NAACP Launches Drive to Boost Black Voter Turnout in Six Key States

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The NAACP, the largest U.S. civil rights organization, is launching a drive ahead of November’s presidential election to boost Black voter turnout in six key states, it said on Tuesday. The initiative aims to enlist the services of about 200,000 “high-propensity” Black voters, or people who turned out to vote in a high number of recent local, state and presidential elections. Those voters, in turn, will seek to mobilize so-called “low-frequency” Black voters – people who were registered to vote, but who had not voted in the most recent election cycle or several election cycles — in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina,more

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7 Quick Facts on Kamala Harris, Biden’s VP Candidate

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Kamala Harris, a U.S. senator from California and former presidential candidate, is Joe Biden’s vice presidential running mate, the Biden campaign announced Tuesday, via a tweet to supporters. Biden’s one-time opponent has made headlines for her sharp criticism of him on the campaign trail, alongside controversy over her time as a prosecutor in California. “@JoeBiden can unify the American people because he’s spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he’ll build an America that lives up to our ideals,” wrote Harris on Twitter. “I’m honored to join him as our party’s nominee for Vice President and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief..@JoeBiden can unify the American people becausemore

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How Kamala Harris Found the Political Identity That Had Eluded Her

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Months after her presidential campaign collapsed amid questions over her political identity, Kamala Harris suddenly and forcefully found her voice – and at a fortuitous time. Harris, a 55-year-old U.S. senator from California, was chosen by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden as his running mate on Tuesday, making history as the first Black woman and Asian-American on a major presidential ticket. Her selection came as little surprise. With the United States in the midst of a reckoning over its history of racial injustice, Biden had increasingly been pressed to select a woman of color. Harris, who became the Senate’s second Black woman in itsmore

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No Parties, No Trips, No Outside Guests Allowed

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As they struggle to salvage some semblance of a campus experience this fall, U.S. colleges are requiring promises from students to help contain the coronavirus — no keg parties, no long road trips and no outside guests on campus. No kidding. Administrators warn that failure to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid mass gatherings could bring serious consequences, including getting booted from school. Critics question whether it’s realistic to demand that college students not act like typical college students. But the push illustrates the high stakes for universities planning to welcome at least some students back. Wide-scale COVID-19 testing,more

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Trump Says Party Acceptance Speech Likely at White House or Gettysburg

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U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he is likely to give the acceptance speech for his party’s nomination at either the White House or 115 kilometers to the north at the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.   Asked by a reporter at a briefing on Monday why he is considering Gettysburg, which Trump said he had visited numerous times, the president replied, “It’s the history. It’s incredible, actually to me. It was a very important place and is a very important place in our country.”  The White House location, however, would be easier in terms of expense and security, according to Trump.  Themore

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Trump Abruptly Escorted from White House Briefing After Shots Fired Nearby

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U.S. President Donald Trump was abruptly escorted from a White House media briefing Monday afternoon by a U.S. Secret Service agent because of a shooting outside the building. Returning to the briefing room lectern minutes later, Trump said, “There was an actual shooting, and somebody’s been taken to the hospital.”  The shots were fired by law enforcement, the president said. A male subject and a Secret Service officer “were both transported to a local hospital,” a Secret Service statement said. “At no time during this incident was the White House complex breached or were any protectees in danger.”Two gunshots were heard by at leastmore

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Trump Nomination Speech to Be at White House or Gettysburg

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U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he will give his acceptance speech for his party’s nomination at either the White House or 115 kilometers to the north at the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.“We will announce the decision soon!” the president tweeted on Monday afternoon. We have narrowed the Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speech, to be delivered on the final night of the Convention (Thursday), to two locations – The Great Battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the White House, Washington, D.C. We will announce the decision soon! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice Presidentmore

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White House Open to More Coronavirus Aid Talks 

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The White House signaled Monday it is open to more negotiations with opposition Democrats on a coronavirus aid package and willing to spend more money to reach a deal. “We’re prepared to put more money on the table,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC. “The president is determined to spend what we need to spend.”  U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive measures for economic relief during a news conference amid the spread of the coronavirus disease, at his golf resort in Bedminster, N.J., Aug. 8, 2020.President Donald Trump signed executive orders Saturday extending a portion of the expired benefits to millionsmore

