Wednesday, January 12th, 2022
Filibuster Fight, Extreme Cold & Smart Guns
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by StitchFix.com/newsworthy and MamaZen (Listen for the discount code)
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want reading about the latest happenings…
Biden Endorses Filibuster Changes
President Biden is backing the idea of changing the Senate filibuster rules that have been in place for nearly half a century. A filibuster is a tactic used to try and delay or prevent Congress from taking action on a bill. It's a 50/50 split in the Senate now, so it's hard to get the full 60 votes needed to get new laws passed. President Biden thinks if the filibuster goes away, two voting rights bills might have a chance at passing. So, the Senate majority leader said either the Senate will pass the new voting rights bills by next Monday or consider changing the filibuster rules. Some Republicans are calling it a power grab.
Read more: Reuters, CBS News, WSJ, NY Times, AP, White House
US Health Officials Testify
America’s top health officials defended their response to the latest wave of Covid-19. They’ve been accused of focusing on vaccinations at the expense of testing and support for healthcare systems that are struggling. Lawmakers also mentioned that a lot of the federal guidance has been confusing since it seems to vary from one day to the next. The leaders of the FDA, CDC, and National Institutes of Health all say they agree the nation does need more tests, and healthcare systems need more support, but they are doing the best they possibly can to test, treat and vaccinate Americans.
Read more: Business Insider, NY Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, AP, US Senate
US Aid to Afghanistan
The U.S. is giving another $308 million to help Afghan people with things like water, food, shelter, and health care. The White House says it will also send a million extra Covid-19 vaccine doses to the country. The United Nations and aid groups have been warning about a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan ever since the Taliban took over last year. This week, the UN asked for a record $4.4 billion in aid from countries around the world. This latest donation is on top of $474 million the U.S. has already given to Afghanistan in the last three months.
Read more: NBC News, Fox News, NY Times, Reuters, White House
Northeast Extreme Cold
Millions of Americans got a dose of sub-zero temperatures this week. For parts of the upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast, Tuesday was the coldest day in three years. Wind chills dropped down to 30 degrees below zero in northern New England. The air was so cold, it could be seen from infrared satellites in space. Boston’s public schools were among those that decided to close because of extreme temperatures. Warming centers were set up in several states for people who needed shelter from the cold. Temperatures are starting to rebound already, and it’s expected to get even warmer by the end of the week.
Read more: AP, NBC News, Al Jazeera, Fox News, NWS
Medicare to Cover Aduhelm
Medicare says it will cover a new, expensive Alzheimer's drug for people in approved clinical trials. Aduhelm has sparked controversy since it was first approved by the FDA last year. It’s a monthly treatment meant for patients with earlier stages of Alzheimer's, and it costs more than $28,000 a year. Some health experts found there isn't enough evidence to prove the drug works. Still, the FDA says it approved the drug because the potential benefits outweigh the risks. As for Medicare, it says it just made a preliminary decision to cover the drug. That decision won’t be finalized until the public has a chance to weigh in.
Read more: NY Times, WaPo, USA Today, NBC News, Medicare
Ivy League Financial Aid Lawsuit
Five former students are suing some of the country’s most prestigious universities for financial aid conspiracy. The 16 schools targeted include Yale, Duke, Brown, Cornell, and Georgetown, among others. The suit says the schools overcharged more than 170,000 students who got financial aid by hundreds of millions of dollars. It says the universities allegedly used a shared method to calculate the needs for applicants and unfairly limited aid, violating antitrust laws. Under federal law, schools are allowed to work together on their formulas, but only if applicants’ financial needs aren’t considered in the admission process.
Read more: WSJ, NY Times, Axios, NBC News,
Smart Guns Could be Coming
Americans could soon get their hands on personalized, smart guns that only allow their owners to fire them. The goal is to keep a child or a convicted criminal from pulling the trigger. Lodestar Works recently unveiled its smart 9mm handgun. It works with a fingerprint reader, a pin pad on the gun, or a chip activated by a phone app. At least two other companies are testing similar products, too. One statistic says 380,000 guns are stolen each year, so the smart gun might make a difference in those cases. However, skeptics question the reliability of the technology and say some gun owners may end up in life or death situations that require faster firing.
Read more: USA Today, NBC News, Reuters, Gizmodo
Girl Scout Cookie Season Begins
It's officially Girl Scout cookie season, and there’s a new cookie to try this year. Adventurefuls are new to the lineup. It's a brownie-inspired cookie with caramel in the middle, a drizzle of chocolate sauce, and a sprinkle of sea salt. The other iconic cookie flavors are back and up for grabs now through April. This year, because of the uncertainty of the pandemic, the Girl Scouts say they are ready to sell cookies in person or online. They've partnered with the delivery service DoorDash for another way to get your hands on them.
Read more: Fox News, Today, People, Axios, Girl Scouts
Work Wednesday: Grocery Store Supply Shortages
A lot more Americans are starting to be impacted by the nationwide worker shortage. It's now making it hard to find groceries. Some stores are struggling to keep everyday necessities in stock like milk, bread, meat, and cleaning supplies. Experts are blaming the shortages on omicron and severe weather. The omicron variant is keeping more employees out sick, whether they work in transportation, logistics, or retail. Also, bad weather is causing people to stock up on groceries, and dangerous road conditions are keeping trucks from delivering to stores. Industry experts seem to disagree on how long these issues will last.
Read more: CNN, Bloomberg, AP, Newsweek