The Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow all businesses to stay open during a health emergency as long as the business can comply with government regulations.
Read the full story
Faced with continued closures, layoffs and an upcoming extension of a statewide curfew, Ohio restaurants and bars want Congress to move quickly to pass relief.
In a letter to Ohio’s U.S. senators as well as the House and Senate leadership, the Ohio Restaurant Association said things are worsening in the state and asked for a return to negotiations.
Read the full story
A restaurant in Sandusky, Michigan, defied the governor’s orders to shutdown, and remained open for business. During that time, the diner accumulated $5,000 in state fines and in order to stay afloat raised over $10,000 through GoFundMe, The Daily Caller reported.
Ten days ago Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced an order for restaurants to close dining rooms for three weeks as part of state restrictions to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Read the full story
Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, will suspend in-person events until Monday after two people associated with the campaign tested positive for the coronavirus.
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign said Thursday that the 77-year-old candidate had no exposure, though he and Harris spent several hours campaigning together in Arizona on Oct. 8, when the two people were on a flight with Harris. Both candidates have tested negative for COVID-19 multiple times since then, and Biden’s campaign said he tested negative again on Thursday.
Read the full story
The Massachusetts Attorney General has indicted two doctors on charges of criminal neglect in connection to the deaths of at least 76 veterans’ home residents who died of the novel coronavirus.
Bennett Walsh, 50, and David Clinton, 71, were indicted by a state grand jury on Thursday in connection to their work at the Holyoke Soldiers’ home in Massachusetts. Each man was indicted on five counts, specifically for charges including “wantonly or recklessly” permitting or causing bodily harm and mistreatment of an older or disabled individual.
Read the full story
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) released guidelines for trick-or-treating on Thursday, going against guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which recommended against the activity entirely.
In addition to standard coronavirus safety guidelines such as mask-wearing and social distancing, the MDHHS also recommended that homeowners passing out candy use duct tape to mark six-foot distances leading from where the candy is, distributing candy on a disinfected table to limit direct contact and handing out candy in an open space. For trick-or-treaters, it suggested participating in one-way trick-or-treating and only going to houses with safety measures in place.
Read the full story
Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday defended Tennessee’s response to the coronavirus pandemic after receiving criticism from a top Democratic congressional leader, arguing that his decisions have been “data driven” despite not adhering entirely to White House recommendations.
“Our response has focused on reducing bureaucratic barriers, strengthening private sector partnerships, and finding every opportunity to protect the lives and livelihoods of Tennessee,” Lee, a Republican, said in a three-page letter to South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn.
Read the full story
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose stated that Ohio will not require masks to be worn at Ohio polls.
In a press conference Wednesday, LaRose went through the state’s guidelines and detailed some of the precautions Ohio would take in light of the recent pandemic. The secretary of state encouraged voters to take advantage of absentee voting, a system that’s caused some controversy recently, stating that the system “is completely safe.”
Read the full story
A Virginia inmate who was released from jail because of the Coronavirus pandemic is back in police custody for allegedly murdering his accuser.
Ibrahm Elkahlil Bouaichi, a 33-year-old man who was arrested for allegedly raping his ex-girlfriend Karla Elizabeth Dominguez Gonzalez in October 2019 and held without bond, was arrested Wednesday morning for shooting and killing Gonzalez on July 29.
Read the full story
The City of Detroit is seeking photos of those who lost their lives to the coronavirus to display as part of a city memorial event.
Detroit will host Detroit Memorial Day on August 31 to honor city residents who died because of COVID-19, Mayor Mike Duggan announced earlier this month. The city plans to install large photo boards with the submitted pictures along a route on Belle Isle.
Read the full story
Tennessee’s attorney general says mask mandates are constitutionally defensible in an opinion that comes as some county mayors have moved to enact the requirements.
Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III wrote in an opinion Friday that for more than a century, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that “a community has the right to protect itself against an epidemic of disease which threatens the safety of its members.”
Read the full story
Michigan schools will be allowed to reopen and hold in-person classes in the fall, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on Wednesday.
Schools will be required to follow strict safety measures. Whitmer said she plans to release an executive order and a “Michigan’s Return to School Roadmap” on June 30 that will contain the requirements and recommendations for schools. It is currently unclear what those requirements may be.
Read the full story
It was Monday morning on March 10, 2019, when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 lurched away from the gate, rolled to a sprint, and peeled its wheels off the runway for the last time. Aboard, 157 souls including eight Americans and one veteran on vacation doing missionary work, were flying.
Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 302 plunged back to earth, trailing white smoke across the sky until reaching its terminus near Bishoftu, Ethiopia. All aboard perished when the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft screamed into the ground at nearly 700 miles per hour, leaving a massive crater with wreckage driven up to 30 feet deep into the soil.
Read the full story
Just as soon as the Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse came to the aid of overwhelmed New York City officials and sick residents struggling to combat the effects of COVID-19, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson decided the diverse, “tolerant,” progressive city had enough of its assistance, due to its Christian foundation, and effectively kicked the charity out.
While it’s usually Christians who are scolded for their so-called intolerant beliefs that are rooted in centuries-old religious traditions, here it seems like it’s progressives who aren’t so tolerant of other people embracing views that are different than theirs—even if those very views inform their acts of charity and medical care.
Read the full story
More than 47,000 people filed for unemployment in Michigan in the week ending May 9, bringing the state total to more than 1.7 million people in the state who have filed for unemployment insurance, according to recently released data from the U.S. Department of Labor.
According to the data, 47,438 people in Michigan filed for unemployment insurance in the state in the week ending May 9, down nearly 20,000 claimants from the previous week. Nearly 3 million people filed nationally.
Read the full story
The Trump administration has ensured that no coronavirus funding will go to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, according to a senior administration official.
Read the full story
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has received backlash from politicians and citizens alike after she extended and added to the “Stay Home, Stay Safe order” that requires Michigan residents to stay at home.
Whitmer extended the order to the end of April. In addition to banning “nonessential” businesses and asking residents to stay at home, the new order also places restrictions on stores, blocks the sale of certain items and prohibits travel between two residences in the state.
The order restricts stores that are more than 50,000 square feet from selling items related to carpet or flooring, furniture and paint, as well as garden centers. It also bans travels between two Michigan residences except for activities that are considered essential, such as caring for a family member or to fulfill custody agreements.
Read the full story
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…
Read the full story
As the 10th most populated state in the country, Michigan may be a major beneficiary of the federal stimulus package currently winding through the U.S. Capitol.
Read the full story
On Friday U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said the federal government would waive standardized testing for the 2019-2020 school year because of the ongoing coronavirus emergency.
U.S. Rep. Mark Green, (R-TN-07), in a press release, said he appreciated DeVos and U.S. Republican President Donald Trump for this action.
“The gravity of the situation our schools continue to face while navigating the COVID-19 outbreak would have created an undue burden for preparing and administering statewide assessments,” Green said.
Read the full story
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.
Read the full story