Day: May 4, 2020

MTSU Intends to Resume On-Campus, In-Person Classes this Fall

Chris Butler

Middle Tennessee State University officials have announced they will move forward with COVID-19 preparations with a goal of resuming on-campus, in-person classes and operations in August for the Fall 2020 semester.

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee announced the news in a press release late last week.

“The task before me as president … is to chart a course that will allow us to welcome our new incoming freshman class, transfers and returning students, as well as faculty and staff, to a safe and healthy campus for the new academic year,” McPhee said.

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Commentary: That Americans Were Poorly Educated Before Mass Government Schooling Is a Myth

Admin

Parents the world over are dealing with massive adjustments in their children’s education that they could not have anticipated just three months ago. To one degree or another, pandemic-induced school closures are creating the “mass homeschooling” that FEE’s senior education fellow Kerry McDonald predicted two months ago. Who knows, with millions of youngsters absent from government school classrooms, maybe education will become as good as it was before the government ever got involved.

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SBA: 2.2 Million Loans, $175B Issued So Far in 2nd Round of Paycheck Protection Program

Admin

The Small Business Administration and the U.S. Treasury revealed Sunday that the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program has issued 2.2 million loans, totaling $175 billion.

PPP loans are forgivable loans for small businesses to offset some of the losses experienced by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The loans are meant to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll.

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University of Texas Under Investigation for Possible Ties to Wuhan Biolab

Admin

The Department of Education sent a letter to the University of Texas requesting all records pertaining to its dealings with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The Department of Education’s Office of the General Counsel sent a letter to University of Texas Chancellor James Milliken on April 24 requesting records related to the University’s dealings with Chinese state-owned companies and universities.

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ICE Detainees Refuse Coronavirus Tests, Rush Officers and Trash Detention Center

Admin

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees in Massachusetts rushed officers, barricaded themselves inside the facility and caused more than $25,000 worth of damage after being told they would be transferred to a medical wing of the facility and tested for coronavirus, authorities said.

Roughly 10 inmates at an immigration detention center in Dartmouth, Massachusetts reported symptoms of COVID-19 to medical personnel, according to a press release from the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office.

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Americans Are Ending the Lockdown, Despite Orders from Elected Officials

Admin

by Chris White   Americans are venturing out more to fast food restaurants, gas stations and public places even as health experts and government officials demand extending economic lockdowns, location data show. People are back to visiting gas stations and fast food restaurants at pre-COVID-19 levels, according to location data…

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Using Smartphones to Gauge Social Distancing Raises Privacy Concerns

Admin

Some governments are using smartphone tracking to make sure people are following social distancing rules in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Google announced it will use its massive collection of mobile location data to measure how closely people across the globe are following government directives to remain at home.

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Minnesota Congressional Candidate Kendall Qualls Launches a Plan to ‘End America’s Reliance on Chinese Manufactured Pharmaceuticals’

Admin

Congressional candidate Kendall Qualls just launched a plan to end the production of important pharmaceuticals in China. Qualls is running in the 3rd Congressional District and – assuming Qualls wins the nomination – will run as a Republican come November against incumbent Democrat Dean Phillips.

The issue of America’s reliance on pharmaceuticals and personal protective equipment (PPE) made in China has been a growing concern. America relies on Chinese production for the vast majority of its antibiotics, and China has cut supplies of PPE to the United States during the coronavirus crisis. Not only that, China lied to the world about the coronavirus when it was first spreading in Wuhan, China, wasting precious time that the world had to respond to the virus. China’s ability to exert control over the World Health Organization (WHO) – to the point where the WHO helped China shape its false narrative about the virus and its origins – has only added to these concerns.

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Taskforce Will Help Develop Best Practices to Reopen Ohio’s Restaurants, Barbershops, Salons

Admin

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he is forming a pair of advisory groups tasked with developing best practices for reopening dine-in restaurants, barbershops and salons.

The group will develop recommendations to protect the health of employees and customers as businesses reopen. It will be comprised of relevant business associations, Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford; Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina; House Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Akron; and Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko, D-Richmond Heights.

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80 Percent of Minnesota Craft Breweries Say They’ll Be Closed in Six Months if Shutdown Continues

Anthony Gockowski

A new report indicates that the coronavirus pandemic could wipe out more than half of Minnesota’s craft breweries.

“With the closure period extended, breweries continue to see a decline in revenues despite their ability to sell curbside and delivery. The biggest hurdles to continued revenue are a lack of off-sale options as well as a drop in orders from distributors and retailers given the inability for bars and restaurants to serve draught beer,” states an April 26 report from the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild.

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House Republicans Will Block Major Legislation Until Walz Ends Peacetime Emergency

Anthony Gockowski

The leader of the Minnesota House Republicans said Saturday that his caucus will block a bonding bill from being passed while the governor’s emergency powers remain in effect.

Republicans have made three unsuccessful attempts to end Gov. Tim Walz’s peacetime emergency declared in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The emergency declaration expires May 13 but can be extended for an additional 30 days. Walz has already extended the peacetime emergency once.

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Metro Nashville Coronavirus Task Force Chair’s Misleading COVID-19 Claim: Failed to Note ‘Surrounding Counties With More Cases Than Davidson County’ Included More Than 1,000 Asymptomatic Trousdale County Prisoners

Chris Butler

On Friday a Metro Nashville Davidson County Coronavirus Task Force official said that surrounding counties had a higher number of COVID-19 cases than Davidson County itself had — but it appears that claim is highly misleading.

“We now have 2,832 confirmed cases. That’s an increase of 163 cases in the last 24 hours. There are an additional 3,227 cases in the surrounding counties. That’s an increase of 955 in one day. Now, for the first time, the surrounding counties have more cases than Davidson County, ” Metro Coronavirus Task Force Chair Alex Jahangir said at Friday’s press conference with Mayor John Cooper.

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