Thursday, July 15 top stories
Thursday, July 15 top stories
Hello, it is Thursday, July 15. Here are today’s top stories.
Child tax credit payments
NBC News reported that payments of the expanded child tax credit will be sent to most of the 39 million eligible families in the U.S. I will share some key details from this article.
People who claim children 17 or younger as deductions on their taxes — and don’t make more than $112,500 individually or $150,000 jointly, are eligible to receive $300 per month per child under age 6 and $250 a month per child ages 6 to 17. The payments will last till December.
If you filed taxes in 2019 or 2020 or received a stimulus check, you should get a direct deposit. The payments will arrive on the 15th of each month. You can choose to get the cash in a lump sum during tax season by updating your preferences on the IRS website.
NBC News said an estimated 4 million to 8 million eligible children are at risk of missing out because their families are not required to file taxes or they have not done so. Those people can try going on the IRS website to provide their information.
The money comes from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill he signed into law in March. The White House hopes the expanded child tax credit payments will significantly reduce child poverty.
Neutrogena and Aveeno sunscreens recall
There is a recall of some Neutrogena and Aveeno aerosol sunscreens because they may contain traces of benzene, a toxic chemical that can cause adverse health effects with daily exposure. The parent company, Johnson & Johnson, said benzene isn’t supposed to be in the products and are investigating what happened. To see the specific products, you can go to neutrogena.com. The company said if you have the products, to dispose of them and then complete a form to get a refund.
Britney speaks out about conservatorship
News reports say Britney Spears appeared in a court in Los Angeles to demand an end to her conservatorship under her father, Jamie Spears. Britney said her father was becoming increasingly cruel and abusive and asked the court to charge him with conservatorship abuse.
Sky News explained that Britney has a new attorney now who is taking a stronger approach with the court to end the conservatorship. Britney said her previous lawyer, who was appointed by the court in 2008, did not do enough to help her.
Spears posted two videos on Instagram of her doing cartwheels and riding on a horse, saying she is feeling grateful and blessed for her fans who are supporting her. She posted the hashtag #FreeBritney.
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
911 calls from Surfside collapse
The Miami-Dade Police Department released 911 call recordings that were made after the Surfside condo collapse on June 24.
One person’s call shortly after the collapse said they could hear people yelling from the rubble. Another caller who reported the collapse said there was a lot of smoke everywhere and that they couldn’t see anything. Another call was a report that the pool area of the condo was “sinking down.” The woman said she believed the building went into a sinkhole and said that there will be many, many people dead. One woman’s call was a plea to rescue her from a parking garage from the other wing of the tower that was still standing at the time.
The death toll is now at 97, with the search still going on for the remaining people who are missing. After the search ends, the investigation into what happened should ramp up quicker. There are now discussions on what to do with the site — whether to close it off permanently to build a memorial, or to rebuild a new condo, or a combination of both.
Book: Military leaders feared Trump coup
Several books about the 45th president Donald Trump’s final days in office are being released this month.
One of them, “I Alone Can Fix It,” written by two Washington Post reporters, said one of the top U.S. generals, Mark Milley, became very concerned that Trump refused to concede his election loss and thought that it was a possibility that Trump would attempt a coup or do something illegal to remain in power.
The book says Milley had discussions with other leaders on what to do, including plans to resign in protest. The book said Milley said Trump couldn’t seize power without the military, the FBI, and the CIA because they are the ones with the guns. The book said Milley compared some of Trump’s actions with Adolf Hitler’s actions, referring to the Reichstag fire, which was when the German parliament was burned and the Nazi Party increased its power as a result.
Milley was asked to comment about the book, but he declined.
Trump said in a statement that he never threatened or spoke with anyone about a coup of our government. He said an election is his form of a coup and that if he was ever going to do a coup, Milley would be one of the last people he would want to do it with.
Paralyzed man communicates via brain waves
Axios reported that researchers from the University of California have successfully accessed the brain waves of a man who is paralyzed and unable to speak. The waves were decoded into full words and sentences.
The researchers worked with a man who was only able to communicate by using a pointer attached to a baseball cap to poke letters on a screen. He had brain surgery to put in electrodes in the part that controls speech. The man worked with the researchers to develop a 50-word vocabulary using brain activity. The 50 words can generate about 1,000 sentences. So they could “speak” using the mind.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/child-tax-credit-payments-will-start-hitting-bank-accounts-today-n1274010
IRS: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/child-tax-credit-non-filer-sign-up-tool
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/surfside-condo-collapse-911-calls/
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/07/14/widow-says-talk-of-permanent-memorial-to-built-at-surfside-site-disrespectful/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/15/business/j-and-j-suncreen-recall-benzene/index.html
https://news.sky.com/story/britney-spears-tells-la-court-she-wants-her-father-charged-with-conservatorship-abuse-12356057
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/07/15/joint-chiefs-staff-planned-stop-trump-coup-over-election-claims/7975643002/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/15/politics/donald-trump-danger-mark-milley-new-book/index.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/07/15/joint-chiefs-staff-planned-stop-trump-coup-over-election-claims/7975643002/
https://www.axios.com/paralyzed-brain-waves-communicate-study-80f1e2fa-1011-4a20-accb-ca7319d717ca.html