theNewsWorthy: Thursday, June 13th, 2019
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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 perusing the latest happenings...
(Scroll down to read more about our Thing to Know Thursday topic …)
Rather read? Here's an overview of what we're talking about:
Contempt & Census: The House Oversight Committee voted to hold both Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress after the men refused to hand over certain documents. The House committee subpoenaed the documents to better understand why the Trump administration wants to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The U.S. Supreme Court is also looking at this issue.
Read more: AP, The Hill, CBS News, NYT
Hong Kong Protests: Hundreds of thousands of people in Hong Kong are still protesting an extradition bill. If passed, the bill would mean that people accused of certain crimes could be transferred to mainland China to stand trial. Riot police are now reportedly using rubber bullets and tear gas to try to stop the crowd, injuring dozens of people.
Read more: Reuters, BBC, NYT
Knox Back in Italy: Amanda Knox will be back in Italy today for the first time since she was released from prison there. Knox has agreed to speak about wrongful convictions at a criminal justice festival. In 2009, she was convicted of killing her roommate while studying abroad in Italy. She spent years in prison but was freed after an appeal. Knox will talk about the role of media in trials, as hers drew international media attention which likely affected the initial verdict.
Read more: Inside Edition, AP
Marijuana at Work: Nevada became the first state to pass a law banning employers from not hiring someone based solely on a positive marijuana test. The law is set to take effect in January 2020. There are some exceptions: the law does not apply to people in public safety jobs or positions that require someone to drive.
Read more: ABC News , CNN, The Hill
Memory Implant: Researchers are one step closer to helping people improve their memory. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has spent nearly $80 million developing and testing devices that help restore the memories of people with traumatic brain injuries. In two separate studies, researchers found the implants boosted memory by as much as 37 percent. So far the tool has only been tested on patients with epilepsy and would still need FDA approval.
Read more: Bloomberg
Stanley Cup: For the first time in the team’s history, the St. Louis Blues are the Stanley Cup champions! They beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 in Game 7.
Read more: CBS Sports, NHL, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
NBA Finals, U.S. Open: Game 6 in the NBA Finals is tonight, and if the Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors, they, too, will take their first title in franchise history. Otherwise, the defending champs could take it to a tiebreaker in Game 7. In golf, the U.S. Open championship starts today, and all eyes will be on Brooks Koepka, who is looking to win his third straight U.S. Open.
Read more (NBA Finals): NBA.com, Bleacher Report
Read more (U.S. Open): CBS Sports, Golf Channel
Bird Buys Scoot: E-scooter startup Bird just bought Scoot (one of its rivals). Scoot is one of only two scooter rental companies allowed to run in San Francisco, so expect Scoot to keep its own brand name and roll out to more cities.
Read more: The Verge, TechCrunch
Food Delivery by Drone: Uber Eats delivery by drone is coming as soon as this summer. Uber is testing the new delivery method in San Diego, California. One of the early partners is McDonalds, though Big Macs won't be dropping from the sky just yet. The drones will fly and land at a “designated safe landing zone," where a delivery driver will pick up the food to complete the delivery. Even with the extra steps, drone delivery is expected to be faster than car delivery.
Read more: TechCrunch, CNN, Bloomberg
Thing to Know Thursday:
Opioid Crisis & Lawsuits
Read More: CNN, NYT, NPR
Today’s Guest: Regina LaBelle
Regina LaBelle is a Distinguished Scholar and Program Director of the Addiction and Public Policy Initiative at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. She manages a project portfolio focused on the opioid epidemic, addiction policies, barriers to treatment for substance use disorders, public health approaches to drug policies and how law can promote access to treatment and support recovery; expanding the Institute’s current scope of work in this area.
Additionally, LaBelle is Visiting Fellow at the Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy.