The Washington Football Team Name will be officially Dropped. What new name would you like to see? – PoPville

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The most popular replacement names Ive seen are Redtails, Red Wolves, Red Hawks, Red Pandas, Monuments and Warriors. Mark me for team Redtails.

Statement From The Washington Football Team:

On July 3rd, we announced the commencement of a thorough review of the teams name. That review has begun in earnest. As part of this process, we want to keep our sponsors, fans and community apprised of our thinking as we go forward.

Today, we are announcing we will be retiring the Redskins name and logo upon completion of this review.

Dan Snyder and Coach Rivera are working closely to develop a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud, tradition rich franchise and inspire our sponsors, fans and community for the next 100 years.

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The Washington Football Team Name will be officially Dropped. What new name would you like to see? - PoPville

Fashion hits and misses from celebs born in July | Gallery – Wonderwall

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By Wonderwall.com Editors 5:15am PDT, Jul 14, 2020

Wonderwall.comis rounding up the best and worst fashion from our favorite celebrities who were born in July, starting with this Australian actress. Margot Robbie, who celebrates her birthday on July 2 every year, wore this dramatic black gown by Dries Van Noten to the "Birds of Prey" London premiere in 2020. While the elements on their own may work, together, the gown looks peculiar. From the asymmetrical feathery sash and exposed bra to the structured skirt and fuchsia opera gloves, the whole look while ambitious was too busy. Next, let's take a look at one of Margot's best looks

RELATED: Fashion hits and misses from the 2020 awards season

Margot Robbie stunned at the "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" premiere in London in 2019. The star, who played late actress Sharon Tate in the film, was a vision in a burnt orange gown by Oscar De La Renta. While the color alone was absolutely breathtaking, the plunging neckline, scarf detail and delicately pleated chiffon fabric elevated the already ethereal look!

RELATED: Fashion hits and misses from celebs born in June

While Jennifer Lopez, who celebrates her birthday on July 26, has been known to wear plenty of show-stopping looks, this particular dress was a major miss. At the 2020 Golden Globe Awards, the "Hustlers" star wore a custom Valentino gown embellished with a huge green-and-gold statement bow. Some fans on Twitter compared J.Lo to a boldly wrapped Christmas present. Thankfully, she stepped up her sartorial game a few days later

RELATED: Fashion hits and misses from celebs born in May

It's hard to believe both of these J.Lo looks are from the same awards season! Just two weeks after the 2020 Golden Globes, Jennifer Lopez arrived at the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards in a sleek, off-the-shoulder black gown by Georges Hobeika a major improvement! The sultry silhouette was incredibly flattering on the stylish star, who completed her Old Hollywood glam look with $9 million in Harry Winston jewels including a 73.55-carat diamond necklace. This look, while simple, exuded elegance.

Selena Gomez, who blows out candles on her birthday cake every July 22, has evolved into a style star over the last few years. At the 2015 InStyle Awards, however, the "Rare" singer sported head-to-toe Louis Vuitton and looked lackluster at best. Her black mesh top with an exposed bra underneath, coupled with a puffy white miniskirt, made for a forgettable ensemble. Luckily, the talented actress-singer made up for this fashion mishap

Selena Gomez hit the red carpet at the 2019 American Music Awards in this gorgeous acid green Versace minidress complete with gold hardware and a flattering ruffle detail along the side. The "Lose You to Love Me" singer completed the statement look with layered diamond choker necklaces and matching pumps.

While Sandra Bullock is usually among Hollywood's best dressed celebrities, she's had a few fashion misses in her day like this look. At the 2015 Crystal + Lucy Awards, the Oscar winner wore a disappointing dark-hued number by Monique Lhuillier that featured a one-shoulder detail with a sparkly midnight blue bodice and dark purple patterned skirt. Even with those great black gladiator heels, this one was a miss for us. Thankfully, Sandra who celebrates her birthday on July 26 made some modifications to her style

Glitz and glam! At the "Ocean's 8" premiere in London in 2018, Sandra Bullock hit the red carpet in a winning look a long-sleeved jumpsuit by Zuhair Murad featuring culottes. From the multicolored stripes and sequins to the plunging neckline, Sandra looked like a disco darling! Combined with her effortless, tousled locks and a simple pair of ankle-strap stilettos, she was the epitome of classy but cool.

Before we praise Priyanka Chopra for her most breathtaking number, we need to talk about this ill-fitting ensemble she sported at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. While we're all for a good oversized sweater, this one was disastrous. The random patches of red and yellow fringe coupled with the loose strings hanging from the sleeves made for a really messy look. She paired the sweater with a peculiar knee-length skirt and black heeled booties. Luckily, the A-lister who celebrates her birthday on July 18 has definitely made up for this fashion miss

Priyanka Chopra stunned in this pink gown by Cristina Ottaviano at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards. The flattering garment featured ruched detailing and an off-the-shoulder neckline. The "Isn't It Romantic" star finished her red carpet look with glitzy Bulgari jewels, including a necklace crafted from more than 56 carats of diamonds.

Sandra Oh who celebrates her birthday on July 20 every year attended the BAFTA Los Angeles and BBC America TV Tea Party in 2018 in this patchwork-inspired dress by Duro Olowu. While the eclectic midi-length dress is gorgeously crafted, the stiff skirt made it look more boxy than flattering. The "Killing Eve" star is known for her show-stopping red carpet numbers, and while this one might have worked in theory, it wasn't our favorite. Next, let's see one of the Canadian star's most stunning looks

At the BAFTA Los Angeles and BBC America TV Tea Party in 2019, Sandra Oh stunned in a different look byDuro Olowu, the same designer she wore at the previous year's event. And this time, it was an undebatable hit. From the metallic print to the perfect fit, the frock flattered the former "Grey's Anatomy" star in every way. Keeping her accessories simple, Sandra finished the evening look with peep-toe heels by Pierre Hardy and earrings by Nina Runsdorf.

Listen, we're all for a daring look, but this one was a letdown. Kristen Bell attended the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards in knitted black dress by Julien Macdonald. The ring detailing down the bodice added a futuristic-looking touch, but the mixed materials dress was too busy for our liking. Luckily, the "Good Place" star who celebrates her birthday on July 18 delivered one of her most stunning red carpet looks to date that same year

Sometimes less really is more! Kristen Bell hit the 2018 Emmy Awards red carpet in this breathtaking gown by Solace London. The floor-length dress, which featured a rectangular neckline, was minimalism at its absolute finest.

Sophia Bush, who celebrates her birthday on July 8, attended Entertainment Weekly's SAG Awards Nominees Celebration in 2018 in this bright yellow midi-length dress by Diane Von Furstenberg. While there are elements of this garment that work well on their own the standout color, the statement belt cinched at the waist, the sultry lace fabric, the figure-hugging black slip altogether, it looks rather odd. Next up? One of Sophia's most elegant looks

Could she look more angelic? At the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Sophia Bush was a sartorial princess in this ethereal gown by Monique Lhuillier. The subtle polka-dot pattern, the layers of tulle, the cape overlay it's hard to pinpoint our favorite detail of this stunning garment! The "One Tree Hill" star completed the dreamy look with simple jewelry by Jacob & Co. and an updo with a complementary black headband.

Even the most sartorially inclined stars make mistakes. In 2016, Olivia Munn, who blows out candles on her birthday cake every July 3, wore this unconventional gown by J. Mendel to the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. The dramatic slit and cut-outs around the bodice were details that amped up the sultriness of an otherwise unexciting garment. But this piece, while experimental, was a letdown compared to the Stella McCartney gown she wore to the Oscars ceremony hours earlier. Now, let's take a look at one of Olivia's better looks

At the Los Angeles premiere of Starz's "The Rook" in 2019, "Love Wedding Repeat" star Olivia Munn wore this stunning gown by Galvan Phoebe. The champagne-hued dress, which was embellished with sequins and featured a bustier bodice, was the perfect balance of simple and sultry.

In 2019, Sofia Vergara, who celebrates her birthday on July 10 every year, attended the Los Angeles premiere of "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" in this number by Dolce & Gabbana. While the shin-length dress featuring eyelet detailing hugged every curve, it still didn't seem to fit quite right. Unfortunately, this one was a fashion miss for us. Next up? One of Sofia's best red carpet moments

Former "Modern Family" star Sofia Vergara turned heads at the 2015 SAG Awards in this one-shouldered, figure-hugging gown by Donna Karan Atelier. The fiery red hue, floor-length silk and fine corset boning were elements of the garment we absolutely adored!

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Fashion hits and misses from celebs born in July | Gallery - Wonderwall

Donald Trump just can’t land a punch on Joe Biden – CNN

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The President, trailing in his reelection race as time ticks away, is trying everything to lure the presumptive Democratic nominee into a fight. His team taunts Biden for hiding in his basement during lockdown, and blast the 77-year-old as senile while Trump, 74, boasts about acing cognitive tests. Republicans claim Biden is China's pocket and accuse him of leading (or being led) by leftist anarchists, as Trump stokes a backlash against Black Lives Matter. And now that Trump has finally worn a mask, his flacks say he carries it off better than Biden, who's had one for weeks.Presidents seeking reelection must disqualify their rival as a potential replacement in the Oval Office. In 2012, Barack Obama's team went after Mitt Romney early and hard -- ruthlessly framing him as a heartless vulture capitalist -- an image the Republican later exacerbated with his own errors. George W. Bush eviscerated Democrat John Kerry as a ditherer, while allies shredded the Democrat's record as a Vietnam War hero, raising doubts about whether he was tough to lead a traumatized wartime nation only three years after 9/11.

But in the 2020 race, nothing seems to be sticking. Trump's mocking nickname for his foe -- "Sleepy Joe" -- is not cutting through like "Crooked Hillary," "Low Energy Jeb" and "Little Marco" did for rivals in 2016. And with Biden laying low, Trump is not getting the chance to weaken him: He needs the former vice president on TV all the time, making his signature verbal gaffes and stumbling into mistakes under the pressure.

A tale of two magic kingdoms

The jilted doctor

'50 years from now, people are going to be reflecting historically on this'

On Monday, speaking during a webinar with the Stanford School of Medicine, Dr. Anthony Fauci called the global coronavirus pandemic an epidemiologist's "worst nightmare." "One thinks about the worst nightmare of an infectious disease person who's interested in global health and outbreaks -- is the combination of a new microbe that has [a] spectacular ... degree of capability of transmitting, and also has a considerable degree of morbidity and mortality -- and here it is, it's happened," he said. "I think 50 years from now, people are going to be reflecting historically on this, the way we used to reflect on the 1918 outbreak," he said.

Speaking of phased reopenings...

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Donald Trump just can't land a punch on Joe Biden - CNN

A message for President Donald Trump from his niece: ‘Resign’ – ABC News

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July 14, 2020, 10:03 PM

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Speaking about her influential uncle for the first time since the publication of her explosive new book, Mary Trump -- President Donald Trumps niece -- on Tuesday called on the president to step down.

"If you're in the Oval Office today, what would you say to him?" ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos asked her in an exclusive interview.

"Resign," Mary Trump responded.

She said that, after being perverted by the familys deep-seated issues," her uncle was destined to become a man utterly incapable of leading this country, and its dangerous to allow him to do so.

I saw firsthand what focusing on the wrong things, elevating the wrong people can do the collateral damage that can be created by allowing somebody to live their lives without accountability, she said. And it is striking to see that continuing now on a much grander scale.

The cover art for the book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man," left, and a portrait of author Mary L. Trump, Ph.D. The book, written by the niece of President Donald J. Trump, was originally set for release on July 28, but will now arrive on July 14.

Mary Trump recalled visiting with her uncle in the Oval Office three months after he was inaugurated.

"He already seemed very strained by the pressures ... and I just remember thinking, 'He seems tired. He seems like this is not what he signed up for,'" she said.

Tuesdays exclusive interview with ABC News, to air on "World News Tonight With David Muir" and more on "Good Morning America" Wednesday, comes on the same day that Simon & Schuster is releasing her much-anticipated book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man."

The book presents a scathing depiction of the sitting president, largely drawing, Mary Trump says, from the authors own memories, conversations with family members, and legal, financial and family documents.

Mary Trumps uncle Robert, the presidents younger brother, unsuccessfully urged a court to block the books release. And another legal effort by Robert Trump to block Mary Trump from publicly promoting the new book also failed, with a New York judge ruling Monday that she was free to speak publicly.

In Tuesdays interview, Mary Trump doubled-down on the claim in her book that Donald Trumps father her grandfather was a sociopath.

He was incredibly driven in a way that turned other people, including his children [and] wife, into pawns to be used to his own ends, Mary Trump said. Its impossible to know who Donald might have been under different circumstances and with different parents. But clearly he learned the lesson.

According to Mary Trumps account, tensions within the family reached a boiling point in 1999, after her grandfather died and she learned that he had essentially cut her and her brother out of his will. When she and her brother then filed a lawsuit, the rest of the family sought to cause us more pain and make us more desperate," ending the medical insurance they had always received through their grandfathers company, Mary Trump wrote.

They eventually reached a settlement, but on Tuesday she described the settlement as unfair.

Her own father, Fred Trump Jr., died in 1981. He was Donald Trumps eldest brother.

The White House on Tuesday referred ABC News to its previous statements about the book. The White House previously said: "Mary Trump and her books publisher may claim to be acting in the public interest, but this book is clearly in the authors own financial self-interest."

"President Trump has been in office for over three years working on behalf of the American people why speak out now? The President describes the relationship he had with his father as warm and said his father was very good to him. He said his father was loving and not at all hard on him as a child," the statement continued.

ABC News Lucien Bruggeman, Nadine Shubailat and John Santucci contributed to this report.

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A message for President Donald Trump from his niece: 'Resign' - ABC News

John Bolton and Mary Trump Seem to Agree on One Thing: Donald Trump Should Not Be in the White House – Vogue

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Mary, on the other hand, gives us an early glimpse that the adult Donald is no more dedicated a reader than he was when he was younger and allegedly paid someone else to take his SAT exams for him. As someone who has written books for Random house, I particularly enjoyed the scene when Trumps Random House editor takes her out to lunch to fire her as her uncle's underpaid ghostwriter, and the following exchange occurs.

Donald told me he likes what Ive done so far, I said. The editor looked at me as if Id just proven his point for him. Donald hasnt read any of it, he said.

Mary is relieved to be fired, Bolton expresses a similar sentiment as he hands in his resignation letter. Its like the only thing worse than being fired by the guy with the youre fired catch phrase is having to work for him.

The fundamental patheticness of the guy who pretended to be his own press secretary, the tacky guy with showy hotels begging the world to love him is in full display in both books. Bolton talks about how Trump would "in effect, give personal favors to dictators he liked, in order to further curry favor with them. For Trump the difference between a fascist dictator and a celebrity he wanted to befriend was nothing at all.

Here is how Mary describes her uncle: Besides being driven around Manhattan by a chauffeur whose salary his fathers company paid, in a Cadillac his fathers company leased to 'scope out properties,' Donald's job description seemed to have included lying about his 'accomplishments' and allegedly refusing to rent apartments to black people.

Both books show a president with no moral compass, in Boltons massive opus of self-justification, he chronicles President Trump encouraging President Xi of china to build concentration camps "According to our interpreter," Mr. Bolton wrote, "Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps, which Trump thought was exactly the right thing to do." Yes, Bolton alleges that Trump signed off on the concentration camps and hoped that Xi would help him with his reelection.

Mary Trump notes that His pathologies have rendered him so simple-minded that it takes nothing more than repeating to him the things he say to and about himself dozens of times a dayhe's the smartest, the greatest, the bestto get him him to do whatever they want, whether it imprisoning children in concentration camps, betraying allies, implementing economy-crushing tax cuts, or degrading every instruction thats contributed to the united states rise and flourishing of liberal democracy.

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John Bolton and Mary Trump Seem to Agree on One Thing: Donald Trump Should Not Be in the White House - Vogue

Donald Trump wears mask in public for first time as it happened – The Guardian

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A long-expected upturn in US coronavirus deaths has begun, driven by fatalities in states in the south and west, where cases have been surging calamitously, according to data on the pandemic.

The number of deaths per day from the virus had been falling in May and June and even remained down as states like Florida and Texas saw explosions in cases and hospitalizations and reported daily US infections broke records several times in recent days, the Associated Press reports.

Scientists warned it wouldnt last. A coronavirus death, when it occurs, typically comes several weeks after a person is first infected. And experts predicted states that saw increases in cases and hospitalizations would, at some point, see deaths rise too.

Now thats happening. Its consistently picking up. And its picking up at the time youd expect it to, said William Hanage, a Harvard University infectious diseases researcher.

According to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day rolling average for daily reported deaths in the US has increased from 578 two weeks ago to 664 on July 10, though still well below the heights hit in April.

Daily reported deaths increased in 27 states over that time period, but the majority of those states are averaging under 15 new deaths per day. A smaller group of states has been driving the nationwide increase in deaths.

California is averaging 91 reported deaths per day while Texas is close behind with 66, but Florida, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey and South Carolina also saw sizable rises.

New Jerseys recent jump is thought to be partially attributable to its less frequent reporting of probable deaths.

The impact has already been felt by families who lost kin and by the health care workers who tried to save them.

Rublas Ruiz, a Miami intensive care unit nurse, recently broke down in tears during a birthday dinner with his wife and daughter. He said he was overcome by the number of patients who have died in his care.

I counted like 10 patients in less than four days in our ICU and then I stopped doing that because there were so many, said the 41-year-old nurse at Kendall Regional Medical Center who lost another patient Monday.

The virus has killed more than 134,000 people in the US and more than a half-million worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, one of the most reliable trackers of the pandemic, though the true numbers are believed to be higher because a lack of official reporting of deaths or misclassification of cause of death by authorities.

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Donald Trump wears mask in public for first time as it happened - The Guardian

Donald Trump visited the golf course for the 275th time as President – Golf News Net

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Donald Trump arrived to Trump National Golf Club in northern Virginia on July 11, representing the 273rd time the 45th President has visited one of his 17 golf clubs (and, for most of them, presumably played some golf) since becoming President on Jan. 20, 2017. He has now paid 275 visits to any golf course as President.

Trump has arrived to his Washington, D.C.-area golf club on Saturday morning. He is playing golf after cancelling a planned rally in New Hampshire, with reports of likely poor attendance.

Trump prefers to play golf in the mornings, while the Secret Service follows around Trump in golf carts that, so far, have cost American taxpayers nearly $765,000 to use. Trump claims to have a USGA handicap index under 5, but he is thought to have a vanity handicap that makes him seem better at the sport than he is.

The Secret Service has spent over $950,000 to stay overnight at Trump-owned properties, including his New Jersey country club.

RELATED: Why how often Trump plays golf matters

Trump ended 2017 with 91 golf course visits and was just shy of 100 visits in Year 1 as President. In his second year as President, Trump played golf 76 times. In his third year, he played golf 91 times. All but two rounds of golf has been at his clubs, playing once in Japan in Nov. 2017 with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and Japanese star pro Hideki Matsuyama, then playing with Abe again in May 2019.

FOLLOW Trump Golf Tally on Facebook and Twitter

The White House doesn't typically acknowledge Trump was even playing golf. That is commonplace policy, particularly when Trump isn't playing with celebrities or pro golfers or doesn't have something to flaunt. Typically, the White House press pool indicates when Trump arrives at his golf clubs, then they are held in a holding location until Trump is done and moves to his next location.

However, if he's going to the golf club for about 4-5 hours, you can be pretty sure he's playing golf. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden has asked the White House to provide the names of Trump's golf partners, as well for his clubs to provide visitor logs to get a sense of when Trump has played golf and with whom.

The President is certainly entitled to some leisure time, and golf has been an outlet for most Commanders-in-Chief dating back to the early 20th century. However, the reluctance to even acknowledge that this President plays golf conflicts with his almost relentless criticism of his predecessor, Barack Obama, who played an estimated 333 rounds of golf as President.

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Donald Trump visited the golf course for the 275th time as President - Golf News Net

Commentary: Recognize the progress of high speed rail project and drop the term ‘boondoggle’ – CALmatters

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In summary

Someday Californias high-speed rail system will be regarded like the Golden Gate Bridge, as an icon, and BART, which has helped reduce Bay Area traffic.

State Sen. Jim Beall, a Democrat from San Jose, represents the 15th Senate District, senator.beall@senate.ca.gov. He is chair of the Transportation Committee.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, represents the 11th Senate District, senator.wiener@senate.ca.gov. He is chair of the Housing Committee.

Californias High-Speed Rail project is under fire again, but history shows us that major infrastructure projects are almost always controversial.

Keep tabs on the latest California policy and politics news

Before it was built, the Golden Gate Bridge was derided as financially unsound, legally dubious and an aesthetic blight. BART was deemed the ultimate money drain. Today opponents of the high-speed rail shorthand their objections: boondoggle.

Mega-infrastructure projects are hard. The bigger the project, the harder it gets. And California hasnt tackled an infrastructure project as big or as bold as high-speed rail since the building of our state highway system more than 50 years ago.

Yet despite all the handwringing, the political infighting, the calls to cancel the project and redirect funds, progress marches steadily forward. The High-Speed Rail Authority is systematically and transparently working its way through full environmental clearance for the entire statewide system by the end of 2022 so that as continued funding becomes available, the state is ready to build.

Whats not reported often is that this project is undertaking the largest environmental clearance effort in the country. The authority continues to make steady progress on this effort, with a schedule that shows theyll meet the federally mandated 2022 deadline.

Construction of the high-speed rail system is fully underway at 32 job sites across several counties along the first 119 miles of the system. This stretch will be the heart of the system and the testing ground for the nations first electrified high-speed rail trains. As of this month, 4,000 men and women have been put to work on construction jobs in the Central Valley because of the high-speed rail project. Rather than joining the swollen ranks of unemployed Californians, these men and women are providing for themselves and their families and helping build Californias future.

Here in the Bay Area, thanks to $700 million of investment from High-Speed Rail, Caltrain is already working on its part of the project: electrifying the peninsula corridor. Ultimately Caltrain will share tracks with high-speed rail trains for the ride between San Francisco and Gilroy. The High-Speed Rail Authority is also collaborating with local agencies to bring trains to the Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco and to reimagine the future of Diridon Station in San Jose.

This project is moving along, and contrary to recent reports, legislative oversight of the project has been consistent and ongoing. The California state Senate and Assembly each appoint members to sit on the authority board and receive regular updates on the authoritys plans and progress. The Legislature also holds final authority over release of bond funds, a major source of project funding.

Both sides of the aisle seem to agree that infrastructure projects are essential. Both sides agree that we need jobs. Yet somehow this infrastructure project, which is not only creating jobs but also connecting the major economic regions of our state while tackling climate change, traffic and affordable housing continues to remain controversial. The time is now to move forward on bringing this critical investment into reality.

These days the Golden Gate Bridge is an iconic symbol of San Francisco. And its hard to imagine what Bay Area traffic would look like without BART. Someday high-speed rail will hold a similar place in Californias economy and vitality.

We can build things in California. It takes persistence, patience, political will, long-term vision and thoughtful public discourse. And it would help if we can all agree to drop the term boondoggle and start recognizing the progress thats happening right in our home state.

As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on the generosity of Californians like you to cover the issues that matter. If you value our reporting, support our journalism with a donation.

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Commentary: Recognize the progress of high speed rail project and drop the term 'boondoggle' - CALmatters

People’s Assembly on Police Reform Reveals Civil Review Board in Progress – Jackson Free Press

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Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba at the Jackson People's Assembly meeting pushed the need for community involvement in the City of Jacksons decision-making process. File Photo by Stephen Wilson

Efforts to reform Jackson policing will include increasing investment in community alternatives to policing, members of the City's criminal-justice task force told participants at the Jackson's People's Assembly virtual forum last week. These alternatives include mental health support, violence prevention and youth programs.

More than 80 Jackson residents joined the Zoom on Saturday as the task force talked about progress including actively referring all cases of officers involved in civilian deaths to the district attorney for investigation and grand jury review; releasing identities of officers involved in shootings; banning the release of mugshots of those police officers kill and banning 'perp walks' for juveniles.

A Civilian Review Board Ahead?

"We have expanded the task force to address police brutality, use of force policy, as well as working to implement a civilian review board," said C.J. Lawrence, a member of the task force and Lumumbas law partner before he became mayor. "(We are conducting) the research necessary to ensure that the review board is one that has legitimate power behind it, that is firm and is not entangled with the police, something that is independent from it in making its determinations."

He said the goal is to ensure that the civilian review board, which will look at cases of alleged police brutality, has appropriate legal power backing and is not entangled with the police in making its determination.

Lawrence said the task force recognizes the need to go even further than those efforts. "We are working diligently to really address policing and the consequences of excessive force and abuse of power here in Mississippi," Lawrence said.

Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba, who was on the Zoom conference, praised the participants for their commitment and contribution.

"This has been a necessary process for many years now. It started with my father when he sought to be a part of the city council and had continued since then," he told the participants in the virtual forum. "This is an independent body for democratizing power for the community; that is why we need your participation."

He encouraged participation in the budgetary process and informed about the constraints the City has because federal dollars are attached to specified ends.

Lumumba has drawn harsh criticism for doing too little to reduce police violence, or increase transparency around it.

Early in his term, the Jackson Free Press reported and editorialized on use of juvenile mugshots and perp walks, as well as the Citys practice of never releasing the names of most police officers who shoot or kill civilians. That reporting led to several executive orders, as well as almost a year of an officer-involved shooting task force to decide whether and when to name officers who shoot people. The task force included members of the JPD and eventually revealed names of unidentified multiple officers who shot people during Lumumbas first year and a half in office.

Effective civilian review boards, on the other hand, are designed to not include police officers. Currently, law enforcement investigates officers accused of violence or brutality, cases that are often not transparent and that bring little or no consequences.

A Call To Defund the Police

The Black Youth Project 100 took an abolitionist stance with regards to the police in a presentation during the assembly, calling for "trauma-informed response teams" and "mental health and family counseling to replace policing, and "wellness centers to replace incarceration.

A full archive of the JFP's "Preventing Violence" series, supported by grants from the Solutions Journalism Network. Photo of Zeakyy Harrington by Imani Khayyam.

To really 'fight crime,' we don't need more cops, we need more jobs, more educational opportunities, more art programs, more community centers, more mental health resources, and more of a say in how our own communities function, BYP100 argued in its presentation.

"And it's not just that police are ineffective in many communities, they are actively harmful. The history of policing is a history of violence against the marginalized," BYP100 noted. "And it's bigger than just police brutality: it's about how the prison industrial complex, the drug war, immigration law, the web of policy, law and culture that forms our criminal justice system have destroyed millions of lives and torn apart families."

"Cops don't prevent crimes; they cause it, through the ongoing violent disruptions of our communities," they added.

Email story tips to city/county reporter Kayode Crown at [emailprotected]. Follow him on Twitter at @kayodecrown.

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Platinum Games offers minor Babylon’s Fall update, says it’s "continuing to progress well" – Eurogamer.net

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Had previously promised "a full look" thissummer.

Babylon's Fall, the long-awaited and still relatively mysterious new offering from Bayonetta and Nier: Automata studio Platinum Games, is "continuing to progress well" according to the developer, but it doesn't sound like the previously promised "full look" is due any time soon.

Platinum originally announced Babylon's Fall, which is set to be published by Square Enix, back in June 2018, promising a Steam and PlayStation 4 release sometime the following year. However, 2019 managed to almost completely pass by without further word on the game, until a new trailer - painting Babylon's Fall as a sort of pyrotechnic, high-action Dark Souls - arrived in December. At the time, Platinum said to expect "a full look" in summer 2020.

And now, with summer finally here, further news about Babylon's Fall has indeed arrived, albeit not of the sort originally promised. In a new statement posted to Twitter, Platinum offered only a minor development update, writing, "While we hoped to reveal more about the game this summer, we can share that development on Babylon's Fall is continuing to progress well, with the team working safely from home".

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"Square Enix and Platinum Games are committed to delivering an exhilarating experience," the developer's statement concluded, "and we look forward to showcasing much more on Babylon's Fall to you as soon as we can".

Babylon's Fall is one of several games currently known to be in production at Platinum Games. Bayonetta 3, which is in development for Switch, was revealed back in 2017, while the mysterious Project G. G. was teased earlier this year.

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Platinum Games offers minor Babylon's Fall update, says it's "continuing to progress well" - Eurogamer.net

KDOL gives update on progress fixing ‘major issues and missteps’ – KSHB

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. The Kansas Department of Labor released an update on Tuesday about the progress being made to fix several internal problems amid an influx of unemployment claims due to COVID-19.

The department has been under fire for difficulty handling call volumes and errors in unemployment payments.

KDOL Secretary Delia Garcia resigned on June 22 amid the growing criticism of how the department was managing the COVID-19 pandemic numbers.

The department has been working with specialists from Accenture to resolve major issues.

We know there have been major issues and missteps, weve hit the reset button and are focusing on the future, Gov. Laura Kelly said in the update. Accenture is reviewing and providing recommendations to improve the stability of our systems to make sure they are readily available to support Kansans.

The Tuesday update stated that call center representatives trained in surge response have been added to the unemployment call center.

KDOL has also added seven more IT employees to help with the outdated coding language the department's system was built in. According to Accenture, it is one of the "most severe cases of outdated technology they have encountered."

According to the update, there is also a new online virtual agent named "Amelia" that can answer frequently asked unemployment questions.

The response model being implemented will be able to be scaled up as needed and there will be more trained agents and technology workarounds for the current computer system, KDOL Acting Secretary Ryan Wright said in the update. Our top priority is to get Kansans paid as quickly as possible and with good customer service.

Since the pandemic began, KDOL has delivered $1.2 billion in unemployment claims to nearly 200,000 Kansans, according to the update.

