Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, eeff, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Interceptor 7, Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck (RIP), rfall, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
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Chicago Sun-Times: Lightfoot sets goal to ‘fully open’ Chicago by July 4 by Fran Spielman
McCormick Place will reawaken from its 14-month, pandemic-induced slumber with the July 15 return of the Chicago Auto Show — and Mayor Lori Lightfoot said her goal is to get the city “fully open” by July 4.
“I am working night and day toward this goal. … I need you to continue to be on this journey with us. And that means getting vaccinated now — as soon as possible,” Lightfoot told reporters Tuesday morning at McCormick Place, where details of the auto show return were announced.
“Every day that our COVID-19 metrics continue to tick downward brings us a day closer to being able to put this pandemic in the rearview mirror. And we are too close to accomplishing this mission to give up now. Our goal … is to be fully open by July 4th.”
Getting Chicago fully open by the July 4 weekend also could mean the return of Lollapalooza, Taste of Chicago and the Air & Water Show, the city’s most popular and iconic summer events.
“Don’t skip to the end of the chapter. There’s more coming,” the mayor said.
Detroit News: Gov. Whitmer to receive courage award from Kennedy Library Foundation by Craig Mauger
Lansing — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is one of seven people who will be honored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation for risking their own health and safety to protect others during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The foundation set up in honor of the former Democratic president announced a set of special Profile in Courage Awards on Tuesday. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and her son, Jack Schlossberg, will present the awards in a May 26 virtual ceremony.
"These heroes went above and beyond for their community and our country, and remind us that we all can make a difference if we answer the call to serve," Schlossberg said.
In addition to Whitmer, Dr. Amy Acton, former director of the Ohio health department, and Lauren Leander, an intensive care nurse in Arizona, are among the other honorees.
The first-term Democratic governor has gained national attention for her aggressive response to COVID-19. In the early months of the pandemic, she imposed strict policies to limit gatherings and outings as Michigan ranked among the top states for cases and deaths linked to the virus.
Texas Tribune: Major corporations come out against proposed voting restrictions in Texas by Alexa Ura
With less than a month left in the legislative session — and Texas Republicans split on which package of proposals might cross the finish line — HP, Microsoft, Unilever, Patagonia and two dozen other companies are urging state lawmakers not to pass new restrictions on voting.
In the biggest pushback so far by business against the GOP's legislative bid to ratchet up the state’s already restrictive voting rules, national companies joined in a statement voicing their opposition Tuesday with local businesses and several local chambers of commerce representing LGBTQ, Hispanic and Black members of the business community.
“We stand together, as a nonpartisan coalition, calling on all elected leaders in Texas to support reforms that make democracy more accessible and oppose any changes that would restrict eligible voters’ access to the ballot,” the businesses wrote in their letter. “We urge business and civic leaders to join us as we call upon lawmakers to uphold our ever elusive core democratic principle: equality. By supporting a stronger trustworthy democracy, we will elevate our economy.”
Sacramento Bee: LA, San Francisco move to California’s loosest COVID tier. Sacramento, Placer stay in red by Michael McGough
California health officials promoted four counties into looser levels of COVID-19 restrictions Tuesday morning due to vast improvement in infection numbers, including two of the state’s major urban hubs.
Los Angeles and San Francisco along with Trinity County advanced from the orange tier into yellow. Inyo County also advanced from red to orange.
Marin County, which had entered this week eligible to join the yellow tier, instead saw its case rate spike too high and will remain in orange. Yuba County, the only other county that had been in position for a promotion, also fell short and will stay in the red tier for at least two more weeks.
With the major move for Los Angeles County, home to 10 million people, seven counties accounting for more than one-quarter of California’s population are now in the loosest tier, allowing for the laxest restrictions on businesses, events and gatherings.
Boston Globe: A Black teenage girl was found dead in Hopkinton. As her family seeks answers, rumors and outrage mount by Zoe Greenberg
Mikayla Miller loved video games and wanted to be a journalist. She played basketball at Hopkinton High, where she was a sophomore. Her mother planned to take her on a tour of historically Black colleges and universities this month, because Miller hoped to attend one after graduation.
But on the morning of April 18, the 16-year-old was found dead in a wooded area a mile from her house in Hopkinton. The police told her family that her death was a suicide, but her family says that they have unanswered questions about what happened and that they felt largely ignored by the police and Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.
