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Monday, September 6, 2021

SEPTEMBER 6, 2021
MONDAY
 
PROGRESSIVE OPINION AND NEWS 
 

I HAVEN’T SEEN ANY RECENT STORIES THAT FOCUS SPECIFICALLY ON HOW WE WILL PROVIDE SHELTER FOR LITERALLY MILLIONS OF NEWLY HOMELESS PEOPLE EVICTED AT AROUND THE SAME TIME BY A MATTER OF MONTHS. THIS ARTICLE SIDESTEPS IT AS WELL. IT MENTIONS THAT “LANDLORDS ARE BREATHING SIGHS OF RELIEF.” 

I AM PERSONALLY VERY DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE MATTER. THAT ISN’T GOING TO BE STATISTICS. IT WILL BE A HUMAN DISASTER, AND THEN MAYBE A GOVERNMENTAL DISASTER.
 
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/06/politics/us-pandemic-benefits-ending-explained-what-matters/index.html
The government's pandemic help has run out
Zach Wolf
Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf, CNN
Updated 8:30 PM ET, Mon September 6, 2021 

VIDEO -- Slow relief funds rollout means renters face uncertain future, 02:55 MIN., CNNBusiness 

(CNN) Summer's over, and with it the hope that a return to pre-pandemic "normal" might be just over the horizon. 

Back-to-school has been interrupted by Covid quarantines for thousands of kids and back-to-work has been pushed back for millions of workers, as the fall brings new anxieties about more resistant coronavirus mutations and how to balance the emerging need for coronavirus vaccine boosters with the still-huge need to get more people to take their initial doses. 

And for millions, things just got a lot harder. The historic 18-month run of souped-up unemployment benefits has ended nationwide -- just after the Supreme Court rejected President Joe Biden's effort to extend the pandemic moratorium on evictions, leaving renters at risk unless Congress acts. 

RELATED ARTICLE -- Fauci says Moderna booster might come later than Pfizer's 01:50 MIN. 

Americans are going to have to live with this new pandemic normal as the stilts the government built to prop Americans up during the pandemic come down, even though Democrats are simultaneously pushing forward with longer-term agenda items that would remake the economy to better support low-income workers. 

Extra jobless benefits are over. Lawmakers aren't talking about extending them and no states have taken Biden up on his offer to use federal relief funds. 

Nearly 11 million people are affected, according to CNN's Tami Luhby, who lays out the data compiled by the Century Foundation:

*More than 8 million people are now left with no unemployment compensation at all
*Another 2.7 million lost the $300 federal weekly boost but will continue receiving state payments
*Roughly 2.7 million Americans were already cut off from some or all of their benefits in June or July after two dozen states opted to terminate at least one of the programs early. 

There are 10 million job openings in the US. Cutting off the unemployment spigot might not lead to a huge uptick in new hires, Luhby writes. Many people are focusing on raising kids. Others are worried about getting or spreading the disease. 

LINK -- CNN asked for input from people out of the job market and got hundreds of responses. Luhby shared some of their stories. Read them here. 

Search for nurses. One sector struggling to find workers is nursing, as overwhelmed hospitals look to highter [sic] salaries and incentives. CNN's Jacqueline Howard looks at a niche within nursing -- school nurses, who could be a key first line of defense as school districts bring kids back to the classroom, but expect to deal with Covid-19 outbreaks.

Money for schools. One place where the money isn't yet running out is in special Covid-19 funding for schools. Congress authorized $190 billion for US schools and many billions haven't been spent.

The funds were the equivalent of six years of funding and schools have several years to spend it all. Twenty percent must go to address learning loss, but schools have a lot of leeway on the rest, writes Katie Lobosco:

The Detroit public school district, for example, plans to use Covid relief funds to give teachers a one-time bonus, provide tutoring, expand mental health services, make facility improvements and reduce class size by hiring more teachers.

 LINK -- But not every proposed use can be justified. The Illinois State Board of Education recently rejected a district's plan to use Covid relief dollars towards an artificial surface on its football field.   Read the whole story.

 One place where schools have no choice is on vaccines. Kids under 12 aren't approved for vaccination and the FDA has not given a firm timeline on when they will be. There's a similar, but perhaps shorter timeline for boosters, which Biden had said could start going intoo [sic] American arms by September 20, but which haven't gotten FDA approval.

 RELATED ARTICLE -- Fauci: School Covid-19 vaccine mandates are a 'good idea'

 One year of eviction protection is done. It's not yet clear how many evictions will actually occur, writes CNN's Anna Bahney.

 "Eviction filings are expected to ramp up, but it is yet to be seen how backlogged courts are and how effective the remaining patchwork of state and local protections will be in keeping renters in place until they secure rent relief," she writes.

 The government's efforts to both avoid evictions and keep landlords whole has been a bureaucratic mess as states were asked to distribute federal dollars.

 RELATED: Goldman Sachs says 750,000 households could be evicted this year unless Congress acts

 Of $46 billion Congress earmarked for emergency rent relief money, only $5.1 billion has been spent.

 If that money starts flowing, it could delay a wave of evictions. A number of states also have their own eviction moratoria. 

For now, landlords are breathing sighs of relief that the federal ban, first put in place one year ago by the US Centers for Disease Control and Protection, is over.