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KDOL gives update on progress fixing 'major issues and missteps' - KSHB

Pine River coach likes progress team is making – The Pioneer

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John Raffel, jraffel@pioneergroup.com

Pine River football coach Terry Martin supervises a conditioning session at his practice field last week. (Pioneer photo/John Raffel)

Pine River football coach Terry Martin supervises a conditioning session at his practice field last week. (Pioneer photo/John Raffel)

Pine River football coach Terry Martin supervises a conditioning session at his practice field last week. (Pioneer photo/John Raffel)

Pine River football coach Terry Martin supervises a conditioning session at his practice field last week. (Pioneer photo/John Raffel)

Pine River coach likes progress team is making

LEROY Pine Rivers Terry Martin is like a lot of football coaches, doing as much as he can under state guidelines when it comes to conditioning, and trying to get his team ready for the fall football season in case there is one.

Martin and his players were on the practice field late last week. It wont be until next week or later, when the MHSAA announces what its planning on for the fall season. The immediate future of football is expected to be determined at that time.

Were going Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays right now for an hour, Martin said last Thursday at a conditioning session at the Pine River practice field. In June, we went two days a week for three weeks and in July well go three days a week until the end of July. Its all high school players, nine through 12.

The Bucks had their first Thursday of conditioning with about 30 players. Its usually in the low 30s.

Mainly were doing conditioning and agilities, Martin said. At first, we thought this would be a hindrance and disappointing but its been really good. Weve been able to focus on a lot of footwork and technique. The coaches are setting up cones and things they can move around. Theres no contact. The quarterbacks throw the ball over the fence and then they have to go and get their own ball. Theres no sharing of equipment or anything like that.

Pine River is in the Grand Rapids region, just a few miles south of the Traverse City region. The GR region has more restrictions on athletic programs currently than the TC region.

Everyone to the north is a step ahead of us because theyre allowed to do some work, go inside and use the weight room in small groups, Martin said. At first, we thought this would be a drag, but its worked out.

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Pine River coach likes progress team is making - The Pioneer

Inslee halts counties’ ability to progress to next phase of reopening plan through at least July 28 – YakTriNews KAPP-KVEW

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July 14, 2020 2:54 PM

Erin Robinson

Posted: July 14, 2020 2:54 PM

OLYMPIA, Wash. Washington counties will be unable to advance to the next phase of the states reopening plan through at least July 28.

Governor Jay Inslee made the announcement during a press conference on Tuesday.

With the spread of the virus, we need to continue to pause the reopening of our economy, Inslee said.

Inslee said cases across the state are growing and dramatically, adding that if the state does not change its course of action, it will only get worse.

The governor pointed to the mask mandate as a way to help keep the rate of transmission and cases down, saying it has been proving to be effective.

A study in Yakima County showed 95 percent of people are wearing face coverings and case numbers have decreased since the mandate went into effect. A study in Spokane County showed 65 percent of people were wearing face masks.

I am simultaenously hopeful that we are going to see an increase in social distancing and masking, and recognition that it might not be enough given the numbers weve been seeing, Inslee said.

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Inslee halts counties' ability to progress to next phase of reopening plan through at least July 28 - YakTriNews KAPP-KVEW

Copernicus Sentinel-1 tracks progress of giant iceberg over three years – Optics.org

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13Jul2020

The 100km-long "A-68" iceberg, which calved from Antarctica in 2017, is now 1000km away from birthplace and shrinking.

When it calved, A-68 was about twice the size of Luxembourg and one of the largest icebergs on record, changing the outline of the Antarctic Peninsula forever. Despite its size, however, it is remarkably thin, just a couple of hundred metres thick.

Over the last three years, satellite missions such as the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-1 have been used to track the berg as it drifted in the Southern Ocean. For the first two years, it remained close to its parent ice sheet, impeded by sea ice.

However, it lost a chunk of ice almost immediately after being calved, resulting in it being renamed A-68A, and its offspring became A-68B. More recently, in April 2020, A-68A lost another chunk: A-68C.

Antarctic icebergs are named from the Antarctic quadrant in which they were originally sighted, then a sequential number, then, if the iceberg breaks, a sequential letter. Although A-68A is a relatively thin iceberg, it has held together reasonably well, but satellites will be key to monitoring how it changes in open waters.

Pace of drift increasing

Captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar mission, the image above shows the berg on 5 July 2020, a few days before its third birthday. Satellites carrying radar continue to deliver images regardless of the dark and bad weather, which is indispensable when monitoring the remote polar regions which are shrouded in darkness during the winter months.

Other maps available from ESA show the different positions of A-68A during its three-year journey. The map not only highlights how long it remained close to the Larsen C ice sheet, but how, over the past year or so, its pace of drift has increased considerably. The map also includes historic iceberg tracks, based on data from a number of satellites including ESAs ERS-1 and ERS-2, and shows that A-68A is following this well-trodden path.

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Copernicus Sentinel-1 tracks progress of giant iceberg over three years - Optics.org

Penn Hills Progress area real estate transactions for the week of July 12 – TribLIVE

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Penn Hills Progress area real estate transactions for the week of July 12 - TribLIVE

Victim recovery phase to begin at Hard Rock hotel after ‘significant’ progress during weekend – NOLA.com

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The remains of two construction workers trapped in the wreckage of the collapsed Hard Rock Hotel since last October may be reached as soon as the end of this week or early next week,New Orleans Fire Superintendent Tim McConnell said Monday.

McConnell said the recovery phase of the demolition has begun after a collapsed tower crane was removed on Saturday, which he called a "significant" step in the long-delayed operation to remove a downtown eyesore and give comfort to two families.

Workers could already be seen Monday beginning the first step of the recovery operation, removing construction materials like generators from the building. That will allow teams to begin "methodically" removing sections of the collapsed structure, McConnell said.

Workers are lifted off of the roof of the partially collapsed Hard Rock building after removing construction equipment to start with the recovery portion of the demolition, according to New Orleans Fire Superintendent Tim McConnell in New Orleans, La. Monday, July 13, 2020.

Recovering the remains of the two victims is "going to take a little bit of time," McConnell said, saying that workers might not reach them until the end of this week or the beginning of next week. Then recovery teams will need time to actually remove the bodies, he said.

"You will hear me be very, very careful about how long it takes, the actual recovery ... when you reach remains," he said.

That timeline could change, though, if something unplanned, like another collapse, occurs.

Three workers died in the Oct. 12 collapse of the construction site. One body has been recovered, but the bodies of Quinnyon Wimberly and Jose Ponce Arreola remain trapped inside.

Workers will attempt to reach the body of Wimberly first, according to McConnell. Officials believe it's trapped on the 11th floor of the building on the side closer to Iberville Street. As long as the process of removing debris doesn't dislodge the body, recovering his remains could be completed quickly.

However, searchers have never put eyes on the body of Ponce, which they believe is trapped under rubble on the 8th floor "transfer deck" between the base of the structure and the floors above.

New Orleans Fire Superintendent Tim McConnell updates the media on efforts to recover the bodies of two construction workers who were trapped inside the Hard Rock Hotel when it collapsed in October in New Orleans, La. Monday, July 13, 2020.

"We dont know the condition," McConnell said. "If you get there and the remains arent all easily recovered in single location, youre then going to have a much more tedious process."

McConnell said that in that scenario, the process of recovering Ponce's body could be similar to the extensive effort required to recover the remains trapped under the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Search dogs and forensic anthropologists are on standby to assist if necessary, McConnell said.

Before the demolition process began last month, the city and the hotel's developers were locked in a months-long dispute over the best way to take down the 18-story construction site and surrounding historic buildings nearthe intersection of North Rampart Street and Canal Street.

