Data on coronavirus infections that was a key driver in Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s aggressive push to reopen the state was flawed and may have distorted perceptions of progress against the virus. Georgia Department of Public Health spokeswoman Nancy Nydam said in an emailed statement Thursday that the department included antibody tests when calculating the […]
Posted inMoney
Georgia jobless rate hits all-time high at 11.9 percent amid virus
Georgia set a new all-time high for unemployment in April, with the jobless rate rising to 11.9% as waves of workers lost their jobs due to COVID-19. The state only in February hit an all-time low of 3.1% unemployment and now has surpassed its previous all-time high of 10.6% set in December 2010. The jobless rate had […]
Posted inFeatured Stories
GBI: Man who recorded the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery has been arrested
William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., the man who recorded the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in a neighborhood outside Brunswick, Georgia, has been arrested on suspicion of murder, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Thursday. Bryan witnessed the deadly encounter between Travis McMichael and Arbery on February 23 from a vehicle behind a pickup that stopped […]
Posted inNews
Analysis: Trump flouts the experts, even in own government
When the nation’s top infectious disease doctor warned it could be risky for schools to open this fall, President Donald Trump said that was unacceptable. When experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention produced a roadmap for how Americans could slowly get back to work and other activities, Trump’s top advisers rejected it. […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Class of 2020 entering worst job market since Great Depression
The Class of 2020 started its senior year in a boom time, with the national unemployment rate at a near-record low of 3.7%. But in the bust driven by the coronavirus, 4 million new graduates are now entering the worst jobs market since the Great Depression. National unemployment stands at a jaw-dropping 14.7%, but the […]
Posted inFeatured Stories
Thousands in Michigan evacuate after 2 dams failed, and the governor warns city could soon be under ‘9 feet of water’
A rain-swollen river has flooded fields and streets in parts of mid-Michigan after breaching two dams, forcing evacuation orders for thousands amid a coronavirus pandemic that’s posing safety challenges Wednesday for officials trying to provide shelter. The worst may be yet to come. Downtown Midland, a city of about 41,000 people downstream of the dams, […]
Posted inNews
Fact Check: Are frontline workers taking hydroxychloroquine to prevent coronavirus?
President Donald Trump made headlines Monday when he voluntarily told reporters that he was taking hydroxychloroquine, which Trump has frequently touted as a “game changer” for coronavirus. This announcement was the latest development in Trump’s weeks-long campaign in support of the drug, despite several reports and studies that have questioned its effectiveness in treating […]
Posted inCOVID-19
‘We’ve been muzzled’: CDC sources say White House putting politics ahead of science
In the early weeks of the US coronavirus outbreak, staff members in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had tracked a growing number of transmissions in Europe and elsewhere, and proposed a global advisory that would alert flyers to the dangers of air travel. But about a week passed before the alert was […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Florida and Georgia facing scrutiny for their COVID-19 data reporting
Florida and Georgia, two states that were among the first to announce the reopening of businesses and public spaces, have come under scrutiny for the accuracy and transparency of their reporting on Covid-19 cases. In Florida, Rebekah Jones, the official behind the state’s “dashboard,” a web page showing the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths, […]
Posted inEntertainment
Body found on LA beach identified as WWE pro Shad Gaspard
The body of former World Wrestling Entertainment pro Shad Gaspard was found early Wednesday on Los Angeles’ Venice Beach, after he was caught in a rip current last weekend, police said. Patrol officers were flagged down around 1:25 a.m. by a person reporting that a body had washed ashore, a Police Department statement said. He […]
Posted inElection Central
Trump threatens funds for states easing voting in pandemic
President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to hold up federal funds for two election battleground states that are trying to make it easier and safer to vote during the coronavirus pandemic. The president’s tweets targeting Michigan and Nevada marked an escalation in his campaign against voting by mail, a practice that he has publicly worried will […]
Posted inElection Central
Voting rights advocates criticize US appeals court nominee
The American Bar Association is rating a Mississippi judge as “well qualified,” but Cory Wilson’s federal appeals court nomination is drawing opposition from advocates for voting rights, expanded access to health care and marriage equality, among a range of Democratic priorities that Wilson has pilloried. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Oprah Winfrey gives grants to ‘home’ cities during pandemic
Oprah Winfrey is giving grants to the cities she’s called home through her $12 million coronavirus relief fund. She announced Wednesday that her Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation will donate money to organizations dedicated to helping underserved communities in Chicago; Baltimore; Nashville, Tennessee; Milwaukee; and Kosciusko, Mississippi, where she was born. “The reason I’m talking about […]
Posted inElection Central
Pelosi: ‘Morbidly obese’ was taste of Trump’s ‘own medicine’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she called President Donald Trump “morbidly obese” because he’s put down women for their weight. And besides, she suggested, the president could lose a few pounds himself as the coronavirus bears down on the nation’s capital. “I gave him a dose of his own medicine. He’s called women […]
Posted inSpiritually Speaking
Washington: ‘Social distancing cannot replace spiritual clarity’
Back when we could assemble in church, I was blessed to hear the pastor try to address the fears many of us might have gone through these tough times with the economy and the uncertainty which permeates the world today. He talked about famine, fire, terrorists, recession, the mortgage crisis, and the like; all of […]