by Lowell
Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, May 5.
- Hong Kong Eases; Russia Adds 10,000 Cases Again: Virus Update
- U.N. Warns Number Of People Starving To Death Could Double Amid Pandemic
- Masked and standing apart, the world tiptoes out of lockdown
- The Climate Crisis Has Not Stopped for the Pandemic (“Turns out ignoring problems only makes them worse. Who knew?”)
- Exclusive: Internal Chinese report warns Beijing faces Tiananmen-like global backlash over virus
- Canada succeeded on coronavirus where America failed. Why? (“Canada beat the US on coronavirus because its political system works.”)
- Five Eyes network contradicts theory Covid-19 leaked from lab (“No current evidence to suggest coronavirus leaked from Wuhan research lab, agencies say”)
- WHO says it has no evidence to support ‘speculative’ Covid-19 lab theory (“Health body says any ‘aggressive investigation of wrongdoing’ regarding virus origins makes understanding it harder”)
- Australian intelligence knocks back US government’s Wuhan lab virus claim
- Fauci: No scientific evidence the coronavirus was made in a Chinese lab (“In an exclusive interview, the face of America’s COVID-19 response cautions against the rush for states to reopen, and offers his tips for handling the pandemic’s information deluge.”)
- Kim Jong Un’s appearance put death rumors to rest. But the world was scared for good reason.
- Models Project Sharp Rise in Deaths as States Reopen
- The White House is focused on per capita coronavirus death tolls. Here’s where we rank. (“While the United States has the highest number of documented infections and deaths, we have the seventh-most per capita deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins data.”)
- Draft report predicts covid-19 cases will reach 200,000 a day by June 1
- CDC privately projects significant May surge in coronavirus cases and deaths
- White House prohibits coronavirus task force members from testifying before Congress in May
- Trump cheers on governors even as they ignore White House coronavirus guidelines in race to reopen
- Democrats should make voting reform a nonnegotiable baseline for the next stimulus bill (“Universal vote-by-mail is the only way to ensure free and fair elections in November.”)
- Most Events in the Lincoln Memorial Are Banned. Trump Got an Exception.
- The moment when Trump’s schtick finally failed
- We keep waiting for the ‘new normal.’ It might already be here.
- Trump’s monstrous mistakes — past and future (“Trump’s errors sacrifice thousands of American lives.”)
- Trumpers are resistant to experts — even their own (“No matter the source, Republicans reject scientific advice.”)
- With Kayleigh McEnany, the White House Isn’t Even Pretending the Truth Matters (“Only in the most broken of systems would Kayleigh McEnany get to be White House press secretary, but that’s where we are”)
- After nearly 2 years, Grassley lifts hold on counterintel chief nominee
- Trump’s Pick for Intelligence Chief Follows a Slew of QAnon Accounts (Which makes him about the last person we’d want in this job.)
- Trump and His Infallible Advisers (“Beware men who never admit having been wrong.”)
- The price of reopening the economy: tens of thousands of American lives
- The plan is to have no plan (“There is no genius there, only a damaged human being playing havoc with our lives.”)
- From “it will disappear” to 100,000 deaths: Trump’s coronavirus projections have shifted dramatically
- CNN sends Trump campaign cease-and-desist letter for misleading ad
- Pelosi responds to Trump’s payroll tax cut demand: No way (“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responds to President Donald Trump’s threat that he’ll block the next coronavirus relief package unless Congress cuts payroll taxes.”)
- “Trump Is Really Aiming to Take Down Fox”: A Group Associated With Donald Trump Jr. Is Buying a Major Stake in OANN
- Chris Christie Says People ‘Are Going To Have To’ Accept More Deaths To Reopen Economy (Sure Chris, you first?)
- Reopening is a risk for Republican governors
- Mr. Trump’s War on Accountability (“Firing the watchdogs charged with protecting the public’s money and policing the executive branch undermines democracy.”)
- For These Federal Employees, Telework Means Productivity Is Up, Their Backlog Is Down (“Social Security field offices are closed. But the shutdown hasn’t stopped the agency from processing claims for new benefits and appeals of benefit denials. And according to statistics that the SSA sent its workers, the agency has been doing so at a faster pace than before.”)