The fact that two bodies were trapped inside the site has complicated demolition efforts and led to public outrage about the sluggish pace of the process.

In a statement, City Councilwoman-at-large Helena Moreno said she was glad that recovery is going forward.

"This tragedy should never have happened, and it has taken far too long to be able to deliver dignity to these men who unfairly perished due to the terrible mistakes and misdeeds of others," she said.

McConnell said that now that demolition has finally begun, contractors for the developer, 1031 Canal Development, are sticking roughly to a written schedule they provided to the city. That's despite 10 days of rain and obstacles, like the need to tie down debris that could fall from the building, he said.

The wreckage of the Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans will be imploded after all, after developers agreed to city demands to bring down the partially collapsed building quickly, photographed Friday, Jan. 17, 2020.

Crews worked through extreme heat on Saturday to remove a crane that's been draped over the Canal Street side of the building since a dramatic implosion operation on Oct. 20, which was designed to mitigate the risk of a complete collapse.

The temperatures spiked so much that workers in a crane brought in to assist the effort were ordered to come down. They insisted they could continue as long as they got more water.

"Those guys stayed in that bucket," McConnell said. "They wanted to get it done."

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Victim recovery phase to begin at Hard Rock hotel after 'significant' progress during weekend - NOLA.com

Chardon Square gazebo renovation project still a work in progress after lone bid comes in high – News-Herald.com

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Plans to renovate the Chardon Square gazebo have been a slow go, and the recent bid opening will stretch out the process a bit longer.

One company, JP Interiors, bid on the project, for which the base construction estimate was about $80,300. That didnt include in-kind work or alternate bid items. The JP proposal was $277,200.

The (request for proposal), the way it was written up, was for a lump-sum bid, City Manager Randy Sharpe told City Council at the July 9 meeting. So we really cant compare where the line items were, where the costs were.

City Engineer Doug Courtney is recommending that the bid documents be reviewed and updated to include a detailed proposal form before rebidding the project.

In addition, a meeting is planned with bid holders to explain the project and hopefully get better numbers, Sharpe said.

But as of now, the bid was obviously over the threshold and also did not include the bid bond, which would render it not acceptable anyway, he added. So thats the path we will take to get this done as soon as possible and take advantage of really nothing major happening on the square.

It has been nearly two years since Councils Service Committee began discussing upgrades for the gazebo. It was constructed in the early 1980s as a re-creation of the previous bandstand on the spot and now some of the outer wood faade is weathered and in need of replacement. In addition, some of the structural supports should be shored up, officials say.

We were working with the LDA Architects to finalize drawings and specifications, Public Service Director Paul Hornyak said, explaining the delay. The job will go out to bid in the next few weeks (and we) hope to start work in August, if all goes well and prices come in within 10 percent of the estimate.

In 2018, the city contracted with Oravec Design Build LLC for a visual inspection and condition summary. Some of the observations were:

The structure has experienced moisture damage below the roof and down the columns

The wood and steel structural construction is somewhat unorthodox and not standard practice in todays methods.

There is some lateral instability, which is resulting in the slight east-west movement of the structure.

The gazebos steel posts are experiencing mild surficial deterioration at their bases.

Structure integrity has always been my main concern and we need to get ahead of the structural portion before it becomes an issue, Hornyak said.

The current gazebo was dedicated in 1982 with a performance by the U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Aircraft Wing band. Police estimated 5,000 people crowded the square for the show. The bandstand project was sponsored by the Chardon Square Association.

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Chardon Square gazebo renovation project still a work in progress after lone bid comes in high - News-Herald.com

After 6 months and little progress controlling the pandemic, return to normal remains out of sight – The Spokesman-Review

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Its been nearly half a year since the first case of COVID-19 was identified in the United States, in the Puget Sound area, on Jan. 21.

While the state eventually shut down in late March in an effort to slow the diseases spread, Washington began the gradual process of reopening after little more than a month.

But as counties began moving through the stages of the states phased reopening plan, the coronavirus was just beginning its wider spread outside the Seattle area and into other parts of the state, including to Yakima, the Tri-Cities and, eventually, Spokane.

Since April, after a particularly bad first wave in Western Washington, Central and Eastern Washington have been hit with their own first waves of the virus, leading to newly reopened restaurants shutting down all over again, to outbreaks in prison units and food processing plants, and to community spread, even in rural counties.

Case rates statewide are higher now, with half the counties partially reopened, than they were in April, and state public health officials have paused any further reopening for now.

In Spokane, hospitalizations have doubled in a month, and intensive care capacity remains a concern due to questions about staffing levels.

In Yakima, where Gov. Jay Inslees masking orders first went into effect , patients were sent to hospitals outside the area when staff needs hit capacity.

Franklin County has the highest percent-positive rate in the state, with 32% of individuals tested in the last two weeks returning positive results.

Six months into the pandemic, it feels like not a lot has changed.

Test results are backed up again, with people having to wait a week to 10 days in isolation to see if they are positive or negative. Community spread, when the virus is contracted without known connections to other cases, is back on the rise, as it was in March and April.

The rising number of cases has put increased challenges and pressure on contact tracing efforts, which began with reopening and are now incredibly strained and overwhelmed.

Despite the state training hundreds of workers and National Guard members to do contact tracing, counties like Spokane have opted to hire outside companies to conduct contact tracing. With more than 460 cases confirmed this week alone, the work has eclipsed what local epidemiologists can handle.

Washington was on lockdown from late March to early May, giving public health officials and state leaders an opportunity to prepare outbreaks underway and on the way, predominantly in long-term care facilities across the state and more broadly in the Puget Sound area.

By May, residents were antsy, and reopening lurched forward, with Ins-lees phased plan taking effect.

Despite state leaders efforts to ensure counties were ready to move ahead, its apparent now they miscalculated in some cases. Some counties hadnt had their first wave yet.

According to Eric Lofgren, an epidemiologist at Washington State University, some took the absence of cases in some areas as evidence the virus had been safely contained. In reality, he said, the first wave hadnt fully reached parts of Eastern Washington, including Spokane and the Tri-Cities.

If you dont have cases, that means either your epidemic hasnt started yet or youve successfully controlled it, Lofgren said. So I think everyone said we successfully controlled it, and what we discovered was that in several states we discovered that your epidemic was a little slower in coming.

The same story played out across the country in states that reopened this summer after seeing relatively low case counts but are now seeing hospitalizations and case counts surge.

Washington is now seeing higher daily case counts in July than April.

Testing capacity is back to waits of 10 days to two weeks for results , largely due to rising demand and growing backlogs at national laboratories, where the majority of the countrys testing capacity lies.

We are truly back to where we were in March, Spokane County Health Officer Bob Lutz said Friday, noting the challenges felt in Spokane are felt statewide and nationally .

Long wait times make it challenging for public health officials asking people to isolate at home until they get test results.

Delays are harmful because they dont allow us to quickly contain a case, Secretary of Health John Wiesman told reporters Thursday. We know people are most infectious early on and thats why we say to anybody getting a test that if you have any reason to get a test, we want you to stay home until you get your results.

With more testing, came more cases, but that doesnt paint the full picture of the disease burden.

The statewide percent-positive rate has also steadily increased this summer, as has the rate of people testing positive in counties per 100,000 people. Only 16 counties statewide are meeting case rate goals set by the governors Safe Start plan.

Could more have been done during the states lockdown to prevent the COVID-19 resurgence? Lofgren thinks so.

I think at both a national and local level, what happened is we did sort of waste the opportunities we had to get things in place for people to start taking this seriously, to put testing strategies in place, he said.

The states positive rate is back up to nearly 6%, and modelers are now confident the epidemic was growing in both Eastern and Western Washington in mid- to late June.

