Friday, July 2nd, 2021
Supremes Uphold Voting Laws, Boy Scouts Settle & Holiday Weekend Travel
All the news you need in around 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp.com/newsworthy and Noom.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 the latest happenings...
Trump Organization Charges
Former President Trump’s real estate business is being accused of running a tax fraud scheme. Criminal charges were filed against the Trump Organization and its finance chief Allen Weisselberg. Prosecutors say for 15 years, Trump Organization employees have been getting off-the-books payments. They say executives took perks like rent for their Manhattan apartments, leases on Mercedes-Benz cars, and more, without anyone paying taxes on them. Weisselberg and the Trump Organization both pleaded not guilty. Trump said the accusations are political and that Weisselberg is an “honorable man.”
Read More: NY Times, WSJ, Fox News, Politico
SCOTUS Upholds AZ Voting Laws
Some new voting restrictions were put to the test at the U.S. Supreme Court, and they survived. This case was specifically over two rules in Arizona. One says any votes cast at the wrong precincts are invalid, while the other makes it illegal for people to collect and return other people’s ballots. Arizona Republicans who passed those rules say they were meant to weed out any election fraud. However, the Democratic National Committee sued over them, saying they hurt minority voters in Arizona the most. This week, six out of the nine justices said those restrictions didn’t amount to racial discrimination, so for now, they stand.
Read More: Reuters, Politico, WSJ, Fox News, CNN
Boy Scouts Settlement
The Boy Scouts reached an $850 million agreement with the attorneys for about 60,000 sexual abuse victims. This is reportedly the largest settlement in a child sex abuse case in U.S. history. Tens of thousands of now-adult men have come forward with their stories, with most of them saying they were abused back in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s when they were underage. The organization has made some changes since then, adopting criminal background checks, abuse prevention training for staff and volunteers, and a rule that two or more adult leaders must be present during activities.
Read More: AP, Reuters, NBC News, Axios
Biden Visits Collapsed Condo Site
There are more difficult days, weeks, and months ahead in Surfside, Florida, where a condo complex partially collapsed last week. So far, 18 people have been confirmed dead and 145 others are still missing. President Biden, along with Governor DeSantis, met with those victims’ families yesterday. Biden said the family members know as each day goes by, there’s less chance of their loved ones being found alive, but at the minimum, they want their bodies found so they can get some closure and bury them. The President and first lady also met with first responders to thank them for their work.
Read More: CBS News, NY Times, NPR, WSJ
How to Help: CNN
Heatwave Death Toll Grows
Millions of people are still under heat alerts, mostly across the Northwest and Northern Rockies. Temperatures are still 10 to 20 degrees above average, which means triple-digits. So far, hundreds of deaths have been reported that will likely be linked to the heat. This brutal heatwave is sticking around at least through Sunday in places like Spokane, Washington; Boise, Idaho; and Missoula, Montana.
Read More: CNN, NY Times, CBS News, WaPo
Wildfires Growing
There are now dozens of fires burning in states like California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon. In Northern California alone, thousands of people have had to evacuate from three large fires. In Canada, officials say 90% of one village was burned in a wildfire. It’s the same village that got up to 121 degrees this week. That was the highest temperature ever recorded in the history of Canada.
Read More: LA Times, AP, Axios, BBC
Tropical Storm Elsa
Meteorologists are tracking a tropical storm that could be headed for the U.S. by early next week. Tropical Storm Elsa is expected to barrel into the Caribbean today, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to several countries like Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. Then, the storm may move into Florida in a few days. However, meteorologists are careful to point out a lot could change between now and then, so it’s too soon to know how much Florida might be affected, if at all.
Read More: Weather Channel, NY Times, CNN, NWS
July 4th Travel Preview
It’s almost the July 4th holiday weekend, and it’s going to be an especially busy one for travelers. AAA says more than 43 million Americans are planning a road trip for the holiday. It says some of the worst traffic is expected in places like Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Airports will be busy too, with more than three million Americans planning to fly sometime this weekend. The most popular destinations for air travelers will include Las Vegas, Denver, and Orlando.
Read More: USA Today, WaPo, WSJ, AAA
College Athletes Sign Endorsement Deals
College athletes are already starting to look into ways they can profit from their fame now that the NCAA reversed a long-standing rule that said they couldn’t. Florida State quarterback McKenzie Milton and Miami quarterback D’Eriq King are creating a new business to help other athletes line up public appearances. King also signed a $20,000 deal to promote the moving company College Hunks. Others have signed endorsement deals for wireless phone carriers, nutrition companies, clothing lines, and more. Analysts say college athletes can expect to earn anywhere between $500 to $2 million.
Read More: Forbes, Business Insider, ESPN
Nursing Athletes Can Bring Babies to Olympics
Olympic organizers are making it a little easier for new moms to compete at the Tokyo games. Thanks to a recent rule change, athletes who are breastfeeding will now be able to bring their kids and a caretaker to the Olympics. Originally, Olympic organizers banned all family members from attending the summer games because of COVID-19 protocols. However, several Olympians voiced their frustrations with that policy, saying they felt they were being forced to choose between their roles as mothers and competing. So, organizers reversed the rules. The athletes and their children will have to stay in hotels rather than the Olympic village.
Read More: Reuters, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports, Kim Gaucher
TikTok Videos Are Getting Longer
TikTok videos are about to get longer. The video-sharing app says users will soon be able to share videos up to three minutes long. Right now, the limit is just one minute. TikTok has been testing the longer videos with a small number of creators already, but the company says all of its users will see the change on their apps within the next few weeks. This change is expected to make TikTok an even greater rival against YouTube. TikTok is said to have more than a billion active users each month from all around the world. YouTube has about twice that many.
Read More: The Verge, Engadget, TechCrunch, TikTok
Flying Car Completes Test Run
It seems flying cars are one step closer to becoming a reality. This week, an inventor in Slovakia completed his first flight between two cities in what he calls the AirCar. Stefan Klein has been working on the flying car for more than 30 years, but this was the first time he’s flown from one city to another. The AirCar has a BMW engine, runs on regular gasoline, has retractable wings, a tail, a fixed propeller, and a parachute. Klein says the car has a cruising speed of more than 100 miles per hour in the air. However, his invention still has a long way to go, since it still needs a runway to take off and land.
Read More: Engadget, BBC, MarketWatch, USA Today, KleinVision
Feel Good Friday: 70-Year-Old Becomes Bat Girl
When Gwen McLoughlin was just 10 years old, She wanted nothing more than to be a bat girl for the New York Yankees. She wrote a letter to the team’s manager asking him to let her do it, and he wrote back saying no. McLoughlin kept that rejection letter for 60 years. Earlier this year, her daughter took a picture of the letter and emailed it to the Yankees. The current general manager saw it and invited McLoughlin to live out her dream during this week’s game. He said, “a woman belongs everywhere a man does, including the dugout.” So, earlier this week, McLoughlin suited up in her Yankee gear and finally stepped onto the diamond as the team’s bat girl.
Read More: WaPo, CNN, Today, NY Yankees