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College Leaders Talk While Football Players Push to Play

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After the Power Five conference commissioners met Sunday to discuss mounting concern about whether a college football season can be played in a pandemic, players took to social media to urge leaders to let them play.Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said no decisions on the season have been made, but conceded the outlook has not improved. “Are we in a better place today than two weeks, ago?” he said. “No, we’re not.”[Power Five and Big 12 are football conferences, or collections of sports teams organized at the college level, like Big 10 and Pac-12.] Bowlsby cited “growing evidence and the growing poolmore

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COVID Threatens Small Colleges, Small Towns 

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There’s a lot riding on a kickoff set for 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12. The Sterling College Warriors are scheduled to take on the McPherson College Bulldogs at home. If that familiar thud of shoe against football and cheer from the stands doesn’t happen, the college that keeps the central Kansas town’s economy humming, that gives it cultural vitality, and that separates Sterling from the hollowing out that defines so many other small Midwestern towns, might not survive. The school, after 133 years, could die and doom the town that takes such pride in the football squad and embraces the student bodymore

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Naturalized Americans Flex Growing Electoral Clout

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Brenda Cienfuegos recently became a U.S. citizen and is eager to exercise her new rights as an American. She says voting gives Latinos like her a voice.“Voting is something I’ve always done in my country,” she said. “I couldn’t do it here, but now I can.”Originally from El Salvador, Cienfuegos, a mother of two who came legally to the United States in 2010, registered to vote right after her U.S. citizenship ceremony in York, Pennsylvania, earlier this year.She demurs when asked if she is backing a candidate in the November presidential contest.“Like I learned in my country, my vote ismore

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‘Dark Money’ Campaign Contributions Headed for Record High

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Nonprofit organizations and other outside groups that don’t disclose their donors are spending record amounts of money on the 2020 U.S. presidential and congressional races, signaling their growing influence in national politics.These so-called “dark money” groups so far have funneled at least $177 million to independent political action committees, known as super PACs, in the 2020 election cycle, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based group that tracks money in politics.By comparison, those groups gave $178 million in the entire campaign cycle two years ago, according to the center. In addition, dark money groups thismore

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Trump Takes Executive Action on Economic Relief Package

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President Donald Trump acted Saturday to extend an expired jobless benefit to tens of millions of Americans who have lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and defer payroll taxes after negotiations with Congress on a new package of economic aid collapsed.As the United States neared 5 million cases of the coronavirus and 162,000 deaths Saturday, Trump called for up to $400 extra in weekly unemployment payments, one-third less than the $600 people had been receiving. Congress allowed those payments to end August 1, and talks to extend them fell apart Friday, with the White House and Democrats far apartmore

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Biden Risks Alienating Young Black Voters After Race Remarks

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Joe Biden’s controversial remarks about race this week risk alienating young Black voters who despise President Donald Trump but are not inspired by his Democratic rival.When pressed by Errol Barnett of CBS News on whether he’d taken a cognitive test, Biden responded that the question was akin to asking the Black reporter if he would take a drug test to see if “you’re taking cocaine or not? … Are you a junkie?”In a later interview with National Public Radio’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Biden seemed to draw distinctions between Black and Hispanic populations in the U.S. “Unlike the African American community, withmore

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Trump Threatens to Take Executive Action on Economic Relief Package

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U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he is ready to take executive action after congressional lawmakers failed again to reach agreement on a relief package for the tens of millions of Americans who have lost their jobs following the COVID-19 pandemic.Trump told a news conference that executive orders are being prepared to enhance unemployment benefits until the end of the year, defer student loan payments and forgive interest on the loans, and extend a moratorium on evictions. He said an executive order is also being prepared to defer payroll taxes until the end of the year.It was not immediately clearmore

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Who Will Win in 2020?

