Thursday, March 25, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Accused Boulder Shooter To Make Court Appearance

The Victims

The 21-year-old suspect in Monday's mass shooting at a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket that left 10 people dead will make his first court appearance today. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa has been jailed on 10 counts of murder since Tuesday, following his release from the hospital the day after the shooting after being treated for a leg wound. Meanwhile, more than 500 people gathered last night at a candlelight vigil in downtown Boulder in memory of the victims. Earlier in the day, hundreds paid their respects during a police procession taking the body of 51-year-old Officer Eric Talley to a funeral home. The father of seven was killed after being the first officer to respond to the supermarket.
 

➤NORTH KOREA TEST-FIRES BALLISTIC MISSILES FOR FIRST TIME IN BIDEN PRESIDENCY: North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles on Thursday morning for the first time since President Biden took office. South Korea's foreign minister expressed "deep concern" about the launches, while Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said they threaten "peace and safety in Japan and the region." The launches came one day after North Korea fired short-range weapons that were believed to be cruise missiles into the sea. They also come after Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled to South Korea and Japan last week. While there, Blinken criticized North Korea’s nuclear program and human rights record.

➤BIDEN PUTS HARRIS IN CHARGE OF EFFORT TO RESPOND TO MIGRANT SURGE AT THE BORDER: President Biden announced Wednesday that he'd put Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of leading the effort to respond to the surge of migrants at the border with Mexico, including many unaccompanied minors who've been arriving in recent weeks. Part of that will involve working with Central American nations where the migrants are coming from to try to address the problems that are driving them to leave, and to push those nations to strengthen enforcement of their own borders. Harris said yesterday, "Needless to say, the work will not be easy. But it is important work." The administration has moved to open more than 10,000 new beds in facilities including convention centers and former oilfield camps, as well as in new facilities, to house the minors crossing the border.


➤ASTRAZENECA SAYS COVID VACCINE GIVES 76 PERCENT PROTECTION AFTER DISPUTE WITH U.S. OFFICIALS: AstraZeneca said yesterday that its Covid-19 vaccine gives 76 percent protection, three percentage points lower than the 79 percent it had said earlier in the week. The change came after it counted additional illness in a recalculation, after the earlier results had led to a dispute with U.S. officials. On Tuesday, an independent panel that oversees the study had accused AstraZeneca of cherry-picking data in presenting the 79 percent figure, saying it had left out some Covid cases. In response, the National Institutes of Health took the unusual step of publicly calling on AstraZeneca to fix the issue. AstraZeneca has been hoping the study findings would boost confidence in the vaccine. Although it's being widely used in Europe and other countries, earlier studies had shown inconsistent data about its effectiveness, and some countries paused using it last week after there was concern about blood clots. AstraZeneca plans to seek FDA clearance of the vaccine for use in the U.S. within a few weeks.

➤CARGO SHIP STUCK IN SUEZ CANAL AFFECTING GLOBAL SHIPPING: Efforts are continuing today to try to free a huge cargo ship that's stuck across Egypt's Suez Canal, affecting global shipping as other vessels aren't able to pass through the canal in either direction. At least 150 other ships were waiting for the Japanese-owned ship Ever Given to be freed so that they could proceed. The Ever Given, among the largest cargo ships in the world with a length of nearly a quarter mile, got stuck on Tuesday in the canal between continental Africa and the Sinai Peninsula.

➤VIRGINIA OUTLAWS DEATH PENALTY: Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation yesterday  abolishing the death penalty, become the 23rd state to do so. The legislation signed by Northam, who's a Democrat, came after the new Democratic majority in the state's legislature passed the measure, having argued the death penalty is disproportionately given to people of color, the poor and the mentally ill. It's a major turnaround for Virginia, which had the second-highest number of executions in the U.S. Only two men are still on Virginia's death row, and their sentences will be converted to life in prison without parole.


➤BIDEN, DEMOCRATS CALL FOR ACTION ON GUN MEASURES AFTER BOULDER MASS SHOOTING:  In what's become part of the standard series of events that take place after mass shootings, Democrats, including President Biden, yesterday called for action on gun legislation in the wake of the Boulder, Colorado, shooting in which 10 people were killed, and Republicans criticized the prospect of new gun measures, saying they won't accomplish anything.

Biden yesterday urged Congress to move quickly to close loopholes in the background check system to buy guns, and to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. He said, "It should not be a partisan issue. This is an American issue. It will save lives, American lives." Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he will bring legislation to the floor in the Senate that was passed by the House that would require background checks for most gun sales and transfers.

However, prospects for passage aren't good in the face of Republican opposition. Senator John Thune, the second-ranking Senate Republican, said, "There’s not a big appetite among our members to do things that would appear to be addressing it, but actually don’t do anything to fix the problem."

➤POSTAL SERVICE PLAN WOULD SLOW MAIL, CUT POST OFFICE HOURS: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced a long-awaited 10-year plan for the U.S. Postal Service yesterday that would slow mail delivery and cut hours at some post offices. With the USPS facing an expected $160 billion in losses over the next decade, DeJoy and other postal executives stressed the need to cut costs and modernize operations, including with investments in new delivery vehicles, as the agency is increasingly handling packages more than letters. The plan is being revealed as there has been scrutiny of persistent mail delivery delays since DeJoy took over the Postal Service last year after controversial policy changes. He eventually suspended some of them due to the backlash.


