[guest post by Dana]
Here are a few news items to discuss. Feel free to share anything of interest in the comments. Please make sure to include links.
First news item
California to release 8,000 prisoners to relieve virus spread:
Gov. Gavin Newsom will release approximately 8,000 people incarcerated inside California’s prison system by the end of August in an effort to save lives amid devastating coronavirus outbreaks at several facilities and pressure from lawmakers and advocates.
The releases, which were announced Friday, will come on a rolling basis, and they will include both people who were scheduled to be freed soon and people at high risk of serious complications if they contract the virus.
Second news item
Bill Gates on prioritizing Covid drugs and vaccine:
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates called for COVID-19 drugs and an eventual vaccine to be made available to countries and people that need them most, not to the “highest bidder,” saying relying on market forces would prolong the deadly pandemic.
“If we just let drugs and vaccines go to the highest bidder, instead of to the people and the places where they are most needed, we’ll have a longer, more unjust, deadlier pandemic,” Gates, a founder of Microsoft, said in a video released on Saturday during a virtual COVID-19 conference organized by the International AIDS Society.
“We need leaders to make these hard decisions about distributing based on equity, not just on market-driven factors.”
Related: Don’t miss Allapundit’s analysis on the thorny subject of which group of people get to go to the front of the line for the vaccine once it becomes available.
Third news item
Search warrant served on St. Louis couple:
Authorities in St. Louis executed a search warrant Friday evening at the home of Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the couple who made headlines last month when they took up arms to defend their home from protesters.
During the search, police seized the rifle that Mark McCloskey was shown holding during the June 28 incident, KSDK-TV of St. Louis reported, citing information from a source.
The couple claimed the pistol that Patricia McCloskey held during the June confrontation was already in the possession of their attorney, the station reported.
There was no immediate indication the McCloskeys were arrested or charged with a crime. The warrant applied only to a search for the guns, KSDK reported.
Fourth news item
Michael Cohen returned to prison:
After spending the past several weeks on New York’s tony Upper East Side, Michael Cohen has found himself back in federal prison after a dispute with the government over what his lawyers say were restrictions in paperwork designed to prevent him from finishing a book about the president.
The form in question, a two-page document titled “Federal Location Monitoring Program Participant Agreement,” had called for Cohen to abstain from communicating with members of the media — a provision that he had balked at given the pending release of his tell-all book, and one which his legal team has claimed is unusual.
Fifth news item
Trump to sign EO on immigration, including path to citizenship for DACA recipients:
President Trump said Friday he intends to sign an executive order on immigration within the next month that he said will include a “road to citizenship” for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
In an interview with Telemundo anchor José Díaz-Balart, Trump blamed Democrats from walking away from a deal on DACA and said the Supreme Court’s decision last month blocking his administration’s plan to end the Obama-era program gave him “tremendous power.”
“The deal was done. DACA is going to be just fine. We’re putting it in. It’s going to be just fine. And I am going to be, over the next few weeks, signing an immigration bill that a lot of people don’t know about. You have breaking news, but I’m signing a big immigration bill,” Trump told Díaz-Balart.
“Is that an executive order?” the anchor asked.
“I’m going to do a big executive order. I have the power to do it as president and I’m going to make DACA a part of it,” Trump responded. “But, we put it in, and we’ll probably going to then be taking it out. We’re working out the legal complexities right now, but I’m going to be signing a very major immigration bill as an executive order, which Supreme Court now, because of the DACA decision, has given me the power to do that.”
Sixth news item
Peak Trump:
President Donald Trump said in an interview that he recently took a cognitive test and “aced it.” He also challenged presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden to take one.
Mr. Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on his show Thursday night that he underwent the exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He didn’t specify which type of cognitive test he took.
“I actually took one, very recently, when I was – you know, the radical left was saying, ‘Is he all there? Is he all there?'” he said. “And I proved I was all there, because I aced it. I aced the test.”
“They said, ‘that’s an unbelievable thing, rarely does anybody do what you just did,'” Mr Trump added. …
Sample questions from the exam include drawing the hands on a clock, naming pictures of animals and repeating a list of numbers forwards and backwards.. A score above 26 out of the 30 possible questions is considered normal. Mr. Trump scored 30 out of 30.
Seventh news item
Not just Georgia, but Missouri and Texas too:
A pair of YMCA camps in Georgia closed down in late June after a counselor tested positive for the coronavirus, but in the days since they were shut, the number of confirmed infections has climbed into the dozens, media outlets report.
YMCA called the summer season off early for High Harbour Camp locations at Lake Burton and Lake Allatoona, but at least 30 or more camp attendees have, or have had, the virus, outlets have reported.
But as of Friday, officials said the true number is much higher — at least 85 kids and counselors have tested positive — all stemming from their time at Lake Burton, Georgia Department of Public Health officials told McClatchy News.
Campers are all between 7-14 years old and staff between 16-22, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That’s about 18% of the 362 camper and 118 staff members, the publication said.
The YMCA says this situation happened despite careful planning and adherence to safety guidelines laid out by leading health experts and mandated by the state…
Eighth news item
Trump’s ‘thoughtful’ approach to reopening schools:
President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are threatening to cut federal funding if schools don’t fully physically reopen, increasing pressure on education leaders as the Trump administration intensifies its drive to get kids back in classrooms.
Trump on Wednesday morning tweeted, “In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN WITH NO PROBLEMS. The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!”
…During a White House event on Tuesday, Trump also vowed he would “put pressure” on governors reluctant to open schools amid rising cases of coronavirus.
Have a good weekend.
–Dana
