Wednesday, June 23 top stories
It is Wednesday, June 23. Here is today’s top news.
U.S. experts in public health have expressed concerns about the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which is highly contagious. It is blamed for the explosion in Covid-19 cases and deaths in India and with global travel, it’s spreading easily through the U.S. Those who are most at risk are the unvaccinated.
CBS News said in Springfield, Missouri, almost 70% of the surrounding county is unvaccinated and that in this month, there have been double the amount of people hospitalized for Covid-19. Currently, there is an overfill of patients.
Hospital officials say almost all of the patients’ Covid-19 samples show that it is the Delta variant and that all except for two of the patients were unvaccinated.
A health expert told CBS that in areas where there are large pockets of unvaccinated people, we can expect to see surges in cases that will put pressure on healthcare providers in the area.
One interesting thing to look out for in the future is the age groups of those who get infected with Covid-19. Many elderly Americans have been fully vaccinated, while the unvaccinated are in the mid-30’s up to the 60’s range. In Springfield most of those who show up at the hospital with Covid-19 are in the mid-30’s.
Basically — if you get your vaccines — you have far less to worry about for yourself and for the health of others.
The Loudoun County School Board in northern Virginia had to shut down a meeting because of violence from parents who were opposed to equal treatment of transgender students and on how to teach students about race/racism.
NBC 4 Washington said there were groups of parents who chanted “shame on you” while holding signs that said, “We the Parents Stand Up!”
The school board shut down the meeting. A 48-year-old man was arrested outside of the building, bleeding from his mouth. See this clip from NBC 4.
[Video clip]
The chair of the school board said they would not back down, saying they stand with LGBTQ students during Pride Month.
Clearly, tensions related to transgender rights and education on race are on a collision with those who have a more religious or narrow viewpoint, and students are the ones who have to be in the middle.
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A newspaper in Hong Kong that is “pro-democracy” — making it by default opposed to the Chinese Communist Party — announced it would cease its publications after its top editors were arrested by police with its offices raided and its accounts frozen.
The newspaper’s name is Apple Daily and it had a staff of about 700 people.
The New York Times said this is a result of the Chinese government’s new national security law, passed last year, that outlaws speech expressing protest against its government.
Apple Daily’s founder, billionaire Jimmy Lai, was sentenced to 12 months in prison in April for being a part of massive pro-democracy protests in 2019.
What this shows is that Hong Kong is under threat of losing its standing as a region that is free of China’s iron grip.
The U.S. Supreme Court voted 8-1 to side with a former 14-year-old high school cheerleader who was suspended by her school for posting a Snapchat video in which she directed F-bombs to her school and cheerleading team for not promoting her to the varsity team.
The Court affirmed a lower court decision that school officials have no authority to punish students for speech that occurs in places unconnected to the campus.
However, the Court said schools can still take action on off-campus comments if it met a test of being “disruptive.” Some examples may include bullying or harassment.
Basically the court is saying the suspension over the Snapchat video was excessive. What this means is that schools have to think twice before taking action against a student based on comments they make on social media.
The student in the case is now in college — her name is Brandi Levy.
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday during her visit to El Paso, Texas.
Axios said Republicans have criticized the vice president for not visiting the border. They have singled her out because in March, President Joe Biden put her in charge of addressing the surge of migrants at the border.
VP Harris said in the past that she hasn’t visited the border because she wants to address the issues in Central America and Mexico that are causing people to migrate.
This is interesting timing because former President Trump plans to visit the border next Wednesday with the governor of Texas and a group of Republican lawmakers.
That is all the top news for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-delta-variant-contaigous-next-wave/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/23/world/asia/apple-daily-hong-kong.html