➤GRAPE-NUTS CEREAL SHORTAGE IS OVER: If you've been trying to find Grape-Nuts cereal on store shelves and haven't been able to, there's good news that the shortage has ended. Post Consumer Brands told USA Today that Grape-Nuts is now shipping to stores at full capacity after being out of stock for months. The shortage began in late 2020 amid the pandemic and production issues. The company also wants to help out Grape-Nuts fans who paid jacked-up prices online to get a box of the cereal. People who paid $10 or more for a box of Grape-Nuts Original cereal between November 1st, 2020 and March 15th can "submit a valid retailer or e-retailer receipt for a partial refund of up to $115 to help cover the difference between the amount paid and the suggested retail price of the Grape-Nuts Original cereal box purchased." The receipts can be submitted through April 15th at: https://bit.ly/319UmBw.

➤DOES YOUR DRINK ORDER SAY SOMETHING ABOUT YOU:  Does what you order when you're having drinks say something about you? A new survey of 2,000 Americans by OnePoll asked them about their usual drink order, and found 55 percent said they believe their drink choice "says a lot" about what kind of person they are. Fruity drinks were the most popular, named by 54 percent, although more women named them as their favorite 44 percent to 31 percent for men, more of whom said neutral flavors were their favorite, at 35 percent. Those who like fruity drinks were more likely to describe their personalities as "fun," at 54 percent and "carefree" at 48 percent, rather than "serious" at 33 percent or "driven" at 36 percent. More than half, 58 percent, said they prefer light-colored drinks like vodka or white wine over dark ones like bourbon or stout beer, preferred by just 26 percent. Those who prefer light-colored drinks are most likely to describe themselves as "introverted" at 61 percent and "relaxed" at 60 percent, while dark alcohol drinkers are more likely to say they are "logical," at 46 percent and and "driven," at 40 percent. Half of all drinkers said they felt embarrassed to order their drink of choice in public, as did 49 percent of beer drinkers.

➤CRUISE LINE ASSOCIATION CALLS ON CDC TO LIFT CONDITIONAL SAILING ORDER IN EARLY SUMMER:  Major cruise operators are ready to get back out in the ocean. Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is an association of 50-plus cruise lines including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian, and it’s publicly calling on the Centers for Disease and Prevention (CDC) to lift its Framework for Conditional Sailing Order. The order is scheduled to remain in effect until at least November 1st, and it gives cruise lines a “framework of actionable items” to complete, including the demonstration of coronavirus mitigation factors. In addition to meeting health-related criteria, cruise operators are also required to stage mock voyages. The order could expire before November, if the Secretary of Health and Human Services no longer declares the pandemic to be a public health emergency, or could stretch on, if the national public health institute modifies the order based on public health consideration. Yesterday, the CLIA argued that the “phased resumption of cruise operations” from U.S. ports could instead begin in early July, citing the few cases of coronavirus transmission on cruises that have resumed internationally. They also call the current Conditional Sailing Order “outdated,” alleging that it does not account for the “advent of vaccines, and unfairly treats cruises differently” than other modes of transportation. This comes days after Royal Caribbean’s CEO Richard Fain called for the CDC to review its Conditional Sailing Order in light of vaccination efforts and overseas voyages.

🏀TEXAS A&M ADVANCES TO WOMEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT'S SWEET 16 WITH SHOT AT THE BUZZER IN OT: Second-seeded Texas A&M won a Sweet 16 berth in the women's NCAA basketball tournament yesterday (March 24th) with a 84-82 second-round win over Number 7 Iowa State on a jump shot at the buzzer in overtime by Jordan Nixon. Nixon scored a career-high 35 points in the game and had seven of A&M’s nine points in OT. There were also two upsets in yesterday's eight second-round games, with Number 6 Texas beating third-seeded UCLA 71-62 and Number 6 Oregon defeating third-seeded Georgia 57-50.
 

➤TOKYO OLYMPICS TORCH RELAY BEGINS IN JAPAN: The torch relay for this summer's Tokyo Olympics, which were delayed by a year due to the pandemic, got underway yesterday (March 24th) in Japan. The torch's 121-day journey across the country until the opening ceremonies on July 23rd began in Fukushima prefecture. The first runner was Azusa Iwashimizu, a key player in the Japanese team that won the Women’s World Cup soccer tournament in 2011. However, the ceremony wasn't open to the public because of pandemic precautions, and people watching along the roadside as as the torch ran by were told to social distance. About 10,000 runners will eventually take part in the torch relay.

🏀ESPN..PISTONS TRADE WRIGHT TO KINGS FOR JOSEPH AND TWO PICKS: The Detroit Pistons are trading Delon Wright to the Sacramento Kings for Cory Joseph and two second-round NBA draft picks, one in 2021 and the other in 2024, ESPN reported last night (March 24th), citing sources. Both players are guards.

⚾MLB TO INCREASE MONITORING TO PREVENT PITCHERS ALTERING BASEBALLS: Major League Baseball will be stepping up its monitoring to try to stop pitchers from using foreign substances to alter baseballs. The league wrote a memo to team officials Tuesday (March 23rd) about the change. There were three new enforcement measures described: gameday checking for violations in dugouts, clubhouses, tunnels, batting cages and bullpens; baseballs that come out of play will be given to commissioner's office for inspection, both randomly chosen balls and others that are suspicious; and data will be reviewed to analyze spin rate changes in pitchers suspected of using foreign substances.

🏈SNYDER TO BUY OUT OTHER WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM OWNERS: Dan Snyder is set to buy out the minority owners of the Washington Football Team to become the sole owner. Snyder, who bought the team in 1999, had his application for a debt waiver of $450 million approved by the league's finance committee, the NFL said yesterday (March 24th). All that remains now is for approval from the other team owners. Three-quarters of the NFL's 32 team owners have to agree to the change.
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