Wednesday, February 24th, 2021
Officers Not Charged, Tiger Woods Hospitalized & Mail Trucks Makeover
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 reading about the latest happenings…
Capitol Hill Security Hearing
For the first time, lawmakers publicly questioned officials who were in charge of security the day of the Capitol invasion. All four of the former and current officials who testified before Senators agreed on two main points. They say federal intelligence authorities didn’t give strong enough warnings that an attack was being planned and the Pentagon was slow to provide National Guard backup. Now, Senators are asking some Pentagon officials to share their side of the story and testify at the next hearing, likely next week.
Read More: Politico, The Hill, AP, CBS News, FOX News
No Charges in Daniel Prude Death
A grand jury decided officers in Rochester, New York will not face criminal charges for a controversial incident that left a Black man dead. Last March, Daniel Prude was having some kind of psychotic episode. Officers put a hood over his head to keep him from spitting on officers. Some say that made it hard for him to breathe. Prude passed out and he died in the hospital a week later. This week, the state’s attorney general said she and her office “presented the strongest case possible”, but they weren’t able to convince the grand jury that officers committed a crime. The officers say they were strictly following their training.
Read More: NY Times, WSJ, ABC News, AP
Tiger Woods Hospitalized
Tiger Woods was in a bad car crash, but he’s said to be recovering. The golf superstar crashed his SUV in a Los Angeles suburb yesterday. The car was so mangled that firefighters had to pry open the windshield to pull woods out. Sources tell ESPN the crash crushed Woods’ legs, so he ended up with injuries, like a compound leg fracture and shattered ankle. He had to have surgery right away. At this point, it’s not clear what caused the crash. There weren’t any other vehicles involved and authorities say it doesn’t seem like Woods was impaired.
Read More: AP, ESPN, WaPo, NY Times
Vaccine-Makers Boost Shipments
COVID-19 vaccine-makers say they’re getting ready to send more doses out to Americans. So far, about 75 million doses have been shipped and delivered. Both Pfizer and Moderna executives told Congress they’re expecting that number to jump to about 220 million doses by the end of next month. On top of that, a third vaccine could be on the way in the U.S. The FDA is expected to authorize the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine soon. That company says it should have enough for 20 million people by the end of March.
Read More: WaPo, Axios, AP, Politico, Full Hearing
College Enrollment Slumps
New federal data shows fewer Americans are choosing to go to college these days. Freshman enrollment dipped more than 13% in the fall of 2020. Overall, undergraduate enrollment dropped almost 3%. That’s the fastest decline in decades. Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found more students are opting to skip college because classes have largely gone online. However, graduate student enrollment is up more than 3.5%. Analysts say that’s likely because graduate programs are less about an on-campus experience.
Read More: Bloomberg, Forbes, St. Louis Fed
Southern Baptists Oust Churches
America’s largest protestant denomination is making a statement against LGBTQ-friendly churches. The Southern Baptist Convention decided to expel one church in Georgia and another in Kentucky, officially cutting ties with them for accepting homosexuality, saying it goes against what their religion stands for. However, the pastor of the Georgia church says he doesn’t regret being inclusive. He says it’s the right thing to do.
Read More: AP, Axios, NY Times, Pastor Statement
Facebook to Lift Australia News Ban
News will be returning to Facebook in Australia. Remember, Facebook banned all news articles on its platform last week to push back against a proposed law to make tech companies pay news outlets for their content. Now, Facebook and the Australian government have made a deal. Now, the law might not apply to Facebook as long as the social network can make enough deals with publishers on its own. So Facebook is still supposed to pay for news content, just on its terms.
Read More: AP, Axios, WSJ, Facebook
USPS Unveils New Mail Trucks
The U.S. Postal Service is getting a high-tech makeover. It just unveiled its plans for a new generation of mail trucks. This is a big deal since the current ones are nearly 30 years old and cost a lot of money to run and maintain. The new trucks will look familiar, but there will be key differences. Some will be electric. All of them will be bigger so they can hold more packages. They’ll also have air conditioning and new technology like 360-degree cameras and systems to help avoid crashes. The first ones will roll out in 2023.
Read More: The Verge, Cnet, Reuters, USPS
Work Wednesday: Blue Collar Jobs Booming
Blue-collar jobs, like jobs in construction and package delivery, are booming right now. For example, on Indeed, there are about 26% more job openings for construction now than there were a year ago. Warehouse and delivery jobs are doing well too as more people buy online. Before the pandemic hit, Americans did about 40% of their shopping online. A new survey found now, it’s more like 60%. Economists expect construction and e-commerce jobs to keep growing even after the pandemic, but at a slower pace.
Read More: WSJ, Fox Business