Author: Zachery Schmidt

Bill Lee Announces New Economic Recovery Group Aimed at Helping Tennessee’s Economy

Zachery Schmidt

  Gov. Bill Lee announced on Thursday a new economic recovery group aimed at getting Tennessee’s economy going again. “COVID-19 has not only created a public health crisis, it has hurt thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of hardworking Tennesseans,” said Gov. Lee. “As we work to safely open Tennessee’s economy, this group will provide guidance to industries across the state on the best ways to get Tennesseans back to work.” Over the last four weeks, over 324,000 Tennesseans have filed for unemployment benefits, according to WSMV. The group of 30, which is made up of business leaders, state legislators and state officials, is led by Tennessee Department of Tourism Development Commissioner Mark Ezell, according to the governor’s press release. “This public-private partnership will prioritize connection, collaboration, and communication across industries, the medical community and state government,” Ezell said. “We’re grateful to these leaders for serving at a critical time in our state’s history.” This new economic group comes on the same day, President Donald Trump announced his three-step plan to re-open America. In his plan, Trump has given state governors to power to open individually rather than all at once. “All of American society is engaged and mobilized…

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Democratic Hawaii Governor Is Proposing 20 Percent Pay Cut for Public Sector Employees, Including Teachers

Zachery Schmidt

Hawaii Governor David Ige announced Wednesday that state employees might have to take pay cuts.

“Let me be very frank with you, due to this crisis, the main sources of state revenue have been drastically reduced,” he said. “State government needs to look very different going forward.”

The Democratic governor said he has had ongoing discussions with union representatives and state legislators, but no decision has been made yet.

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Ohio Congressional Candidate Calls Michiganders Who Protested Against Gretchen Whitmer ‘Bad People’

Zachery Schmidt

While Michiganders protested on Thursday the authoritarian like measures Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has implemented during the coronavirus pandemic, a person trying to unseat Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) had harsh things to say about them.

Shannon Freshour, a progressive who is competing against two other Democrats for the party’s nomination, tweeted her true feelings about the protesters.

“Republicans everywhere want people to die while claiming to be pro-life,” Freshour said. “Also um gridlock would be an effective tool if there was traffic but y’all only blocking yourselves and your fellow hate-mongering, confederate supporting traitors.”

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Denmark Reopens Schools After a Month of Closures

Zachery Schmidt

Denmark reopened its kindergarten and elementary schools on Wednesday after it closed all schools on March 12, according to the BBC.

The only students that went back to class are kids that are eleven years old or younger, the BBC reported. In Denmark, kids are only required to go to school between the ages of 5 and 16.

Denmark has established certain conditions for students when they returned. For instance, children are not allowed to bring toys from home, and they must have washed their hands before coming to school, the local.dk reported.

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Scott DesJarlais Is ‘Impressed’ with the Way President Trump Has Dealt With the Coronavirus

Zachery Schmidt

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) said on The Jeff Poor Show Monday that he supports the way President Donald Trump has been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

“I don’t know what they could have done differently. I think they are handling it well,” DesJarlais said.

“I am impressed with the president and his team in what they’ve done and how they are trying to salvage the economy,” the representative added. “I do think things will open up and brighter times are not far away.”

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Ohio Health Director Amy Acton Is Preparing Volunteers to Help with Contact Tracing

Zachery Schmidt

Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Amy Acton announced during Monday’s press conference that the state is training volunteers to help with “contact tracing,” which is a process that helps identify people who may have contacted an infected person.

The ODH has been working with medical and professional schools to help train these volunteers in an attempt to better allocate state resources for the coronavirus.

“Let’s just say we have the testing. You want to know someone is infectious the second they are. So, the quicker you can identify them is the very first step,” Acton said.

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People Protest at Ohio’s Capitol the State’s Handling of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Call on Acton to Resign

Zachery Schmidt

People gathered in front of the Ohio state capitol to protest the way the state has handled the coronavirus pandemic.

