Wednesday, March 24th, 2021
Gun Laws Debate, Mail Delays Possible & Marvel’s Next Streaming Debut
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by and Ritual.com/newsworthy and Rothys.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…
Boulder Shooting Investigation
A memorial full of flowers, candles, and signs is growing outside the grocery store where a gunman killed 10 people in Boulder, Colorado. Police have now identified them all and they range in age from 20-65. Meanwhile, a 21-year-old man from another Denver suburb is now charged with killing them. Police say he acted alone, but they don’t have an exact motive. The suspect’s family told them the man was suffering from some type of mental illness and would get delusions. Investigators say he bought an assault rifle six days before the shooting.
Read More: Denver Post, AP, WSJ, NY Times
Gun Reform Debate
Lawmakers in Washington are once again confronting calls for gun reforms. Senators talked about two proposals yesterday. One would expand requiring background checks to include guns bought online or at gun shows. The other would give the FBI more time to vet gun buyers who get flagged by the national instant check system. The Democratic-controlled House passed both measures earlier this month, but the votes were mostly along party lines. In the Senate, where it’s more evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, the bills face an uphill battle.
Read More: Politico, USA Today, Reuters, NBC News
More States Open Vaccine Eligibility
Millions more Americans are starting to become eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. Starting today, everyone 16 and older can sign up to get their shots in Utah and certain parts of Arizona. Tomorrow, everyone in Georgia can start making vaccine appointments. Then, Texas, Ohio, Indiana, and more are opening up their eligibility to all residents in the next week. So far, more than 30% of American adults have gotten at least one COVID-19 shot and 14% are fully vaccinated.
Read More: NY Times, CNN, WaPo, CDC
ACA Enrollment Extended
Americans now have more time to sign up for health plans under the Affordable Care Act. President Biden already added a special enrollment period through mid-May. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken advantage of it, so Biden extended it. Now, people will have until August 15th. Federal officials say people are still in desperate need of coverage and the ACA offers some options and possible discounts if you aren’t already getting insurance through an employer.
Read More: WSJ, Axios, NBC News, White House
Pandemic Weight Gain
If you’ve gained some unwanted weight in the last year, you’re not alone. The American Psychological Association surveyed more than 3,000 adults in the U.S. Most of them said the pandemic has been bad for their weight. The men said they gained on average about 37 pounds. The average for women was 22 pounds. Another peer-reviewed study backs this up too. Those researchers used weight measurements from smart scales and found adults under shelter-in-place orders gained about two pounds a month.
Read More: NY Times, CBS News, JAMA, APA, The Atlantic
USPS Plan to Stem Losses
The U.S. Postal Service has a plan to save money. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced a new proposal this week. If it gets approved, it would take up to five days to get standard first-class mail delivered. Right now, the standard is three days or less. The plan would also shift more deliveries to trucks instead of planes, it would cut hours at some post offices, and it might raise the price of postage. The USPS still wants to get the opinion of the independent Postal Regulatory Commission before making any real changes though.
Read More: AP, Reuters, NBC News, CBS News, USPS
Prince Harry Startup Job
Prince Harry is now a tech executive. He’s been hired at a Silicon Valley startup called BetterUp. He will be the company’s Chief Impact Officer. BetterUp is an app that gives coaching and mental health support. It works with employees of major corporations like Hilton, Warner Media, and Chevron, just to name a few. Prince Harry has been coached by BetterUp too. Moving forward, he’ll give input on product strategy and corporate giving. He’ll also be a public face of the company.
Read More: WSJ, NBC News, WaPo, BetterUp
Straight-to-Streaming Movie Releases
Disney says two of its highly-anticipated movies will hit both streaming and theaters at the same time. The first is the live-action film Cruella which will be released on May 28th. The second is the Marvel movie Black Widow which is now set to drop July 9th, instead of in May like originally planned. Both movies will debut on the big screen as well as on Disney+. On streaming, you have to be subscribed to Disney+ and still pay a $30 rental fee.
Read More: USA Today, Variety, The Verge, Disney
Record-Breaking Banksy Painting
A Banksy painting has sold for a record-breaking $23.1 million at auction. That’s the most expensive painting ever sold by the legendary street artist. The “Game Changer” painting debuted last year. It was created in honor of British healthcare workers. It shows a young child playing with a toy of a Red Cross nurse wearing a cape and face mask. Proceeds from the sale will benefit health organizations and charities in the U.K.
Read More: CNN, The Hill, BBC, Christie’s
Work Wednesday: Companies Refrain from Firing Workers
Many companies are holding off on firing workers right now. Millions of people have been laid off because of the pandemic, but when it comes to cutting ties with workers over performance issues, companies are holding off. Executives and corporate advisers tell the Wall Street Journal their businesses are reluctant to even raise performance issues right now since so many people are dealing with high stress. In some cases, companies are also adjusting the way they measure performance.
Read More: WSJ