COVID mask disputes make for rocky start of school year
The summer surge of the highly infectious delta variant of the coronavirus made for a disruptive start of the school year in many parts of the country Monday as hundreds of thousands of children returned to classrooms and parents, administrators and governors clashed over whether masks should be required. Confusion reigned in several Texas school districts after the state Supreme Court stopped mask mandates in two of the state’s largest districts, the day before the first day of school in Dallas. An Arizona judge upheld, at least temporarily, a mask mandate in a Phoenix district despite a new state law prohibiting such mandates. One Colorado county posted sheriff’s deputies in schools on the first day of classes as a precaution after parents protested a last-minute mask mandate. Public school authorities are committed to making up lost ground after frequent disruptions, including on-and-off remote learning, in the pandemic’s first year left millions of children behind in their studies, especially those of communities of color. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends masks in schools for students, staff, and teachers. Nowhere did Monday’s battles play out greater than in Texas, where some counties and school districts kept in place mask mandates and others rescinded them as schools reopened after Sunday’s court ruling. The order by the state’s highest court — entirely comprised of elected Republican justices — halts mask requirements that county leaders in Dallas and San Antonio, which are run by Democrats, put in place as new infections soared. Dallas school officials said Monday that masks were still required on district property and that visitors weren’t allowed in schools. The Austin school district and Harris County, which includes Houston, also said their mask mandates for schools remained in place. The top elected official in Dallas County said in a tweet that the Supreme Court ruling did not strike down his mask order and that it remained in effect. “We’re at war on behalf of moms and dads and kids against a deadly virus. I sure wish the Governor would join our side in the battle,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott strongly opposes public school mask mandates, and students and parents gathered outside the governor’s mansion in Austin to urge him to drop that opposition. The start of the school year comes as the country is averaging more than 130,000 new infections a day and the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has soared to levels last seen in mid-February. The death toll has also risen to nearly 700 a day. Hospitals in several virus hotspots say they are seeing an increase in infections and hospitalizations in children, bringing anxiety to families starting school. A handful of Republican-led states ban schools from requiring masks but many have defied the laws and are fighting them in the courts. At least 11 Arizona districts accounting for 140,000 students and more than 200 schools have defied a mask mandate ban by imposing their own requirements for face coverings. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Randall Warner on Monday allowed the Phoenix Union High School District to keep its mask mandate despite a new state law that he says does not take effect until Sept. 29. Warner said state law grants school boards authority to protect their students. Yellow school buses and parents snapping back-to-school pictures made the first day of school seem almost normal in Los Angeles, where many schools reopened Monday in the nation’s second-largest school district. In Los Angeles, like the rest of the state, students and teachers are required to wear masks in indoor settings, and teachers must show proof of vaccination or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. Los Angeles Unified School District, which serves about 600,000 K-12 students, is also requiring students and staff to get tested weekly for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, and is conducting daily health checks. “There is no substitute for in-person learning, friendship, and physical activity, which is why we have committed to putting into place the highest safety standards,” LAUSD interim Superintendent Megan Reilly said. San Francisco schools also reopened Monday to more than 50,000 students — many for the first time in 17 months. San Francisco Unified is recommending that students and staff get tested if they have symptoms but is not requiring tests. “It’s been a long time coming,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said Monday morning as she joined city leaders on a tour of schools to welcome children back. At one elementary school, students walked along a red carpet into the school building as school staff cheered. In South Carolina, one district has already moved to all virtual classes after a rash of cases led to hundreds of students quarantined within the first two weeks of the fall semester. That decision has led to protests among parents in Pickens County. In other South Carolina counties, officials considered joining Columbia, the capital, in requiring masks in schools despite a state budget requirement that bans districts from doing so without risking funding. The Palmetto State Teachers Association, representing the state’s public teachers, urged Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday to suspend the requirement. The Republican governor has repeatedly insisted mask-wearing should be left for parents to decide. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order Monday allowing parents to opt their children out of coronavirus-related school mask mandates after a few school districts issued mask requirements for students. In Eagle County, Colorado, sheriff’s deputies were posted to elementary and middle schools on the first day of class Monday after parents objected to a last-minute decision Friday by the county school district to require universal masking. No problems were immediately reported. The delta surge and rising COVID hospitalizations stressed health facilities and prompted new restrictions in several states. The University of Mississippi Medical Center was setting up a second emergency field hospital in a parking garage to handle some of the sickest COVID-19 patients. Mississippi’s coronavirus numbers have doubled in the past two weeks and hospitalizations are the highest since
U.S. coronavirus cases nearly triple in 2 weeks
COVID-19 cases nearly tripled in the U.S. over two weeks amid an onslaught of vaccine misinformation that is straining hospitals, exhausting doctors, and pushing clergy into the fray. “Our staff, they are frustrated,” said Chad Neilsen, director of infection prevention at UF Health Jacksonville, a Florida hospital that is canceling elective surgeries and procedures after the number of mostly unvaccinated COVID-19 inpatients at its two campuses jumped to 134, up from a low of 16 in mid-May. “They are tired. They are thinking this is déjà vu all over again, and there is some anger because we know that this is a largely preventable situation, and people are not taking advantage of the vaccine.” Across the U.S., the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases rose over the past two weeks to more than 37,000 on Tuesday, up from less than 13,700 on July 6, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Health officials blame the delta variant and slowing vaccination rates. Just 56.2% of Americans have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Louisiana, health officials reported 5,388 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday — the third-highest daily count since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. Hospitalizations for the disease rose to 844 statewide, up more than 600 since mid-June. New Orleans leaders urged people to resume wearing masks indoors. Utah reported having 295 people hospitalized due to the virus, the highest number since February. The state has averaged about 622 confirmed cases per day over the last week, about triple the infection rate at its lowest point in early June. Health data shows the surge is almost entirely connected to unvaccinated people. “It is like seeing the car wreck before it happens,” said Dr. James Williams, a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine at Texas Tech, who has recently started treating more COVID-19 patients. “None of us want to go through this again.” He said the patients are younger — many in their 20s, 30s, and 40s — and overwhelmingly unvaccinated. As lead pastor of one of Missouri’s largest churches, Jeremy Johnson has heard the reasons congregants don’t want the COVID-19 vaccine. He wants them to know it’s not only OK to get vaccinated; it’s what the Bible urges. “I think there is a big influence of fear,” said Johnson, whose Springfield-based church also has a campus in Nixa and another about to open in Republic. “A fear of trusting something apart from scripture, a fear of trusting something apart from a political party they’re more comfortable following. A fear of trusting in science. We hear that: ‘I trust in God, not science.’ But the truth is science and God are not something you have to choose between.” Now many churches in southwestern Missouri, like Johnson’s Assembly of God-affiliated North Point Church, are hosting vaccination clinics. Meanwhile, about 200 church leaders have signed a statement urging Christians to get vaccinated, and on Wednesday, announced a follow-up public service campaign. Opposition to vaccination is especially strong among white evangelical Protestants, who make up more than one-third of Missouri’s residents, according to a 2019 report by the Pew Research Center. “We found that the faith community is very influential, very trusted, and to me, that is one of the answers as to how you get your vaccination rates up,” said Ken McClure, mayor of Springfield. The two hospitals in his city are teeming with patients, reaching record and near-record pandemic highs. Steve Edwards, who is the CEO of CoxHealth in Springfield, tweeted that the hospital has brought in 175 traveling nurses and has 46 more scheduled to arrive by Monday. “Grateful for the help,” wrote Edwards, who previously tweeted that anyone spreading misinformation about the vaccine should “shut up.” Jacob Burmood, a 40-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, artist, said his mother has been promoting vaccine conspiracy theories even though her husband — Burmood’s stepfather — is hospitalized on a ventilator in Springfield. “It is really, really sad, and it is really frustrating,” he said. Burmood recalled how his mother had recently fallen ill and “was trying to tell me that vaccinated people got her sick, and it wasn’t even COVID. I just shut her down. I said, ‘Mom, I can’t talk to you about conspiracy theories right now.’ … You need to go to a hospital. You are going to die.” His mother, who is in her 70s, has since recovered. In New York City, workers in city-run hospitals and health clinics will be required to get vaccinated or get tested weekly as officials battle a rise in COVID-19 cases, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday. De Blasio’s order will not apply to teachers, police officers, and other city employees, but it’s part of the city’s intense focus on vaccinations amid an increase in delta variant infections. The number of vaccine doses being given out daily in the city has dropped to less than 18,000, down from a peak of more than 100,000 in early April. About 65% of all adults are fully vaccinated, compared with about 60% of public hospital system staffers, said system leader Dr. Mitchell Katz. Meanwhile, caseloads have been rising in the city for weeks, and health officials say the variant makes up about 7 in 10 cases they sequence. “We have got to deal with it aggressively. And in the end, there is also a thing called personal responsibility,” de Blasio said, urging inoculated people to raise the issue with unvaccinated relatives and “get up in their face.” Back in Louisiana, New Orleans officials issued the new guidance on indoor masks, hoping to avoid the kind of virus-related shutdowns that devastated the city’s tourism economy in 2020. Mayor LaToya Cantrell stopped short of requiring masks. She said the advisory “puts the responsibility on individuals themselves.” The announcement came as the city’s seven-day average of new cases rose to 117, the highest level since early February. It had fallen as low as eight in mid-June. Republished
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Washington labored under the size and scope of the rescue package that’s more ambitious than any in recent times.
Kamala Harris endorses Joe Biden; Jesse Jackson backs Bernie Sanders
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Rival Democrats accuse Mike Bloomberg of trying to ‘buy’ election
The five leading democratic candidates all targeted Mike Bloomberg, accusing him of buying his way into the election.
NYC Mayor de Blasio announces candidacy, insults ‘Con Don’
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for president, adding his name to an already long list of candidates itching for a chance to take on President Donald Trump. The mayor announced his run with a video released by his campaign, then headed to the Statue of Liberty, where he said the country is in an “identity crisis” around immigration, which he called “the founding and unifying element of the American experience.” “We are figuring out who we are,” he said. “There are American values we need to return to and fight for in order to achieve our greatest potential.” On his campaign’s first day, he dove into an insult match with Trump. During an appearance on “Good Morning America,” de Blasio borrowed one of Trump’s tactics by giving the president a disparaging nickname: Con Don. “He’s a con artist. I know his tricks. I know his playbook,” the mayor said.Trump tweeted that de Blasio was “considered the worst mayor in the U.S.”The president said, “He is a JOKE, but if you like high taxes & crime, he’s your man. NYC HATES HIM!” In announcing his candidacy, de Blasio, 58, seeks to claim a role on the national stage that has eluded him as mayor of the biggest U.S. city.When he took office in 2014, de Blasio seemed briefly poised to become a leading voice for an emerging left wing of the Democratic Party. His central message then and now is fighting income inequality, a theme he hit in the video announcing his candidacy. “There’s plenty of money in this world. There’s plenty of money in this country. It’s just in the wrong hands,” he said. Liberal enthusiasm faded during his first term, partly because of political missteps at home and the emergence of bigger names elsewhere. He could face obstacles trying to distinguish himself in a crowded field. After his appearance at the Statue of Liberty, for a ceremony opening a new museum, de Blasio planned to travel to Iowa to campaign Friday, then fly to South Carolina for events Saturday and early Sunday. De Blasio has drawn small audiences so far in visits to early primary states including New Hampshire, where just six attendees showed up for a mental health discussion. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found 76% of New York City voters say they believe he shouldn’t run. And de Blasio’s hometown press has, so far, delighted in disparaging his presidential hopes. The New York Post on Thursday greeted his candidacy with a front-page photo of people laughing. “De Blasio for President? ‘Nah,’” read one recent New York Times headline.