Vice President Mike Pence praised the innovation and leadership of Mayo Clinic during a Tuesday visit to the distinguished institution’s headquarters in Rochester, Minnesota.
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State Rep. Ben Frederick, R-Owosso, today asked Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to allow Michigan hospitals and other medical providers to perform elective surgeries.
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Gov. Mike DeWine released details on what Ohio’s economy will look like when it opens up on Friday.
“We put this plan together based on all the information we have about how dangerous COVID-19 still is right now, balanced with the fact that it’s also dangerous to have people not working,” DeWine said. “COVID-19 is still out there. It’s still killing people. We’re asking Ohioans to be reasonable and rational. Please don’t take huge chances, and please use common sense when you go out and where you go out.”
The goal of DeWine’s Responsible RestartOhio plan is to “protect the health of employees, customers, and their families, supporting community efforts to control the spread of COVID-19,” according to the governor’s press release.
Set to open on May 1 is the healthcare industry. Ohio will allow doctor visits, well-care checks, out-patient surgeries, imaging procedures, diagnostic tests, and dental and veterinary services.
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Despite Minnesota’s wide reaching economic shutdowns and its long lasting shelter in place order, it has reported more deaths per million citizens resulting from coronavirus than Iowa and South Dakota which have not responded so harshly.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said on Monday she would send a letter to the Michigan legislature asking it to extend the state of emergency by 28 days, adding that “it really should be longer.”
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Hundreds of people from all parts of the state gathered again at the state capitol Monday in support of the #FreeTN movement, following a rally of the same name last Sunday. In addition to those standing on either side of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard with a wide variety of messaging on their hand-held signs, numerous others slowly drove in between sporting signs and flags while honking their horns. The #FreeTN movement continues, even as the state is set to start a phased reopening under the guidelines of the Tennessee Pledge launched last week by Governor Bill Lee and Tennessee’s Economic Recovery Group. #FreeTN organizer, Kimberley Edwards scheduled the rally as a follow-up to those held in seven cities across the state last Sunday, The Tennessee Star reported. The bipartisan effort is focused on the immediate lifting of the state and local government’s safer-at-home executive orders, allowing the opening of all businesses without social distancing mandates. After saying that the event should exhibit gentleness, togetherness and kindness, Edwards’ wedding DJ and musician husband led the group in a prayer. The prayer was followed by an acapella rendition of the national anthem by Bridget Cheek, who…
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by George Rasley In his 1904 masterwork, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. German social researcher Max Weber argued that Western capitalism and the Protestant Reformation were inextricably linked. Weber made the case that the Protestant theology of John Calvin and the idea of work and economic activity as a God-given “calling,” inspired Protestant societies to develop a strong work ethic, leading to the development of Western capitalism. Today, only about 49 percent of Americans identify as Protestants, but the Pilgrims and Puritans continue to exercise a powerful influence on the American psyche whether one is Protestant, Catholic, Jewish or adheres to no religion at all. And, Weber’s monumental work, and the century of research and thought it spawned, tells us much about the psychological and philosophical underpinnings of the protests against the government-imposed lockdowns of the economy that have sprung-up in the past week. In 2013 André van Hoorn and Robbert Maseland of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands published research demonstrating that the psychic harm from unemployment is about 40% worse for Protestants than for the general population. Moreover, people living in Protestant societies are hurt more by being unemployed than people living in other societies,…
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U.S. Senate candidate Bill Hagerty has released a digital ad that he said exposes presidential candidate Joe Biden for defending the Communist Chinese regime — as opposed to Biden holding them accountable for creating a global pandemic. Hagerty posted the ad on YouTube Monday. “As President Donald Trump stands up to China and holds them accountable for the Wuhan virus, Beijing Biden has defended the Communist Chinese regime and even parroted their talking points,” Hagerty said. “Beijing Biden’s family’s close economic ties to China are well known, and his track record of defending China prove that he cannot credibly lead our nation. In the Senate, I will continue to stand with President Trump to push back against the Communist regime’s propaganda and hold them accountable for what has become the crime of the century.” As The Tennessee Star reported earlier this month, Hagerty released a television ad touting the candidate holding China accountable for what he called that nation’s deceitful actions. Hagerty said China’s leaders continue to mislead and cover up their Wuhan coronavirus data. China, Hagerty said, even accuses the United States of starting the global pandemic. “The Chinese Communist regime’s efforts to conceal and destroy valuable evidence – including silencing their own people…
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The Chinese government’s foreign ministry portrayed China as the victim of coronavirus disinformation on Monday, before suggesting minutes later that the U.S. government is “hiding something” regarding the pandemic.
“China always stands against disinformation campaign. We are victim rather than producer of disinformation,” the Chinese foreign ministry wrote from its Twitter account.
The account then suggested without evidence that the U.S. government has lied about the extent of the coronavirus pandemic here.
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Nearly 1 million Ohioans have filed for unemployment since Gov. Mike DeWine shut the state down, and the governor has responded by calling for a “Spirit Week” to have “#SpiritWeekOhio fun” which includes wearing pajamas.
