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Wednesday, June 10, 2020

The Rundown: Funeral Held For George Floyd

The funeral for George Floyd was held yesterday  in Houston, with more than 500 people attending at The Fountain of Praise church, after which he was buried next to his mother. Dozens of Floyd's family members, most of them dressed in white, took part in the service, during which one of his brothers, Rodney Floyd, referred to the two weeks of protest Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police has sparked across the country, saying, "[E]verybody is going to remember him around the world. He is going to change the world."

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner attended and announced that he will sign an executive order banning chokeholds. During a videotaped eulogy, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden addressed Floyd's six-year-old daughter, saying, "I know you have a lot of questions that no child should have to ask, questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations: Why? Why is Daddy gone?" He stated, "Now is the time for racial justice. That’s the answer we must give to our children when they ask why." He added, "Because when there is justice for George Floyd, we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America." 



The Reverend Al Sharpton also spoke, saying of Floyd, "Your family is going to miss you George, but your nation is going to always remember your name. Because your neck was one that represents all of us, and how you suffered is how we all suffer."

Senate Republicans Working on Police Legislation: After House Democrats on Monday unveiled a sweeping proposal for police reform and accountability, Republicans in the Senate, where they are the majority, are working to write their own legislation for reform and accountability, led by Senator Tim Scott, the only black Republican senator. Leading Republicans are signaling they'll likely include some of the measures from the House package.

Trump Tweets Conspiracy Theory About Injured Buffalo Protester: President Trump stirred up controversy yesterday by tweeting a conspiracy theory about a 75-year-old protester in Buffalo who was hospitalized after being shoved by police and hitting his head on the pavement when he fell. Two police officers have been charged with second-degree assault for the incident, which was captured on video. Trump tweeted that it may have been a "set up" and charged that the protester, Martin Gugino, quote, "could be an ANTIFA provocateur." He also contended Gugino appeared to be trying to use a device to scan and black out police communications, something for which there is absolutely no evidence and which tech experts said couldn't be done as described. Trump also contended: "he fell harder than was pushed." Trump referred to the far-right news channel One America News Network in making his claims. Trump's tweet drew bipartisan criticism. Gugino, a veteran peace activist, remains hospitalized, but is out of intensive care. His attorney, Kelly Zarcone, told AP Trump’s accusations were "utterly baseless and ridiculous," as well as "dark, dangerous and untrue."

➤14 STATES HAVE RECORD-HIGH OF NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES: Fourteen states, including California, Texas and Florida, have had their worst week so far of new coronavirus cases, and Texas hit a record-high in hospitalizations, even as states are continuing to open from their coronavirus restrictions. Arizona has had its new daily cases set a new state record four times over the past week. The overall number of new daily cases across the country has been remaining steady at around 20,000, but it's been staying there despite that rising number in may states largely because of the big decreases in the states that were hit hard early, mainly New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The rising cases likely reflect the reopenings that began a few weeks back, and is likely to be made worse because of the two weeks of protests that have swept the country after George Floyd's death.
As part of Louisiana's reopening, bars and casinos in New Orleans will be allowed to open beginning Saturday, but only at 25 percent capacity. They still won't be allowed to have live music.

WHO Clarifies Comments About Asymptomatic Spread: The World Health Organization tried yesterday to clarify confusing comments made by one of its officials a day earlier that suggested asymptomatic people rarely spread the virus. Public health organizations, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had previously said a significant percentage of transmission is taking place by people who aren't feeling sick. WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove, who'd made the comments on Monday, said Tuesday, "this is a major unknown" and that she was referring to "very few studies." She further explained that patients sometimes confuse not having any symptoms with only having mild symptoms, and some patients also transmit the virus before developing symptoms, so they are "presymptomatic," not asymptomatic.

➤STEPFATHER OF MISSING KIDS ARRESTED AFTER HUMAN REMAINS FOUND ON PROPERTY: Chad Daybell, the stepfather of two children who have been missing since September, was arrested yesterday after human remains were found at his Idaho home. Daybell, who married the children's mother, Lori Vallow Daybell, last November was arrested on suspicion of concealing or destroying evidence. Joshua "JJ" Vallow was seven and Tylee Ryan was 17 when they disappeared in September and police say the Daybells lied to them about where the children were before the couple quietly left the state. The Daybells were found months later in Hawaii. Lori Daybell is in jail on a $1 million bond after being charged with child abandonment and obstructing the investigation. The couple have also been under scrutiny after the deaths of both of their former spouses.

➤AMC PLANS TO REOPEN ITS MOVIE THEATERS NEXT MONTH: AMC Theatres, the world's largest movie theater chain, announced Tuesday (June 9th) that it plans to reopen its 1,000 theaters around the world next month from their coronavirus shutdowns, which began in mid-March. No specific dates were given, but AMC said it's reopening its theaters next month to showcase the Christopher Nolan spy thriller Tenet, set for a July 17th release, and Disney's live action remake Mulan, set for July 24th. The news came after AMC announced last week that there were, quote, "substantial doubts" that it could survive if the closures continued.

➤U.S. TO TRY TO STOP EXPEDITION TO RETRIEVE TITANIC'S TELEGRAPH MACHINE: The U.S. government will try to stop the Atlanta-based salvage firm RMS Titanic Inc.'s planned mission to retrieve the Titanic's wireless telegraph machine from the wreckage site on the ocean floor of the North Atlantic. The U.S. contends that the expedition would break federal law and a pact with Britain to leave the 1912 shipwreck site undisturbed. A legal challenge to the expedition, which is set to begin at the end of August, was filed on Monday (June 8th). The salvage mission could require cutting into the wreckage to allow an underwater vehicle to get in, and the U.S. says they can't do that. The U.S. filed its challenge with the same federal judge who ruled last month that the salvage mission could go forward, agreeing with RMS Titanic Inc. that the telegraph is historically important and could soon disappear in the rapidly decaying wreck.

➤MLB PLAYERS' LATEST PROPOSES 89 GAMES, FULL PRORATED SALARIES: Major League Baseball and its players continue to send proposals for starting a coronavirus-delayed season back and forth as they try to reach agreement. The players yesterday proposed an 89-game regular season with full prorated salaries, one day after the league sent its latest proposal for 76 games and about 75 percent of prorated salaries. Players have been refusing any pay cuts beyond the prorated salaries they agreed to in March. MLB proposed an 82-game schedule on May 26th with a sliding salary scale, and the union countered five days later with a 114-game proposal at prorated pay.

➤NASCAR SET TO ALLOW SOME FANS BACK: NASCAR, which has been holding races without fans since it returned from its coronavirus shutdown on May 17th, is now ready to allow some fans back. It will allow a limited number of fans at races this month at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida and Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. All fans will be screened before entering, have to wear face masks, and be required to social distance at six feet. Up to 1,000 Florida service members will be allowed to attend the Cup Series race Sunday as honorary guests and watch the race from the grandstands, and Talladega will allow up to 5,000 guests in the frontstretch grandstands/towers for the June 21st Cup race.

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