolina Court Wipes Out Voting Restrictions Designed to “Secure White Supremacy” (“Tens of thousands of people are suddenly eligible to vote in November.”)
- With Schools Still Closed, Parents Say Children With Disabilities Are Falling Further Behind (That’s a big problem.)
- Third former campaign staffer for Scott Taylor indicted. Prosecutor says investigation isn’t over. (“John Beamer, the special prosecutor overseeing the case, said Tuesday that the two-year investigation isn’t over yet and that he expects to seek at least one more indictment. He said that no one has been cleared, including Taylor”)
- Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) Sends Letter to US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Reiterating That Subpoenaed Documents Must Be Produced By 9/16
- Good speaks toward “rule of law” at area rallies (What a joke)
- Nick Freitas Praises Trump Administration’s COVID-19 Response While Supporting Efforts to Gut Pre-Existing Condition Protections And Rip Health Care Away During Pandemic
- Eric Cantor teams up with former rival Dave Brat in supporting GOP candidate in former district (That says it all…nothing good.)
- Tuesday (9/8) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +836 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 128,407), +30 Hospitalizations (to 9,932), +2 Deaths (to 2,686) From Yesterday
- Virginia House of Delegates Advances Key Police Reform, Equity and COVID-19 Priorities
- Bill to strip qualified immunity from police clears Va. House on re-vote, heads to Senate
- BREAKING/Video: Virginia House of Delegates Reconsiders, Passes Qualified Immunity Reform Bill 49-45-2
- Bill to end qualified immunity for police clears the House, after two Democrats change their stances
- Virginia House of Delegates votes to make it easier for cities to take down Confederate statues (“The House also voted to eliminate qualified immunity for police; both measures now move to the state Senate.”)
- ‘Things we cannot support’: Advocates back away from quarantine leave bill after major changes
- Paid Sick Days Proposal is Dead, but Virginia House Moving Forward With Quarantine Leave
- Video: VA Del. John McGuire (R) Does Interview at Trump “Boat Parade” with Jack Posobiec, Listed on “Hatewatch” for Ties to “White Supremacists, Neo-Fascists and Anti-Semites”
- Ex-fixer for Trump links Falwell’s endorsement in 2016 to suppression of racy photos
- As Virginia’s School Year Starts, Trump’s Failed COVID-19 Policies Are Putting Students and Teachers At Risk
- Thoughts On the First Day Of School During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Appalachian Power seeks rate reduction while larger increase is pending
- Q&A: Virginia construction professor puts people at center of efficient design
- Video: Portsmouth City Council Meets After City Manager Dr. Lydia Pettis Patton Submits Resignation. Move Comes After Pettis Patton Removed City’s Police Chief on Friday.
- UPDATED: McEachin asks for special prosecutor to investigate Stoney’s handling of Confederate statue removal
- Hanover committee recommends Lee-Davis, Stonewall Jackson schools be renamed Twin Rivers and Mechanicsville
- Northern Virginia remains the ‘King of the Cloud’
- Charlottesville approves ban on guns at city properties
- No More Guns: Richmond Council Approves Ban for Local Events
- Loudoun County school board replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day
- Three Police Officers Assaulted In Arlington Liquor Store
- Montgomery County Public Schools students return to 4-day-a-week plan
- Staying warm and humid as shower and storm chances return
********************************************************
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