Currently, Ohio is under a “Shelter-at-Home” order until May 1, which it has been under since March 23.

Around 100 people came to Ohio’s capital Columbus Thursday to protest, according to Tom Bosco, an ABC6 journalist. On their way to the building, Bosco said people were chanting “Open Ohio.”

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Coronavirus in Tennesse Shows Sign of Slowing Down, According to New IHME Model

Zachery Schmidt

  Tennessee has brighter days coming in the future as the coronavirus model used by the White House has lowered its projections for the state’s COVID-19 peak. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) model has pushed up Tennessee’s projected coronavirus peak for hospital resources by one day from April 18 to April 17. Last week, the IHME model said the Volunteer State would see its peak for hospital resources on April 26. Based on the previous April 26 projection, Tennessee was expected to need 3,494 beds for its hospitals, including 525 beds for the intensive care unit (ICU). However, the updated IHME projection displays Tennessee needing 1,244, which is a decrease of 2,250 beds. In terms of death, the older IHME model had Tennessee experiencing 1,067 fatalities. But one week later, the new model sees Tennessee having 617 deaths. It must be noted, the projection on Monday anticipated Tennessee having 584 deaths. Between April 17 to April 20, the updated projection shows an average of 25 Tennesseans dying. Previously, the IHME projection had April 26 through April 28 as the stretch were the highest daily death rates. IHME predicts Tenneesse’s fatality rate will flatline around…

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New IHME Model Decreases Its Ohio Coronavirus Projections

Zachery Schmidt

  The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) model has lowered its coronavirus projections for Ohio. Last week, the IHME model projected the coronavirus peak for hospital resources in Ohio would be April 20, and also showed that Ohio would need 5,609 beds, including 854 beds for the intensive care unit (ICU). In addition, this old model projected Ohio would experience 1,672 fatalities by August 4. Fast forward one week, and the picture IHME is painting for Ohio is far more optimistic. The IHME projection on April 8 shows that Ohio reached its coronavirus peak for hospital resources yesterday, which is a decrease of 12 days. The number of projected beds needed for the state’s peak decreased by 4,404 beds to 1,205. Furthermore, the ICU beds needed for Ohio’s coronavirus peak fell by 617 beds to 237. Projected Fatalities occurring by August 4 also went down by 1,183 to 489. The old IHME model projected the highest death toll day in Ohio was April 23 with 57. However, the updated model displays April 12 being the day Ohio experiences the most deaths with 26. By May 1, the updated model shows Ohio having between 0 and…

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Ohio Department of Education Sets New Graduation Guidelines for High School This Year

Zachery Schmidt

The Ohio Department of Education (ODOE) announced on Monday new guidelines for students set to graduate this year.

Schools in Ohio have been closed since March 17 after Gov. Mike DeWine canceled them due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, schools remain empty as Ohio extended its “stay-at-home” measure until May 1.  

DeWine has not decided if schools will open after May 1, but the governor said in March that schools could be closed for the rest of the academic year. 

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Who Are the Ohio State University Epidemiologists Working with the Ohio Health Department on Its Coronavirus Model?

Zachery Schmidt

  Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the state of Ohio has been in an effective shutdown for 12 days. Governor DeWine and Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Amy Acton have, on several occasions, referred to an evolving series of slides depicting what they say are projections of the number cases of the coronavirus disease in Ohio between March 1 and the end of May to justify these extraordinary actions. However, despite repeated requests by The Ohio Star, there has been a lack of transparency about the data used to make these projections, as well as the people studyin. The ramifications of the “data driven” policy decisions – like the Stay-at-Home order – have been immediate and life-altering for many. In the last two weeks alone, 468,414 people have filed for government assistance. The number of unemployment requests will continue to increase as Ohio is under a “stay-at-home” order until May 1 – five days after the state’s Department of Health say will be the peak of the virus’ impact on April 25. One slide used by ODH Director Acton disclosed that the data the ODH has been using in its projections came from Ohio State University (OSU)’s Infectious Disease…