While the resurgence in cases was originally limited to a few hot spots, upward trends are now prominent in most counties, the most recent state modeling report says.

Summer is nearly half over, and schools are set to open in less than two months. With so much of the response feeling like dj vu, health officials lament the lost time.

We had breathing room, and weve largely used it on politicizing the epidemic, Lofgren said.

In half a year, treatment options for COVID-19 have improved, but doctors and researchers are still far from a treatment that works even half the time on patients who are hospitalized with the virus.

Two standout treatments, remdesivir and dexamethasone, appear to have some positive results, although the studies are ongoing and results are still preliminary in both clinical trials.

A study from a large drug trial led by Oxford University researchers found that dexamethasone, a common steroid, was helpful in treating patients with COVID-19 who were on oxygen or ventilated. While their study has not yet been peer-reviewed or published, their early results look somewhat promising. The steroid kept one person in a group of 20 with severe symptoms from dying .

These results are impressive in the drug trial world, but they have a long way to go before proving entirely useful.

Both MultiCare and Providence hospitals have enrolled in the clinical trials for remdesivir guided by the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Henry Arguinchona, an infectious disease practitioner at Sacred Heart Medical Center, said initial trials of the drug also look promising.

Patients receiving remdesivir in the trial are faring better than those who get the placebo. The trial will soon move into its third phase; second phase results are forthcoming.

Early in the pandemic, ventilators were an in-demand lifesaving tool . While they are still being used for some patients, physicians are not immediately putting patients on them anymore. The National Institutes of Health now recommends a less invasive intervention a high-flow nasal cannula over a ventilator in some instances.

Some patients are doing well and able to get more oxygen to their lungs when they are simply flipped onto their stomachs, Arguinchona said, another technique doctors, nurses and intensivists are using.

I feel that we know better now how to take care of these patients, but I am hopeful that one or two or three or four months now, we know even more, Arguinchona said.

Recovering from COVID-19 is far from a linear process, and some people have experienced ongoing symptoms or side effects of their bodys fight with the virus for months. As The Atlantics Ed Yong notes, some people with COVID-19 and ongoing illness call themselves long-haulers. Yong writes that they are navigating a landscape of uncertainty and fear with a map whose landmarks dont reflect their surroundings.

Arguinchona said the phenomenon of patients not getting better is being seen more and more in COVID patients, but he noted that lingering health conditions are not necessarily indicative of persisting virus in the person.

There are many infections a person can get, and afterwards they can get a postinfectious syndrome, Arguinchona said. They can be left with lingering symptoms. With regards to post-COVID-19 symptoms, its not known what the causes or etymology of those is.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers a patient who is not admitted to the hospital with the virus as having a mild case, but Lofgren notes that mild doesnt really give weight to potential symptoms and conditions patients experience.

There are a lot of people who had supposedly mild cases of COVID who are still struggling with lung function and struggling with cardiovascular issues, Lofgren said.

The virus has exposed the inequities that already run rampant throughout the American health care system, including here in Washington.

When adjusted for population size, Hispanics and Pacific Islanders have nine times the number of COVID-19 cases than white people in Washington. The disproportionate rates of the virus trickle into hospitalizations and deaths from the virus , and nonwhite communities are hit hard by the virus statewide.

In Spokane County, the Marshallese community has experienced devastating effects of the virus.

The pandemic has exacerbated the underlying and persistent inequities among historically marginalized communities and those disproportionately impacted due to structural racism and other forms of systemic oppression, a July 8 report from the Department of Health says.

The department allotted a half-million dollars to get community organizations funding to bolster virus prevention and response efforts in a large swath of communities statewide. DOH awarded dozens of community organizations contracts that ranged from $5,000 to $20,000 to fund communication and emergency outreach services for communities that are disproportionately impacted by the virus.

Some pregnant women are also not faring well if they contract COVID-19. A CDC report found that pregnant women with COVID-19 are more likely to be hospitalized and are at increased risk for ICU admission than nonpregnant women. Nationwide, 11,312 pregnant women have contracted the virus, and 31 of them have died.

Arguinchona said some pregnant women have become very ill with COVID.

Young people, who were not as impacted at the beginning of the pandemic, are now driving case counts locally, statewide and nationally.

Twenty- and 30-somethings make up 38% of confirmed COVID-19 cases statewide and 45% of cases in Spokane County.

In recent weeks, health officials have pleaded with young people to stop gathering in large groups and to wear masks when around one another. Most young people might experience mild symptoms with the virus, but the fear is that they will bring the virus to their older parents or grandparents, or spread the virus when they are at work.

We have a lot of work to do with younger folks here in Washington limiting their social interactions and make sure theyre wearing masks, State Health Officer Kathy Lofy told reporters on July 8.

With the start of the school year less than two months away, community members and public health officials remain skeptical that kids will be back in their classrooms.

Dr. David Line, the public health program director at Eastern Washington University, says the county will pay for our actions, including July 4 gatherings with case counts and hospitalizations.

At the end of the first wave, if enough of the community has started wearing masks and adhering to small gathering requirements, it should be doing well, he said.

If we arent doing well at the end of (the next) seven weeks, if we dont have a low caseload, we are in really big trouble because thats when school starts, Line said. If we miss that window that occurs right now through the rest of the summer, we will not be able to contain that wildfire at least through all next school year.

Wearing masks and face coverings could determine what school districts do when school begins.

Lofgren has studied how schools can stay open and avoid transmission of infectious disease.

Its possible we can have school, but its not as fun as it used to be, he said. Its possible we cant get a 5-year-old to wear a mask, but we can get an 8-year-old to wear a mask.

Measures such as not allowing group activities such as band and choir, having teachers instead of students move from classroom to classroom, and having students eat in the classroom, could help minimize widespread interaction of students in schools.

Schools might use hybrid models of partial reopening , depending on the district and the countys phase of reopening . The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction wants schools to reopen in-person but officials acknowledge districts in Phase 1 or modified Phase 1 counties might have to implement additional safety measures.

DOH guidance for schools requires universal masking but leaves additional measures at the discretion of school districts.

As for colleges, research indicates congregate living settings like dorms are perfect breeding grounds for virus transmission.

A group of college students from the University of Texas who went to Cabo San Lucas for spring break in March ended up in a perfect COVID environment. Three symptomatic students were tested when they returned, and the contact tracing investigation revealed 64 total people had contracted the virus.

Shared housing both on-campus and during their spring break trip led researchers to believe that patterns of living and interacting in close settings could lead to propagated spread, similar to the continued person-to-person transmission observed in long-term care facilities.

As Washington and other states experience a surge in cases this month, health officials insist widespread mask use is key to bringing down transmission rates in the near future.

For EWUs Line, it comes down to community buy-in on masking and cooperation with contact tracing efforts.

We could do nothing and let the whole thing burn up. We could do this fake open-close thing and suffer the whole way through. Or we can do some pretty simple things and get full support by everybody and not have to suffer and be fine in seven to eight weeks, he said.

The Department of Health and the CDC recommended the use of face coverings in early April, but mandates took longer. Leaders hoped residents would take the advice and wear face coverings, in place of hunkering down at home. That didnt work.

In mid-May, some local jurisdictions, including King and Spokane counties, mandated masks, though the mandates werent always enforced.

Statewide, however, masks were not required for all residents until late June. That requirement is likely to remain in place for a long time.

Wear a mask, social distance, try to take responsibility for your own part of this outbreak, and that means things arent going to be fun for a while and thats hard, but those sacrifices mean maybe kids can go to school, maybe those stressed households are less stressed, Lofgren said.

