Thursday, July 28th top stories
Hello there! I will be subbing for Alex for today’s top news. Today is Thursday, July 28th. Here are the top stories.
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U.S. Senate Joe Manchin announces support for climate bill
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Senate Joe Manchin (D- W.V.) announced their support for the new bill addressing climate change. The most surprising turn for people was Sen. Manchin’s change of decision from opposing to supporting the bill. A few weeks ago he said he did not want to spend a lot of money, causing more inflation. However, several articles mentioned that Sen. Manchin said he refused to support any climate deals until he had a better understanding of it.
The negotiations for this bill have been ongoing for more than a year. News articles mention that Sen. Manchin’s announcement of his support for this bill demonstrates a huge breakthrough for Democrats because Sen. Manchin is the key centrist as he holds the swing vote in the 50-Senate division. He said that after understanding it, he supports a policy that will lower the prices today and strategically invests in the long game.”
This bill is called “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.” If this is passed and signed into a law, this bill includes several things such as cutting this country’s carbon emission by 40% by 2030, fight inflation, $369 billion in spending for energy security, and advance clean energy programs.
NBC news mentioned that this is probably the Congress’ most aggressive act of investment for climate change. The Senate is set to vote next week.
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George Floyd: Final two-ex Minneapolis officers sentenced
Yesterday, the final sentencing was decided for the last two of four Minneapolis ex-officers who assisted in the arrest and death of George Floyd. J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were convicted on federal charges: Kueng got 3 years and Thao got 3 ½ years. Kueng and Thao also have to pay $200 for special assessment and will be placed on supervised release for two years after their prison time.
Last week, Thomas Lane, one of the four ex-officers was sentenced for 2 ½ years in prison. Derek Chauvin, the primary aggressor received his sentence this recent June with 22 ½ years in prison. After yesterday, this means all four of the ex-officers have received their final sentencing. To sum up in order, Chauvin got 22 ½ years, Thao got 3 ½ years, Kueng got 3 years, and Lane got 2 ½ years in prison.
Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division said that “all of the four ex-officers have been held accountable” and “hopes that sends a clear and powerful message that the Department of Justice never will tolerate unlawful abuse of power or victimization of Americans by anyone in law enforcement.”
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Maryland father sues Sesame Place for racist behavior
A father from Maryland, Quinton Burns and his daughter Kennedi, are suing Sesame Place in Pennsylvania for “pervasive and appalling race discrimination.” This civil lawsuit was filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. This lawsuit came after a nine-second viral video showing Rosita, one of the Sesame characters, snubbing two young Black girls (not related to Burns) during a parade at the park. The video was posted on Instagram by one of the girls’ mother, Jodi Brown.
The video showed Rosita high fiving a white child and a white woman then gesturing “no no” to the two young Black girls who were stretching their arms for the high fives then Rosita walked away. After Jodi posted that video, it led many parents to post videos similar to what happened, showing the employees in characters of Sesame Place ignorin g Black children, but interacting with children of other races. It also led to Burns filing a lawsuit. Burns said that he and his daughter went to Sesame Place for Father’s Day. They went to participate in a meet-and-greet at the park with the characters, but they ignored Burns and his daughter and other Black people who were there.
Sesame Place is owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The lawsuit is seeking over $25 million.
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Sprite retiring their green plastic bottles
Sprite will no longer be selling its soda in its green plastic bottles anymore. They are retiring the green plastic bottles and will be changing to clear plastic bottles.
Sprite is owned by the Coca-Cola company and said they are changing from green to clear to environmentally responsible. The current gre en plastic bottles contain green polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and that PET cannot be recycled in new bottles. So, the company wants to reduce plastic waste.
Julian Ochoa, the CEO of R3CYCLE (Recycle) and works with Coca-Cola for improving on recycling, made a statement that clear Sprite bottles can be remade and will be better for the environment.
This will be effective on August 1st.
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All female rowing team breaks world record with 2, 400 miles journey
Four female rowers made history this recent Tuesday by rowing on the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco, California to Honolulu, Hawaii. This is called the Great Pacific Race. Their journey was 2,400 miles and took them 34 days. They started on June 21st and finished on July 26th. The four female rowers broke a previous record which was 35 days, 12 hours and 22 minutes which was last year by Ocean Sheroes.
The four women documented their trip on social media. Link to their Instagram account is in the transcript if you want to see their journey. They shared many different things, including the fun parts and not-so-fun parts of their journey. The rowing team had to go through seasickness and rough seas while taking turns doing a two hours shift. They had an average of only 90 minutes of sleep per day.
Only a few times the women did jump in the water to check the boat's surroundings, but besides that they remained on the boat for the entire time. They ate mostly canned goods, boil-to-order foods, and even baby food because they are easily stored.
Their goal was to not only break the previous record, but also fundraise money for the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
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That’s all for now. See you tomorrow. Stay with the light!
Climate: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/27/schumer-manchin-reconciliation-bill-climate-change-provisions.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/27/politics/schumer-manchin-deal-build-back-better/index.html
Ex-officers: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62321191
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/27/us/tou-thao-kueng-george-floyd-sentence/index.html
Sesame Place: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/07/27/sesame-place-racial-discrimination-lawsuit-black-children/10168740002/
Sprite: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/27/business/sprite-green-bottle/index.html
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lat35racing/