 

SOMETHING FEELS ODD ABOUT THIS STORY. NO WITNESSES TO THE SHOOTING? IT WAS A GLANCING WOUND TO HIS HEAD, AS MIGHT OCCUR IF SOMEONE PULLED THE TRIGGER HIMSELF WITH THE INTENTION OF LEAVING A MERE WOUND. ON THE OTHER HAND, HIS BROTHER ADDRESSES SLIGHTS TO THE FAMILY ABOUT THEIR PRESTIGE IN SC, AND EXPRESSES THE INTENSE PAIN THEY FEEL AS A FAMILY, AND THAT UNDOUBTEDLY IS TRUE.  
 
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/05/us/alex-murdaugh-south-carolina-attorney-shot/index.html
South Carolina attorney shot in the head 3 months after his wife and son were killed
Dakin Andone byline
By Dakin Andone and Shawn Nottingham, CNN
Updated 12:35 PM ET, Mon September 6, 2021 

PHOTOGRAPH -- "Keep Out" signs mark an entrance to the Murdaugh family property in Islandton, where authorities say Alex Murdaugh's wife and son were killed in June. 

(CNN) A prominent South Carolina attorney says he was shot Saturday, according to law enforcement, about three months after he discovered the bodies of his wife and son shot dead outside the family's home, deepening the mystery surrounding their unsolved murders. 

Alex Murdaugh, who comes from a long line of influential South Carolina lawyers and prosecutors, called 911 and reported he was shot early Saturday afternoon on a road in Hampton County, according to a statement from South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) spokesperson Tommy Crosby. Murdaugh was taken to a hospital in Savannah, Georgia, where he was treated for a "superficial gunshot wound to the head," the statement said. 

"At this time no arrests have been made," the statement said. 

CNN affiliates WCSC and WCIV reported Jim Griffin, Murdaugh's attorney, said he was told by family members Murdaugh was changing a tire when he was shot. Griffin told WCIV a vehicle had passed Murdaugh and turned around when someone shot him. CNN has reached out to Griffin for additional details but has not heard back. 

A family spokesperson said in a statement the family expects Alex Murdaugh to recover and asked for privacy, saying, "The Murdaugh family has suffered through more than any one family could ever imagine," a likely reference to the yet-unsolved killings of Murdaugh's wife and 22-year-old son. 

According to SLED, Murdaugh called 911 and said he had arrived home on June 7 to find his wife, Margaret, and son Paul shot dead outside of their home in Islandton, a small community about an hour north of Hilton Head Island. Colleton County Sheriff's deputies determined both had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. 

PHOTOGRAPH -- Law enforcement responds to the scene of the shooting that left Alex Murdaugh wounded. 

SLED took over the investigation, but the case remains unsolved. Alex Murdaugh has announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the parties responsible for their deaths. 

"I urge the public to be patient and let the investigation take its course," SLED Chief Mark Keel said in a statement in June. "This case is complex, and we will not rush this or any investigation." 

The killings brought renewed attention to Paul's involvement in a 2019 boating accident that claimed the life of a 19-year-old woman. When he was killed, Paul was facing charges of boating under the influence causing great bodily injury and causing death in connection to the accident, court records show. Paul had pleaded not guilty and court records show the charges were dropped after his death. 

The family has been prominent in the South Carolina legal community for decades: Over 87 consecutive years, three generations of Murdaughs -- including Alex's father, Randolph Murdaugh III -- held the office of Solicitor of the 14th Circuit, which covers Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties. 

According to the 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office, the current solicitor is the first outside the Murdaugh family to hold the elected position. Today, several Murdaughs, including Alex, work at the Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick law firm. 

Alex's brothers Randy and John Marvin addressed the perception of the family prominence in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" in June. 

"You see words like 'dynasty' used and 'power,' and I don't know exactly how people use those words," said Randy Murdaugh. "But we're just regular people, and we're hurting just like they would be hurting if this had happened to them."

"I can't imagine the horror that my brother's experiencing," he said. 

CNN's Kay Jones contributed to this report. 

 

VIDEO ONLY – RESIDENTS TALK ON THE ECONOMIC CHANGES IN GILLETTE, WY DUE TO MOVES AWAY FROM FOSSIL FUEL.
 
https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/01/21/gillette-wyoming-coal-energy-biden-me-orig.cnn/video/playlists/climate-change/  
In the energy capital of the US, the coal trains aren't running. 09:21 MIN.

Gillette, Wyoming, is the energy capital of the United States. And residents like Steve Gray fear it will become a ghost town under President Joe Biden. CNN contributor John Sutter asks: In the fight against the climate crisis, what do we owe the workers who have helped power America for decades? Source: CNN 

 

VIDEO ONLY. THERE APPARENTLY IS NO TEXT VERSION OF THIS STORY. IT CONCERNS COVID DECISIONS IN SCHOOLS.
 
https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2021/09/06/school-masking-covid-19-policies-mcmorris-santoro-dnt-newday-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/coronavirus/  
'Seems a little weird': CNN reporter presses superintendent over mask policy

New data reveals a stark difference in Covid-19 cases between schools that mask and schools that don't. CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro reports.Source: CNN

 

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