- If Biden Is Serious, Warren Is the One
- A Warren Vice Presidential Nomination Is Gaining Plausibility, With One Very Big Catch
- New committee to ‘Draft Michelle Obama’ urges Biden to pick her as VP
- The coronavirus is invading the battleground states
- The six states at the center of the battleground map six months from Election Day (“…the former ‘blue wall’ states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the traditional swing states of Florida and North Carolina, and the emerging battleground of Arizona.”)
- The State of the Presidential Race, Six Months Before Election Day
- Michigan security guard killed in mask dispute; suspect said he ‘disrespected’ them (Insane.)
- GOP Ohio state lawmaker refuses to wear face mask because faces are the ‘likeness of God’ (Can we say “anthropomorphization?”)
- The Supreme Court Just Proved Its Secretive Rules Are Silly and Counterproductive (“The justices proved they can do good law in public. We’ll soon learn whether they dare do bad law right before our eyes.”)
- Virginia Congressmen want more telework flexibilities regardless of pandemic
- US Sen. Warner urges DOJ to address rise in discrimination against Asian Americans during pandemic
- State, local governments need urgent federal help: Sen. Tim Kaine
- Rep. Abigail Spanberger: ‘We are ceding ground to China’ (“The freshman Democrat warns that we are dangerously abdicating U.S. leadership”)
- Live Video, Highlights: Gov. Ralph Northam’s Monday (5/4) Virginia COVID-19 Briefing
- Northam says he’ll probably ease some restrictions in Va. on May 15
- Northam announces plans to gradually reopen Virginia starting May 15
- Northam: Virginia can Begin Phase 1 Reopening on May 15th… Hopefully
- Northam: Restrictions could be eased next week
- Northam orders non-essential businesses closed for another week, but says reopening could begin next Friday
- Northam Plans Phase One Reopening for May 15
- Virginia Officials Brief on Data They’re Looking at To Decide When to Start Opening Back Up Again
- AG Mark Herring Urges Senate to Protect Women from Domestic Violence
- Will Gov. Northam Veto Any of These Bills? Should He? (Bills deal with marijuana decriminalization, pet shop regulations, jail death reviews, association health plans, etc.)
- Monday (5/4) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +821 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 19,492), +73 Hospitalizations (to 2,700), +24 Deaths (to 684) From Yesterday
- Dominion Targets 24GW of Renewables and Storage in Move Toward Virginia’s Clean Energy Goals (“The utility embraces solar and offshore wind, but critics say its plan is too reliant on fracked gas and pipelines.”)
- Dominion plans 16 GW of solar for Virginia by 2035 (“Under the utility’s latest IRP, Dominion plans to procure 16 GW of solar, 2.7 GW of storage and 5.1 GW of offshore wind in the next 15 years. Kicking off these new plans comes a request for proposals of 1 GW of solar or wind and 250 MW of energy storage.”)
- Forgotten first responders: The COVID-19 lockdown has hit Virginia’s child welfare system hard
- Virginia National Guard teams testing residents and staff at long-term care facilities
- Editorial: Why must Southwest Virginia wait on the rest of the state? (This editorial, by the Roanoke Times, was 100% predictable.)
- Three Out of Four Democratic Candidates for Arlington County Board Respond to Alliance for Housing Solutions Questionnaire (Here are the responses from Barbara Kanninen, Chanda Choun and Takis Karantonis)
- Candidates for the Arlington special election talk about urbanist issues in our questionnaire (“On Thursday, May 7, a select group of Arlington County Democratic party members will choose a candidate to represent their party in a July special election to replace former supervisor Erik Gutshall.”)
- Roanoke council eyes $3.5 million in budget cuts
- Editorial: Public needs full account of Beach shooting
- Charlottesville school division asking for $1.3M increase in funding
- Protected by seclusion, Tangier Island in Chesapeake Bay keeps eye on virus from afar
- Cloudy and cool with showers later today into tomorrow
