2021 California recall election results – The Washington Post
2021 California recall election results – The Washington Post

By: Sophie Andrews, Peter Andringa, Alexis Barnes, Jason Bernert, Lenny Bronner, Mohar Chatterjee, John Cherian, Hong Du, Holden Foreman, Simon Glenn-Gregg, Daniel Hoerauf, Jason Holt, Aditya Jain, Emily Liu, Paige Moody, Anthony Pesce, Erik Reyna, Ashlyn Still and Susan Tyler

Previous contributors: Madison Dong, Jess Eng, Shana Hadi and Isabelle Lavandero

Source: AP

Source Article from https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/election-results/california/governor-recall/

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‘Fatally flawed’: Top Senate Democrat blasts Biden administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal – USA TODAY
‘Fatally flawed’: Top Senate Democrat blasts Biden administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal – USA TODAY

Source Article from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/09/14/secretary-antony-blinken-grilled-senate-over-afghanistan-withdrawal/8330088002/

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500,000 without power in Texas as Tropical Storm Nicholas churns slowly across state – NBC News
500,000 without power in Texas as Tropical Storm Nicholas churns slowly across state – NBC News
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Woodward/Costa book: Worried Trump could ‘go rogue,’ Milley took top-secret action to protect nuclear weapons – CNN
Woodward/Costa book: Worried Trump could ‘go rogue,’ Milley took top-secret action to protect nuclear weapons – CNN

By Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb and Elizabeth Stuart, CNN

Updated 12:55 PM ET, Tue September 14, 2021

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/14/politics/woodward-book-trump-nuclear/index.html

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Poverty in the U.S. Declined Thanks to Government Aid, Census Report Shows – The New York Times
Poverty in the U.S. Declined Thanks to Government Aid, Census Report Shows – The New York Times

“We measure poverty annually, when the reality of poverty is faced on a day-to-day-to-day basis,” said Hilary Hoynes, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, who has studied the government’s response to the pandemic.

By the government’s official definition, the number of people living in poverty jumped by 3.3 million in 2020, to 37.2 million, among the biggest annual increases on record. But economists have long criticized that definition, which dates back to the 1960s, and said it did a particularly poor job of reflecting reality last year.

The official measure ignores the impact of many government programs, such as food and housing assistance and tax credits. This year it also ignored the direct checks sent to households, which were officially considered tax rebates. In recent years, the Census Bureau has produced an alternative poverty rate, known as the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which includes those programs and also factors in regional differences in housing costs, medical expenses and other costs not captured in the official measure. Normally, the supplemental measure is higher than the official measure; 2020 was the first year in which the supplemental measure was lower.

Many of the programs that helped people avert poverty last year have expired, even as the pandemic continues. An estimated 7.5 million people lost unemployment benefits this month after Congress allowed pandemic-era expansions of the program to lapse.

The new data could feed into efforts by President Biden and congressional leaders to enact a more lasting expansion of the safety net. Democrats’ $3.5 trillion plan, which is still taking shape, could include paid family and medical leave, government-supported child care and a permanent expansion of the Child Tax Credit. Liberals said the success of relief programs last year showed that such policies ought to be continued and expanded.

“The key thing is that we see the extremely powerful anti-poverty and pro-middle class income impacts of the government response,” said Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He argued that the success should encourage lawmakers to enact Mr. Biden’s longer-term agenda for the economy.

“It’s one thing to temporarily lift people out of poverty — hugely important — but you can’t stop there,” Mr. Bernstein said. “We have to make sure that people don’t fall back into poverty after these temporary measures abate.”

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/14/business/economy/census-income-poverty-health-insurance.html

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Where are the Taliban’s missing leaders? Rumors swirl over fate of two top officials – CNN
Where are the Taliban’s missing leaders? Rumors swirl over fate of two top officials – CNN

(CNN)The Taliban’s leaders are rarely seen at public events and do not readily grant interviews or hold news conferences. Many of them move in the shadows, their whereabouts unknown, inevitably generating rumors about their health and about possible internal disagreements.

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Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/14/asia/taliban-missing-leader-rumors-2021-intl/index.html

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Authorities: 4 found slain in SUV in Wisconsin cornfield – ABC News
Authorities: 4 found slain in SUV in Wisconsin cornfield – ABC News

MENOMONIE, Wis. — Four people have been found slain in an SUV with Minnesota license plates that was abandoned in a western Wisconsin cornfield, authorities said.

A 911 caller alerted deputies Sunday to the black SUV that was off a rural road in the Town of Sheridan, the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities have not disclosed why they think the four are homicide victims, who they are and where they are from.

In a Facebook post Monday, sheriff’s officials said the victims do not appear to have any connection to the area. The posting also said there may have been a second dark-colored SUV traveling with the vehicle that was abandoned.

No arrests have been announced. The Dunn County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation and the Wisconsin State Patrol and assisting in the investigation.

Source Article from https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/authorities-found-slain-suv-wisconsin-cornfield-80009346

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Gavin Newsom’s political fate in balance as final votes cast in California recall – The Guardian
Gavin Newsom’s political fate in balance as final votes cast in California recall – The Guardian

Californians will decide on Tuesday whether to keep Gavin Newsom in office as a recall election that has left the Democratic governor fighting for his political life draws to a close.

The gubernatorial recall effort is only the second in California’s history to make it on to the ballot and a rare chance for Republicans to seize control in a deep blue state. Voters are being asked two questions: should Newsom be removed from office, and, if he is recalled, who should take his place? Millions of Californians have already cast their ballots, either by mail or at early voting locations, and registered voters will have until Tuesday evening to make their choice, in a special election that is costing the state $276m.

Newsom, who has been a broadly popular governor since he was elected in 2018, found himself in a peculiar position after a Republican-led recall effort gained steam amid the worst of the state’s pandemic.

He appeared confident heading into the final stretch, spending Monday campaigning with Joe Biden. Polls that had signaled peril for him during the summer have recently given him a more comfortable lead. Meanwhile, the leading Republican challenger, the rightwing radio host Larry Elder, has been laying a groundwork of misinformation to falsely imply that the election, if he loses, was rigged against him.

Early returns show that of those who have already cast their votes, most have been Democrats who are likely to oppose the recall. More Republicans are expected to vote in person on election day.

No major Democratic candidates are running against Newsom, who has encouraged supporters to leave the question of his replacement blank on their ballots. If even a hair more than 50% of voters opt to boot the governor, Elder or any other challenger with a plurality could take office and upend politics in an overwhelmingly Democratic state.

