S. Korean police name blackmailer; ACLU fights for trans rights in Conn.; Native Americans celebrate judge slowing DAPL; Pelosi says Senate aid bill will be OK'd; NYT visits Elmhurst hospital
NewsHero - March 26, 2020 - Issue 63
Welcome to today’s edition of NewsHero for March 26, 2020.
For the foreseeable future, our newsletter will be made fully accessible to all readers. We hope you’ll take advantage of the resources provided here as we all do our best to absorb the continually developing information on the coronavirus crisis. Also, we hope you enjoy our usual take on happenings from around the globe, and consider joining up with us in the near future.
At NewsHero we put the heroes in the headlines and give them the attention in our coverage that they deserve. Here you’ll find the same high priority news, but you’ll get it without clickbait and it won’t be driven by ad sales. You’ll also get it with the focus on those who are helping, not causing harm.
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.
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Wishing you health and safety!
NewsHero Notes
Space Force - 🦸♀️🦸♀️
United Launch Alliance said its Atlas V rocket was ready to launch today from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liftoff was set for 2:57 p.m. for the national security mission. This is the first launch under the command of the newly constituted U.S. Space Force, as reported by Ars Technica.
Federal prosecutors - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
We caught this on The Daily Beast and found it a story worth exploring: “A team of federal prosecutors in Texas had extensive evidence in the fall of 2018 that Walmart provided hundreds of thousands of opioid prescriptions that put its U.S. customers at risk, and in some cases, killed them by overdose, ProPublica reported Wednesday. Yet when the prosecutors presented their case to top Trump appointees at the Department of Justice, the indictment was blocked from moving forward.”
Afternoon Brief
South Korea’s National Police Agency - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
South Korean police took the rare step of identifying and parading the suspected leader of a sexual blackmail ring in front of the press and protesters on Wednesday, after the case triggered a national uproar, reports The Washington Post.
The police asked prosecutors on Wednesday to indict 24-year-old Cho Joo-bin for allegedly blackmailing at least 74 women, including 16 minors, into producing sexually degrading videos of themselves, and then posting in pay-to-view chat rooms.
The National Police Agency said it decided to publicly release Cho’s identity in hopes of deterring similar offenses. “We decided to release his name, age and face after reviewing how it would serve the public interest regarding the people’s right to know and the prevention of similar crimes from recurring,” the agency said Tuesday.
ACLU, trans athletes - 🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is criticizing the U.S. Justice Department’s involvement in a federal civil rights lawsuit that aims to block transgender athletes in Connecticut from competing as girls in interscholastic sports. The ACLU, whose attorneys represent two transgender athletes who run track in Connecticut, said it was deeply troubled that the U.S. government would weigh in to “make clear that it does not believe girls who are trans enjoy protections under federal law.”
A lawsuit was filed in February by runners Selina Soule, a senior at Glastonbury High School; Chelsea Mitchell, a senior at Canton High School; and Alanna Smith, a sophomore at Danbury High School, against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) and several local boards of education.
“Our clients are two high school seniors who are just trying to enjoy their final track season of high school and who now have to contend with the federal government arguing against their right to equal educational opportunities,” said Chase Strangio, deputy director for Trans Justice at the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project. “History will look back on these anti-trans attacks with deep regret and shame. In the meantime we will continue to fight for the rights of all girls to participate in the sports they love.”
Native Americans, Judge James Boasberg -🦸♀️🦸♀️🦸♀️
In a major victory for the Native American tribes and environmental groups who have been fighting against the project for years, a federal judge has ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a full environmental review of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has not decided whether oil can still flow in the meantime. But his opinion Wednesday requests that the two sides submit briefings next month for and against keeping the oil moving, potentially opening the door for the judge to shut it down, NPR reports.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their lawyers from Earthjustice are celebrating the legal victory.
"It's humbling to see how actions we took four years ago to defend our ancestral homeland continue to inspire national conversations about how our choices ultimately affect this planet," Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Mike Faith said in a statement.
