Wednesday, July 6th, 2022
Mass Shooting Charges, Oil Price Drop & ‘Stranger Things’ Milestones
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Rothys.com/newsworthy and Zocdoc.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 about the latest happenings…
Illinois Parade Shooting Latest
Police are revealing more information about the mass shooting at a 4th of July parade in Illinois. The 21-year-old suspect has been officially charged with murder. If convicted, he faces life in prison. Authorities say he killed seven people, and more than 40 others were hurt. Investigators say the attack was random, the gunman acted alone, and he had been planning the shooting for weeks. On the 4th, they say he climbed a fire escape ladder to the roof of a building and fired upon the crowd as the parade was in full swing. Officers say he was armed with two high-powered rifles that he bought legally. Local police and the FBI are still investigating.
Read More: Chicago Tribune, WBBM, AP, NY Times, Axios
Philadelphia Fireworks Show Shooting
A separate Independence Day celebration ended in a panic over the fear of another mass shooting. During Philadelphia’s 4th of July concert and fireworks show, thousands of people scattered after hearing word of an active shooter. Investigators are still trying to figure out what happened and who was behind it. They say there’s a possibility they were celebratory gunshots. No one was killed or badly injured. The bullets grazed two police officers. They’re expected to be okay.
Read More: City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Inquirer, CBS News, NBC News
New State-Level Gun Laws
Different states are starting to pass new gun laws. New Jersey’s governor signed new legislation that will require people to get training before they get a gun license, outlaw certain high-caliber weapons, and force gun owners to register any firearms they buy out of state. Last week, New York’s governor signed stricter legislation. That state law defines “sensitive locations” like schools, bars and restaurants, parks, and churches, where guns won’t be allowed. In California, the state added new restrictions on “ghost guns” that are untraceable since they don’t have serial numbers. On the other hand, other states are relaxing gun laws.
Read More: Gov. Murphy, Gov. Hochul, Gov. Newsom, Gov. Hogan, NY Times, Politico, AP, WaPo
Kids Covid Cases Rising
For the first time in nearly two months, the number of American kids with Covid-19 has gone up. The American Academy of Pediatrics and Children’s Hospital Association put out a new report. It says nearly 76,000 children tested positive for the virus last week. That’s much lower than the peak of the winter surge earlier this year but higher than this time last year. The report also points out that it’s harder to compare these days since many people are taking at-home tests and not reporting their results. This comes as the new omicron subvariant, BA.5, has become more dominant. It appears to be more contagious than other versions of the virus.
Read More: AAP, CDC, ABC News, NY Times, WSJ
Vietnam Veterans Awarded
More than 50 years later, four army veterans were honored for their bravery during the Vietnam War. President Biden awarded them the Medal of Honor, the highest military honor, at a White House ceremony. Honorees include Spc. 5 Dennis Fujii, who rejected medical aid when his helicopter crashed and instead worked to treat other hurt soldiers. President Biden said, “Time has not diminished their astounding bravery, their selflessness in putting the lives of others ahead of their own, and the gratitude that we as a nation owe them.”
Read More: White House, Fox News, NY Times, WaPo, The Hill
Endangered Species Act Changes Tossed
Hundreds of different types of animals will start getting more protection in the U.S. A federal judge in California threw out recent changes to the Endangered Species Act. In 2019, the rules were loosened. However, environmental and conservation nonprofit groups sued over the changes, saying animals desperately need protections so they don’t become extinct. This week, the judge sided with them. That decision is a setback for some business groups who have said stricter rules make it tough to start new construction, drilling, or mining.
Read More: AP, WSJ, CNN, CNBC
Crude Closes Below $100
For the first time in nearly two months, crude oil prices have fallen below $100 a barrel. That is a major turnaround from the soaring oil prices we’ve seen in recent months. Experts say it’s a sign investors are getting more worried about a possible recession because that would bring down economic activity, leading to less demand for oil. So far, it’s not having a big impact on gas prices at the pump. There is still strong demand with the summer driving season underway, so experts say gasoline retailers don’t have much incentive to drop their prices yet.
Read More: WSJ, CNN, MarketWatch, CNBC, WaPo
EU Passes Landmark Tech Rules
The European Union passed landmark regulations affecting big tech. The new rules in the EU could have a big impact on companies like Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon, and more. The European Parliament approved two new pieces of legislation. One is the Digital Services Act focused on content moderation which requires companies to do more to police their online platforms for illegal content and bans certain targeted advertising. The other is the Digital Markets Act which prevents anti-competitive practices. A task force will enforce the rules. If companies violate them, they could face massive fines.
Read More: European Commission, European Parliament, TechCrunch, Reuters, Gizmodo
First Black GM in NHL
A man who has spent his life as a hockey player, coach, and executive is now making history as a general manager. Mike Grier was named the new GM of the San Jose Sharks, making him the first Black person to hold the position in NHL history. That’s a big milestone for the league where Black players make up a small minority of rosters and have few front-office jobs. Grier doesn’t take it lightly. He told the New York Times, “My job is to do the best I can for the San Jose Organization, and if I do that, hopefully, it opens the door to other minorities to get front-office positions.”
Read More: NHL, CBS Sports, SI, NY Times
‘Stranger Things’ Sets New Viewing Milestones
The most recent season of the popular show “Stranger Things” is setting new milestones for Netflix. The streaming service says people worldwide have watched more than 1.15 billion hours of it. That makes it the only English-language show to ever cross a billion hours. Overall, when you look at any language, it comes second only to the South Korean drama “Squid Game”. The popularity of this season of “Stranger Things” comes as no surprise. When the final two episodes of the season came out last week, the Netflix app crashed since so many fans rushed to see it right away.
Read More: Netflix, Reuters, THR, Deadline, The Verge
Work Wednesday: Employee Monitoring May Backfire
A study by Harvard Business Review looked at the impact of employee monitoring like video surveillance, keystroke tracking, GPS location tracking, and more. Researchers found when workers are monitored, they feel less responsible for their actions. In the study, monitored employees were more likely to take unapproved breaks, disregard instructions, damage workplace property, steal office equipment, and work at a purposely slow place. Still, monitoring is becoming a common practice. Study authors say the sales of tools that track workers’ activity have gone “through the roof” since 2020.
Read More: Fortune, BBC, HBR