Trump Officials Actively Lobbied to Deny States Money for Vaccine Rollout Last Fall (DonkeyHotey)
From Stat: “Top Trump officials actively lobbied Congress to deny state governments any extra funding for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout last fall — despite frantic warnings from state officials that they didn’t have the money they needed to ramp up a massive vaccination operation. The push, described to STAT by congressional aides in both parties and openly acknowledged by one of the Trump officials, came from multiple high-ranking Trump health officials in repeated meetings with legislators. Without the extra money, states spent last October and November rationing the small pot of federal dollars they had been given. And when vaccines began shipping in December, states seemed woefully underprepared.”
Fatal Police Shootings of Unarmed Black People Reveal Troubling Patterns (Dana)
The author writes, “Since 2015, police officers have fatally shot at least 135 unarmed Black men and women nationwide, an NPR investigation has found. NPR reviewed police, court and other records to examine the details of the cases. At least 75% of the officers were white. The latest one happened this month in Killeen, Texas, when Patrick Warren Sr., 52, was fatally shot by an officer responding to a mental health call. For at least 15 of the officers … the shootings were not their first — or their last, NPR found. They have been involved in two — sometimes three or more — shootings, often deadly and without consequences.”
Night of Terror: Sacramento Homeless Lined Up for Shelter During Storm. The Doors Never Opened (Reader Steve)
From the Sacramento Bee: “The wind blew the rain sideways [that] night. Trees that had stood for decades collapsed into homes and streets. And Karen Hunter, a 57-year-old homeless woman and mother of three, lay alone on a mattress in a small green tent under the W-X freeway. She wouldn’t make it through the night.”
How Small Cities Are Trying to Lure Remote Workers (Dan)
The author writes, “In August, the co-living company Common released a request for proposals from U.S. cities that wanted to host a “Remote Work Hub” — a kind of office-plus-apartment complex aimed at young digital nomads. This week the company announced five winners of this quasi-competition, who will now move on to the workshop phase: Developers in New Orleans; Bentonville, Arkansas; Ogden, Utah; Rocky Mount, North Carolina; and Rochester, New York. Their prize is design expertise and a marketing boost from the Common team. Common, a six-year old company that manages shared living spaces in nine U.S. cities, is betting long on remote work, trusting that the employment style, which has been growing in popularity for years, will survive, and that the cities poised to rebound economically will do so by absorbing the perpetual-WFH crowd.”
Coal Mine Methane Emissions Higher Than Previously Thought (Mili)
From Technology Networks: “The amount of methane released into the atmosphere as a result of coal mining is likely much higher than previously calculated, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union recently. The study estimates that methane emissions from coal mines are approximately 50 percent higher than previously estimated. … The higher estimate is due mainly to two factors: methane that continues to be emitted from thousands of abandoned mines and the higher methane content in coal seams that are ever deeper.’”
Texas Accidentally Issues Amber Alert for Cursed Doll Chucky (Dana)
The author writes, “The Texas Department of Public Safety said an Amber Alert that was issued for the cursed doll Chucky from the Child’s Play horror films was a test that was accidentally sent out. The Amber Alert message that was sent out to subscribers of the Texas Alerts System three times on Friday describes the suspect, Chucky, as wearing ‘blue denim overalls with multi-colored striped long sleeve shirt’ and says he was last seen ‘wielding a huge kitchen knife.’”