Such an outcome would cause national reverberations by placing a potentially antagonistic Republican leader at the helm of the nation’s most populous and economically productive state, and potentially dooming Democrats ahead of the midterm elections. The implication that a Republican could unseat a Democrat in deep-blue California would fuel criticism that the party is out of touch with voters. An upset in the Golden state “could also encourage recall elections potentially around the country”, said Mindy Romero, who heads the California Civic Engagement Project at the University of Southern California.

Gavin Newsom takes photos with supporters after a rally in Oakland on Saturday. Photograph: Brittany Hosea-Small/Reuters

After initially dismissing the recall as a Republican-led distraction, Democrats and Newsom’s campaign have pivoted in recent weeks to characterizing it as a referendum on Trumpism in California, one with “life or death” consequences. Meanwhile, big-name Democrats in California and in Washington DC, including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar, the progressive representatives Barbara Lee and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Vice-President Kamala Harris, have all come to Newsom’s aid.

Elder has vowed to do away with mask and vaccine requirements, appealing to recall backers whose efforts gained steam last winter amid the worst of the state’s pandemic surge, which forced businesses closed and kept public schools shut. Among those who support the recall, 38% of likely voters said they preferred Elder, in a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released on Friday. The former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, a moderate Republican whom the Los Angeles Times endorsed as the “least bad option” to replace Newsom, was by contrast backed by just 8% of likely voters. More than 40 candidates are running against Newsom, including the reality TV star and former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner and YouTube personality Kevin Paffrath.

At campaign rallies, Newsom has emphasized that his early lockdown measures and first-in-the-country statewide mask mandate for schools have saved lives. But the governor is still working to live down several missteps: under Newsom’s watch, the state’s unemployment department struggled with major backlogs, while paying out an estimated $31bn in fraudulent claims. The state’s vaccine rollout was initially chaotic and slow – leaving some of the most vulnerable frontline workers behind.

An ill-timed, lobbyist-laden dinner at the Michelin-starred French Laundry restaurant, and the governor’s choice to send his own children back to private school before many public schools had reopened, added fuel to residents’ frustrations. Meanwhile, following California’s worst year of wildfires on record in 2020, and as catastrophic fires continue to blaze across the state, Newsom has attempted to quell concerns that he vastly overstated wildfire prevention efforts.

Voters who remained lukewarm on Newsom said they still saw him as the better of bad choices. “I’m with a lot of people who might like to recall Gavin, but aren’t necessarily in favor of having Larry Elder in there,” said John Friedrich, a retiree living in Stockton, California, about an hour south of the capital, Sacramento.

“There’s just all kinds of stuff going on this past year – just devastating stuff,” he added. “Any governor would have a tough job.”

Source Article from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/14/california-governor-recall-election-gavin-newsom-latest

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Tropical Storm Nicholas Brings Flooding Rain Threat to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi | The Weather Channel – Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com – The Weather Channel
Tropical Storm Nicholas Brings Flooding Rain Threat to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi | The Weather Channel – Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com – The Weather Channel
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House Democrats propose top 39.6% tax rate at these income levels – CNBC
House Democrats propose top 39.6% tax rate at these income levels – CNBC

House Democrats have proposed a top marginal income tax rate of 39.6% for individuals, part of a sweeping change to the tax code to fund climate investments and an expansion of the U.S. safety net.

That rate, an increase from the current 37% levy for the wealthiest taxpayers, would kick in for single individuals with taxable income over $400,000, according to a legislative outline issued by the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday.

It would also apply to married individuals filing a joint tax return whose taxable income exceeds $450,000; to heads of households over $425,000; to married individuals filing separate returns over $225,000; and to estates and trusts over $12,500.

More from Personal Finance:
House Democrats propose new retirement plan rules for the rich
House Democrats’ plan drops repeal of a tax provision for inheritances
House Democrats propose raising capital gains tax to 28.8%

If the plan became law, the changes would start in 2022. They would raise $170 billion over the next decade, according to a Joint Committee on Taxation estimate issued Monday.

The current top 37% rate kicks in at higher income thresholds than the ones House Democrats have now proposed. In 2021, they apply to single filers and heads of household when income exceeds $523,600 and for married joint filers over $628,300, for example.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/14/house-democrats-propose-top-39point6percent-tax-rate-at-these-income-levels.html

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Russia’s Vladimir Putin is quarantining after several Covid-19 cases in his entourage – CNN
Russia’s Vladimir Putin is quarantining after several Covid-19 cases in his entourage – CNN

By Ivana Kottasová and Anna Chernova, CNN

Updated 8:41 AM ET, Tue September 14, 2021

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/14/europe/russia-putin-coronavirus-self-isolating-intl/index.html

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COVID Misinformation Pushed By Some Doctors Without Penalty : Shots – Health News – NPR
COVID Misinformation Pushed By Some Doctors Without Penalty : Shots – Health News – NPR

Dr. Simone Gold discourages vaccination against COVID-19 and promotes alternative, unproven therapies. She has spent much of the past year speaking at events like this one held in West Palm Beach, Fla., in December. The conference was aimed at young people ages 15 to 25.



Gage Skidmore

Last month, Dr. Simone Gold stood before a crowd at a conservative church in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and delivered a talk riddled with misinformation. She told people to avoid vaccination against the coronavirus. As an alternative, she pushed drugs that have not been proven effective at treating COVID-19 — drugs that she also offered to prescribe to the audience in exchange for $90 telehealth appointments.

“Don’t text me when you’ve gotten a positive test; I don’t want to hear it,” she said to the gathering. “I’ve told you ahead of time to get the medicines. It can take a week because we’re so swamped.”

Almost everything Gold said in her 45-minute talk was contrary to the best science and medical standards of care for treating COVID-19. But there was one thing she said that was at least partially true: “I am an emergency physician.”

NPR found that Gold’s emergency medicine certification lapsed in December of last year, but she still is, as she claims, a licensed physician in the state of California (her license lists her professional address as a UPS shipping store in Beverly Hills).

Simone Gold’s board certification in emergency medicine (listed under her maiden name of Tizes) expired in December of last year, but she still has a license to practice medicine.



American Board of Emergency Medicine/Screen Shot by NPR

Despite more than a year spent spreading misinformation about a pandemic that has killed more than 650,000 Americans, she has what might be considered a professional clean bill of health with no complaints, disciplinary actions or malpractice lawsuits on her record. The California Medical Board, which oversees her license, told NPR it expects doctors to “follow the standard of care when treating patients at all times.” But the medical board declined to say whether it was investigating Gold, citing reasons of confidentiality.