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Gov. DeWine Lengthens Ohio’s Stay-at-Home Order Until May 1

Zachery Schmidt

  Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday he will extended – both in duration and scope – Ohio’s “Stay-at-Home” Order until May 1. The original order was set to expire on Monday, April 6.. Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton signed the updated order on Thursday. The new stay-at-home measure will take effect midnight on Monday. “We understand that this is tough – it is very difficult. But, I would not be making these decisions if it wasn’t a matter of life and death,” said Governor DeWine. “We have to keep this monster down. It’s not dead – it’s very much alive.”  Ohio is one of 38 states that are currently on a stay-at-home order, according to The Hill.  DeWine has been one of the most aggressive governors in combating the Chinese virus. In March, the governor closed down schools, banned mass gatherings, shut down restaurants and delayed Ohio’s presidential primary.  With the stay-at-home order extension, unemployment numbers will likely increase during April. In the last two weeks, 468,414 Ohioans have filed for unemployment benefits, which is more than all of the 364,603 jobless claims that happened in 2019. To help Ohioans through the coronavirus pandemic, DeWine created an economic…

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272,117 New Unemployment Claims This Week in Ohio, One of Worst States in Nation

Zachery Schmidt

  Unemployment numbers in Ohio continue to surge as the coronavirus pandemic causes another 272,117 people to claim unemployment benefits, according to Fox19. Last week, 196,297 people filed for unemployment benefits. This means that in the last two weeks 468,414 Ohioans have filed for government assistance, which is more than all of the 364,603 jobless claims that happened in 2019. Last week, 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the week of March 25. This beat the previous record of 3.3 million people that was set the prior week, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics. Previously, the two highest weeks for unemployment claims came in 1982 with 695,000 and in March 2009 at 665,000, CNBC reports.  Of these almost 10 million jobless claims, Ohioans make up almost five percent.  To put this into perspective, Ohio had a total of 13,951 unemployment claims from March 1 to March 14. Yet these last two weeks, the Buckeye State saw the third biggest jump in total number of these claims, according to PBS. This was a 3,347 percent increase. The number of Ohioans who will be laid off because of COVID-19 is likely to increase as Gov. Mike DeWine said this…

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Model Cited by White House Officials Projects Ohio Hospitals Have Enough Capacity to Handle State’s Upcoming Coronavirus Peak

Zachery Schmidt

  A new epidemiological model cited by White House officials shows that Ohio hospitals have sufficient regular hospital bed and ICU hospital bed capacity for when the peak of the coronavirus hits the state in the upcoming weeks. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) model, Ohio is projected to see its resources peak on April 20. The model shows that the Buckeye State will need 5,609 beds; however, the state presently has 14,290 beds available, according to the study. Furthermore, Ohio is expected to need 854 intensive care unit (ICU) beds by April 20, the date the model projects the pandemic will peak in Ohio, but it already has 12,238 ICU beds ready to go. In terms of deaths, the IHME model predicts Ohio will have 1,672 by August 4. As of Tuesday, Ohio Department of Health (ODH) numbers show 55 people have died from the coronavirus. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force adviser, said recently IHME model, which is funded by the University of Washington and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, shows projections very much in line with how the federal government viewed the situation. Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci recently…

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Gov. DeWine’s Claim Ohio Will Reach Peak of 10,000 Coronavirus Cases Per Day Based on Modeling Sleight of Hand, Questionable Evidence, and Unidentified Researchers

Zachery Schmidt

  Gov. Mike DeWine claimed in a Friday press conference that projections based on a controversial model introduced earlier this month by Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton show hospitals in Ohio will be hit hard by the coronavirus in the upcoming weeks. While the daily increase of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Ohio is undeniable, neither DeWine nor Acton have provided much in the way of factual details related to the methodology of the model, the assumptions and data used in it, or the specific identities of the researchers who have created it. And some of the claims made by Acton and DeWine about the model’s predictions stretch credulity. “This is another take on our curves and our graphs,” Acton said at the press conference (at about the 42:43min mark), pointing to a chart on a screen behind her, which is identical to the chart shown below.   “But you can see a shadow – this our unmitigated curve – meaning that if we’d done nothing – if we did not take aggressive, decisive action, but we did, and we’ve made a difference, and we’ve shifted over to the model that we’ve wanted to see,” Acton said, pointing…