The notion that we will be done with COVID-19 soon is not realistic, Lofgren said.

We need to start engaging with the idea that this isnt a couple months, he said. Its the better part of the year.

Researchers and health care providers are working overtime around the country and the world to find out just how effective and long-lasting antibodies are, and how effective a vaccine could be as a result.

Were not promised a treatment or a vaccine, Lofgren said.

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After 6 months and little progress controlling the pandemic, return to normal remains out of sight - The Spokesman-Review

After months of little progress, will Dak Prescott make a deal with the Cowboys? Time to decide is running out. – The Dallas Morning News

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The last year of Dak Prescotts contract impasse moved like two hours on a gym bicycle: exhausting but stationary. And as the Cowboys and their franchise quarterback spun their wheels, unable to broker a deal, the surrounding landscape changed significantly.

A new collective bargaining agreement with the seeming promise of long-term league prosperity was enacted. A Chiefs quarterback was paid like an Angels outfielder. Now, a pandemic threatens to cancel the upcoming season.

Moving in place is no longer an option.

By 3 p.m. Wednesday, the Cowboys and Prescott must sign or get off the cash pot.

That is the NFL deadline for any player who has been franchise-tagged to finalize a multiyear contract. Otherwise, no such deal can be completed until after the conclusion of the 2020 season.

One way or another, barring a change to the NFL calendar, the days of wondering how soon a blockbuster Prescott contract could come are numbered. It is either a few days away or several-plus months away.

Deadlines tend to drive action. Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott can attest to that.

Last summer, Elliott skipped all of training camp during a 40-day holdout, chowing on sushi rolls for dinner between workouts and friendly poker tournaments at a Cabo San Lucas resort. His contract was not agreed upon until nearly 5 a.m. on the Wednesday before a Sunday season opener against the New York Giants.

A last-ditch deal happened then. It can happen now.

Then again, Prescott might not necessarily feel tremendous urgency as Wednesdays deadline nears. Under his signed franchise tag, he is scheduled to earn $31.4 million in 2020. If the Cowboys tag him again in 2021, the salary value increases by 20% to about $37.7 million.

This is a meaningful jump in any year. Its especially consequential when the COVID-19 pandemic is sure to disrupt the leagues revenue this season.

Revenue and the salary cap are directly correlated. While the exact repercussions of the pandemic are still developing, the NFL and NFL Players Association probably will have to borrow from future years in order to buoy the 2021 cap to a respectable figure, keeping it flat instead of allowing the current $198.2 million figure to tank.

So, Prescotts 20% salary increase would come at a time when the cap is static.

Last Monday, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes signed a 12-year, $477.6 million contract with incentives, the potential value is about $503 million. This contract was a landmark development, but it bears little relevance on what the Cowboys and Prescott are working to accomplish.

Mahomes was still playing on his rookie contract. Apples.

Prescott is on the franchise tag. Oranges.

Prescott appears sure to earn more than Mahomes over the next four to five years, at which point he could be scheduled to hit free agency again. By that point, the COVID-19 probably wouldnt be holding back the cap, and Prescott could strike again while still in his prime.

He turns 27 this month.

The real question, the one that only Prescott and his agent Todd France at CAA can answer, is how the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 impacts their willingness to stay the course. Few answers are available regarding what would happen to player salaries if the 2020 regular-season schedule is shortened or canceled outright.

How much of that $31.4 million would Prescott lose?

How much of that would he keep if, by Wednesday, he signed a multiyear contract that turned most of the money into a signing or roster bonus?

There is much to decide in the coming days. The Cowboys and France have gone months, at certain times during this grueling process, without achieving progress toward a multiyear contract. They must deliberate now to change that. They have hurdles to clear. They have to give and take.

This wont be like riding a bike.

Find more Cowboys stories from The Dallas Morning News here.

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After months of little progress, will Dak Prescott make a deal with the Cowboys? Time to decide is running out. - The Dallas Morning News

For Boston College womens basketball team, early progress is easy to see – The Boston Globe

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Now its not so much that people have to really believe in something that hasnt been done yet. They can actually see the steps that weve made and the progress weve made going toward one of the top teams in the country, which is the goal.

The Eagles already have reaped the benefits on the recruiting trail, lining up a trio of players last fall in the 2020 class that are expected to make immediate contributions.

The group is led by 6-foot guard Josiah Lacey, an ESPN five-star recruit from Westtown (Pa.) High School.

She is athletic, has the ability to shoot from the outside and also finish around the basket, and her length and her speed allow her to play really good defense, Bernabei-McNamee said. I think shell be a really good two-way player that can generate some offense, and also not just by working within the offense, but also with her good defense.

The Eagles also added a floor general in Kaylah Ivey out of Riverdale Baptist in Maryland.

She is really a pass-first point guard but truly has the ability to score, Bernabei-McNamee said. Thats really the best kind of point guard. She has great court vision, she sees the floor, she knows the correct pass, but she can also hit the 3 and hit a pull-up jumper. I see her being able to fit into what we do offensively.

Bernabei-McNamees offense depends on a skilled post player, and 6-foot-2 inch forward Sydney McQuietor fits the mold coming out of Keller (Texas) High School.

Shes a crafty lefty, Bernabei-McNamee said. Shes a touch undersized at the post, but because she has that craftiness and the ability to shoot and a really soft touch around the basket, I think shes going to have the capabilities to do something for us as well.

The Eagles 2020 class is ranked 22nd in the country by Blue Star Basketball. The players started online courses at Boston College this week.

In a normal summer, the Eagles coaching staff would get seven weeks with incoming players, with four hours of skill development and four hours of weight training along with pickup games. The weekends provide an opportunity to host recruits, and for players to bond either on campus or with trips into the city.

As the country continues to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Eagles have had to navigate different circumstances.

Thats the part of this that really stinks for us, is we take so much pride in the way we develop players once we get them, and I think the biggest growth for skill development is in the summertime, Bernabei-McNamee said. They always say thats when players are made is during the offseason and I completely believe that.

That theyre missing out on right now is tragic I think for our players, but I do think this distance will help them. You know how absence makes the heart grow fonder? I really think they are all dying to get back together. They miss each other, they miss us, they miss Boston College.

As the Eagles look to 2021, 6-foot-2-inch forward Ally VanTimmeren (Jenison High School, in Michigan) announced her commitment to BC in May. Recruiting under quarantine forced Bernabei-McNamee to adjust.

The thing, I guess, that makes it most different for us is that face-to-face, our personality and getting to know us and what were about comes through a lot better when we can be together and really in front of recruits and their families, she said.

Without the true face-to-face experience, she had to take advantage of technology, whether it was by hosting a Zoom meeting or sharing a video so recruits could get a sense of the campus experience.

A lot of the process was already under way, Bernabei-McNamee said. The 2021 class, we had already established good relationships with them and it was more looking forward to getting them on campus for their official or unofficial visits. Then when this whole pandemic hit it was more, OK, youre not going to get to visit us officially or unofficially right now, but we can bring part of campus to you via Zoom.'

Typically, the recruiting process gives recruits a chance to meet the current players and get a feel for the program. The NCAA tweaked its rules to allow recruits to reach out to players. Recruits from the 2021 class can participate in team Zoom calls.

I hate that weve missed out on being in person, Bernabei-McNamaee said. Weve spent so much of the recruiting process on the phone and maybe doing FaceTimes or on the phone. We really cherish the time when we finally get to come face-to-face with them. So missing out on that part has been a little sad for us, but everybodys on an equal playing field and everyones missing out on that right now.

Julian Benbow can be reached at julian.benbow@globe.com.

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For Boston College womens basketball team, early progress is easy to see - The Boston Globe