“This validates everything the Tribe has been saying all along about the risk of oil spills to the people of Standing Rock,” said Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman. “The Obama administration had it right when it moved to deny the permits in 2016, and this is the second time the Court has ruled that the government ran afoul of environmental laws when it permitted this pipeline.”
Pelosi Expects House Will Approve $2.2 Trillion Virus Rescue Bill
NYT visits hospital facing shortages amid growing COVID-19 crisis
Angelique Speight-Marshall, who operates Miss P’s Daycare out of her home, is one of the few child care facilities in the city that has remained open. The city announced it would open emergency child care facilities to serve the children of health care workers. (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post)
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 House will give final approval Friday to the $2.2 trillion economic rescue bill with backing from both parties, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, a vote that would seal Congress’ plan to rush the relief to a nation hit by the coronavirus.
Pelosi spoke this morning, just hours after the Senate used an overnight vote to approve the measure 96-0. With House members dispersed around the country, Pelosi and Republican leaders were planning to support the measure by a voice vote, likely with just a few lawmakers present in the chamber.
The Senate deal would reportedly block the Pentagon from moving any of the relief funds to a counter-drug account it has been using to fund Donald Trump’s southern border wall.
The Washington Post delivered two stories from D.C. reporting that the District plans to open six emergency child-care facilities today to serve the children of health-care workers, and that D.C. Medical Reserve Corps volunteers are stepping up to help fight the coronavirus.
Republican governors are following the advice of public health experts and embracing coronavirus lockdowns and business closings despite Donald Trump's soft stance on social distancing and push to reopen parts of the country by Easter, reports Politico.
Karyn Hawkins, a nurse at the National Institutes of Health, practices performing a nasal swab for a COVID-19 test during a D.C. Medical Reserve Corps training session Monday at the D.C. Armory. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)
Dozens of migrants in Mexico’s largest detention center gathered this week to protest over fears they will contract the coronavirus in the facility, which advocates have long denounced for overcrowding and poor sanitation. A coalition of local rights groups, the Collective for the Observation and Monitoring of Human Rights in Southeastern Mexico, on Wednesday denounced law enforcement’s response to the protest in the Siglo XXI detention center in the southern city of Tapachula, saying they beat migrants and transported them to an unknown location.
Veterinary hospitals are donating breathing machines, masks, gowns and other vital equipment and supplies purchased with pets in mind, but now being redeployed to help doctors fight the spread of the coronavirus among humans. “We buy at the same stores,” said Paul Lunn, dean of the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Raleigh, which on Monday turned over two full-service ventilators, 500 protective suits and 950 masks for use in area hospitals. “There’s no difference in the equipment.”
Federal immigration courts that handle cases of detained immigrants are still open, despite a growing number of states and cities issuing “stay at home” mandates. Last week, the organizations representing immigration judges, prosecutors, and defense lawyers jointly demanded—for the second time—that the courts be closed, The Appeal reports.
According to The Washington Post, the Government Accountability Office back in 2015 warned the U.S. it needed a plan to protect airports and airlines from an outbreak, but it didn’t happen.
An emergency room doctor in Elmhurst, Queens, gives a rare look inside a hospital at the center of the coronavirus pandemic. “We don’t have the tools that we need.” (Colleen Smith)
A remarkable piece of video journalism from The New York Times examines 72 hours at Elmhurst Hospital Center, documenting worries of unpreparedness in emergency response facilities for the worsening virus crisis.
“Facing the prospect that hoaxes or misinformation could worsen a global pandemic, tech platforms are taking control of the information ecosystem like never before,” NBC News says.
Via a TED Talk, Bill Gates discusses why testing and self-isolation are essential, which medical advancements show promise and what it will take for the world to endure the COVID-19 crisis.
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra in Little Rock has been uploading live performances every night at 9 p.m. on Facebook. “When there’s a lot of uncertainty and anxiety, I think art and beauty are things that bring a lot of comfort,” said Alisa Coffey, principal harpist for the orchestra. “As musicians, we’re kind of bastions of that.”