In the face of near silence from the police and the DA’s office, rumors about how a young Black girl ended up dead in the woods in a nearly all-white town have ricocheted across Hopkinton and beyond. Accusations of a lynching, a racially motivated beating, and a police cover-up have sped across social media. Calvina Strothers, Miller’s mother, has raised questions about whether the death was actually a suicide.
The case has now become a lightning rod in the community. On Tuesday, the district attorney finally addressed the family and public, but it was not enough to stop advocates from decrying the process and calling for an independent investigation.
Washington Post: Yellen’s comments on inflation spark confusion, clarification as White House tries to navigate economic pressures by Jeff Stein
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen insisted Tuesday that she is not concerned about the risks of economic overheating hours after her earlier comments about inflation caused a brief panic on Wall Street and invited fresh scrutiny about the White House’s position.
The confusion sparked by the treasury chief showed the delicate situation the Biden administration confronts as it seeks to demonstrate its attention to inflationary pressures without fueling criticism that its spending packages could hurt the economy.
First, in an interview with the Atlantic that was released Tuesday morning, Yellen defended the administration’s new spending proposals and said the central bank could handle inflationary pressures with modest interest rate increases.
The Fed sets interest rate policy, but Yellen has a unique vantage point, having led the central bank at the end of the Obama administration and beginning of the Trump administration. Raising interest rates can slow the pace of economic growth by increasing the cost of borrowing, a tool for fighting inflation.
Vox: The logic of Biden’s new July 4 vaccination goal by German Lopez
President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled a new Covid-19 vaccine goal: 70 percent of US adults getting at least one shot by July 4. With this, the Biden administration expects the country will be able to move much closer to the pre-pandemic normal than it has over the past year.
It’s a shift for the administration. When America’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout began, White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said that the herd immunity threshold for the coronavirus could be 80 to 90 percent — suggesting as much as 90 percent of the country would need to get vaccinated to return to normal. But since then, Fauci has argued against focusing too much on herd immunity, saying the actual threshold for it is “elusive.” Instead, the administration seems more focused on the real-world data showing the effectiveness of the vaccines.
That begins with Israel: With about 60 percent of its population now vaccinated with at least one dose, Israel has managed to almost completely reopen its economy and crush the number of coronavirus cases and deaths to nearly zero. Israel still has some restrictions in place — particularly indoor masking and vaccine passport requirements — but it’s much closer to normal than it could afford to be, with any guarantee of safety, just months ago.
Mother Jones: Arizona Republicans Make Climate Fears Their Latest Anti-Immigrant Tactic by Alexander C. Kaufman
When Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich accused the Biden administration of failing to protect the environment in a recent lawsuit, it seemed like an unusual claim from a Republican better known for distorting climate science in legal briefs defending oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. That is, until you read what Brnovich considers the source of pollution: immigrants.
In a lawsuit filed April 12, Brnovich seeks to reinstate President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, on the argument that Biden has failed to carry out mandatory environmental reviews on how more immigration could increase climate-changing pollution.
“Migrants (like everyone else) need housing, infrastructure, hospitals, and schools. They drive cars, purchase goods, and use public parks and other facilities,” the suit reads. “Their actions also directly result in the release of pollutants, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which directly affects air quality.”
Using pro-environment arguments to defend anti-immigration views dates back decades, to a time when the environmental movement harbored a powerful faction of Malthusians who believed the preservation of nature merited harsh, even violent, restrictions on immigration and childbearing. That faction faded to the fringes over the years as the political right moved to championing both climate denial and hardened borders, and environmentalists marginalized any openly racist elements in their camp.
Guardian: Anger mounts as death toll from Mexico metro overpass collapse rises to 24 by David Agren
The death toll from the collapse of an overpass on the Mexico City metro has climbed to 24, as crews worked to clear the wreckage – and anger grew over the latest in a string of catastrophes to hit one of the world’s largest mass transit systems.
Officials refused to speculate on the cause the disaster which sent two carriages crashing into passing traffic on the street below on Monday night. The city’s mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, promised a thorough investigation by an outside firm and the federal prosecutor’s office – though she stood by the embattled director of the metro, Florencia Serranía.
“We’re going to get to the truth. We’re not going to cover anything up. This is the request we’re making to the prosecutor’s office. There will be accountability,” she said at a tense press conference on Tuesday.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called for a swift and open investigation.
“There’s no impunity for anyone,” he told reporters. López Obrador is a former mayor of Mexico’s capital and it has been governed by him and his allies since 2000.