Tuesday, June 29th, 2021
Extreme Temperatures, Facebook’s Antitrust Win & Team USA Roster
All the news in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Noom.com/newsworthy and BetterHelp.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...
Northwest Heat Records Broken
The unprecedented heatwave in the Pacific Northwest just keeps breaking records. Portland, Oregon reached an all-time high temperature of 116 degrees yesterday, and in Seattle, it was 108. These kinds of temperatures are unheard of in that region of the country. This heatwave is being fueled by an unusual weather pattern known as a heat dome that is statistically rarer than a once in a several thousand-year event. The temperatures are expected to start going down over this week, as the heat is now moving east. Officials everywhere are asking people to stay hydrated, check on their neighbors, and avoid strenuous activities as much as possible.
Read More: AP, CBS News, CNN, NPR
SCOTUS Revives STL Excessive Force Case
The Supreme Court revived a case over whether St. Louis police used excessive force on a man who died in custody. Nicholas Gilbert died in a holding cell after six officers restrained him for 15 minutes back in 2015. His parents sued, but a lower court sided in favor of the police. It said because Gilbert continued to resist, law enforcement acted reasonably to restrain him. The Gilberts appealed to the Supreme Court, and this week justices sent the case back to the lower court, telling it to reconsider whether Gilbert may have been resisting because he couldn’t breathe and not because he wanted to disobey officers.
Read More: WaPo, Reuters, NPR, WSJ
SCOTUS Declines Transgender Bathroom Case
The Supreme Court decided not to take up another controversial case. It centered around a transgender student named Gavin Grimm who sued his Virginia high school six years ago because he was banned from the boys’ bathroom. A lower court ruled in his favor, saying the policy violated Title IX, the federal law that bans sexism in federally funded schools. The school board appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, arguing Title IX is about sex, not gender identity. Since justices decided not to hear the case, the lower court ruling stands. Legal experts say this could set a precedent for other similar cases around the country.
Read More: WSJ, Axios, AP, CBS News, SCOTUS
First Juul Settlement
The e-cigarette company Juul Labs settled the first of many lawsuits claiming the company marketed to teens. Juul will have to pay North Carolina $40 million. The money will go toward programs to help people quit e-cigarettes, prevent e-cigarette addiction, and research the devices. The settlement also lays out some new rules for Juul in the state, including that Juul will not be able to use anyone under 35 years old in their advertising and ads won’t be allowed near schools, sporting events, or concerts. Experts say this settlement bodes well for 13 other states who have filed similar lawsuits.
Read More: CNN, Fox News, NY Times, NCDOJ
Study: Vaccines Could Work for Years
It looks like the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines could be effective for years, if not a lifetime, according to a peer-reviewed study. Researchers found people who got those shots might not ever need booster shorts. However, it didn’t look at the Johnson & Johnson shot or others that are on the market in other countries. The findings may also change if the virus and its variants keep evolving. Experts say as long as most of the population can get vaccinated, new variants will stop popping up.
Read More: NY Times, MarketWatch, Forbes, Nature
U.S. Vaccination Campaign
To help encourage more of the U.S. population to get vaccinated, the Biden administration is sending top officials around the country to promote the vaccines. The administration has recruited celebrities and athletes to the vaccination campaign and also teamed up with Twitch and Riot Games to reach online gamers. It also announced new partnerships with Panera and Chipotle to offer free food to people getting the shots. It’s not clear how well all this persuasion is helping though as vaccination rates have dropped below one million a day. As of this morning, about 66% of American adults have had at least one shot and 57% are fully vaccinated.
Read More: Politico, AP, CNN, CDC
Facebook Antitrust Lawsuits Dismissed
This week, a federal judge dismissed two antitrust lawsuits against Facebook. One of these lawsuits was by the Federal Trade Commission, while the second was by a group of more than 40 states. The FTC argued Facebook has been dominating the market by buying up potential competitors like Instagram and WhatsApp. The states echoed that argument and also claimed Facebook exploited consumer data. The judge said neither lawsuit was valid, saying the FTC didn’t give enough evidence to support its claims and that the states waited too long to file their complaint since Facebook bought Instagram and Whatsapp years ago.
Read More: CNET, WSJ, Fortune, CNBC, CNN
Gas Stations Running Dry
Gas outages have been reported in the Pacific Northwest, northern California, Colorado, and Iowa. There have also been reports of empty tanks in central Ohio and Illinois. To be clear, there is no gas shortage in this country, but rather this issue is because there aren’t enough tanker truck drivers to deliver the gas. A national driver trade group says up to 25% of its vehicles have been sitting idle because there is no one to drive them, and recruiting new employees takes time because tanker drivers require more training than other delivery workers. Experts are now asking people not to buy up more gas than they need as panic buying could make matters worse.
Read More: CNN, Columbus Dispatch, AP
NCAA Player Profits Proposal
The NCAA says it’s thinking about ending its policy that bans student-athletes from profiting off their fame. It’s facing pressure to act quickly because of several state laws that take effect in two days. Starting on July 1st, student-athletes in eight states will be legally allowed to earn money from their status, meaning they will be allowed to sign endorsement deals, sell autographs, accept money for social media posts, and more. More than a dozen other states have similar laws that will go into effect over the next couple of years. NCAA officials plan to vote tomorrow on lifting the existing policy, and the proposal is expected to pass.
Read More: NY Times, WSJ, CNN, WaPo
Most Diverse USA Women’s Gymnastics Team
Team USA’s women’s gymnastics team has been set! This group of young women is the most diverse ever to represent the U.S. at the Olympics. Sports analysts are saying these six women could go down in history as the best U.S. gymnastics team ever, even despite a lack of prior Olympic experience. Simone Biles is the only one who has competed at the Olympics before. The other athletes who will be part of the team competition are Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum, Jade Carey, and Mykayla Skinner. The Olympics begin on July 23rd.
Read More: TIME, Yahoo Sports, ABC News, ESPN
Trivia Tuesday
Q: Which country has the most natural lakes?
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: In which creature is it the male who carries the eggs and births the babies?
A: Seahorse
Read More: NOAA, Scientific American, National Geographic