Friday, July 30th, 2021
Cash for Vax, Robinhood’s Grim Debut & New Star Gymnast
All the news you need in around 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by HelloFresh.com/NEWSWORTHY14 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...
New Vaccine Incentives & Mandates
The Biden administration is asking cities and states to use their relief funds to dole out $100 payments as incentives for people to get their COVID-19 vaccines. Many states have been doing vaccine lotteries and other kinds of giveaways already. The White House says they’ve been pretty successful, so it wants to see more of them. President Biden also announced that federal workers will have to either get vaccinated or follow new rules on masking, weekly testing, and distancing. Biden says he hopes this inspires more private companies to nudge their employees to get their shots to keep people from getting sick and dying of COVID-19.
Read More: NY Times, CNN, Fox News, WSJ
Texas Gov Threatens Fines for Mask/Vaccine Mandates
State lawmakers around the country have proposed more than 100 bills to stop employers from mandating vaccines. At least six of those bills have passed. The governor of Texas went a step further yesterday. He signed an executive order that says any business, school, or local government that forces people to get vaccines or wear masks will be fined up to $1,000. He says it’s up to each person to make those kinds of choices for themselves, not the government.
Read More: CNBC, Fox News, The Hill, Gov. Abbott
U.S. Economy Grows to Pre-Covid Size
The U.S. economy is bouncing back from the pandemic. A new report from the Commerce Department shows the gross domestic product (GDP) grew more than 1.5% from April to June. It’s now surpassed where it was before the pandemic started. The GDP is basically the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a certain time. This last quarter, people have been spending quite a bit. Economists say relief packages from Congress have made a huge difference. They’ve given people everything from stimulus payments to extra unemployment benefits to new child tax credits.
Read More: WSJ, AP, The Hill, Bloomberg
Eviction Freeze Ending
Some COVID-19 relief programs are starting to go away. The nationwide eviction freeze is set to expire tomorrow. It was first put into place last year when a lot of people lost their jobs and got behind on rent. Many people are still struggling. A recent survey from the Census Bureau found about 3.6 million people are facing eviction in the next two months. Landlords say they’re pressed too, though, since so many tenants are behind on their rent, but they’re still on the hook for taxes, maintenance, and other bills. The White House is pressing Congress to pass another eviction moratorium. It’s unclear where lawmakers stand on that idea.
Read More: AP, NY Times, CBS News, WSJ, WaPo
Congress Passes Capitol Security Bill
Democrats and Republicans agreed this week that there is a need for more security on Capitol Hill. Congress overwhelmingly passed a new $2.1 billion spending measure for Capitol Police. It goes to pay police salaries, reimburse the National Guard for reinforcing the Capitol this year, and to better secure windows and doors around the Capitol building. The same bill also includes about $500 million to help people in Afghanistan who helped in the U.S. war efforts. It will grant 8,000 more immigrant visas for translators and other U.S. allies. President Biden says he’s planning on signing the bill into law soon.
Read More: AP, NPR, Axios, WaPo, ABC News
Ex-Cardinal McCarrick Charged
Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick was charged with sexually assaulting a teenager over many years back in the 1970s. McCarrick is now 91 years old and says he can’t remember ever abusing a child. He was expelled from the priesthood a couple of years ago after a Vatican trial found him guilty of sexually abusing minors and for sexual misconduct with adults. A wider investigation found bishops, cardinals, and popes downplayed or dismissed reports of McCarrick abusing young people. The church has made financial settlements with some of the alleged victims.
Read More: Boston Globe, Reuters, WSJ, CBS News
VA, OH, PA, NJ Tornadoes
Americans are dealing with the aftermath of more wild, severe weather this week. Strong thunderstorms, including at least a couple of tornadoes, swept through several states yesterday. People got hurt in the town of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia, as well as in Jefferson County, Ohio, which is about 45 miles west of Pittsburgh. Homes and businesses were damaged, trees were uprooted, and streets were flooded. As of early this morning, thousands of people are still without power.