Gold is not the only physician promoting misinformation while avoiding professional censure. NPR looked at medical licenses for 16 doctors, including Gold, who have proven track records of doing so online and in media interviews. Fifteen of the 16 had active licenses in good standing. One appeared to have let his license expire, but there was no suggestion in his record that it was because of any disciplinary action.

Now, some organizations affiliated with medical licensing are encouraging action.

Late last month, the American Board of Emergency Medicine, which had until this year certified Gold under her maiden name, Tizes, put out a statement warning it could revoke certification for any of its specialists for spreading “inaccurate information.”

The Federation of State Medical Boards issued a statement in late July warning that “Physicians who generate and spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation are risking disciplinary action by state medical boards, including the suspension or revocation of their medical license.”

Why professional censure has lagged

So, why hasn’t more punitive action already been taken? At its heart, the problem is the fragmented medical licensing system in the United States. Individual states have licensing boards made up of a mix of doctors, lawyers and private citizens. These boards, with an eye toward medical malpractice, usually respond only to complaints against individual physicians.

“People assume that licensing boards are on the lookout, they’re on the internet,” says Dr. Humayun Chaudhry, president of the Federation of State Medical Boards. “They actually don’t have the resources — neither the money nor the manpower — to monitor what happens on the internet or social media.”

In the absence of oversight, doctors such as Gold have been able to spread misinformation with impunity. Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which tracks vaccine misinformation online, says that even though the number of doctors involved in spreading this sort of bad information is tiny, they’re having an outsized influence. Other people in the anti-vaccine movement promote their posts “because they have the ‘Dr.’ before their name and they appear to understand what they’re talking about.”

Ahmed says that having a medical degree may also be helping these doctors skirt social media bans on coronavirus misinformation. “We will find that social media companies will hide behind any excuse that they can to leave up [the profiles of] those people spreading misinformation, and one of the excuses they use is citing their medical credentials,” Ahmed says.

A few doctors with bad information have been given big megaphones

In fact, while other promoters of bad information saw their Twitter profiles suspended this summer, Gold’s followers swelled to more than 300,000. And it’s not just happening via social media: Doctors who discourage vaccination have found regular spots on conservative radio and TV talk shows and on cable networks. Among the most prominent promoters of this brand of false information is former Trump strategist Steve Bannon, who regularly interviews a small, rotating cast of these physicians on his talk show.

The misinformation — which usually involves inflating the risks of vaccines and offering the false promise of alternative therapies — is coming as cases of COVID-19 surge nationwide, mainly in areas with low rates of vaccination. Other doctors working in those places are understandably frustrated.

“We would like there to be some easy answer out there, some medication that’s been around forever that we could just take from home,” says Sonja Rasmussen, a pediatrician and epidemiologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The problem, she says, is that so far the alternative therapies such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine have not been proven effective against COVID-19.

In reality, ICUs are packed with sick, unvaccinated people

“There are outliers out there who are preaching nonsense,” says Dr. Kendall McKenzie, the chair of the department of emergency medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jacksonville. While Gold has been giving talks to packed audiences, McKenzie has been dealing with packed ICUs filled with sick, unvaccinated people. He says he sees patients every day being influenced by the kind of misinformation that Gold and others are promoting.

“What it’s doing is filling up my emergency department with intubated patients and ultimately leading to deaths,” he says.

Chaudhry says there have been some recent cases where disciplinary action has moved forward. In May, the Oregon Medical Board suspended the license of a doctor for encouraging patients to go unmasked, and Hawaii’s medical board is pursuing a complaint against a state health official and a physician, both of whom are reportedly promoting alternative therapies for treating COVID-19 — alternatives that federal agencies have specifically warned are not helpful and can sometimes be harmful.

Chaudhry thinks many licensing boards may already be conducting additional confidential investigations against doctors promoting misinformation. Those investigations, he adds, are typically only triggered by a complaint, but the complaint can come from anyone. “People don’t realize it doesn’t have to be the patient themselves. It can be a patient’s family member; it can be another doctor,” he says.

Gold has new problems: She participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and is now awaiting trial on criminal charges of forcing her way into the building and engaging in disorderly behavior. She has pleaded not guilty and through her lawyer declined NPR’s request for an interview.

While she awaits trial, Gold continues to give talks as a fully licensed physician.

Source Article from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/09/14/1035915598/doctors-covid-misinformation-medical-license

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Mother of YouTuber missing after road trip with boyfriend makes emotional appeal for her safe return – The Independent
Mother of YouTuber missing after road trip with boyfriend makes emotional appeal for her safe return – The Independent

The mother of a young woman who disappeared after embarking on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend, has made an emotional appeal for her safe return: “We just want you to come home.”

Gabby Petito, 22, was last seen on 24 August when she and her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, checked in and out of a hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.

They had set off in early July to head West and visit some of the nation’s national parks, recording and sharing their van life-inspired journey on YouTube’s “Nomadic Statik”.

Over the weekend, the young woman’s family reported her missing to police, saying they had not heard from her for several weeks and were worried. Ms Petito and her family are from Blue Point, on New York’s Long Island.

“Gabrielle Petito was reported missing to the Suffolk County Police Department by her family on September 11 at approximately 6.55 p.m,” the police department said in a press release.

“According to family, they were last in contact with her during the last week of August. Prior to the last communication, Petito is believed to have been in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.”

Meanwhile, police in Florida, where the couple had lived, said the circumstances of her disappearance “appeared odd” and that Mr Laundrie had returned home. A spokesperson told The Independent there was no evidence a crime had been committed. The spokesperson said Mr Laundrie had requested if officers wanted to speak to him they should contact his lawyer.

The woman’s mother, Nicole Schmidt, told Fox News she believed the couple were set to next head to Yellowstone National Park. A spokesperson for the Suffolk County Police confirmed the vehicle had been returned but that officers were not commenting further than the press release from Sunday.

In an interview with CBS News, Ms Schmidt said the family had become increasingly worried.

“It’s scary and it’s nerve wracking. We don’t sleep. We’re just actively looking for her,” she said.

“At least three times a week we would FaceTime, call, text frequently. She kept me updated on this whole trip.”

Ms Schmidt said they last spoke via FaceTimed about three weeks ago, adding the last text she received was on 30 August.

Ms Petito is described as about 5 feet 5 inches tall and 110 pounds with blonde hair and blue eyes, and several tattoos. A tattoo on her forearm says “let it be”.

“The first couple of days when I wasn’t getting responses, I believed she was in a place with no service. It was like day eight and nine that I really became concerned,” Ms Schmidt said.

