Wake-Up Call: House Set To OK $1.9T COVID Relief Bill

Congress is set to approve President Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill today with a vote in the Democratic-controlled House after the measure was approved by a divided Senate over the weekend. A central part of the bill is sending $1,400 to most Americans, and it also includes money for Covid vaccines and testing, aid to state and local governments, help for schools and the airline industry, and more.

➤ALASKA FIRST STATE TO LET ANYONE 16 OR OLDER GET CORONAVIRUS VACCINE: Alaska has become the first state to let anyone age 16 or older to be vaccinated against Covid-19, with Governor Mike Dunleavy announcing the news yesterday. Dunleavy, who himself had Covid but didn't get severely ill, called the expanded eligibility a "game changer." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker says that Alaska leads the states in the percentage of its population to have received two doses of a vaccine.

➤DEFENSE SECRETARY APPROVES EXTENDING NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT AT CAPITOL: The Pentagon said yesterday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had approved an extension of the National Guard deployment at the U.S. Capitol for about two more months. They will stay amid remaining possible threats of violence more than two months after the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The statement said some 2,300 Guardsmen will remain at the request of Capitol Police until May 23rd. There are currently about 5,100 Guard troops deployed in Washington, and they had been scheduled to leave this weekend.

 

➤FBI PUTS OUT NEW VIDEO OF PERSON WHO PLACED PIPE BOMBS ON DAY OF CAPITOL ATTACK: The FBI put out new security video footage yesterday of the suspect who put pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., that were found on the day of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. The bombs had been planted the night before, and were discovered around 1 p.m. ET on the day of the attack, around the time the assault on the Capitol began. The bombs, which were viable, were safely detonated by robots. The FBI is seeking more information to help identify the hooded and masked figure, who is seen on the footage from several cameras. A $100,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the identification of the person responsible.

➤JURY SELECTION BEGINS FOR TRIAL OF EX-OFFICER CHARGED IN KILLING OF GEORGE FLOYD: Jury selection began yesterday in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd last May. Three jurors were selected and six others were dismissed. Among those let go were some who said they wouldn't be able to put aside their views about what happened and be impartial. Finding jurors is expected to be a lengthy process, with opening arguments set for no sooner than March 29th.

➤LARGEST STUDY TO DATE DEBUNKS MYTH THAT MALE AND FEMALE BRAINS ARE DIFFERENT: A new study re-confirms there are no differences between the brains of males and females. Rosalind Franklin University researchers looked at 30 years of MRI scans and postmortem brain tissue samples, and found that once size was accounted for, there were few differences in brain function and structure between male and female brains. Researcher Lise Eliot says that scientists have claimed for centuries that there are differences between the male and female brain, but that those theories are tainted by bias and small sample sizes. She adds, “It’s not really appropriate to think of the brain as coming in male-type and female-type. Just like we don’t really think of the kidney or the lungs or the heart as coming in male- or female-type.”

Daily Mail 3/10/21 Click Here To Enlarge

➤PALACE IN CRISIS AS PRINCE CHARLES DODGES QUESTIONS, QUEEN ISSUES STATEMENT:  The Royal Family is trying to carry on amid backlash over allegations of racism shared by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The pair shared a series of disturbing stories during their talk with Oprah Winfrey, a recording of which aired Sunday in the U.S. and Monday in the U.K. Stories of Meghan being refused mental help despite her suicidal ideation, and members of the royal family being concerned about how dark Meghan and Harry’s son Archie’s skin would be have rocked the world.

On Tuesday, Prince Charles was the first member of the Firm to emerge in public since the interview. The 72-year-old was asked what he thought of the interview, in which Harry expressed sadness over their estrangement, while visiting an NHS vaccination center in London.

Charles was reportedly seen "nervously chuckling" and continued walking at the official engagement, ignoring the question.

The Queen, Charles and Prince William, meanwhile, are reportedly locked in crisis talks over the interview. The Queen reportedly refused to sign off on a statement, but then finally issued one late Tuesday. She said “the whole family is saddened” over “issues raised, particularly that of race” — although “recollections may vary.”

“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members,” the queen added.

Meghan’s estranged father Thomas Markle has also spoken out after the interview, in which she slammed his decision to work with tabloids.

He called Harry “snotty.” “We all make mistakes … but I’ve never played naked pool and I’ve never dressed up like Hitler,” he said, referring to infamous nude pictures of Harry taken in Las Vegas in 2012, as well as the time he was photographed wearing a Nazi uniform seven years earlier.

PIERS MORGAN

TV host Piers Morgan, meanwhile, is calling it quits hours after storming off the Good Morning Britain set over his co-star’s confrontation of his criticism of Meghan.

“Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain,” the network said in a statement.

“ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”

Bob Chapek addressed #TheMandalorian actress' firing at an annual shareholders' meeting. When asked if #Disney had a "black list" for people with conservative politics. He responded that the company isn't "left-leaning or right-leaning"https://t.co/5xd7Y4hNE1

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 10, 2021

➤WE JUST HAD THE COLDEST FEBRUARY SINCE 1989:  We just had the coldest February we’ve experienced in 32 years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a report Monday (March 8th) saying February 2021 was the coldest February since 1989. An Arctic air mass made things especially cold in parts of the South and Midwest, and the NOAA says it was among the ten coldest Februaries on record in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. February also set a new record for national snow cover, which had been recorded since 2003. 

On February 16th, just over 73 percent of land mass of the lower 48 states was covered in snow, with snow cover extending from the Mexican border to the Great Lakes.

🏀NBA ALL-STAR GAME LATEST BIG SPORTS EVENTS TO GET LOW TV RATINGS: Some NBA players questioned why the league went ahead with having an All-Star Game last Sunday  amid the coronavirus pandemic, and it looks like the health risks were taken for not much of a payoff, as it got its lowest-ever ratings. Nielsen data showed the game averaged 5.94 million viewers on TNT and TBS, down 18 percent from a year ago. It's the latest big sports event that has been drawing fewer viewers since sports returned after their suspension following the start of the pandemic last spring. 

BRUTALLY BAD: Ratings for the NBA All-Star Game PLUNGE to Record Lows, Down 74% from 1993 https://t.co/CglvuOOdRU

— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 9, 2021

 Among the major sports events that have had all-time low ratings in the past year are the NBA Finals, the World Series, the Masters golf tournament, the Daytona 500 and all three Triple Crown horse races. Yahoo! Sports suggests much of that can be blamed on scheduling after they came back, with sports being played at times of the year they usually aren't and competing with each other as they usually don't because their seasons are usually more spread out. It's also part of the overall decline in TV viewership. And things may not be looking up for sports viewership in the near future, according to Yahoo! Sports, which suggests that as more Americans continue to get vaccinated and normal life begins to return, people are going to want to be out doing things again instead of at home watching TV.

🏀HEAT'S LEONARD AWAY FROM TEAM INDEFINITELY AFTER USING ANTI-SEMITIC SLUR: The Miami Heat said last night that Meyers Leonard will be away from the team indefinitely after the 29-year-old center used an anti-Semitic slur while playing a livestreamed video game a day earlier. The team said in a statement that it, quote, "vehemently condemns the use of any form of hate speech," and "will not tolerate hateful language from anyone associated with our franchise." The NBA will be investigating the incident and the Heat said it will cooperate. Leonard posted an apology on social media saying he didn't know what the term meant when he used it, but said, "my ignorance about its history and how offensive it is to the Jewish community is absolutely not an excuse and I was just wrong." The Heat learned about Leonard's use of the slur when video of it began spreading on social media yesterday afternoon.

🏀GONZAGA BEATS BYU TO WIN WEST COAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TITLE: Gonzaga beat Brigham Young 88-78 last night to win the West Coast Conference Tournament title game. Jalen Suggs, the tournament MVP, led Gonzaga with 23 points and Corey Kispert had 17 points. Top-ranked Gonzaga will be heading into the NCAA Tournament with a 26-0 record, becoming just the 16th team to go into it undefeated.

🏀SIMMONS, EMBIID WON'T BE AVAILABLE WHEN 76ERS RETURN FROM ALL-STAR BREAK: The Philadelphia 76ers' Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid will be unavailable to play when the team returns from the All-Star break Thursday and Simmons will also miss Friday's game. The two weren't able to play in the NBA's All-Star Game Sunday when it was discovered that the barber who'd given them haircuts before they left for Atlanta had tested positive for Covid-19. If they both continue to test negative for Covid, they could return on Sunday.

🐕MUSHER SUFFERS CONCUSSION DURING IDITAROD, REMOVED ON MEDICAL RESCUE FLIGHT: Officials said Tuesday that musher Aliy Zirkle is out of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the sport's biggest event, after she suffered a concussion and other injuries in a fall while coming into a checkpoint the night before. She was taken to Anchorage on a medical rescue flight, where she was treated and released. The Iditarod, which began over the weekend, was shortened to 860 miles through the Alaskan wilderness instead of its usual 1,000 miles this year because of the pandemic. It usually goes from the Anchorage area to Nome. But this year, mushers are traveling in a loop from Willow to the town of Iditarod, and then back to the finish in Willow.

🏈ESPN...RAIDERS' BROWN RETURNING TO PATRIOTS: Offensive tackle Trent Brown is returning to the New England Patriots in a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders, ESPN reported yesterday, saying he'd agreed to a restructured one-year contract worth up to $11 million. The Patriots are sending a 2022 fifth-round pick to the Raiders in exchange for the 27-year-old Brown and a 2022 seventh-round pick. Brown played for New England in 2018, one of their Super Bowl-winning seasons, and he started every game. However, he's appeared in just 16 games over the past two seasons for the Raiders.