We encourage our readers to take a moment and visit the latest edition of the Corona Daily newsletter, it’s a responsibly informative resource.
Extra! Extra!
Ghost In the Tape Machine
The next Foo Fighters record could be good—scary good. According to a story we saw over at Ultimate Classic Rock, Dave Grohl said he had evidence that the house in Encino, Calif. where the band recorded its latest album was haunted. Unfortunately, he’s not allowed to talk about it.
It seems the house has an intriguing past, but its owner is currently attempting to sell it so details getting out likely wouldn’t help movers appear any faster.
“When we found out about the history of the house, I had to sign a f*cking nondisclosure agreement with the landlord because he’s been trying to sell the place,” Grohl said. “So, I can’t give away what happened there in the past…but these multiple occurrences over a short period of time made us finish the album as quickly as we could.”
These occurrences reportedly included unexplained equipment tinkerings and troubles. The band even set up a baby monitor “to see if there was anyone there or anyone was coming to f*ck with us…At first, nothing. And right around the time we thought we were [being] ridiculous and we were out of our minds, we started to see things on the Nest cam that we couldn’t explain.”
Maybe the supernatural presence will translate into other-worldly record sales numbers. We’ll just have to wait and see. We must say though, the image of Foo Fighters running panicked from a creepy mansion a la Scooby Doo into a van filled with pot smoke and peeling out is worth this story alone. Boo!
Sources:
For the first time, the US Space Force will actually go to space today - Ars Technica
Walmart Was Almost Charged Criminally Over Opioids. Trump Appointees Killed the Indictment. - ProPublica
Trump Officials Blocked Walmart Criminal Indictment for Opioid Prescriptions, Report Says - Daily Beast
South Korea identifies suspected leader of sexual blackmail ring after uproar - The Washington Post
Suspect Held in South Korean Crackdown on Sexually Explicit Videos - The New York Times
Korean sex ‘demon’ thanks police for his arrest - The Times
Justice Department weighs in on Connecticut suit: Don't treat trans athletes as girls - ESPN
U.S. Justice Department: Don't treat trans athletes as girls - NBC News
US Justice Department: Don’t treat trans athletes as girls - AP News
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Prevails as Federal Judge Strikes Down DAPL Permits - Earthjustice
'Huge Victory' for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe as Federal Court Rules DAPL Permits Violated Law - Common Dreams
Judge Orders Environmental Review Of Controversial Dakota Access Pipeline - NPR
Pelosi forecasts House OK of Senate’s $2.2T virus aid plan - AP News
D.C. will open emergency child-care centers for children of health-care workers - The Washington Post
D.C. Medical Reserve Corps volunteers prepare to help respond to coronavirus pandemic - The Washington Post
Republican governors buck Trump and stick with social distancing - Politico
Senate deal would block Pentagon from using coronavirus funds on border wall - The Hill
Mexican rights groups denounce crackdown on migrants protesting over coronavirus fears - Reuters
Veterinarians donate vital supplies to coronavirus fight - AP News
‘Is My Life Not As Valuable As Yours?’ Immigration Judges Want All Courts Shut Down As Coronavirus Cases Soar - The Appeal
The GAO told the government in 2015 to develop a plan to protect the aviation system against an outbreak. It never happened. - The Washington Post
This orchestra in Little Rock is performing bedtime lullabies for your self-quarantine - The Washington Post
Coronavirus misinformation makes neutrality a distant memory for tech companies - NBC News
COVID-19 update: TED, education funding, and more - Gates Foundation
13 Deaths in a Day: An ‘Apocalyptic’ Coronavirus Surge at an N.Y.C. Hospital - The New York Times
How the 3D printing industry is stepping up to help the COVID-19 response - ZDNet Let's not squander second opportunity - Corona Daily
Foo Fighters Not Allowed to Prove Their Studio Was Haunted - Ultimate Classic Rock