She said she had informed police of the details of the final text message but could not be certain if was her daughter.

“I don’t know if she left Grand Teton or not,” she said. “I did receive a text from her on the 27th and the 30th, but I don’t know if it was technically her or not, because it was just a text. I didn’t verbally speak to her.”

Ms Pieto and Mr Laundrie had lived for the past two years in North Port, Florida, located about 30 miles from Sarasota. It was not immediately possible to contact Mr Laundrie.

In a statement, North Fork Police Department said it was cooperating with police in Long Island, to try and locate Ms Pieto.

“The North Port Police Department is actively assisting in this case in conjunction with the Suffolk County Police Department where she was reported missing,” it said. “The Suffolk County Police Department is investigating the disappearance of a Blue Point woman who went missing while traveling.”

The statement added: “We currently have no definitive information that a crime took place here in North Port.

“With that said, the circumstances are odd. The vehicle she was traveling in was located here in North Port. So, we are actively gathering local details and any evidence to assist in finding needed answers.”

Spokesperson Josh Taylor told The Independent they had confirmed Mr Laundrie had returned to Florida but that he had asked they speak to his lawyer if they have questions.

The spokesperson stressed they had no evidence any crime had been committed and were hoping Ms Petito returned home.

“At the same time we have to gather the evidence,” said Mr Taylor

It is understood that the lawyer hired by Mr Laundrie’s family is Long Island-based Steven Bertolino. He did not respond to enquiries or messages.

Source Article from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/florida-gabby-petito-youtuber-mum-b1919568.html

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Covid Hospitalization Crisis Reaches Fever Pitch in Southern I.C.U.s – The New York Times
Covid Hospitalization Crisis Reaches Fever Pitch in Southern I.C.U.s – The New York Times


Share of I.C.U. beds occupied in each hospital





More than 95%

90-95%

Less than 90%

No data

Circle size is proportional to I.C.U. capacity.

Wash.

Maine

Mont.

N.D.

Ore.

Vt.

Minn.

N.H.

Idaho

Wis.

S.D.

Mass.

N.Y.

Conn.

R.I.

Mich.

Wyo.

Pa.

Iowa

N.J.

Neb.

Nev.

Ohio

Md.

Del.

Ind.

Ill.

Utah

Calif.

W.V.

Colo.

Va.

Mo.

Kan.

Ky.

N.C.

Tenn.

Okla.

Ariz.

Ark.

S.C.

N.M.

Ga.

Ala.

Miss.

Texas

La.

Fla.

Alaska

Hawaii

Less than 90%

No data

More than 95%

90-95%

Circle size is proportional to I.C.U. capacity.

Wash.

Maine

Mont.

N.D.

Ore.

Vt.

Minn.

N.H.

Idaho

Wis.

S.D.

Mass.

N.Y.

Conn.

Mich.

R.I.

Wyo.

Pa.

Iowa

N.J.

Neb.

Nev.

Md.

Ohio

Del.

Ill.

Ind.

Utah

Calif.

W.V.

Colo.

Va.

Mo.

Kan.

Ky.

N.C.

Tenn.

Okla.

Ariz.

Ark.

S.C.

N.M.

Ga.

Ala.

Miss.

Texas

La.

Fla.

Alaska

Hawaii

Less than 90%

No data

More than 95%

90-95%

Wash.

Maine

Mont.

N.D.

Vt.

Ore.

Minn.

N.H.

Idaho

Wis.

Mass.

S.D.

N.Y.

Conn.

Mich.

Wyo.

R.I.

Pa.

Iowa

N.J.

Neb.

Nev.

Ohio

Md.

Del.

Ind.

Ill.

Utah

Calif.

W.V.

Colo.

Va.

Mo.

Kan.

Ky.

N.C.

Tenn.

Okla.

Ariz.

Ark.

S.C.

N.M.

Ga.

Ala.

Miss.

Texas

La.

Fla.

Alaska

Hawaii

Hospitals in the southern United States are running dangerously low on space in intensive care units, as the Delta variant has led to spikes in coronavirus cases not seen since last year’s deadly winter wave.

One in four hospitals now reports more than 95 percent of I.C.U. beds occupied — up from one in five last month. Experts say it can become difficult to maintain standards of care for the sickest patients in hospitals where all or nearly all I.C.U. beds are occupied.

In June, when Covid-19 cases were at their lowest level, less than one in 10 hospitals had dangerously high occupancy rates.


Share of I.C.U. beds occupied in each hospital service area





More than 95%

90-95%

Less than 90%

No data

Week ending July 1

Week ending Sept. 9

Wash.

Wash.

Maine

Maine

Mont.

N.D.

Mont.

N.D.

Vt.

Ore.

Vt.

Ore.

Minn.

Minn.

N.H.

N.H.

Idaho

Idaho

Wis.

S.D.

Mass.

N.Y.

Wis.

S.D.

Mass.

N.Y.

Conn.

Mich.

Conn.

Wyo.

Mich.

Wyo.

R.I.

R.I.

Pa.

Iowa

Pa.

Iowa

N.J.

N.J.

Neb.

Neb.

Nev.

Nev.

Md.

Ohio

Md.

Ohio

Ind.

Del.

Ill.

Ind.

Del.

Ill.

Utah

Utah

Calif.

Calif.

W.V.

Colo.

W.V.

Colo.

Va.

Mo.

Kan.

Va.

Mo.

Kan.

Ky.

Ky.

N.C.

N.C.

Tenn.

Tenn.

Okla.

Okla.

Ariz.

Ariz.

Ark.

Ark.

S.C.

N.M.

S.C.

N.M.

Ga.

Ga.

Ala.

Ala.

Miss.

Miss.

Texas

Texas

La.

La.

Fla.

Alaska

Fla.

Alaska

Hawaii

Hawaii

More than 95%

90-95%

Less than 90%

No data

Week ending July 1

Week ending Sept. 9

Wash.

Wash.

Maine

Maine

Mont.

N.D.

Mont.

N.D.

Vt.

Ore.

Vt.

Ore.

Minn.

Minn.

N.H.

Idaho

N.H.

Idaho

Wis.

S.D.

Mass.

N.Y.

Wis.

S.D.

Mass.

N.Y.

Mich.

Conn.

Wyo.

Mich.

Wyo.

Conn.

R.I.

R.I.

Pa.

Iowa

Pa.

Iowa

N.J.

N.J.

Neb.

Neb.

Nev.

Nev.

Md.

Ohio

Ohio

Ind.

Del.

