Wednesday, September 1 top stories
It is Wednesday, September 1. Here are today’s top stories.
The Supreme Court did not intervene to block a Texas abortion law that bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, which is when a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
ABC News said the law, Senate Bill 8 (SB8), is among the strictest abortion laws in the nation. The law was signed in May by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and goes into effect today. The law also allows private citizens to sue anyone who helps a person obtain abortion services and receive awards of up to $10,000.
Abortion providers in Texas and the ACLU tried to get the Supreme Court to block the Texas law, but the Court did not step in by a 1 a.m. deadline today.
That means Texas now bans abortions after six weeks. Many analysts are now wondering if this means the Supreme Court may overturn Roe v Wade, a landmark decision almost 50 years ago that made abortion legal.
“Candyman” was released in theaters over the weekend and was No. 1 at the box office with a $22.4 million opening. The director, Nia DaCosta, became the first Black woman to achieve a No. 1 opening weekend. The film is a remake of the first “Candyman” movie that came out in 1992. The 2021 film has an all-Black main cast.
The Caldor Fire in California grew to over 200,000 acres and is continuing to push towards homes and structures in South Lake Tahoe. Look at this graphic from Mercury News to see how the fire has spread since August 14.
[Video]
The fire is only 20% contained and is about three miles from the city limits of South Lake Tahoe. Many people have already evacuated and there will likely be more evacuation orders.
Analysts within the Social Security program said its trust fund will be depleted in 2034. CBS News explained that the main factors affecting the Social Security program are a shrinking workforce, older workers taking early retirements, and a declining birth rate.
Social Security said if its trust fund runs out, the government will only be able to pay 78% of benefits. So for example, if you’ve been getting $1,000 in Social Security, the payments will be reduced to $780. To be clear, this is not happening right now, but could happen if the trust fund is depleted.
CBS News said it’s likely that Congress will avoid this from happening by increasing payroll taxes or increasing government borrowing. It’s something to look out for in the next decade.
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A grand jury that has been investigating the death of Elijah McClain, a young Black man who died after being in police custody in Colorado in 2019, has indicted three police officers and two paramedics with one count each of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
What happened in 2019? McClain was walking home from a convenience store when three police officers stopped him because they received a 911 call about a suspicious person wearing a ski mask. McClain told officers to let him go because he was an introvert and needed to have his boundaries respected, but officers tackled McClain and put him in a chokehold. McClain was heard saying, “I can’t breathe, please!” When paramedics arrived, they injected McClain with ketamine, likely to sedate him.
He was hospitalized and reliant on life support. He died on August 30, 2019 at the age of 23.
The grand jury’s investigation found that Aurora police had no legal basis to stop McClain and that the dose of ketamine was excessive.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said it is their goal to seek justice for Elijah McClain, for his family and friends and for their state.
A NPR reporter posted images of hundreds of evacuees from Afghanistan who were waiting at an air base in Germany for transport into the U.S. The images show many Afghan children and family members waiting in large airport hangars with piles of luggage.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban held a parade that showed off many American-made military vehicles and weapons in Kandahar, the country’s second-largest city. CNN reported that fighters waved white Taliban flags as a recently-seized Black Hawk helicopter flew past.
At the Kabul airport, a reporter showed that there were many military planes and helicopters left behind that were intentionally destroyed by departing U.S. troops. The reporter said the Taliban was angry that the U.S. destroyed the planes, saying it was a betrayal because they needed the equipment to run the country.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-awaits-supreme-court-move-restrictive-abortion-law/story?id=79742044
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-security-full-benefits-2034-covid-pandemic/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/us/elijah-mcclain-officers-charged-colorado.html
https://www.axios.com/grand-jury-elijah-mcclain-colorado-08e23289-e3dd-427b-81e3-8faf8cef1ec8.html
https://twitter.com/rob_schmitz/status/1433097819171262467
https://twitter.com/TheTomGeorge/status/1432895534210060292
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/01/asia/taliban-kandahar-captured-weapons-intl/index.html