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Abortion Clinic Still Operating in Ohio Despite Governor’s Executive Order and Attorney General’s Letter of Warning

Zachery Schmidt

  Despite an Executive Order March 17 by Governor Mike DeWine directing health care professionals to postpone elective surgeries to combat the spread of the Chinese Virus and a letter two days later by Attorney General Dave Yost addressed to surgical abortion providers warning them to “immediately stop performing non-essential and elective surgical abortions,” at least one concerned Ohioan successfully made an abortion appointment. Marti Day Folck, who lives in Kettering, Ohio resident, wanted to see if the abortion clinic near her, the Women’s Med Center (WMC), was following what Yost asked them. However, she found out the exact opposite. Folck called WMC Wednesday to schedule an abortion procedure. She told the center that she was 20 weeks pregnant and asked if they were be anyway to get an abortion. The center told Folck that she could get an abortion, and that she could schedule an appointment for consultation Thursday. Folk told The Ohio Star that the WMC said she can come back next week to begin the abortion procedures, which is a two-day process. She noted that the procedure would have cost her $2,400 with $1,200 being paid with financial assistance. Folck said she doesn’t have any plan to…

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Ohio Relents: Department of Health Releases Negative Test Data, Only 4.7 Percent Test Positive

Zachery Schmidt

The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) for the first time in ten days announced the total number of tests the state has conducted.

“Total tested, this is a new number for us,” she said at Wednesday’s press conference. “We have been wrangling trying to see with so many testing sites between hospitals, private labs and the public ODH lab.”

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Millennials Have the Most Confirmed Cases of the Coronavirus in Tennessee

Zachery Schmidt

  Tennessee’s cases of COVID-19 data shows Millennials, which represents people born between 1981 and 1996, have the most confirmed cases of the Chinese virus. As of Tuesday, the age group with the most positive cases were people between the ages of 21 and 30. This age range represents 29 percent of the cases in the Volunteer State. The second most likely age group to have the coronavirus are people between 31 and 40 years old, with 19 percent of the cases. In addition, people who are over 80 years old have gotten the least number of cases in Tennessee. Here is a list of the number of cases per age group: 0-10: 9 11-20: 41 21-30: 193 31-40: 126 41-50: 89 51-60: 91 61-70: 65 71-80: 34 80+: 12 Pending: 7 This data is consistent with the data The Tennessee Star reported last week when the most likely people getting the virus was between the ages of 18 and 49. The counties with the most cases are Davidson County (183), Shelby County (99) and Williamson County (64), according to the Tennessee Department of Health. Last week, these counties had a total of 66 cases all together. Furthermore, these counties…

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Dave Yost Stopped an Amendment Seeking to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol

Zachery Schmidt

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost rejected a proposed marijuana-related constitutional amendment Monday that aimed to regulate marijuana like alcohol.

Yost halted the amendment proposal because it did not gather enough valid signatures.

“Because your submission did not contain the verified signatures of at least one thousand qualified electors, we must reject it,” Yost wrote in the letter to the petitioning committee. “Finally, because the petition failed to meet the signature threshold, I have not made any determination concerning the fairness and truthfulness of the proposed summary.”

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Canadian Doctor Uses Detroit Physician’s Concept to Rig One Ventilator to Treat Up to Nine People

Zachery Schmidt

Ventilators across the world are in scarce supply as the number of coronavirus patients continues to rise, but a Detroit doctor has provided health care workers with an ingenious solution.

To make sure his hospital is prepared, Dr. Alain Gauthier, an anesthetist at the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital in Canada, rigged a single ventilator to treat up to as many as nine people at once.