Ill.

Md.

Ind.

Del.

Ill.

Utah

Utah

Calif.

Calif.

W.V.

Colo.

W.V.

Colo.

Va.

Mo.

Kan.

Va.

Mo.

Kan.

Ky.

Ky.

N.C.

N.C.

Tenn.

Tenn.

Okla.

Okla.

Ariz.

Ariz.

Ark.

Ark.

S.C.

N.M.

S.C.

N.M.

Ga.

Ga.

Ala.

Ala.

Miss.

Miss.

Texas

Texas

La.

La.

Fla.

Alaska

Fla.

Alaska

Hawaii

Hawaii

More than 95%

90-95%

Less than 90%

No data

Week ending July 1

Wash.

Maine

Mont.

N.D.

Vt.

Ore.

Minn.

N.H.

Idaho

Wis.

S.D.

Mass.

N.Y.

Conn.

Mich.

Wyo.

R.I.

Pa.

Iowa

N.J.

Neb.

Nev.

Md.

Ohio

Ind.

Del.

Ill.

Utah

Calif.

W.V.

Colo.

Va.

Mo.

Kan.

Ky.

N.C.

Tenn.

Okla.

Ariz.

Ark.

S.C.

N.M.

Ga.

Ala.

Miss.

Texas

La.

Fla.

Alaska

Hawaii

Week ending Sept. 9

Wash.

Maine

Mont.

N.D.

Vt.

Ore.

Minn.

N.H.

Idaho

Wis.

S.D.

Mass.

N.Y.

Conn.

Mich.

Wyo.

R.I.

Pa.

Iowa

N.J.

Neb.

Nev.

Md.

Ohio

Ind.

Del.

Ill.

Utah

Calif.

W.V.

Colo.

Va.

Mo.

Kan.

Ky.

N.C.

Tenn.

Okla.

Ariz.

Ark.

S.C.

N.M.

Ga.

Ala.

Miss.

Texas

La.

Fla.

Alaska

Hawaii

More than 95%

90-95%

Less than 90%

No data

Week ending July 1

Wash.

Maine

Mont.

N.D.

Vt.

Ore.

Minn.

N.H.

Idaho

Wis.

S.D.

Mass.

N.Y.

Mich.

Wyo.

Conn.

R.I.

Pa.

Iowa

N.J.

Neb.

Nev.

Ohio

Md.

Del.

Ind.

Ill.

Utah

Calif.

W.V.

Colo.

Va.

Mo.

Kan.

Ky.

N.C.

Tenn.

Okla.

Ariz.

Ark.

S.C.

N.M.

Ga.

Ala.

Miss.

Texas

La.

Fla.

Alaska

Hawaii

Week ending Sept. 9

Wash.

Maine

Mont.

N.D.

Vt.

Ore.

Minn.

N.H.

Idaho

Wis.

N.Y.

S.D.

Mass.

Mich.

Wyo.

Conn.

R.I.

Pa.

Iowa

N.J.

Neb.

Nev.

Ohio

Md.

Ind.

Del.

Ill.

Utah

Calif.

W.V.

Colo.

Va.

Mo.

Kan.

Ky.

N.C.

Tenn.

Okla.

Ariz.

Ark.

S.C.

N.M.

Ga.

Ala.

Miss.

Texas

La.

Fla.

Alaska

Hawaii

In Alabama, all I.C.U. beds are currently occupied. In recent days, dozens of patients in the state have needed beds that were not available, according to data published by the Department of Health and Human Services.

“It means they’re in the waiting room, some are in the back of ambulances, things of that nature,” said Jeannie Gaines, a spokesperson for the Alabama Hospital Association.


Alabama I.C.U. occupancy





50% of I.C.U.

beds occupied

60%

70%

80%

90%

95%

Week

ending

July 1

Over

100%

Week

ending

Sept. 9

50% of I.C.U.

beds occupied

60%

70%

80%

90%

95%

Week

ending

July 1

Over

100%

Week

ending

Sept. 9

60% of I.C.U.

beds occupied

70%

80%

90%

95%

Over

100%

Week

ending

July 1

Week

ending

Sept. 9

In Texas, 169 hospitals have I.C.U.s that are more than 95 percent full, up from 69 in June. There are only about 700 intensive care beds remaining across the entire state, according to recent data.

Hospitals in Houston constructed overflow tents last month to handle the influx of patients, and the rate of hospitalizations in the state is now 40 percent higher than when the tents were built.


Texas I.C.U. occupancy





50% of I.C.U.

beds occupied

60%

70%

80%

90%

95%

Week

ending

July 1

Over

100%

Week

ending

Sept. 9

50% of I.C.U.

beds occupied

60%

70%

80%

90%

95%

Week

ending

July 1

Over

100%

Week

ending

Sept. 9

60% of I.C.U.

beds occupied

70%

80%

90%

95%

Week

ending

July 1

Over

100%

Week

ending

Sept. 9

Twenty-four hospitals in Florida reported having more I.C.U. patients last week than available beds.

During past surges, hospitals have been forced to improvise by having staff care for more patients than usual or by setting up temporary intensive care beds in other wings of the hospital.

Patients with critical conditions besides Covid, like heart attacks or strokes, can also have worse health outcomes when most beds are full.


Florida I.C.U. occupancy





50% of I.C.U.

beds occupied

60%

70%

80%

90%

95%

Week

ending

July 1

Over

100%

Week

ending

Sept. 9

50% of I.C.U.

beds occupied

60%

70%

80%

90%

95%

Week

ending

July 1

Over

100%

Week

ending

Sept. 9

60% of I.C.U.

beds occupied

70%

80%

90%

95%

Week

ending

July 1

Over

100%

Week

ending

Sept. 9

Unvaccinated Americans are 10 times more likely to be hospitalized with Covid than the vaccinated, according to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Several of the states with the highest rates of I.C.U. occupancy, including Alabama and Mississippi, are also among those with the lowest vaccination rates.

“Our biggest concerns are our low vaccination rates,” said Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama’s state health officer. “That’s the reason we’re in the situation that we’re in. Virtually all of our deaths are people who are unvaccinated.”

Hospitalizations among children under 18 are also higher than ever during this wave of the virus, driven largely by surges among children in the least vaccinated states.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/09/14/us/covid-hospital-icu-south.html

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Biden links Elder to Trump on eve of California recall – CNN
Biden links Elder to Trump on eve of California recall – CNN

Source Article from https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/13/politics/newsom-biden-california-recall/index.html

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Hurricane Nicholas makes landfall and could bring "life-threatening" flash flooding to parts of Texas and Louisiana – CBS News
Hurricane Nicholas makes landfall and could bring "life-threatening" flash flooding to parts of Texas and Louisiana – CBS News

Nicholas strengthened into a hurricane late Monday then made landfall along the central Texas coast early Tuesday, bringing with it rain so heavy it could produce “life-threatening” flash flooding, the National Hurricane Center said.