Six of the state’s most influential business organizations last week sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine last week urging him to reopen the economy as nearly one million Ohioans have now filed unemployment claims since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, as The Ohio Star reported Monday. The letter was signed by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Business Roundtable, the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, the Ohio Council on Retail Merchants, Ohio Farm Bureau, and NFIB-Ohio.
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A legal organization said members of the Minnesota Legislature are holding committee meetings in small groups in order to avoid triggering the state’s “Open Meeting Law.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota said legislators have been deliberately meeting in small groups so they can bypass the law, which generally requires that all meetings be open to the public.
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The Royal Oak City Commission is voting on Monday night whether to censure City Commissioner Kim Gibbs and ask for her resignation for attending a rally in Lansing to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s lockdown order.
Gibbs attended a rally on April 15 in Lansing, where she walked on the sidewalk in front of the Capitol building, according to the agenda from the Royal Oak City Commission. During this rally, Gibbs walked near other Michigan residents without wearing a mask.
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A new model developed by a professor at the University of Tennessee and other academics suggests that most models on the coronavirus pandemic have failed to consider one important variable: jail populations.
Most standard COVID-19 models predict that America will experience about 101,000 deaths during the course of the pandemic, but that number increases by 98 percent to 200,000 deaths when jails are accounted for, the new model claims.
The model was developed by Dr. Nina Fefferman at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Eric Lofgren at Washington State University, and Dr. Kristian Lum from the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with Aaron Horowitz and Brooke Madubuonwu of the ACLU’s data analytics team.
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Curves are flattening worldwide thanks to stringent lockdown efforts.” That bulletin from one of my favorite magazines made me sit up. “Really?” I thought, “Is it because of the stringent lockdown that the ‘curves’ are flattening?”
For that is what “thanks to” means here, right? Because, “propter” in Latin.
No one needs to ask what sort of curves we are talking about here. There is only one subject that is being discussed now towards the end of April 2020: coronavirus, the insidious cold bug brought to the world by the Chinese Communist Party.
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Nearly 10,000 Tennesseans have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Sunday night, according to The COVID Tracking Project’s website.
Updated numbers showed 9,667 Tennesseans tested positive for COVID-19 since it broke out, while the virus had hospitalized 828 state residents. COVID-19 had claimed the lives of 181 Tennesseans as of Sunday, according to The COVID Tracking Project’s website.
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The attorneys general of Missouri and Mississippi announced this week that they are filing lawsuits against the Chinese government over its handling of the coronavirus, which first appeared in Wuhan late last year and was allowed to spread to the rest of the world.
Missouri AG Eric Schmitt says that China’s “campaign of deceit” has led to great human suffering across the globe.
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An executive order from Gov. Tim Walz bans evictions, foreclosures, and lease terminations for the duration of the state’s peacetime emergency, but one Democratic lawmaker wants to take things a step further. State Sen. Jeff Hayden (DFL-Minneapolis) recently called for a “rent and mortgage moratorium” in Minnesota, an idea championed by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) in the U.S. Congress. “Every Minnesotan deserves to have a safe, reliable place to call home. Right now, communities across the state are facing loss of income and increasingly exacerbated economic hardships during this public health emergency, while their rent and mortgage obligations continue to pile up,” he said in a statement. Without the “suspension of these payments,” the state will continue to see “devastating consequences both during this public-health emergency and after,” according to Hayden. “Our priority should be to provide the immediate relief Minnesotans so greatly need in a timely manner, and that includes a moratorium on rent and mortgage payments,” he concluded. The Minnesota House is currently considering a bill that would appropriate $100 million from the general fund for housing assistance grants. Under that bill, Minnesotans who are unable to pay their rent or mortgage because of a public-health emergency…
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Gov. Tim Walz today outlined steps forward for Minnesota’s COVID-19 response.
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The opening day of the Great Minnesota Get-Together is still four months away, but state leaders are already suggesting that the whole thing could be called off.
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Six of the state’s most influential business organizations sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine last week urging him to reopen the economy as nearly one million Ohioans have now filed unemployment claims since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
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When President Trump first unveiled his three-phase strategy for lifting the job-killing stay-at-home orders imposed by most states in an effort to “flatten the coronavirus curve,” among the first to embrace the guidelines were Govs. Brian Kemp of Georgia and Jared Polis of Colorado. Moreover, their reopening plans were quite similar. Both, for example, will permit hair salons, tattoo parlors, and other personal services to resume operation. Yet the reception by the legacy media and various “experts” has been dramatically different. While the Polis plan has excited little comment, Kemp’s program has been denounced by the press and President Trump’s public health advisors have quite literally disowned it.
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The Chinese government successfully pressured European Union officials to water down language in a report that cited the communist regime’s disinformation campaign regarding the coronavirus pandemic, according to news reports.