Read More: Weather Channel, Fox News, AP, NY Post
Alaska Earthquake
Alaska got a scare this week with the largest earthquake to hit the U.S. in half a century. An 8.2 magnitude quake struck just off Alaska’s coast. Scientists say an earthquake that strong only happens about once a year anywhere in the world. The ground shook for up to two minutes in some places and it was pretty hard. Amazingly though, not a lot of damage has been reported. People were warned ahead of time to move to high ground, so it doesn’t seem anyone got seriously hurt.
Read More: CNN, AP, WaPo, NY Times
Robinhood IPO
The popular stock-trading app Robinhood had its stock opening this week, but it didn’t go that well. On the first day of trading, Robinhood’s shares closed more than 8% lower than they started. They’re now priced at nearly $35 a share. Part of the issue is many investors who used Robinhood during this year’s meme stock craze purposely snubbed the IPO. They’re still angry Robinhood cut them off when they were trying to invest in trendy stocks like Game Stop and AMC. Other investors were nervous about Robinhood because it’s been the focus of regulatory investigations and legal battles over that stock frenzy. Robinhood says it’s here for the long run.
Read More: Reuters, WSJ, Fox Business, Forbes
Amazon Sales Rose, Missed Expectations
Amazon’s sales numbers are going up, but the company’s stock price went down yesterday because the numbers weren’t quite as high as analysts thought they would be. Between April and June, Amazon’s net sales reached more than $113 billion. That’s a 27% increase compared to the same time last year. Still, that means growth has slowed. During the same period in 2020, Amazon’s sales skyrocketed by more than 40%. Amazon’s chief financial officer told CNBC sales growth exploded last year when pandemic lockdowns started, so it’s an unfair comparison.
Read More: CNET, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Amazon
Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney
Actress Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney a few weeks after her big Marvel movie came out. Disney decided to release Black Widow on Disney+ on the same day it came out in theaters. However, Johansson says her contract guaranteed it would come out exclusively in theaters first, and her salary was based largely on box office ticket sales. She’s suing Disney for breach of contract. Disney says it didn’t violate its deal with Johansson, saying she’s already been paid $20 million for her work on the movie, and that the lawsuit shows “callous disregard” for the global effects of COVID-19.
Read More: WSJ, Deadline, Variety, TechCrunch
Gymnast Sunisa Lee Wins Gold
American Sunisa Lee has been named the new best gymnast in the world. She won the gold medal in the women’s all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics. The 18-year-old from Minnesota is the fifth American gymnast in a row to win it. Fellow American Jade Carey came in 8th place in the all-around. The rest of their teammates, including Simone Biles, were there to cheer them on.
Read More: CNN, ESPN, NPR
Next Olympic Events
Happening today at the Olympics, American swimmer Caeleb Dressel is looking for another gold medal. He’s the favorite to win the 100-meter butterfly on the men's side. Meanwhile, women's swimmer Katie Ledecky is looking to set a new Olympic record this weekend when she swims in the 800-meter freestyle final. If she wins the gold, Ledecky will have more individual gold medals than any other female swimmer in history. Also this weekend, there are medal events for tennis, golf, diving, track and field, and more.
Read More: AP, NY Times, NBC
NBA Draft Top Picks
The NBA draft was back in all its glory last night. The Detroit Pistons had the first pick of the night, and as expected, they selected top-ranked point guard Cade Cunningham from Oklahoma State. Minor league player Jalen Green was the second pick of the night. He went to the Houston Rockets. Next, the Cleveland Cavaliers picked up Evan Mobley, the 7-foot-tall center from the University of Southern California. The NBA is hoping to have a normal season this year and start play in mid-October.
Read More: The Athletic, ESPN, CBS Sports, NBA
Feel Good Friday: Airport Pianist Gifted $70k+
Georgia pianist Tonee “Valentine” Carter recently got the biggest tip of his life. For the last 13 years, he’s been entertaining strangers at the international airport in Atlanta. Recently, motivational speaker Carlos Whittaker heard Carter playing at the airport, recorded his performances, and posted them on Instagram. Whittaker asked his more than 200,000 followers to donate money for Carter’s tip jar. The tips poured in fast, and strangers ended up donating more than $70,000. Carter said he’ll use the money to pay for an oil change and will donate the rest.
Read More: WSB-TV, CNN, NY Post, WaPo, Tonee Carter
Watch the Video: Carlos Whittaker