Nicholas was about 20 miles northeast of Matagorda, Texas, and about 25 miles west-southwest of Freeport, Texas, and was moving north-northeast at 10 miles an hour. It had with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, barely over the 74 mph threshold for a hurricane.

The storm’s center is forecast to move slowly over southeastern Texas Tuesday and Tuesday night, then over southwestern Louisiana on Wednesday. The storm will probably weaken as it moves inland.

Nicholas is expected to inundate some areas with 6 to 12 inches of rain and up to a foot-and-half in some spots, which could have “life-threatening flash flooding impacts, especially in urbanized metropolitan areas” across parts of the upper Texas Gulf coast into far southwestern Louisiana, the center said. Life-threatening storm surges are possible.

A satellite image shows Hurricane Nicholas on September 13, 2021.

NOAA


“There are people who do drive into high water and they sometimes lose their vehicles and even worse sometimes lose their lives,” Governor Greg Abbott said Monday.

The Gulf Coast is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Ida. In southeast Louisiana, officials said more than 130,000 buildings were still without power as of Sunday. Ahead of Nicholas, Governor John Bel Edwards declared a state of emergency and urged residents to prepare for possible flooding and heavy rain.

“One of the things we have to guard against is dismissing the threat of this storm because it is not projected currently to reach hurricane strength before it makes landfall,” Edwards said Monday. “I know bracing for another storm while we are still responding to and trying to recover from Hurricane Ida is not the position we wanted to be in, but it is the situation we are prepared for.”

Nicholas is the 14th named storm of the season, a number usually hit later in mid-November. 

Source Article from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-nicholas-texas-gulf-coast-latest-forecast/

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‘Are we the sheep?’: QAnon believers struggle to process recall – SFGate
‘Are we the sheep?’: QAnon believers struggle to process recall – SFGate

For the uninitiated: QAnon believers, who call themselves “anons,” think a secret military operation is “in control” and will soon purge the nation of their political enemies and restore Donald Trump to power. The conspiracy theory began in 2017, and until late 2020, someone using the name “Q” posted regularly on the message boards 4chan and 8chan (later renamed 8kun). Anons continue to furiously decode these “drops,” convinced they contain information about the secret military operation they believe may march into the White House and arrest Joe Biden at any time. (There is a great deal of speculation that Q was, at least for a time, 8kun admin Ron Watkins, who now posts messages on Telegram that often bear a striking linguistic resemblance to old Q drops.)

In the lead-up to the Newsom recall, anons have glommed onto a December 2018 Q post in response to a commenter asking, “Will voter fraud in CA ever be brought to light?” “Watch CA,” Q wrote back. Three years on, some are convinced this means that Newsom will fraudulently win this recall election and, confronted with overwhelming evidence of this alleged fraud, Californians will kick off a national audit that gets Trump back into office.

“DETHRONING Newsom is THE catalyst for the MAIN EVENT,” wrote QAnon influencer John Sabal (who goes by QAnon John) on Telegram last week. 

A man waves a Q flag at a rally against child trafficking on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles on Aug. 22, 2020. QAnon believers often launder their more extreme beliefs by claiming they are trying to “save the children” from what they imagine is rampant sex trafficking.

KYLE GRILLOT/AFP via Getty Images

If you were struck by the dubiousness of California’s 10 million-plus registered Democrats suddenly being swayed by this argument, keep this in mind: Many QAnon believers think California is majority Republican. In the weeks after the 2020 presidential election, QAnon discourse was full of baseless assertions that Trump won California; in reality, Biden received 11 million votes to Trump’s 6 million.

In an attempt to sow the seeds of this “rigged” election narrative, one popular QAnon forum has been filled with stories pushing California election misinformation. One highly upvoted story in recent days was headlined: “Gov. Gavin Newsom warns Californians: ‘You will all die of COVID if I’m recalled.’” Although this is written as a direct quote, Newsom never said this. 


Another story gaining fast traction is from Los Angeles TV station KTLA. “San Fernando Valley residents have trouble casting recall ballots” quotes only one 88-year-old voter as having issues at her polling place. When she raised the problem to poll workers, she was given a provisional ballot and allowed to cast her vote.

Nonetheless, the story is being parroted across the far-right ecosystem as proof Republicans are being prevented from voting in the recall. Along with there being no evidence that only Republicans encountered issues with the single San Fernando Valley polling place in question, the story clearly states the woman did end up casting a ballot.

Trying to invalidate a Newsom victory before results even roll in isn’t just happening on the fringes, however. Republican recall frontrunner Larry Elder has ramped up talk of a “rigged” election in the last week, coinciding with polls turning decidedly in favor of Newsom keeping his job. On Elder’s website, there’s a prominent button on the homepage that says “STOP FRAUD” that takes you to a site where you can self-submit alleged instances of voter fraud. The site also has a red button asking for donations.

There’s no indication that any legitimate instances have been found. Even one anon posting to a QAnon forum admitted as such. “I am working in the election,” the person wrote. “So far, I have not spotted any physical fraud. In my county, most workers are trying their best. But, I am very suspicious of [voting machine company] Dominion.”

Despite their lofty talk, it seems not all Q believers are convinced Newsom’s recall will usher in the glorious return of their preferred president.

“So now we need a 3rd time??? We have Nov 3rd…. we have the Georgia Senate runoffs…. now we need California,” one poster recently fretted on a QAnon forum. “Is there a point that around here the question can be raised……. i’m not sure patriots are in control…… are we the sheep???

“I don’t think so but I mean are we the sheep for letting this go on? Are we the ones being gaslit?”

Source Article from https://www.sfgate.com/gavin-newsom-recall/article/QAnon-conspiracies-california-governor-recall-16455748.php

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House Democrats take step back from Biden on tax hikes | TheHill – The Hill
House Democrats take step back from Biden on tax hikes | TheHill – The Hill

House Democrats on Monday released tax-increase legislation that scales back some of President BidenJoe BidenSocial media making political polarization worse: report Biden and UK’s Johnson to meet for talks this month: report Toyota, Honda knock union-made EV incentive in Dems’ spending package MORE’s key proposals as they work to craft a massive social spending package that can get the votes to become law.

