Tuesday, April 27th, 2021
Political Power Shift,, Louisville Police Probe & iPhone Tracking Update
All the news in about 10 min:
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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...
Census Data Changes Congressional Makeup
Data from the 2020 Census is out and it looks like Americans have been on the move. That means political power in Congress is about to change. 13 states are going to gain or lose seats in the U.S. House in next year’s elections. Texas is picking up two more seats. Florida, Colorado, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon will also gain one seat each. On the other hand, the nation’s most populous state, California, is losing a seat for the first time in history. New York, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia are also each losing a state.
Read More: WaPo, WSJ, Axios, NY Times, Census Bureau
DOJ Investigating Louisville Police
For the second time in a week, the U.S. Justice Department started investigating a city's police force. This time, investigators are going to be looking into the police department in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s in response to Breonna Taylor’s death a little more than a year ago. Three officers shot and killed her in her home while serving a no-knock warrant. Now, the Justice Department wants to find out if there’s a pattern of discrimination or excessive force within the ranks of the Louisville Metro Police Department. Louisville city leaders say they support the investigation.
Read More: NPR, AP, Fox News, CBS News, ABC News
SCOTUS to Take Up NY Gun Case
For the first time in years, the Supreme Court has decided to hear a heated case over gun rights. The case has to do with a century-old law in New York. It says people who want a permit to carry a gun in public, even concealed, need to be able to prove they need it for self-defense. New York’s governor says it’s about making the state safer. However, two men sued over it after they tried to get permits and got denied. They say the state makes it virtually impossible for an “ordinary, law-abiding citizen” to get a license. The Supreme Court will hear the case when the next term starts in October.
Read More: CBS News, Reuters, USA Today, WaPo
Gov. Newsom Facing Recall Election
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is now facing a recall election. Republicans frustrated by Newsom’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been leading an effort to kick him out of office for more than a year. This week, California’s top election official reported Republicans were able to get more than 1.5 million signatures in support of the recall. That’s enough to trigger a new election later this year. So far, an exact date hasn’t been set, but reports say it will likely happen in the fall. If voters say they want Newsom out, on the same ballot, people will get to choose who they think should replace him.
Read More: LA Times, Reuters, CNN, Fox News, Gov. Newsom
U.S. Shipping Out AstraZeneca Shots
The U.S. will soon start donating all the COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca it’s been stockpiling. That vaccine isn’t authorized here in the U.S. yet, but it has been given the green light in more than 100 other countries. Now, the White House’s COVID-19 coordinator says the U.S. doesn’t need the AstraZeneca shots anyway since there are enough shots from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson to cover the American population. 60 million doses will start going out to other countries in the coming months. The U.S. just needs to finalize exactly where they’ll go and finish safety reviews.
Read More: AP, WSJ, Politico, WaPo
Malaria Vaccine Trial Results
There’s been a potential breakthrough in the global battle against malaria. Researchers at England’s University of Oxford say they’ve developed a malaria vaccine that’s 77% effective. The research team tested it on 450 babies and toddlers in western Africa and found no serious side effects. Now, the next step is a much larger trial. Scientists plan to vaccinate nearly 5,000 more children between five months and three years old. This is a priority because malaria kills more than 400,000 people a year, mostly young children in sub-Saharan Africa.
Read More: BBC, Al Jazeera, University of Oxford, MarketWatch, WHO
App Tracking Transparency
iPhone and iPad users can now tell apps to stop tracking their online activity. Apple rolled out its latest software update this week. iOS 14.5 includes the “App Tracking Transparency” feature. That means apps now have to ask for permission to track you. If you decide to opt out, companies will no longer be able to see your personalized tracking number. In the past, companies have used this number to keep tabs on which sites you visit and show you customized ads. Your data could also be sold to other companies. With the software update, you can either wait for individual apps to ask you or opt out of tracking entirely (go to the privacy settings on your phone and turn off the function called “allow apps to request to track”). Of course, if you prefer customized ads, you don’t have to opt out.
Read More: WaPo, WSJ, Vox, CNBC
Apple’s New NC Campus
Apple plans to build a new, $1 billion hub in Raleigh, North Carolina. It’ll be the company’s first East Coast campus, and Apple says it’ll create at least 3,000 new jobs. It’s all part of a larger U.S. investment. Apple now says it’ll boost U.S. spending to $430 billion and add 20,000 jobs across the country over the next five years.
Read More: AP, Reuters, NC Chamber of Commerce, Apple
Toyota Buys Lyft’s Self-Driving Program
The ride-sharing company Lyft is selling the part of its company that’s all about self-driving cars, and Toyota is buying it. Lyft first launched its self-driving division in 2017. At the time, the company promised to develop a self-driving fleet of vehicles within four years, but the investment didn’t work out as quickly as Lyft had planned. Meanwhile, the tech has become more of a focus for Toyota. Toyota just created a separate division for it a few months ago, so Lyft’s program will now add to that.
Read More: The Verge, Reuters, Toyota
Record-Low Oscars Audience
The Academy Awards set a new record on Sunday night, and it’s not one the producers were hoping for. Fewer than 10 million people watched the award show, and that’s the lowest viewership ever (by a lot). It was 58 percent lower than last year’s record low. Industry experts expected a drop this year because of the pandemic, but the smaller audience trend actually started before COVID-19. The Oscars has consistently attracted fewer viewers every year since 2014.
Read More: AP, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, CNBC
Trivia Tuesday
Q: Before the Beatles were formed, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison were originally members of which group?
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: How much did Americans spend on legal marijuana in 2020?
A: $17.5 billion
Read More: BDSA, Business Insider, Brewers Association