Thursday, September 2nd, 2021
Ida Slams Northeast, Strict Abortion Law & Bonnaroo Canceled
All the news you need in about 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 to peruse the latest happenings...
Ida Hits Northeast
What was once Hurricane Ida is now wreaking havoc on the Northeast. Tornadoes were reported in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Roads, homes, and businesses were also flooded in those states. Rail service had to be suspended in a lot of New York and New Jersey. Newark Airport got “severe flooding” too, and last night, all flights had to be grounded. As of this morning, it’s still considered dangerous in parts of the Northeast, and emergency crews are working to rescue stranded people. People will get a better look at the damage later today. Officials say it could be “catastrophic.”
Read More: Weather Channel, NY Times, CNN, NBC News
Criminal Charges for Elijah McClain Death
Some first responders are now facing criminal charges for a young man’s death. A grand jury decided to charge three Aurora, Colorado police officers and two paramedics with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. This goes back to the death of 23-year-old Elijah McClain in 2019. McClain was stopped by officers because a 911 caller said he looked suspicious. Officers wrestled him to the ground and put him in a chokehold. When paramedics arrived, they sedated McClain with enough ketamine for a man over 200 pounds. He weighed only 140 pounds. He had two heart attacks and died a few days later.
Read More: Denver Post, AP, Axios, WSJ, NBC News
Texas Strict Abortion Law
The most restrictive abortion law in the country went into effect in Texas this week. It bans the procedure as soon as doctors can detect a heartbeat. That’s usually about six weeks into a pregnancy. There are no exceptions for rape or incest, but there is an exception for medical emergencies. This law also gives private citizens the power to sue abortion providers or anyone else who helps someone get an abortion. The Texas governor says the law is meant to protect the lives of unborn children. However, the American Medical Association says the new law is a “direct attack on the practice of medicine and patient reproductive health.”
Read More: Texas Tribune, AP, NY Times, WSJ, Gov. Abbott, White House, AMA
More than 50 Long-Term COVID Symptoms
A lot of COVID-19 patients are dealing with symptoms long after they’ve recovered. A new study looked at information from nearly 48,000 COVID-19 patients over several months. Some had severe cases; others were mild. Researchers learned about 80% of recovered adults had at least one long-term symptom lasting weeks or months after they were infected. Researchers identified 55 long-term symptoms. The most common included fatigue, headache, shortness of breath, and loss of taste or smell.
Read More: SciTechDaily, Journal Nature
Study: Vaccine Lowers Long Covid Risk
Another large study published this week found vaccines can help people avoid long-term issues. It found people who get COVID-19 after being vaccinated are about 50% less likely to have long-term symptoms than unvaccinated people who get the virus. On top of that, vaccinated people who got COVID-19 were 73% less likely to be hospitalized. That said, researchers say the study has its limitations since the data was all self-reported.
Read More: Stat News, NY Times, The Lancet
Purdue Pharma Settlement
The drugmaker behind the highly addictive prescription painkiller oxycontin is formally shutting down. Instead of selling opioids, Purdue Pharma’s resources will be put toward addressing the opioid epidemic, mainly with addiction treatment and prevention programs. It will also compensate people and families who’ve been hurt by Purdue products. These terms were laid out in a wide-ranging bankruptcy settlement a judge approved this week. It also says the company’s owners will have to pay $4.5 billion to settle thousands of opioid-related lawsuits. With that, they’ll be immune from any more lawsuits about opioids.
Read More: NY Times, NPR, WSJ, WaPo
Airport Screenings Drop
The number of Americans flying this week fell to its lowest level since mid-May. The TSA screened about 1.3 million passengers on Tuesday. That turned out to be the slowest day at American airports all summer. It’s normal for travel to go down in late August as kids head back to school, but the number of people flying is still about 30% lower than the same week in 2019. Major airlines blame concerns about the latest wave of COVID-19, especially since, during a normal year, this is when business travel would usually pick up.
Read More: CNBC, Fox Business, Reuters
Bonnaroo Canceled Due to Flooding
Hurricane Ida forced Bonnaroo organizers to cancel the annual music festival. It was supposed to kick off today in Tennessee. However, the staging areas are waterlogged and the campgrounds are flooded because the remnants of Ida dumped so much rain in the area this week. It’s a big financial loss for the state. Bonnaroo was also canceled last year because of the pandemic, but in 2019, the event reportedly brought in $52 million. Organizers say music fans will get refunds for their tickets. Bonnaroo is supposed to be back next year.
Read More: Tennessean, Variety, Nashville Public Radio, Bonnaroo
No More LinkedIn Stories
LinkedIn’s experiment with temporary videos is coming to an end. The social media platform is shutting down its stories feature at the end of this month. Just like on Snapchat and Instagram, videos on LinkedIn stories only last for 24 hours. However, the company found most of its users prefer to make videos that can stay on their profiles more permanently. Now, LinkedIn says it’s getting to work on a different short-form video format. It’s unclear how soon that will be ready.
Read More: The Verge, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, LinkedIn
Walmart, Amazon Hiring Sprees
The two biggest retailers in the world are going on hiring sprees. Walmart plans to hire 20,000 permanent employees to support its online sales operations by the end of this year. The new jobs will be spread across more than 250 distribution and fulfillment centers. Amazon is also looking to hire tens of thousands of new people right now. The online retail giant says it’s looking for about 40,000 new people for corporate and technology jobs here in the U.S. and another 15,000 people internationally.
Read More: WSJ, CNN, Fox Business, Reuters, Walmart, Amazon
Thing to Know Thursday: Social Security Funds Running Out
The fund most Americans rely on for their retirement is on track to run out of money in 12 years. That’s according to a new government report. It says social security will have to cut benefits by 2034 at the latest unless Congress steps in to address the shortage. That’s one year earlier than the government estimated in last year’s report. It’s worse now because so many people lost their jobs at the height of the pandemic, so they stopped paying into government programs with every paycheck. On top of that, Americans' life expectancy has been increasing for years, and birth rates are going down.
Read More: CNBC, WSJ, CNN, NY Times, Treasury Dept.