The bill text released Monday by the House Ways and Means Committee includes a variety of tax increases targeted at wealthy individuals and corporations in an effort to help pay for $3.5 trillion in spending and tax cuts in areas such as child care, climate and health care. 

But in many ways it is not as aggressive in raising taxes as Biden has proposed, prompting criticism from progressive groups.

“They have a once in a lifetime opportunity to address the egregious, unfair treatment that the wealthy get in the tax code, and the committee has refused to do it,” said Erica Payne, president and founder of the Patriotic Millionaires.

There are several areas where House Democrats’ proposal does not go as far in increasing taxes on corporations and the rich as Biden had proposed earlier this year.

The Ways and Means Committee would raise the corporate tax rate for income above $5 million from 21 percent to 26.5 percent, while Biden had called for a 28 percent corporate tax rate. 

The committee called for raising the top capital gains rate from 20 percent to 25 percent, while Biden proposed raising it further to match the top tax rate for wage income. And the committee’s bill does not include a proposal Biden offered to tax capital gains at death.

Additionally, the committee’s proposal limits but does not fully eliminate the carried interest tax break benefiting investment fund managers, while Biden would eliminate the preference. And the committee’s proposal would not increase a minimum tax on U.S. corporations’ foreign earnings by as much as Biden would.

House Democrats released their bill months after Biden offered his proposals, and their measure appears to take into account some of the criticism from moderate Democrats about the president’s plans. Biden’s proposals on the corporate tax rate, capital gains and international tax changes have all drawn concerns from moderates.

There are also places where the committee’s bill matches Biden’s plan or goes beyond its scope. For example, Biden proposed raising the top individual tax rate from 37 percent to 39.6 percent. The Ways and Means Committee does this and also would impose a 3 percent surtax on individuals’ income above $5 million. Both Biden and the Ways and Means Committee also proposed providing the IRS with an additional $80 billion to strengthen tax enforcement and update technology.

Committee Chairman Richard NealRichard Edmund NealHouse Democrats eye 26.5 percent corporate tax rate Democrats see .5T spending goal is slipping away House panel puts forth solar, environmental justice tax credits MORE (D-Mass.) said in a statement Monday that his panel is “responsibly funding” their spending plans.

White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-PierreKarine Jean-PierreAbortion rights groups want Biden to use bully pulpit after Texas law The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented by AT&T – Biden to outline plan to boost economy, fight delta White House voices frustrations over pandemic media coverage MORE on Monday called the legislation a “first step.” She said it advances Biden’s goals of cutting taxes for families, repealing former President TrumpDonald TrumpHouse Democrats eye 26.5 percent corporate tax rate Iran accepts deal on nuclear monitoring, avoids censure Old South vs. the new America: What Confederate monuments say about us MORE’s tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations and not raising taxes on families making under $400,000.

Left-leaning groups were less positive.

Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said the committee’s proposal would be a “huge improvement” over the current tax code. But he also said that a lot of the income of very wealthy people would not be taxed at all, because the committee didn’t adopt Biden’s proposal to tax capital gains at death or take similar action.

“The Ways and Means proposal does not go as far as the president in many regards, and it would leave some huge problems in the tax code,” he said.

Senate Democrats have been working on their own tax proposals and could end up taking a different approach on capital gains than their House counterparts. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron WydenRonald (Ron) Lee WydenHouse Democrats eye 26.5 percent corporate tax rate Overnight Health Care — Biden defends push for vaccine mandates On The Money — The Democratic divide on taxes MORE (D-Ore.) said Monday that he is making it a priority to ensure that wealthy heirs pay taxes on investment gains.

“It’s important to address the fact that billionaire heirs may never pay tax on billions in stock gains,” Wyden said in a statement.

Groups are also urging the Ways and Means Committee to go further in increasing the rate of a U.S. minimum tax on corporations’ foreign earnings in order to close the gap between the rates that companies pay on their domestic and foreign profits. The committee has proposed a rate of about 16.5 percent, compared to the administration’s proposed 21 percent rate.

“The Ways and Means draft missed the opportunity to narrow the differential between domestic and foreign profits,” said Ryan Gurule, policy director of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition, whose membership includes many progressive organizations. “Equalizing these rates increases incentives to invest in the United States.”

While progressives are arguing that House Democrats aren’t going far enough in raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, the business community and conservatives are attacking the Ways and Means Committee bill from the opposite angle, arguing that the corporate tax increase would hurt the U.S. economy.

“Any increase in America’s globally competitive corporate rate would position our country even further behind global competitors like China — and carry devastating consequences for American workers,” a group of businesses and industry groups called the RATE Coalition said in a statement.

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the Ways and Means Committee’s section focused on tax increases would raise nearly $2.1 trillion over 10 years. That estimate does not take into account the IRS funding provision. The Congressional Budget Office previously estimated that Biden’s similar IRS proposal would raise about $200 billion.

A document outlining the Ways and Means Committee’s plans that was circulated on Sunday said that Democrats would cover the cost of the remainder of the $3.5 trillion in spending through savings from drug-pricing changes and through economic growth generated by their spending package.

It remains to be seen how the tax proposals change as the spending package moves through Congress. Nearly every House Democrat, and every Senate Democrat, will need to vote for the spending bill for it to pass, meaning small groups of lawmakers have the ability to influence the legislation.

One change that Democrats are planning to make to the bill is to add some type of change to the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction — a limit that is strongly disliked by many lawmakers in high-tax states such as New York, New Jersey and California. But undoing the SALT cap is expensive, so lawmakers may need to find ways to raise additional revenue to offset the cost of any changes to the deduction limit.

“If the intent is to add SALT relief into this package, they are clearly going to need to raise a lot more revenue because they surely can’t cut the investments,” said Frank Clemente, executive director of the progressive group Americans for Tax Fairness. 

Source Article from https://thehill.com/policy/finance/572043-house-democrats-take-step-back-from-biden-on-tax-hikes

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Nicholas Becomes a Hurricane, Nearing Landfall Along Texas Coast | The Weather Channel – Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com – The Weather Channel
Nicholas Becomes a Hurricane, Nearing Landfall Along Texas Coast | The Weather Channel – Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com – The Weather Channel
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Idaho lumber company says ‘no record’ of Biden claim they gave him his ‘first job offer’ – Fox News
Idaho lumber company says ‘no record’ of Biden claim they gave him his ‘first job offer’ – Fox News
Video

Biden faces growing outrage after vaccine mandate, Afghanistan withdrawal

‘Outnumbered’ panel discusses President Biden’s performance in office.

