FDA authorizes 'game-changing' virus test; Immigration groups sue Trump; Ore. teacher to receive Congressional Medal of Honor; Obama disses EPA rollbacks; Watchdog questions FBI surveillance
NewsHero - April 1, 2020 - Issue 67
Welcome to today’s edition of NewsHero for April 1, 2020.
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NewsHero Notes
Climate scientists - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Climate scientists have recorded the first heat wave in Antarctica, warning that the “unprecedented” temperatures could impact animals and plant life, reports CNN. Over the course of three days, experts found the “highest temperature ever,” marking a record of 48.6 degrees Fahrenheit (9.2 degrees Celsius) on January 24.
Human Rights Watch - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Human Rights Watch says the Ethiopian government “has made little progress in investigating the deadly October 2019 violence and in acting to prevent further security force abuses and inter-communal violence.”
Afternoon Brief
Keanon Lowe - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Keanon Lowe, the teacher who took a gun from a student then proceeded to give them a hug at an Oregon school, will receive a Congressional Medal of Honor. Lowe coached football and track at Parkrose High School in Portland.
Lowe is one of six such honorees chosen by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, reports CNN. While Medals of Honor are typically awarded to members of the U.S. military, Lowe and the other citizen honorees “exemplify the values embodied in the Medal of Honor: courage, sacrifice, commitment, integrity, citizenship, and patriotism,” the society said.
Michael Horowitz - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
A Justice Department watchdog said on Tuesday that the FBI failed to keep all the records it needed to justify wiretaps within the U.S., raising new questions about a domestic surveillance program criticized by lawmakers in both parties and civil libertarians.
The findings by Michael Horowitz, the department’s inspector general, represented another setback for the FBI. Horowitz in a December report criticized the FBI for its handling of surveillance warrants in the early stages of its investigation into contacts between President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russians.
Critics have questioned whether the FBI is conducting unlawful surveillance and trampling on the privacy rights of U.S. citizens. Republican lawmakers have questioned whether the surveillance court should be shuttered.
Barack Obama - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
Former President Barack Obama criticized the Trump administration—something he rarely does—Tuesday after it announced it’s rolling back his fuel standards designed to combat the climate crisis, according to CNN.
“We've seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic. We can't afford any more consequences of climate denial. All of us, especially young people, have to demand better of our government at every level and vote this fall,” Obama wrote in a tweet.
Three years ago, Obama similarly lamented Trump’s pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, saying the decision adds the administration to “a small handful of nations that reject the future.”
FDA Authorizes ‘Game-Changing’ Virus Test
Immigration groups sue Trump over refusal to close courts
Dr. Tim Cheng a pulmonary and critical care doctor in Orange County, California shared this photo of his current home on Instagram; a tent with a twin bed that he set up in his garage in order to self-isolate from his family. Courtesy Dr. Cheng (NBC News)
NewsHero is continuing to offer a compilation of stories and resources that best represent the current state of the coronavirus pandemic, centered on those individuals, institutions, and organizations stepping up to end this crisis as quickly and effectively as possible. The public, too, has a duty. This includes staying responsibly informed and taking the situation seriously, while remaining as cool-headed and as isolated as possible. These are strange and difficult times, but we will endure.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Emergency Use Authorization to Illinois-based medical device maker Abbott Labs last week for a coronavirus test that delivers positive results in as little as five minutes and negative results in 13 minutes, the company said. Experts say the test could be “game-changing,” reports USA Today.
German scientists late last year sprang into action working to develop a test for the virus that was causing an unusual respiratory disease in central China. Coupled with Germany’s large number of intensive care beds and its early social distancing measures, it could explain why people with COVID-19 in Germany are dying at much lower rates than in neighboring countries.
A report from BBC News says that China’s going into lockdown mode may have prevented 700,000 cases of the novel coronavirus.
Mohammed Arfaat, social activist and peacebuilder in Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps, writes for The New Humanitarian that “we Rohingya refugees are in desperate need of phone and internet access.”
Disc Makers, the CD and vinyl-manufacturing music company, switched last week to manufacturing instead 40,000 protective coronavirus face shields per day, reports Hypebot.
A nurse takes a breather against a wall at a COVID-19 ward at a hospital in Wuhan on Sunday [Stringer/EPA]
Law enforcement officials in Florida have arrested Rodney Howard-Browne, the pastor of The River at Tampa Bay Church, charging him with “unlawful assembly” and “violation of public health emergency order,” Fox 29 reported. Browne was arrested after leading packed services at the megachurch despite warnings for the public to stay at home.
