WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin Wednesday warning of the lingering potential for violence from people motivated by anti-government sentiment after President Joe Biden’s election, suggesting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol may embolden extremists and set the stage for additional attacks.

The department did not cite any specific plots, but pointed to “a heightened threat environment across the United States” that it believes “will persist” for weeks after Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

It is not uncommon for the federal government to warn local law enforcement through bulletins about the prospect for violence tied to a particular event or date, such as July 4.

But this particular bulletin, issued through the department’s National Terrorism Advisory System, is notable because it effectively places the Biden administration into the politically charged debate over how to describe or characterize acts motivated by political ideology and suggests that it sees violence aimed at overturning the election as akin to terrorism.

The wording of the document suggests that national security officials see a connective thread between recent violence over the last year motivated by anti-government grievances, including COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results and police use of force. It also singles out racially motivated acts of violence such as the 2019 rampage targeting Hispanics in El Paso, Texas, as well as the threat posed by extremists motivated by foreign terrorist organizations.

“Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence,” the bulletin said.

A DHS statement that accompanied the bulletin noted the potential for violence from “a broad range of ideologically-motivated actors.”

The alert comes at a tense time following the riot at the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump seeking to overturn the presidential election. DHS also noted violent riots in “recent days,” an apparent reference to events in Portland, Oregon, linked to anarchist groups.

“The domestic terrorism attack on our Capitol earlier this month shined a light on a threat that has been right in front of our faces for years,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. “I am glad to see that DHS fully recognizes the threat posed by violent, right-wing extremists and is taking efforts to communicate that threat to the American people.”

The alert was issued by acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske. Biden’s nominee for the Cabinet post, Alejandro Mayorkas, has not been confirmed by the Senate.

Two former homeland security secretaries, Michael Chertoff and Janet Napolitano, called on the Senate to confirm Mayorkas so he can start working with the FBI and other agencies and deal with the threat posed by domestic extremists, among other issues.

Chertoff, who served under President George W. Bush, said attacks by far-right, domestic extremists are not new but that deaths attributed to them in recent years in the U.S. have exceeded those linked to jihadists such as al-Qaida. “We have to be candid and face what the real risk is,” he said in a conference call with reporters.

Federal authorities have charged more than 150 people in the Capitol siege, including some with links to right-wing extremist groups such as the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers.

The Justice Department announced charges Wednesday against 43-year Ian Rogers, a California man found with five pipe bombs during a search of his business this month who had a sticker associated with the Three Percenters on his vehicle. His lawyer told his hometown newspaper, The Napa Valley Register, that he is a “very well-respected small business owner, father, and family man” who does not belong to any violent organizations.

Source Article from https://apnews.com/article/us-terrorism-alert-75156eae27532bd9e5cbfe35e6485a3b

(CNN)Make no mistake: The United States still is at one of its worst spots of the coronavirus pandemic. Daily deaths are near a peak, and other daily stats still are stunningly high compared to where they’d been before a late 2020 surge.

    Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/us/covid-case-drop-variants-vaccines-normal/index.html

    Washington — Senators were sworn in as jurors on Tuesday in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection, with proceedings scheduled to get underway in two weeks.

    Senator Patrick Leahy, the president pro tempore who will be presiding over the trial in the absence of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Vice President Kamala Harris, administered the oath to senators. Senators then signed the oath book declaring their intent to serve as impartial jurors.

    The Senate voted down a motion brought by GOP Senator Rand Paul challenging the constitutionality an impeachment trial against a former president. But just five Republicans joined all Democrats in opposing the measure, an indication that Democrats will not attract the 17 Republicans that would be needed to convict Mr. Trump at trial.

    The trial is expected to begin the week of February 8, after attorneys for the president and the House impeachment managers have presented evidence for their cases. 

    The House impeached Mr. Trump on January 13 — for a second time in his term — on a charge of inciting an insurrection following a deadly attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol. The article of impeachment against him was delivered to the Senate on Monday, and House impeachment managers presented, exhibited and read it aloud. 

    Meanwhile, the Senate continued to confirm President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees on Tuesday, with Antony Blinken confirmed as secretary of state in a bipartisan vote earlier in the day. Several other nominees are set to face a vote in the coming days.

    Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/senate-rejects-motion-declare-trump-impeachment-trial-unconstitutional/

    President Joe Biden on Wednesday is set to sign several executive orders to tackle climate change and transition the country to a clean energy economy, the White House said on Wednesday.

    The executive actions include establishing climate change as a national security priority, conserving at least 30% of federal land and oceans by 2030 and canceling new oil and gas leases on public lands and waters, according to a review of the orders released by the administration.

    Biden’s executive agenda will also focus on creating green jobs and union opportunities as well as environmental justice for communities disproportionally impacted by climate change.

    The administration said the climate actions will build modern and sustainable infrastructure while restoring scientific integrity in the federal government. The orders further the president’s agenda to cut carbon emissions from the electricity sector by 2035 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

    More from CNBC Environment:
    Biden rejoins the Paris climate accord in first move to tackle global warming
    2020 was one of the hottest years on record, tied with 2016

    Biden, who has staffed the White House with a historic number of climate experts, signed an order last week to rejoin the U.S. into the Paris climate accord, a landmark agreement among nations to curb their emissions. He also canceled construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the U.S. 

    The president plans to deliver remarks and sign the orders at 1:30 p.m. Biden’s special climate envoy John Kerry and national climate advisor Gina McCarthy are set to brief reporters on the administration’s plans.

    The Biden administration will also convene the Climate Leaders’ Summit on April 22, which will gather global leaders to discuss climate change issues. The summit will likely be remote during the coronavirus pandemic.

    Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/biden-to-sign-executive-orders-on-climate-change-.html

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Biden spoke on the phone Tuesday, discussing several tense issues facing the two countries.

    Alexei Nikolsky/Alexei Nikolsky/TASS


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    Alexei Nikolsky/Alexei Nikolsky/TASS

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Biden spoke on the phone Tuesday, discussing several tense issues facing the two countries.

    Alexei Nikolsky/Alexei Nikolsky/TASS

    Updated at 8:30 a.m. ET

    In his first phone call with Vladimir Putin since taking office, President Biden pressed his Russian counterpart on the detention of a leading Kremlin-critic, the mass arrest of protesters, and Russia’s suspected involvement in a massive cyber breach in the United States.

    Still, the two leaders did agree to extend the U.S.-Russia arms control deal, New START, which is set to expire next Friday.

    White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that Biden’s “intention was also to make clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions by Russia.”

    U.S. intelligence agencies have said the massive SolarWinds hack was likely committed by Russia; the Treasury Department sanctioned several Kremlin-aligned politicians and entities for their disinformation efforts during the 2020 campaign; and President Biden has asked the U.S. government to investigate reports that the Kremlin paid bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. Russian officials have called the allegations they paid bounties for American troops a hoax.

    Moscow’s report of the call focused on the need to normalize relations and to work together on the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to the New START deal.

    The Kremlin described the call as “businesslike and sincere.”

    New START deal

    Biden has projected a more confrontational tone with Putin than his predecessor. During a campaign debate, Biden called Trump “Putin’s puppy” for refusing to criticize the Russian leader.

    Putting aside what will likely be a complex relationship, the two leaders discussed a five-year extension to New START, the only remaining arms control agreement that caps U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals.

    On Wednesday, Russia’s parliament voted unanimously to extend the treaty for five years. Because the treaty includes an extension provision, Biden doesn’t need to seek separate approval from Senate.

    The Trump administration had tried and failed to negotiate a new deal. In those talks, the U.S. attempted to include China and pushed Russia to agree to include more types of weapons in the treaty.

    Navalny arrest

    The White House said the phone call with Putin included a discussion over the near-fatal poisoning and the arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

    The White House didn’t provide details on what exactly Biden said about Navalny, and the Kremlin’s summary of the phone call didn’t mention it at all.

    Mass demonstrations have erupted throughout Russia since Jan. 17, when Navalny was arrested upon his return to the country. He’d been recovering from a near-fatal poison attack in Germany. Doctors there said he was given a version of the Soviet-made nerve agent Novichok. Navalny has blamed the Kremlin for the poisoning, which Putin has denied.

    The State Department demanded the release of both Navalny and more than 3,000 of his supporters who were arrested last weekend for protesting his imprisonment.