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Ohio Department of Health Defies CDC, Refuses to Require Labs to Report Both Positive and Negative Results from Coronavirus Tests

Zachery Schmidt

  Ohio is one of only two states in the union that are refusing to cooperate with requests from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to provide accurate data on the total number of positive and negative tests of coronavirus tests conducted in the state. (Maryland is the other state, as reported in the COVID Tracking Project.) “Having data on negatives, as well as positives, helps us understand the burden of disease. Having that data also gives us insight on the amount of testing being done overall,” a spokesman for the CDC told The Ohio Star on Friday. Earlier this week the CDC, through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, told states they need to send it aggregated data of coronavirus testing. Section 1702 of that law makes it absolutely clear that states are required to provide “aggregated data on testing and results from State and local public health departments.” Aggregated data means complete and comprehensive test results, including both positive and negative results: States and local governments receiving funds or assistance pursuant to this division shall ensure the respective State Emergency Operations Center receives regular and real-time reporting on  aggregated data on testing and results from State and local…

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DeWine to Business Owners: ‘The Reckless Behavior Must Stop’

Zachery Schmidt

Gov. Mike DeWine, during Friday’s press conference on the coronavirus, told business owners that if they don’t follow social distance rules and keep their employees safe there could be consequences.

“Let me make it very clear: I will err on the side of protecting people,” DeWine said at the press conference. “The bad behavior, the reckless behavior, must stop. The protection of life is the most important obligation that I have.”

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Is the Ohio Department of Health Refusing to Release Coronavirus Test Data to Conceal Lower Than National Average Percentage of Positive Tests?

Zachery Schmidt

  During the coronavirus pandemic, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Amy Acton have taken a number of actions, some controversial, designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Just in the last ten days, DeWine has closed bars and schools, postponed primaries and banned mass gatherings. Even more controversially, on Monday Acton defied the order of an Ohio court and ordered the cancellation of the Ohio primary election, a usurpation of the Ohio General Assembly’s constitutional authority to set election dates. Gov. DeWine clearly orchestrated this controversial decision. Despite these dramatic and controversial actions by DeWine and Acton, Ohio has lagged behind every other state in the country in reporting the number of negative coronavirus tests in the state. It stopped releasing that data on Monday. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) said Thursday that every state must report aggregated data of coronavirus testing to it. Currently, ODH only shows the number of confirmed cases, number of counties in Ohio with a case and the number of hospitalizations. This causes concern because last week, Acton and DeWine said they were operating as if 100,000 Ohioans had the virus. “Just the fact of community spread says at…

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Gov. DeWine Deploys Ohio National Guard to Help Food Banks

Zachery Schmidt

Gov. Mike DeWine called in the Ohio National Guard Wednesday to help food banks distribute food during the state’s coronavirus relief efforts.

Three hundred personnel members will deploy to 12 food bank warehouses, which helps provide food to all 88 counties in the state. The National Guard members will help pack and sort food into boxes, distribute food through “no touch” methods, and assist with logistical needs to help protect the public, according to the Ohio Association of Food Banks (OAFB)’s press release.

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Ohio State University Delays Spring Commencement Ceremony

Zachery Schmidt

Ohio State University (OSU) announced Tuesday it has postponed its spring commencement ceremony amid coronavirus concerns.

“Following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that no large events be scheduled over the next eight weeks, we have postponed our spring commencement,” Michael Drake, the president of the school said.

Drake said OSU’s preference is to reschedule the event later on in the spring, but a new date hasn’t been chosen.

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President Trump Visits Tornado Damaged Areas in Middle Tennessee

Zachery Schmidt

President Donald Trump visited Tennessee on Friday after the Volunteer State had a series of storms that produced tornadoes earlier this week that killed 25 people.

Air Force one landed to a contingent of officials and lawmakers. The president did not make a statement or take questions, instead opting to board Marine One for a 40-minute helicopter ride due east to Cookeville, which was one of the hardest-hit areas.

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