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Attorney General Keith Ellison said a federal ban on using aborted fetal tissue for research is “hampering” the nation’s ability to respond to COVID-19 in a letter sent to the Trump administration.
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A group of small business owners described the devastating economic impact of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s stay-at-home order in a recently released video.
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The Senate passed two bills by a 22-15 vote Friday that would curb Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency powers, but she’s vowed a veto.
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Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr Friday asking him to clarify President Donald Trump’s comments about the use of emergency powers during the coronavirus pandemic.
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President Donald Trump on Friday signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, freeing up new money for workers, small businesses, hospitals and additional testing.
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Michigan’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order has been extended through May 15, although some restrictions have been lifted, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on Friday.
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Vice President Mike Pence will visit Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota on Tuesday, his office announced in a statement.
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Nashville will accept more than $1.5 million of coronavirus relief money to spend on the homeless.
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A prominent conservative organization has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider a case involving Tennessee’s participation in the federal refugee resettlement program.
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Another 4.4 million Americans filed for initial unemployment claims last week, raising the total to more than 26 million who have lost their jobs since the COVID-19 pandemic economic closures began in all 50 states more than a month ago.
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The five week surge in new unemployment claims continued last week as businesses deemed nonessential by state and local governments reduce staffing in response to COVID-19.
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Remittances, the money that migrant workers send back to their families in their home countries, are expected to fall globally by well over $100 billion amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
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In a “what the heck” moment, the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development on Thursday said unemployment filings for two-thirds of counties went down for the second week of March.
The filings were for March 8-14, just before the Chinese coronavirus took a toll.
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A United Nations official said Tuesday that dozens of nations are facing “a hunger pandemic” amid international coronavirus lockdowns, warning that it’s possible more people could die of starvation than from the virus itself.
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In mid-March, governors across the country began issuing broad shelter-in-place orders in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The orders contain sweeping restrictions on individuals’ freedom of movement and activity in every sphere of life. They preclude people from going to work, running their businesses, convening to worship, visiting their own properties, taking a drive, attending school, and visiting with family or friends.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she is considering extending the stay-at-home order, although she plans to lift some of the restrictions and that easement will come in “waves.”
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Ohio saw another 108,801 people file for unemployment claims last week, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).
Nationally, America saw 4.4 million people file for unemployment benefits as people continue to lose jobs due to state lockdown orders, the Department of Labor numbers show.
The coronavirus pandemic continues to wreck havoc on Ohio’s economy as 964,566 Ohioans have asked for government assistance over the last five weeks. During this same time period, more than 26 million people have filed for unemployment assistance, according to PBS.
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More than 134,000 people filed for unemployment last week in Michigan, adding to the more than 1 million Michigan residents that have sought unemployment benefits during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Minnesota has now seen more unemployment applications during the coronavirus pandemic than during the “Great Recession,” the state’s chief economic commissioner revealed Thursday.
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The eight elite private colleges of the Ivy League are slated to receive millions in taxpayer-funded coronavirus stimulus money despite controlling endowments with a combined value in 2019 of over $140 billion.
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NEW ORLEANS, LA. – Louisiana boaters who repeatedly mobilized to rescue people stranded by catastrophic floodwaters are now working to halt the spread of COVID-19 on dry land.
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President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Wednesday to suspend all immigration into the United States for 60 days, with the chance of extensions, as the nation struggles with the coronavirus pandemic and reopening the economy.
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Two Ohio prisons are now home to the largest known clusters of COVID-19 in the nation, but the mortality rate for inmates with the virus is below one percent.
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Ohio’s prolonged lockdown is literally a life-and-death matter for an Akron barber battling a rare form of cancer as she cannot reach world-renowned Johns Hopkins Medicine for treatment.
Peggy Reed is a barber with Stage 4 Squamous Cell cancer of the nasal cavity. Much of her medical story is told on her GoFundMe page here.
Reed missed her appointment at Johns Hopkins on March 26 to see a specialist. Ohio’s stay at home order means no out of state travel is allowed. Maryland also has a stay at home order.
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Gov. Tim Walz announced Wednesday that Minnesota now has the capacity to test as many as 20,000 residents per day for COVID-19.
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Health officials revealed during a Tuesday press conference that nursing home residents account for slightly more than 70 percent of all COVID-19-related deaths in Minnesota.
Infectious Disease Division Director Kris Ehresmann said during a Tuesday press briefing that 113 of the state’s 160 deaths “are associated with long-term care.”
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A recent survey conducted by The Atlantic has revealed that a majority of Americans from both sides of the political aisle now support possibly unconstitutional government action to combat the continuing spread of COVID-19.
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The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Research Center released a survey Tuesday that said 80 percent of small business owners are still waiting to receive a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
“Small businesses were prepared and ready to apply for these programs, the only financial support options for most, and it is very frustrating that the majority of these true small businesses haven’t received their loan yet,” Holly Wade, NFIB Director of Research & Policy Analysis, said. “Small businesses make up nearly half of the economy and it’s crucial that their doors stay open.”
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