    The State Department said, “Continued efforts to suppress Russians’ rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, the arrest of opposition figure Aleksey Navalny, and the crackdown on protests that followed are troubling indications of further restrictions on civil society and fundamental freedoms.”

    SolarWinds espionage

    Biden also raised the massive hack of U.S. government computers, revelations of which were made public late last year.

    An estimated 18,000 private and government users who unknowingly downloaded a tainted software update from the Texas company SolarWinds were compromised. Several U.S. agencies were also breached, including the departments of State, Treasury, Commerce, Energy, and Homeland Security.

    With the hacked program as an entry point, hackers spent months exploring U.S. government networks and systems of private companies around the world. Investigators say no classified information was believed to have been accessed, but there are still concerns that other sensitive information was stolen.

    Source Article from https://www.npr.org/2021/01/27/961014289/in-phone-call-biden-presses-putin-over-cyber-breach-navalny

    In testimony prepared for her video appearance before the House Appropriations Committee, Chief Pittman also suggested that officers were underequipped for the violence they faced and did not have easy access to the additional supplies of chemical sprays and other substances they needed to disperse the crowd. “Instead, the department had to send in personnel to reload our officers,” she said.

    Communications also faltered, she said, with some officers unable to hear on their radios over the din of the crowd. “Without a clear line of communication, officers were operating with limited information about what was occurring and with little instruction from leadership,” she said.

    Among the biggest problems, she suggested, was a delayed response to a plea from her predecessor, Steven Sund, who was chief on the day of the attack and resigned in its aftermath, for the deployment of National Guard troops to help.

    Two days before the attack, Chief Sund asked that the Capitol Police Board declare a state of emergency and authorize a request to secure National Guard support. The board denied the request, according to Chief Pittman’s testimony, but encouraged Chief Sund to contact the National Guard to determine how many members could be sent to the Capitol on short notice, which he did.

    As the crowd became an increasing threat to the Capitol on Jan. 6, Chief Sund asked for more help from federal agencies and law enforcement agencies in the area. “He also lobbied the board for authorization to bring in the National Guard, but he was not granted authorization for over an hour,” Chief Pittman said.

    According to a timeline the Defense Department provided to the committee, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser sought help from the Army at 1:34 p.m., and Chief Sund called for the D.C. National Guard at 1:49 p.m. But the Army did not approve deploying the Guard until 3 p.m. and its members did not arrive at the Capitol to help until 5:40 p.m., more than four hours after Ms. Bowser’s plea.

    Two of the members of the Capitol Police Board at the time of the attack have already resigned: Paul D. Irving, the House sergeant-at-arms, and Michael C. Stenger, the Senate sergeant-at-arms. The third member, J. Brett Blanton, the architect of the Capitol, is still on the board. Mr. Blanton said in a statement that he was not included in any discussions about deploying the National Guard.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/us/politics/capitol-riot-police.html

    The vaccine rollout is a freakin’ mess, and President Biden owns it now.

    I say that not because I think all the country’s problems can be laid at the doorstep of a guy who’s barely been president for a week. The Biden team contends that the Trump administration left far lower supplies than expected, and every new Oval Office occupant blames his predecessor for leaving him a disaster.

    But it’s the press that is now openly challenging Biden to do a better job of getting these potentially life-saving shots into the arms of more Americans. And judging by Jen Psaki’s daily briefings, Biden is also being pressed on issues ranging from China to the Russian demonstrations to violence in Portland. Except for the stray questions about impeachment, the name Trump is coming up far less often.

    It’s not Biden’s fault that many state programs are a confusing patchwork that can barely be accessed online because websites are overwhelmed by demand. He is taking steps to try to boost the production of the coronavirus vaccines and such key products as syringes–though the White House hasn’t been able to say just how many doses are in the stockpile.

    But as the president continued to proclaim his goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days, the media weren’t buying it. That was the question that prompted Biden to snap “give me a break” at an AP reporter who asked about it last week.

    Now Biden has changed his tune.

    “I think we may be able to get that to 1.5 million a day, rather than 1 million a day,” he told a Bloomberg reporter at a news conference. “But we have to meet that goal of a million a day.”

