Monday, February 22nd, 2021
500K American Deaths, Plane Engine Explodes & Grand Slam Champs
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Rothys.com/newsworthy and Ritual.com/newsworthy
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 to review the latest happenings...
U.S. to Hit 500K COVID Deaths
Nearly half a million Americans have died from COVID-19 in less than a year. The U.S. is set to reach that 500,000 mark today and public health officials say the actual number is likely much higher than that. The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told CNN, “People decades from now are going to be talking about this as a terribly historic milestone in the history of this country.” The good news is the rate of new cases is going down all across the country and hospitalizations have dropped to their lowest level since November.
Read More: AP, NY Times, Politico, Axios, Johns Hopkins
Winter Storm Aftermath
Snow and ice have finally melted in the south-central United States, but people are still dealing with the aftermath of last week’s winter storms. From Texas to Ohio, the AP says at least 76 people died from the extreme weather. That includes those who died from hypothermia, car crashes, house fires, or carbon monoxide poisoning. Also, a third of Texans still have some kind of problem with their water supply. Almost nine million people are being told to boil their water before using it. Others don’t have running water at all.
Read More: CNN, AP, NBC News, Weather Channel, PowerOutage.US
Mid-Air Plane Engine Fire
Hundreds of people on a United Airlines flight lived through a terrifying mid-air explosion. Minutes after takeoff, the engine on the Boeing 777 failed. One passenger described hearing an explosion and seeing a flash of light before the plane started to drop. Pieces of the engine casing and chunks of fiberglass rained down on streets and lawns below. Amazingly, no one onboard or on the ground was hurt. The NTSB is now investigating. In the meantime, Boeing is recommending airlines stop using the 777s with the same kind of engine until they know more.
Read More: Denver Post, AP, USA Today, Reuters, FOX Business
Relief Bill Next Steps
Lawmakers in the U.S. House are on track to pass another massive economic relief package by the end of this week. The bill is nearly 600 pages and it’s worth $1.9 trillion. It includes billions of dollars for unemployment benefits, small businesses, vaccines, and more direct payments to individuals. Democrats say Americans are hurting and they need the aid as soon as possible to help the economy rebound. However, Republicans are arguing against it. They say the overall size of the bill is too large and they have issues with individual parts too.
Read More: Politico, WaPo, CNN, FOX News, KC Star
Some Vaccines Effective After One Dose
The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines could be very effective after just one dose. That’s according to a new, peer-reviewed study out of Israel. Researchers followed thousands of healthcare workers and found the first Pfizer shot was 85% effective 15-28 days later. Scientists who conducted the study say that’s exciting because it means people might be able to delay getting a second shot and that could help get more people vaccinated while supplies are still limited. In the U.S., experts still recommend getting two Pfizer shots, three weeks apart.
Read More: WSJ, NBC News, Reuters
Kroger Closing Stores Over Hazard Pay
The major grocery chain, Kroger, has decided to close grocery stores because it can’t afford to pay workers more money. This week, Kroger says it’s closing two stores in Seattle, Washington. The company blames a new mandate in that city. It forces large grocery stores to pay their workers an extra $4/hour in hazard pay during the pandemic. Kroger says it can’t afford that since it’s already more expensive to stay open with extra safety precautions in place. Kroger also recently closed stores in Long Beach, California over a similar mandate.
Read More: WaPo, Business Insider, Fox Business
Silicon Valley Diversity Pledge
Some of the nation’s largest and most well-known companies are promising to become diverse, not just overall, but at the very top. 20 companies, including Facebook, Twitter, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and more signed the 25 x 25 pledge. That means 25% of their leadership will be persons of color or women by 2025, or that by 2025, they will see a 25% boost in underrepresented executives in leadership positions. It will be a big change for many companies, like tech giants, that have in the past been criticized for a lack of diversity.
Read More: MarketWatch, KGO, SF Chronicle
Australian Open Winners
A couple of the biggest names in tennis won the Australian Open. For women, Naomi Osaka came out on top. The 23-year-old from Japan beat American Jennifer Brady over the weekend. This was her fourth grand slam title. On the men’s side, 33-year-old Novak Djokovic, from Serbia, faced Russian Daniil Medvedev. Djokovic won even though he tore an abdominal muscle in the third round of the tournament. He says this was the most challenging grand slam he’d ever had, but he pulled it off. That was his 18th grand slam title.
Read More: AP, ESPN, WSJ, NY Times
Youngest Woman to Row Solo Across an Ocean
A 21-year-old British swimming teacher is now the youngest woman to ever row solo across an ocean. Jasmine Harrison recently rowed about 3,000 miles across the Atlantic. She made the trek in 70 days, three hours, and 48 minutes. She started in Spain and finished Saturday in Antigua. Harrison says she did it by rotating sleeping and rowing every two hours and she maintained her energy with peanut butter and Nutella. Her adventure reportedly raised more than $14,000 for disaster relief.
Read More: BBC, USA Today, ABC News, Jasmine Harrison
Money Monday: More Credit Report Errors Reported
You might want to pay extra attention to your credit report. The New York Times says people filed more than 280,000 complaints about errors in 2020. That’s more than double what was reported the year before. Some mistakes appear to be pandemic-related. For example, one relief program allowed people to take a break from paying off certain debts. That’s not supposed to affect anyone’s credit, but it hasn’t worked as planned in all cases. There are other issues too. If you find an error on your credit report, experts suggest filing a complaint in writing.
Read More: NY Times, CFPB Dispute Templates