Journalists Prepare for Protests Where They Could Be Targets (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “While monitoring online chatter about protests at state capitols in advance of next week’s presidential inauguration, the Seattle Times came across a chilling description for journalists: soft targets. The phrase drove home the importance of safety precautions being put in place by news organizations across the country this weekend.”
Minority-Owned Companies Waited for Months to Receive Loans (Dan)
The author writes, “Thousands of minority-owned small businesses were at the end of the line in the government’s coronavirus relief program as many struggled to find banks that would accept their applications or were disadvantaged by the terms of the program. Data from the Paycheck Protection Program released Dec. 1 and analyzed by The Associated Press show that many minority owners desperate for a relief loan didn’t receive one until the PPP’s last few weeks while many more white business owners were able to get loans earlier in the program.”
Clock is Ticking on Oak Flat Land Swap (Dana)
From the Arizona Republic: “The U.S. Forest Service published the final environmental impact statement and draft record of decision Friday on a controversial land swap that would clear the way for a huge copper mine beneath Oak Flat, a site that’s sacred to many Apaches and culturally significant to other tribes. The document release starts the clock running on a 60-day timeframe for the final conveyance of more than 2,400 acres of national forest land to Resolution Copper, which will hand over about 5,300 acres of private land in exchange. Tribal representatives and environmentalists were both outraged by the move, which they say was fast-tracked to avoid coming under a fresh review after President-elect Joe Biden takes office Wednesday.”
Exxon’s Massive Offshore Oil Project Is a ‘Carbon Bomb’ (Mili)
The author writes, “A consortium led by Exxon hopes to be extracting three-quarters of a million barrels of oil per day from Guyana’s sea floor by 2025. … The European environmental group Urgewald calls it ‘a carbon bomb’ that could result in over 1 billion tons of planet-warming CO2 being released into the atmosphere.”
Man Lived Inside O’Hare for 3 Months Without Detection (Dana)
From the Chicago Tribune: “A California man who police said claimed to be too afraid to fly due to COVID-19 hid out for three months in a secured area of O’Hare International Airport until his weekend arrest, prosecutors said Sunday. Aditya Singh, 36, is charged with felony criminal trespass to a restricted area of an airport and misdemeanor theft. In bond court Sunday, prosecutors said Singh arrived at O’Hare on a flight from Los Angeles on Oct. 19 and allegedly has lived in the airport’s security zone ever since, without detection.”