    BIDEN NEEDS A QUICK WIN ON COVID, WITH OR WITHOUT REPUBLICANS

    Everyone knows why Biden set the goal at 100 million. It’s because he thought he could easily reach or exceed it. In politics, you get hammered for failing to reach a benchmark that you had announced. But since the program devised by the Trump team was already at or nearly on pace to reach 100 million doses, the press blew the whistle on the fact this was hardly an ambitious goal. (Keep in mind the two-dose regimen would immunize only 50 million people.)

    Asked at the presser when any American who wants a vaccine could get one, Biden said Monday that “I think we’ll be able to do that this spring,” even though that would be “a logistical challenge that exceeds anything we’ve ever tried in this country.” For the record, health experts such as Anthony Fauci are saying that won’t happen until at least the spring or fall, and Psaki walked it back yesterday.

    Biden was wrapping up when he decided to recognize Fox’s Peter Doocy, saying “I know he always asks me tough questions and always have an edge to them, but I like him anyway.” 

    Doocy asked the president to justify saying “there is nothing we can do the change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months,” when two months ago he declared “I’m going to shut down the virus.”

    The response: “I never said I’d do it in two months. I said it took a long time to get here; it’s going to take a long time to beat it.”

    Such questions are fueled by the growing frustration across the country as even those in the priority groups are unable to get vaccine appointments, or are having their appointments canceled.

    But in a larger sense, it reflects the jarring transition from candidate to commander-in-chief.

    SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF OF THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

    Suddenly it’s Biden, not the guy down at Mar-a-Lago, who’s responsible for every issue around the globe. Will the START treaty be extended? Will troop levels overseas be increased? Will Harriet Tubman be on the $20 bill? (On that last one, Biden plans to speed up the process.)

    No one would suggest that Biden and his top spokeswoman are being grilled by the press the way that Trump and his press secretaries were. That’s in part because Psaki adopts a conciliatory tone, in part because Biden isn’t under either impeachment or investigation, and in part because of a visceral dislike that so many journalists had for Trump.

    But even with greater civility,

    , which is its job, and he is being forced to adjust.

    Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/media/biden-shifts-on-vaccine-under-pressure-from-the-media

    The acting Capitol Police chief, Yogananda D. Pittman, told a House panel that the agency “failed to meet its own high standards as well as yours.”Credit…J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

    The acting chief of the Capitol Police apologized to Congress on Tuesday for the agency’s extensive security failures on Jan. 6, acknowledging during a closed-door briefing that the department knew there was a “strong potential for violence” but failed to take adequate steps to prevent what she described as a “terrorist attack.”

    Yogananda D. Pittman, the acting chief of police, also confirmed that the Capitol Police Board, an obscure panel made up of three voting members, had initially declined a request two days earlier for National Guard troops and then delayed for more than an hour as the violence unfolded on Jan. 6 before finally agreeing to a plea from the Capitol Police for National Guard troops, according to prepared testimony obtained by The New York Times.

    In an extraordinary admission, Chief Pittman, who was not the acting chief at the time of the siege, told members of the House Appropriations Committee, which oversees funding for the agency, that the Capitol Police “failed to meet its own high standards as well as yours.” She added, “I am here to offer my sincerest apologies on behalf of the department.” Chief Pittman’s predecessor, Steven Sund, resigned after the riot.

    Chief Pittman’s comments offered the fullest detailed account to date about police preparations for Jan. 6, when thousands of angry protesters, believing false claims that the election had been stolen, marched on the Capitol at the behest of former President Donald J. Trump.

    Speaking by video conference in a virtual briefing, Chief Pittman told the committee that the department “should have been more prepared for this attack,” according to the remarks.

    Chief Pittman said that her department knew Jan. 6 would be unlike previous protests. She said her department knew that militia groups and white supremacists organizations would descend on Washington.

    “We also knew that some of these participants were intending to bring firearms and other weapons to the event,” she said. “We knew that there was a strong potential for violence and that Congress was the target. The department prepared in order to meet these challenges, but we did not do enough.”

    She said the Capitol Police had 1,200 people working on site when the attack occurred, which was “no match” for “the tens of thousands of insurrectionists.”

