Wednesday, April 7 top stories

It is Wednesday, April 7. Here are today’s top stories.

Are you tired of your mask and want something different? If you have $299, you can buy this new “Xupermask,” created by musician Will.i.am, who founded the Black Eyed Peas.

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The mask seals over the nose so your eyeglasses won’t fog up. It launches tomorrow and is available online. Will.i.am worked in collaboration with Honeywell, a company in North Carolina that produces N95 face masks. He said he wishes it was not the case, but masks will be here for a while.

Forbes reported that Kim Kardashian West is officially a billionaire based on the success of her two businesses, KKW Beauty (makeup products) and Skims (shapewear and underwear) in addition to earnings from reality TV and endorsement deals. She leveraged her huge social media following into sales.

She founded her beauty business in 2017 and said it was different because she transitioned from licensing deals to being an owner. Four years later, she’s a billionaire.

In California, there are new rules for indoor events that require people to either be fully vaccinated or take a Covid-19 test. The rules go into effect April 15. The rules allow up to 100 people in an indoors venue as long as all are vaccinated or tested.

Here is a video clip from NBC 7 in San Diego.

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The wedding planner in the video said she had at least 17 events canceled because of the pandemic but now can see light at the end of the tunnel. However she said some people are turned off by vaccination requirements.

That leads us into the next story.

Vaccination cards or “passports” is a hot political topic.

A few days ago Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banned government and business organizations from requiring proof of vaccinations in order to receive state grants or contracts.

Yesterday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made a similar move to ban government agencies from requiring people to get a vaccine or to see your vaccination card.

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So, you can see that California, a “blue” state, is using its government powers to try and control the pandemic, while Texas and Florida, “red” states, wants to leave it up to the people.

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Former President Donald Trump said it was not true that Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz asked him for a pardon in the last months of his term. The New York Times reported that Gaetz made the request to the White House.

Recent news reports said Gaetz is under federal investigation for sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl, but he has not been indicted and denied the allegations.

This morning during the Derek Chauvin trial, a Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant, Jody Stiger, testified that Chauvin’s use of force was excessive. I will show you a video clip and it is graphic.

[Video clip from CBS News]

Stiger said police officers in general expect to inflict pain if a suspect doesn’t comply. However Stiger said Floyd did not pose an immediate threat and that Chauvin was using deadly force at a time that no force should have been used.

The defense attorney focused on the fact that Floyd was resistant against getting into a squad car with the first two officers and said when Chauvin arrived, had to use force to control a tall man.

One chart that keeps on coming up during the case is a colored continuum of police responses ranging from “soft” approaches in green colors — such as showing presence and issuing verbal commands — up to the other end of the spectrum, in “red” colors — when officers use chemical sprays, batons, or deadly force. Look at this.

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Prosecutors say Floyd was not exhibiting active aggression when he was handcuffed and lying on the street so he shouldn’t have been subject to the more serious areas of unconscious neck restraint or deadly force.

The CDC Chief Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the most common type of the virus that causes Covid-19 in the U.S. is the variant that was first identified in the U.K. — the B.1.1.7 variant. This variant is far more contagious and is believed to cause more severe illnesses and death.

Covid-19 cases across the U.S. are now spiking again with about 65,000 new cases a day, which is a 20% increase compared with two weeks ago. Some of the worst-hit areas are where I live in the Detroit area, but I’m not really seeing much differences in everyday life — most of us wear masks and things are still open. It’s still very concerning that cases are going up. New daily deaths are about 800 a day. It’s like a race between those who receive vaccinations against the spread of the virus.

That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/us/florida-vaccine-passport-desantis.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-gov-greg-abbott-bans-government-mandated-vaccine-passports-n1263170

https://www.nydailynews.com/snyde/ny-coronavirus-will-i-am-xupermask-299-dollar-hepa-face-mask-earphones-20210406-c25ec22bmzdhrjjpfpeu6kympu-story.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2021/04/06/kim-kardashian-west-is-officially-a-billionaire/?sh=24ab8b5b21bb

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/06/us/politics/matt-gaetz-trump-pardon.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/07/us/sergeant-jody-stiger-lapd-testimony.html

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/george-floyd/mpd-lieutenant-johnny-mercil-use-of-force-derek-chauvin-george-floyd/89-a8c1d535-aae7-48cc-91c4-315b64e6fd57

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/07/us/uk-variant-dominant-coronavirus-strain/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/07/world/covid-vaccine-coronavirus-cases