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Ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, polls show presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leading President Donald Trump. While polls can reflect how popular a candidate is at a point in time, they don’t always predict the election result. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara spoke with two experts who have called the outcome of the election, not based on polls but on their own prediction models. …

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Liberty University President Taking Leave of Absence

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Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University in Virginia, will be taking an indefinite leave of absence, the university announced Friday afternoon.The executive committee of Liberty’s board of trustees met Friday and requested that Falwell take the leave, to which he agreed. The university statement said it would be “effective immediately.”Falwell has been president since 2007 of Liberty University, which was founded by his father, the late Reverend Jerry Falwell.The leave announcement came after Jerry Falwell Jr. apologized for a recent photo posted on social media in which his pants were unzipped.Talking with local radio station WLNI 105.9 in Lynchburg,more

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Last-ditch Virus Aid Talks Collapse; No New Help for Jobless

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A last-ditch effort by Democrats to revive collapsing Capitol Hill talks on vital COVID-19 rescue money ended in disappointment on Friday, making it increasingly likely that Washington gridlock will mean more hardship for millions of people who are losing enhanced jobless benefits and further damage for an economy pummeled by the still-raging coronavirus.”It was a disappointing meeting,” declared top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, saying the White House had rejected an offer by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to curb Democratic demands by about $1 trillion. He urged the White House to “negotiate with Democrats and meet us in the middle. Don’tmore

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Postal Service Loses $2.2B in 3 Months as Virus Woes Persist

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The U.S. Postal Service says it lost $2.2 billion in the three months that ended in June as the beleaguered agency, hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, piles up financial losses that officials warn could top $20 billion over two years.”Our financial position is dire, stemming from substantial declines in mail volume, a broken business model and a management strategy that has not adequately addressed these issues,” Louis DeJoy, the new postmaster general, said Friday in his first public remarks since taking the job in June.”Without dramatic change, there is no end in sight,” DeJoy told the postal board ofmore

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Virus Aid Talks on Brink of Collapse; Sides ‘Very Far Apart’

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Washington talks on vital COVID-19 rescue money are teetering on the brink of collapse after a marathon meeting in the Capitol generated lots of recriminations but little progress on the top issues confronting negotiators.”There’s a handful of very big issues that we are still very far apart” on, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. He talked of impasses on aid to states and local governments and renewing supplemental unemployment benefits in the Thursday night meetings. Both sides said the future of the talks is uncertain. No meeting is scheduled so far for Friday, an informal deadline to reach the broad outlinesmore

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Appeals Court Revives House Lawsuit for McGahn Testimony

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A federal appeals court in Washington on Friday revived House Democrats’ lawsuit to force former White House counsel Don McGahn to appear before a congressional committee, but left other legal issues unresolved with time growing short in the current Congress.  The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 7-2 in ruling that the House Judiciary Committee can make its claims in court, reversing the judgment of a three-judge panel that would have ended the court fight.The matter now returns to the panel for consideration of other legal issues. The current House of Representatives session endsmore

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Liberty University President Apologizes for Photo

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The president of Liberty University in Virginia has apologized for a recent photo posted on social media in which his pants are unzipped. Talking with local radio station WLNI 105.9 Lynchburg, Jerry Falwell Jr. gave an explanation for the photo in which his arm is around a woman whose pants are also unzipped, and he holds a plastic cup filled with “black water,” as he described the liquid.  “Yeah, it was weird. She’s pregnant. She couldn’t get her pants zipped and I was like trying to like …” said Falwell, who leads the conservative and religious university. “I had on a pairmore

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Doctors Ask Medical Schools to Drop MCAT Tests During Pandemic

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A professional society of 163,000 physicians, trainees and fellows of internal medicine in the United States is asking medical schools to waive the entrance exam because the COVID-19 pandemic has made testing unmanageable. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.The American College of Physicians (ACP) suggests the schools look at applicants holistically – considering factors including grades and experience – and dispense with the Medical College Admission Test – known as the MCAT – for entrance year 2021.“Applicants have experienced disruptions in taking the MCAT examination, whether due to personal health and safety concerns, vendor-initiated scheduling changes, or difficultiesmore

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Harvard Enrollments Drop by 20%

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Harvard College is likely to see a more than 20 percent drop in enrollment this fall, according to the student-staff The Harvard Crimson news outlet.  Harvard, considered among the top three universities in the United States, has been besieged with the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. Many students cannot travel, do not want to be on campus in close quarters with others, or are deferring while classes are online because those classes are not deemed a good value financially. Students Give Online Learning Low MarksMany call on universities to end the semester earlyAboutmore

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