Wednesday, May 25th, 2022

School Rampage, Busy Hurricane Season & Drone Delivery Boost

All the news you need in about 10 min:

This episode is brought to you by Rothys.com/newsworthy and Pampers.com

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…

Texas Elementary School Shooting
At least 19 children and two teachers were killed when a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. More people were hurt. The 18-year-old shooter was reportedly shot by law enforcement. Officials haven’t said what motivated the attacker. However, they say he was using two military-style rifles he bought on his 18th birthday, which was last week. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is promising the attack will be fully investigated. He’s expected to visit Uvalde today. All around the country, flags will be flown at half-staff.
Read More: AP, Reuters, WSJ, NPR, El Paso Times, CBS News

Mass Shooting Renews Gun Debate
The attack in Texas has refueled a debate between those who want tighter gun laws and those who don’t want any laws that could compromise the 2nd amendment. President Biden addressed the nation and called for tougher gun safety laws. Many of his Democratic colleagues have been echoing that sentiment. However, many Republican leaders say Democrats are politicizing a tragedy. Texas Sen. Ted Crus told CNN that even though people are “grieving horrifically,” gun control is not the solution. He’s advocating for more armed law enforcement on school campuses.
Read More: WaPo, NBC News, Fox News, CBS News, Axios, The Hill, CNN

North Korea Fires Missiles
South Korea says North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile and two shorter-range weapons into the sea. If confirmed, that would be North Korea’s first such missile test in about two months. It came just after President Biden’s Asia trip, where he worked to convince American allies that the U.S. would help deter the growing threats coming from North Korea. Separately, China and Russia held a joint strategic-bomber exercise near Japan on President Biden’s last day in Tokyo. It was their first joint military drill since the invasion of Ukraine.
Read More: NY Times, CNN, WSJ, AP, WaPo

Above-Average Hurricane Season
Hurricane season starts one week from today. This year, for the 7th year in a row, forecasters expect it to be a busy one. The federal agency NOAA put out its predictions for the next few months. It’s expecting the Atlantic will get up to 21 named storms this year, and ten of them could become hurricanes. As many as six could reach category three, four, or five, bringing 111 mile-an-hour winds or stronger. NOAA’s forecast didn’t say how many of the storms could pass over or near land, so it’s not clear how much damage will be done. Still, forecasters say now is the time to prepare.
Read More: ABC News, NY Times, AP, WSJ, NPR, NOAA

US Birth Rate Increased
More American babies were born last year, making this the first time the birth rate has gone up since 2014. The CDC put out a new report this week that found there were nearly 3.7 million births in 2021. That’s a 1% increase from the year before. Before this report came out, the number of births had been going down by an average of 2% a year, so the trend is changing. There are some theories as to why. For example, Pew Research Center polls have found that Americans delayed having babies during the first year of the pandemic because there was uncertainty about public health and the economy.
Read More: Fox News, NY Times, ABC News, Axios, CDC

Google Digital Wellbeing Study
How do smartphones impact our well-being? Google and researchers from the University of Oregon are teaming up in hopes of finding out. They also want you to take part by downloading Google’s Health Studies app. Researchers will use the app to study how people are using their phones. The lead researcher hopes the results of the study could better inform companies and encourage better products. It could also provide more data to policymakers. If you want to take part, you can download the Google Health Studies app from the Google Play store and sign up as soon as this Friday. Then, it will track your patterns for four weeks.
Read More: Stat, 9to5Mac, The Verge, Gizmodo, Google

Amazon Driver Injury Rate
Amazon is being accused of sacrificing worker safety for speedy deliveries. A coalition of labor unions called the Strategic Organizing Center put out a new study that found nearly one in five Amazon delivery drivers were hurt on the job last year. That’s a 40% increase from the year before. It also says contracted Amazon delivery drivers are hurt at nearly 2.5 times the rate of the rest of the delivery industry. The report blames production pressure and “unmanageably high quotas” for deliveries. However, an Amazon spokesperson says the study “cherry-picks data from less than 10% of our delivery partners to tell an inaccurate and misleading story.”
Read More: CNBC, CNET, Vice, Seattle Times, SOC

Walmart Expanding Drone Deliveries
It will be the largest drone-delivery operation in the U.S. By the end of the year, Walmart expects to be using drones to deliver products to four million households in six states. That could mean getting your items delivered in less than 30 minutes. Other companies have also been experimenting with drone deliveries. However, they’ve only been testing them in a few small towns, with customers choosing from a short list of items. Walmart and partner DroneUp have fewer restrictions. Shoppers can order anything as long as the order weighs less than ten pounds. The service will be available in places like Dallas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Tampa.
Read More: Axios, The Verge, NBC News, WSJ, Walmart

National Wine Day
Today is National Wine Day! It’s not clear when the holiday started, but some references date back to at least 2009. It’s a day for wine enthusiasts to unite, celebrate, and take advantage of discounts. For example, Whole Foods is offering 20% off all rosé wines today through the end of the month. Also, Barefoot wine is offering 15% off orders of popular wines with the promo code GRILL. Local restaurants and wineries around the country are offering deals, too.
Read More: Thrillist, USA Today, Newsd, National Today

Work Wednesday: Older Americans Return To The Workforce
The pandemic inspired millions of Americans to retire early. However, many older workers are now going back to the office. Labor Department data shows about 1.5 million retirees re-entered the U.S. labor market over the past year. In recent months, the trend has been picking up more. The Washington Post says a few things are motivating the trend. For example, Covid-19 isn’t as big of a concern anymore, a lot of work arrangements are more flexible, and inflation has made it more difficult for people to live on a fixed income.
Read More: NY Times, WaPo, CNBC, Indeed

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Erica Mandy