Tuesday, March 23rd, 2021
Grocery Store Shooting, First Gov’t Reparations & Covid Tests Delivered
All the news 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 read the latest happenings...
Boulder Grocery Store Shooting
A Boulder, Colorado grocery store was the scene of a mass shooting. A gunman killed 10 people including the first police officer to arrive. Police say they arrested the shooter, but they haven’t said yet what might have motivated him. Workers and shoppers who survived the violence say the gunman didn’t say a word when he walked into the story, that he just started shooting. Many people ran from the shots. Others hid inside. Boulder County’s district attorney is now promising to get justice for the victims’ families.
Read More: The Denver Post, AP, ABC News, Gov. Polis
Biden’s Infrastructure Plan
The White House is said to be planning a multi-trillion-dollar proposal that could shape the economy in the long term. News outlets are citing sources who say the package could cost as much as $3 trillion and it will likely be split up into two parts. Part one would be updating infrastructure like roads, bridges, rail lines, and the electric grid. The second part would include free community college, universal pre-K, a national paid-leave program, and some measures to lower the cost of childcare. All the details are still up for debate though and are likely to change.
Read More: WaPo, NY Times, WSJ, AP
Chinese Officials Sanctioned
The U.S., U.K., European Union, and Canada all put new economic penalties in place against Chinese officials. They say all the officials are linked to abuses against Uyghur Muslims. The U.S. already declared China is committing genocide. Now, the Treasury Department says consequences will keep coming as long as China keeps abusing and torturing the Uyghur people. However, China still denies there’s any human rights abuses going on and the country is now promising to retaliate.
Read More: Politico, Axios, FOX News, State Dept.
U.S. Officials Travel to Latin America
Top officials are in Latin America this week to deal with the challenge on the U.S.-Mexico border. The White House says they’ll ask authorities in Mexico and Guatemala to help manage the surge of migrants traveling north. They’ll also talk about trying to better handle the issues that have so many people wanting to come to the U.S. in the first place. Already, U.S. leaders have placed ads in Central America telling people not to come and reminding people that most adults and families will be turned away.
Read More: NBC News, Reuters, CBS News, NPR, CBP
Evanston, IL Reparations Payments
A Chicago suburb is now the first American city to offer reparation money to Black people who live there. Evanston, Illinois will give certain Black households $25,000 each for home repairs or down payments on property. Advocates say it’s a way to right the wrongs caused by slavery, segregation, and housing discrimination. The city has promised to give out a total of $10 million over the next 10 years. It’s coming from a combination of donations and sales tax revenue that comes from recreational marijuana.
Read More: Chicago Tribune, AP, WaPo
AstraZeneca Trial Data Questioned
American health officials say they have new concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. Just yesterday, the vaccine maker reported its shots were 79% effective in preventing any symptoms from COVID-19. However, early this morning, a top U.S. health agency put out a rare statement saying it looks like AstraZeneca may have been using outdated, incomplete data when it reported those results. It’s asking the company to release updated information as soon as possible.
Read More: Reuters, Axios, Bloomberg. NIAID
DoorDash Delivering Covid Tests
You can now get a COVID-19 test delivered to your door the same day you order it. DoorDash partnered with the companies Vault Health and Everlywell for this. Both offer at-home PCR tests that let you collect samples at home and send them into a lab for testing. They are authorized by the FDA and are supposed to have results within a day or two. DoorDash says it can now deliver them in a dozen major American cities like Chicago, Dallas, Baltimore, and Phoenix. Then, it will expand to more places in the months ahead.
Read More: The Verge, Axios, ABC News, DoorDash
Elgin Baylor Dies
Sports fans are saying goodbye to an American basketball legend. Elgin Baylor died of natural causes at his home this week. He was 86 years old. It’s been 40 years since he played in the NBA, but he’s still considered one of the greatest players of all time. Many people say he helped transform professional basketball into what it is today. Baylor brought in the era of high-flying jumps and faster-paced games. After he retired from playing, Baylor coached the New Orleans Jazz and was an executive with the Los Angeles Clippers for more than 22 years.
Read More: ESPN, AP, Lakers, Clippers
New Effort to Remove Space Junk
Scientists are testing out a new way to clean up space junk. There are millions of pieces of debris floating around the Earth now. That includes old satellites and parts of spacecraft. However, scientists launched a new spacecraft that could help. It’s designed to find and chase down debris. The idea is for it to latch on and push the junk into the Earth’s atmosphere where it would all burn up. For now, the spacecraft is being tested over the next six months. If all goes well, the technology could be used to solve a growing problem in the future.
Read More: NPR, BBC, ITV, GK Launch
Trivia Tuesday
Q: What does the term ‘piano’ mean?
Play along on today’s Instagram Stories Quiz. We’ll also have the answer right here next week.
Last Week’s Trivia Tuesday Answer
Q: What was the first state in the modern U.S.?
A: Delaware
Read More: History, Delaware Historical Society, Census Bureau