    Two days before the attack, Chief Sund requested that the Capitol Police Board declare a state of emergency and authorize a request to secure National Guard support. The board denied the request, according to Chief Pittman, but encouraged Chief Sund to contact the National Guard to determine how many guardsmen could be sent to the Capitol on short notice, which he did.

    As the protesters became an increasing threat to the Capitol on Jan. 6, Chief Sund asked for more help from federal agencies and law enforcement agencies in the area. “He also lobbied the board for authorization to bring in the National Guard, but he was not granted authorization for over an hour,” Chief Pittman said.

    During the hearing, the commander of the District of Columbia National Guard told committee members that his authority to quickly deploy the guard was removed ahead of the riot. Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the commanding general of the D.C. National Guard, said he had such authority for July 4, but the Pentagon required additional approval for a request for the guard during the Capitol attack, according to a person familiar with the testimony.

    General Walker testified that Chief Sund called him as the threat to the Capitol increased on Jan. 6 and that he immediately notified the Army.

    “On my own, I started preparing people to be ready, but I had to wait for specific approval to go out to launch,” General Walker said. “I was in constant communication with the U.S. Army leadership who was acting on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.”

    Two of the board members at the time of the attack have already resigned: Paul D. Irving, the House sergeant-at-arms, and Michael C. Stenger, the Senate sergeant-at-arms. The third member, J. Brett Blanton, the Architect of the Capitol, is still on the board. Mr. Blanton was nominated by Mr. Trump in December 2019 and confirmed by the Senate that same month. The chief of the Capitol Police serves in an ex-officio, non-voting capacity.

    “In my experience, I do not believe there was any preparations that would have allowed for an open campus in which lawful protesters could exercise their First Amendment right to free speech and at the same time prevented the attack on Capitol grounds that day,” Chief Pittman said.

    In the aftermath of the attack, many officers are suffering from PTSD, she said, “particularly after the loss of two of our officers directly and indirectly as a result of the events of January 6th.” Officers also have been experiencing an increase in coronavirus infections.

    During the briefing, the acting House sergeant-at-arms, Timothy P. Blodgett, also said it was “clear there was a failure of preparation,” citing poor communications and a weak perimeter defense of the Capitol.

    “Whether it was insufficient or conflicting intelligence, lacking ability to translate that intelligence into action, insufficient preparation or an inadequate ability to mobilize partner agencies for immediate assistance, a series of events, once thought unfathomable, unfolded allowing our most sacred halls to be breached,” Mr. Blodgett said.

    Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/26/us/biden-trump-impeachment/

      Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/us/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html

      The Chicago Teachers Union has raised eyebrows with a bizarre music video artistically expressing members’ refusal to return to schools during the coronavirus pandemic unless it is “safe.” 

      Last weekend, thousands of Chicago educators voted against resuming in-person teaching as scheduled Monday, defying a district order for them to return to the classroom. 

      On Saturday, the CTU shared a music video meant to drive its message of safety for its educators. 

      “Six of our rank-and-file dance teachers come together to use their art form as a voice to express their desire to feel safe amidst [Chicago Public Schools’] teacher return policy. They stand in solidarity with all educators at risk, because no one should have to choose between life and livelihood,” CTU tweeted. 

      BIDEN DECLINES TO TELL CHICAGO TEACHERS REFUSING TO TEACH IN-PERSON TO GO BACK TO WORK

      The video, titled “The Moment We’re Safe,” shows five teachers dancing in their living rooms, some accompanied by dance partners, while another performs outside. 

      “Make it make sense!” a narrator exclaims. “Safety is essential. Keep our students and teachers safe.”

      “It’s our livelihood versus our lives … In this moment, be safe. Our children deserve to be safe. We want to feel safe … Safe return or no return,” the narrator continues.

      The video has since gone viral and received plenty of mockery on Tuesday. 

      “Dear God,” National Review contributor Pradheep Shanker reacted.

      THOUSANDS OF CHICAGO TEACHERS NOT HEADING BACK TO CLASSROOMS FOLLOWING UNION VOTE, WILL REMAIN REMOTE

      “Is this a parody account?” Ricochet editor Bethany Mandel asked. 

      “This whole video is about as comprehensible as the urban unions’ negotiating position,” Commentary associate editor Noah Rothman tweeted.

      CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

      Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/media/chicago-teachers-union-panned-for-video-demanding-safe-return-to-schools-through-interpretive-dance

      “The first few days are giving us an indication of what the next four years could look like, and that’s elicited some real concern, within the industry and broadly, outside the industry,” said Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute. “We’re going to communicate how impactful such a policy would be, to both the administration and on Capitol Hill.”

      Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/01/26/biden-environmental-justice-climate/

      Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement Monday that the state would shift vaccine priority to an age-based eligibility structure has sparked concerns from groups representing some essential workers and disabled people who may now have to wait longer to get vaccinated.

      Little has been shared as to what that would mean in practice. Before Newsom’s announcement, the state intended to give priority to several new groups after California is done vaccinating people 65 and older, including residents in incarcerated and homeless settings, essential workers and individuals with underlying health conditions.

      It’s now unclear when those groups would be vaccinated.

      Further details will be released as the state progresses through the current Phase 1B Tier 1, a spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health told The Times. But the timeline for when those currently eligible — long-term care facility staff and residents, healthcare workers and adults 65 and older — will be fully vaccinated continues to change as vaccine allocation numbers continue to shift.

      State epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said last week that based on current allocation levels, it could take until June to vaccinate the state’s 6.6. million residents who are 65 and older. But as allocation increases, as is anticipated following an announcement from the Biden administration, that estimate will change.

      On Tuesday, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said that targeted outreach in order to reach people in vulnerable populations would be based on exposure as well, not just age, but did not elaborate on that specific formula.“

      “I do think that younger individuals who are in professions or are in situations where they aren’t as exposed as some of the other high-exposure industries will end up waiting a little longer than others who have either high risk or high exposures to COVID-risk factors,” Ghaly said. “So there of course, is going to be some sectors of our population that don’t come to the front of the line as quickly as some others.”

      Details about how people with underlying health conditions or disabilities will be factored into the state’s guidance has been an ongoing point of concern from advocates and member of the state vaccine advisory committee.

      “It sounds like it’s more bad news for people with disabilities,” Andy Imparato of Disability Rights California said following Ghaly’s briefing. “They mentioned race and marginalized populations, but didn’t mention people with disabilities.”

      Imparato said he would like to hear a clear commitment from the governor to explicitly work with the members of the disability community in order to factor them into the state plan. Those younger than 65 who are most vulnerable are individuals with disabilities who are included in multiple marginalized groups, such as Black, Latino and Native American communities, he said.

      Officials at the California Transit Assn. sent a letter to Newsom urging him to prioritize mass transportation employees, noting that they are essential to helping people get people around and face a heightened risk of getting COVID-19.

      In the letter, Executive Director Michael Pimentel noted that transit agencies have helped transport other essential workers to and from their jobs as well as low-income and older residents who need to get supplies and go to medical appointments.

      Bob Schoonover, president of Service Employees International Union Local 721, said the shift to age-based decisions over occupational risks in the next tier runs counter to research that shows workplaces are a major source of the spread.

      “Millions of working Californians, most of them people of color, have no choice but to leave their homes and work each day, exposing themselves, their families, and their communities to COVID-19 and its devastation,” Schoonover said in a statement.

      Times staff writer Melody Guttierez contributed to this report.

      Source Article from https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-26/as-californis-shifts-to-age-based-covid-19-vaccine-essential-workers-disabled-n

      FLORIDA – Registration for appointments through Publix to get a COVID-19 vaccine will reopen online Wednesday morning at 6 a.m.

      Lee, Collier and Charlotte County appointment slots will be available on the Publix vaccination registration site.

      Click here for what you can expect when booking a COVID-19 vaccine appointment through Publix.

      People 65 and older and healthcare workers are eligible to sign up for appointments in Lee County, Charlotte County, and Collier County.

      Many people reported in past scheduling rounds seeing “Appointments Available” next to each county, but they were unable to click to make schedule an appointment in the last rounds of availability.

      Publix had posted a statement on the top of their registration page saying their system was live, but full with other customers.

      Publix advised people to not leave the page because if room became available, they would be automatically redirected to a page with instructions on how to book an appointment.