An Idaho lumber company claimed there is no record to back up President Joe Biden‘s claim on Monday that it gave him his “first job offer” during the Vietnam War.

While speaking at a roundtable in Boise, Idaho, where he was briefed on the efforts against the wildfires by federal and state fire officials at the National Interagency Fire Center, Biden said he and his deceased former wife had once intended to move to Idaho because it is such a beautiful state.

He also said he used to discuss with former Sen. Frank Church, a Democrat from Idaho, how he had been offered a job at the Boise Cascade Company, a manufacturer of wood products and wholesale distributor of building materials.

“I used to tell Frank Church this, I got a — my first job offer, where I wanted — my wife, deceased wife and I wanted to move to Idaho because we — not a joke — it’s such a beautiful, beautiful state. And I interviewed for a job at Boise Cascade,” Biden said.

“And in the meantime, there was a war going on. Anyway. But the whole point was that I used to always kid Frank,” Biden added.

Lisa Tschampl, a spokeswoman for Boise Cascade, told the New York Post that no evidence exists to back up Biden’s claim of being offered a job at their company.

“We have no record of President Biden’s application or of him having worked for the company,” Tschampl said, adding that “we checked our system internally and nothing has turned up.”

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The spokeswoman added that it could be possible that records could have been lost when the company shed some of its other projects in past decades to focus on lumber.

Biden, who has a history of plagiarism and telling false stories, made headlines earlier this month when he incorrectly claimed to have visited the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh following the shooting there in 2019.

Source Article from https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bidens-claim-to-have-received-first-job-offer-from-idaho-lumber-company

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Who will be impacted by federal vaccine mandates in eastern Idaho? – East Idaho News
Who will be impacted by federal vaccine mandates in eastern Idaho? – East Idaho News

IDAHO FALLS — President Joe Biden’s new national COVID-19 vaccine mandates will mean changes for some eastern Idaho employees.

Biden’s order mandates vaccines for everyone at businesses employing more than 100 workers. As an alternative, workers will be able to show a negative result from a COVID-19 test at least once a week. Federal employees and their contractors won’t have the choice to get tested. Based on an executive order, those employees will have to get vaccinated or face losing their jobs.

RELATED | New rule mandates all employers with over 100 workers require vaccinations or weekly tests

The biggest impact in eastern Idaho will likely be felt at Idaho National Laboratory, which employs thousands of federal workers and contractors.

“Consistent with the administration’s Sept. 9 executive order, beginning Nov. 19, Idaho National Laboratory will require all staff members and many of its subcontractors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” INL Director John Wagner said in a statement. “This decision reflects our core value of safety. It reflects our desire to protect vulnerable populations. As a leader in the state of Idaho and a national laboratory that changes the world through great science, it reflects our willingness to use the best scientific data available to protect our staff and achieve our missions.”

The Idaho National Laboratory employs about 5,200 people. INL spokeswoman Sarah Neumann said 69% of the employees are already vaccinated against COVID-19.

Not everyone at the lab was happy with that stance. A large number of INL employees and its contract workers met Thursday night at Community Park in Idaho Falls to sign a petition against the new mandate.

“There (are) multiple reasons for not wanting to get the vaccine, all of them are legitimate,” said Nicholas Christiansen, an INL employee who organized the petition. “There are multiple reasons for getting the vaccine and all of them are legitimate. What it boils down to is nobody has the right to tell you what you have to put into your body and that should never be a condition of employment.”

As of Monday afternoon, the petition had gathered about 385 signatures and Christiansen said more were coming in by the hour.

“We acknowledge the executive order and the constraints that BEA and INL face because of it,” Christensen said. “We believe these mandates to be unconstitutional and an egregious overreach by the executive branch of government. We are asking INL management to delay implementation of the executive order until such time as it is reviewed for constitutionality by a federal judge and to engage with employees in productive forums to find alternatives to vaccination.”

It’s not just the Idaho National Laboratory that is faced with mandated vaccines. For private companies employing more than 100 workers, Biden said the mandates will come through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It is not yet fully clear as to what the ramifications from OSHA will be, but The National Law Review reports officials could fine $13,653 per violation, the maximum established by law.

EastIdahoNews.com reached out to several local employers with over 100 employees but none returned requests for comment.

Biden’s directives also said if hospitals want to treat patients on Medicare and Medicaid, all healthcare workers at the facilities must be vaccinated. Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Coleen Niemann said as of now the hospital does not require employees to get vaccinated, but it is highly encouraged. Niemann said she was not sure how Biden’s order will impact the hospital’s policy.

OSHA jurisdiction does not extend to Idaho and local government employees unlike 22 other states with OSHA-approved State Plans.

Idaho Falls city spokesman Bud Cranor said the city is evaluating what President Biden’s announcement means for city employees. Cranor said city attorneys are reviewing the matter and looking to seek guidance from the Idaho state government.

RELATED | Idaho Gov. Brad Little ‘exploring’ lawsuit against President Biden’s vaccine mandate

Gov. Brad Little has been outspoken against Biden’s executive orders and mandates. Little said he believes government should stay out of decisions involving employers and employees as much as possible.

“The State of Idaho is exploring legal action to stop President Biden’s unprecedented government overreach into the private sector with his new COVID-19 plan,” Little said in a news release. “I am working closely with my legal counsel and Attorney General Lawrence Wasden on legal options to protect the rights of business owners and their employees.”

A spokesman for Wasden’s office declined to comment on Monday.

RELATED | Idaho enacts crisis hospital care standards amid COVID surge

While Idaho has faced opposition to vaccines and other COVID-19 measures since the start of the pandemic, the population has not been immune to the virus. The Associated Press reported last week “crisis standards of care” have been implemented for the Gem State’s northern hospitals. Crisis Standards of care come when there are more coronavirus patients than medical providers can handle.

“We have reached an unprecedented and unwanted point in the history of our state,” Little said in an Idaho Department of Health and Welfare news release. “We have taken so many steps to avoid getting here, but yet again we need to ask more Idahoans to choose to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. More Idahoans need to choose to receive the vaccine so we can minimize the spread of the disease and reduce the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, many of which involve younger Idahoans and are preventable with safe and effective vaccines.”

Between the Eastern Idaho Public Health and Southeastern Public Health district, the IDHW reports 47% of those 12 years old and older have been fully vaccinated. An additional 6% of the population has received just one dose of the two-dose vaccines.

Source Article from https://www.eastidahonews.com/2021/09/who-will-be-impacted-by-federal-vaccine-mandates-in-eastern-idaho/

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