Thursday, September 24th, 2020
Decision in Breonna Taylor Case, Largest Vaccine Trial & More Space Junk
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by www.Rothys.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...
Decision in Breonna Taylor Case
A grand jury on Wednesday indicted one of the three Louisville police officers involved in the March shooting of Breonna Taylor. Former Det. Brett Hankison was arrested and released on bail. He was not charged with killing her, even though she died in the shooting. He was charged for the shots he fired into a neighboring apartment. The two other officers there that night were not charged with anything. Hankison could spend one to five years in prison.
Read More: Louisville Courier-Journal, CBS News, NBC News, Reuters, Family Lawyer Reaction
Reaction, Protests, Officers Shot
During protests over the Breonna Taylor decision in Louisville last night, two police officers were shot. The acting police chief said they’ve both expected to survive and a suspect was taken into custody. Protesters had defied a 9 p.m. curfew so police cleared crowds with flash-bang devices and pepper balls. Nearly 50 people were arrested. There have also been rallies and protests over this decision in cities around the country. So far, those have stayed mostly peaceful.
Read More: AP, CNN, NY Times, Axios, FOX News
Republicans Clear Hunter Biden Inquiry
Republicans have wrapped up the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. The Senate Homeland Security Committee had been looking into whether there might have been ties between Biden’s vice presidency and his son’s work at a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma. In the report, which was released yesterday, the committee said it found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Read More: NY Times, ABC News, WSJ, Full Report
RBG Lies in Repose at Supreme Court
The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s casket is now in the U.S. Supreme Court. When her casket arrived yesterday, more than 100 of her former law clerks were there to greet her. Inside, a Rabbi talked about how Ginsburg fought to make sure the constitution’s promise of “we the people” would include all people. Chief Justice John Roberts also talked about how Ginsburg “helped move our country closer to equal justice under law. She will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol tomorrow.
Read More: NBC News, NY Times, WaPo, CBS News
Another Phase 3 Vaccine Trial Begins
Another American drug company is advancing in the coronavirus vaccine race. Johnson & Johnson announced it’s starting the final phase of trials. It will enroll up to 60,000 volunteers across three continents. This is the fourth COVID-19 vaccine to get into the final phase of testing in the U.S. If everything goes well for the J&J vaccine, the company says the first batches will be available by early 2021.
Read More: NBC News, Reuters, NY Times, J&J
CA to Ban Gas-Burning Car Sales
California just put new rules in place to fight climate change. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that requires all new cars sold in the state be zero-emission by 2035. That means within 15 years, every passenger car sold in California will have to be battery-powered or hydrogen-powered. California is the first state to take this big of a step. However, not everyone is on-board. A White House spokesman said this is an example of how extreme Democrats have become. He said the plan would destroy jobs and raise costs for consumers.
Read More: WSJ, Axios, The Verge, CNN, Lending Tree, Full Executive Order
Amazon Starts Labeling Sustainable Products
Amazon is going to start adding labels to certain products, marking them as “climate pledge friendly.” They will have to meet standards like being made from recycled products or coming with less packaging. Labels will be added to listings for groceries, beauty products, clothes, electronics, and more. Amazon says more than 25,000 products have been labeled so far.
Read More: Cnet, The Verge, Amazon, Find Climate Pledge Friendly Products
Citi to Help Close Racial Wealth Gap
Another major American bank is spending more than $1 billion to help close the racial wealth gap in the U.S. Citigroup says the money will go to initiatives like strengthening the bank’s anti-racism policies and practices. It will also help people of color buy homes and it will invest in more Black-owned businesses. Back in June, Bank of America also announced it was pledging $1 billion to advance racial equality and economic opportunity.
Read More: CNBC, Forbes, Bloomberg, Citi
Disney Shakes Up Movie Release Schedules
Disney has postponed the release of several big blockbuster movies. For example, Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson, was set to debut in November. The new release date is May of 2021. Also, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story has been pushed from this December to next December. Death on the Nile, based on the well-known novel by the same name, is now debuting the week before Christmas instead of next month.
Read More: WaPo, Variety, AP
Metropolitan Opera to Stay Closed Another Year
The Metropolitan Opera is dealing with more fallout from the pandemic. It was originally supposed to start its new season of performances this week. However, the opera house delayed it to December, and yesterday, pushed it back again until September of 2021. This is the first time in nearly 140 years that the Metropolitan Opera will skip an entire season.
Read More: NY Times, AP, Metropolitan Opera
Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
The Bonnaroo music festival begins today. Usually, it brings about 80,000 music fans to Manchester, Tennessee. However, this year, it’s going virtual. People will be able to watch for free on the festival’s official YouTube channel. Some of the performances will be new this year. Other headliners will be recorded performances from years past. The festival will run through Saturday. Performances will start at 4:30 p.m. CT each day.
Read More: Bonnaroo, The Tennessean, Billboard, Watch Here
Thing to Know Thursday: Space Debris
Space debris nearly hit the International Space Station this week. NASA says on Tuesday, the station had to use thrusters to boost its orbit and let the debris pass. NASA says space junk has become more of a problem lately. It says this year alone, the space station has had to move three times to avoid other objects. Already, NASA says there are more than 500,000 pieces of junk around the Earth’s orbit, including broken satellites, rocket boosters, nuts and bolts, and more. Now, NASA is asking for more funding to help deal with it.
Read More: The Verge, The Guardian, Business Insider, ISS, NASA, CNBC