      Vaccination appointments are scheduled online only. Appointments can not be made by calling Publix or Publix Pharmacy.

      CLICK HERE TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT ONLINE.

      Publix officials were asking people to be patient as there will be a large number of people trying to register online at the same time.

      If you are unable to make an appointment on Wednesday, the next round of registrations will be announced.

      Publix said they are actively engaging with customers on TwitterInstagram, and Facebook. Customers can also call the Publix helpline after 9 a.m. at 1-800-242-1227

      Click here for county-by-county COVID-19 vaccine updates.

      Source Article from https://nbc-2.com/news/health/2021/01/27/publix-vaccine-appointments-to-open-online-wednesday/

      With Democrats preparing for the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned his colleagues that moving forward will only cause more damage to the nation.

      “I’d like to get this trial over sooner rather than later,” Graham told “Hannity” on Tuesday. “To my Democratic colleagues, if you try to call one witness, you’re going to blow up the United States Senate. Don’t do that.”

      Graham encouraged the opposition to get the “travesty over with” as soon as possible, especially since Trump has already left office.

      The South Carolina senator pointed out that not only is Trump’s second impeachment “unconstitutional and ill-conceived” but it has not been carried out legally.

      GABBARD DOUBLES DOWN ON SLAM OF SCHIFF, BRENNAN AS GREATER DANGERS TO AMERICA THAN CAPITOL RIOTERS

      “The President of the United States was impeached in 50 hours without one witness being called and he didn’t have a lawyer,” he said. “We need to make sure this thing never goes anywhere … because I don’t want to legitimize the impeachment process used in the House. I think it’s a danger to democracy and the presidency itself.”

      Graham explained that on day one of the trial, there will be a motion to dismiss which he expects to occur. But if it goes to trial and the House managers attempt to call witnesses who were not present during the deliberation in the House, the entire process will be dragged out for “weeks if not months.”

      CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

      Meanwhile, President Biden has been a “huge disappointment” in carrying out his message of unity, said Graham, who noted itwould be pretty simple for him to end the entire impeachment debacle and put the past behind everyone.

      “It tells you a lot about Biden’s ability and desire to bring us together by the fact that he’s sitting on the sidelines and his only comment has been, ‘I don’t think they have the votes.’”

      Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/lindsey-graham-warns-dems-will-blow-up-us-senate-by-moving-forward-with-impeachment-calling-witnesses

      A descendant of immigrants from Jamaica, Ms. Rice called herself the living embodiment of the American dream and noted that “investing in equity is good for economic growth” and “creates jobs for all Americans.”

      One of the orders signed on Tuesday calls on the Justice Department not to renew contracts with private prisons, reverting to a policy first adopted in the Obama administration, when Mr. Biden was vice president, and which Mr. Trump reversed.

      The order does not end all government contracts with private prisons — administration officials confirmed it would not apply to other agencies, like Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which contracts with private companies to detain thousands of undocumented immigrants.

      “There is broad consensus that our current system of mass incarceration imposes significant costs and hardships on our society and communities and does not make us safer,” the order reads. “To decrease incarceration levels, we must reduce profit-based incentives to incarcerate by phasing out the federal government’s reliance on privately operated criminal detention facilities.”

      The housing order directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to more strenuously enforce the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which targets discrimination in home buying. That includes asking the department to review actions under Mr. Trump that sought to weaken some of that enforcement. Last year, as part of Mr. Trump’s attempted appeals to white suburban voters, the department rolled back an Obama-era program meant to fight racial segregation in housing, known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing.

      “This represents a clear change of direction that gets us back on track to fulfill the Fair Housing Act,” said Julián Castro, who served as secretary of housing and urban development under President Barack Obama. “It’s sending a very strong signal that it’s a new day when it comes to fair housing and that HUD is going to be aggressive again. In some ways this is the easy part, but it’s a strong first step.”

      Mr. Castro said that the housing department was still far behind in terms of the number of personnel it needed to enforce the Fair Housing Act and that nonprofit groups across the country working on fair housing issues should receive federal funding and other resources. But given that the action came on Day 6 of the new administration, he said, it served as a “clear repudiation of Trump’s fear-mongering” about low-income housing invading white suburbs.

      Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/business/biden-private-prisons-justice-department.html