In an exclusive, CNN reports that the Justice Department has started to probe a series of stock transactions made by lawmakers ahead of the sharp market downturn resulting from the spread of coronavirus, according to two people familiar with the matter.
A federal judge in New York City has ordered the immediate release from detention of 10 immigrants whose attorneys said they were at increased risk of illness from coronavirus due to underlying health conditions, reports Politico.
Patrick Jones, a 49-year-old prisoner in Louisiana who was serving a 27-year prison term for a drug charge, became the first federal inmate to die from COVID-19. Criminal justice advocates and prison union officials have been calling on the Justice Department to do more to prevent the spread of the virus, while critics say the Department should fast-track the release of non-violent offenders who qualify.
Immigration groups are suing the Trump administration over its refusal to close immigration courts during the coronavirus crisis, reports The Hill.
Bill Gates has laid out a three-point plan on how the U.S. could make it through the coronavirus crisis. “There's no question the United States missed the opportunity to get ahead of the novel coronavirus,” Gates wrote in an op-ed piece for The Washington Post. “But the window for making important decisions hasn't closed.”
Extra! Extra!
Many fans say heavy metal music can be a religious experience. For some, it’s genuinely the case. Dayton, Ohio’s WDTN reports that the “First Heavy Metal Church of Christ (FHMCC) announced on its website that its congregation will still be gathering at noon on Sundays—just in their cars with their radios tuned in.”
Heavy metal isn’t just for Satan worshippers anymore. In fact, these metal maniacs even obey the law, maintaining proper social distancing to save lives—unlike a certain megachurch pastor mentioned above. Rodney Howard-Browne.
Some things might make surprising pairs—metal and church, peanut butter and burgers, Turner and Hooch—but what’s weird to some people is home to others. Freedom of religion plus freedom to headbang are a killer combination. Rock on, churchgoers!
Our heroes are identified as follows:
🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️ - the hero, hands down. - Meaning that it wasn’t even a close call.
🦸♀️🦸♀️ - the hero, but… - Meaning that in this situation the call needed to be looked at in a little more detail. For example, in this case, they did the right thing but there have been some questionable calls in the past.
🦸♀️ - the hero, but only here, and it was a close call. - Meaning that in this instance they did the right thing but it was either out of character or a maddeningly close call.
Sources:
Justice Needed for Deadly Ethiopia Violence: Daily Brief - Human Rights Watch
Scientists have recorded the first ever heat wave in this part of Antarctica - CNN
New Trump mileage standards to gut Obama climate effort - AP News
Trump finalizes rollback of Obama-era vehicle fuel efficiency standards - Reuters
Obama slams rollback of vehicle emission standards in rare rebuke of Trump - CNN
Parkrose hero Keanon Lowe given Congressional Medal of Honor civilian award - Oregon Live
Teacher who disarmed and then hugged student in Oregon high school to get congressional honor - NY Daily News
The teacher who disarmed, then hugged, a student will receive the citizen Congressional Medal of Honor - CNN
DOJ watchdog finds additional problems with FBI's surveillance warrant process - The Hill
Justice Department IG Finds Widespread Problems With FBI's FISA Applications - NPR
Justice Department cites more flaws in FBI handling of surveillance warrants - Reuters
Coronavirus tests produced in Maine give results within minutes - Portland Press Herald
'A game changer': FDA authorizes Abbott Labs' portable, 5-minute coronavirus test the size of a toaster - USA Today
Mass testing, empty ICUs: Germany scores early against virus - AP News
Coronavirus: China lockdown may have blocked 700000 virus cases - BBC News
Disc Makers Is Now Making 40,000 COVID-19 Face Shields A Day - Hypebot
Florida megachurch pastor arrested for holding crowded services Sunday - Fox News
Exclusive: Justice Department reviews stock trades by lawmakers after coronavirus briefings - CNN
Justice Needed for Deadly Ethiopia Violence: Daily Brief - Human Rights Watch
Rohingya refugees need a coronavirus lifeline, not an internet ban - The New Humanitarian
Judge orders release of 10 immigration detainees from N.J. jails - Politico
Prisoner serving time for drug charge is first U.S. inmate to die from COVID-19 - Reuters
Immigration groups sue Trump administration for keeping courts open amid coronavirus - The Hill
Bill Gates lays out three-point plan for US on brink of coronavirus catastrophe - South China Morning Post
Heavy Metal Church holds Sunday service by radio - WDTN