“Who hasn’t told Bill de Blasio that he shouldn’t run for president?” asked New York Magazine. Local criticism has focused less on his policies than his reputation for stumbles, like showing up late to a memorial for plane crash victims, getting into a feud with the state’s Democratic governor and dropping a groundhog during a Groundhog Day celebration. Earlier this week, de Blasio held a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower to blame the skyscraper for contributing to air pollution, but the event turned comical as Trump supporters heckled the mayor, who had to shout to make himself heard. De Blasio, though, has remained undaunted and says he has a message that can resonate with the American public. “I think the key thing is that working people want to see change in this country. And I honestly believe that cuts across the regional realities, ethnic realities, even people’s political identification,” he said at an afternoon news conference. “One thing that truly unifies people is they want fairness. And a lot of Americans believe this is not a fair country right now.” Asked about the Quinnipiac poll, de Blasio laughed and pointed out that those same voters had elected him to office twice. “You know, I got elected mayor with 73 percent of the vote originally, re-elected with 67 percent of the vote,” he said. “I think you’d agree that the poll that actually matters is the election.” Even if de Blasio’s candidacy doesn’t catch fire, he’ll be able to promote his policies and potentially angle for a job in a future Democratic administration. He is barred by term limits from running for mayor again.“If he ran a strong and credible campaign, it could enhance his stature for gaining a major appointment or becoming a significant player, particularly if a Democrat is elected president,” said Michael Malbin, a professor of political science at the University at Albany. But Matthew Dallek, an associate professor of political management at George Washington University, said a losing White House campaign wouldn’t come without risks. “If his legacy is that a crisis happened and he was off campaigning in Iowa, that’s significant,” Dallek said. “So yeah, there are risks.” On the campaign trail, de Blasio will be able to cite accomplishments including expanding full-day prekindergarten and curtailing police tactics that critics say were discriminatory, while presiding over continued drops in crime rates, which are now at historic lows. De Blasio was born Warren Wilhelm Jr. in 1961 but took his mother’s family name in adulthood because, he said, his father was “largely absent from his life.” The mayor has spoken about how his father, Warren Wilhelm, a veteran who lost part of his left leg in World War II, descended into alcoholism and killed himself when de Blasio was 18. Born in New York City, de Blasio grew up in the Boston area and has provoked New York sports fans by rooting for the Boston Red Sox. He graduated from New York University and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. De Blasio met his wife, Chirlane McCray, when they both worked for Democratic Mayor David Dinkins. They married in 1994 and have two children, Chiara and Dante. With his candidacy, de Blasio becomes the latest in a line of New York City mayors who have
Democrats seek counterweight to Donald Trump’s message in 2020
Grappling with the realities of President Donald Trump’s reign, Democrats are trying to offer a counterweight to the president’s message — without making it all about Trump. An annual conference organized by a prominent Democratic think tank Tuesday included an early glimpse at some of the Democrats plotting a challenge to Trump in 2020. But it also laid bare some of the challenges Democrats face in opposing a president whose presence has been all-consuming and in developing an alternative agenda to reach voters who turned to Trump in 2016. “What they want to hear about is the economy and their plans for it. They don’t want to hear about Donald Trump every single minute,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said at the Center for American Progress’ Ideas Conference. “We resist, but we also insist on a better way forward.” The lineup at the daylong conference featured appearances by several potential 2020 candidates, including Klobuchar, Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Also speaking: former Housing Secretary Julian Castro and current New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. In the lead-up to the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats have pointed to growing activism since Trump’s election, from the women’s march after his inauguration to a student movement in support of gun control measures following the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida. And they have captured special election victories in Alabama, electing Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, and in western Pennsylvania, helping Democrat Conor Lamb overcome millions in Republican expenditures in a GOP-leaning district. Democrats are hoping for a “blue wave” in the midterms to recapture one or both chambers in Congress, which they have said would serve as a precursor to ousting Trump from office. “The reason why we don’t have Trumpcare today,” said Gillibrand, referring to the president’s failed attempt to overhaul the “Obamacare” system, “is because the grassroots stood up, stood tall and said, ‘No.’” But the party is still dealing with tensions on how far it should move to embrace more liberal policies on the economy and health care in response to Trump. Sanders, who battled Hillary Clinton for the party’s nomination in 2016, rattled off a litany of liberal causes, including the need for a single-payer health care system, a $15-an-hour minimum wage, reproductive rights and universal child care. But he pointed to the role of the “oligarchy in this country” as the nation’s most central challenge, a movement he said was leading to “a government of the few, by the few, and for the few.” “It is so important that we set big goals and we not be afraid of that,” said de Blasio, who announced plans for the New York Police Department to “overhaul and reform” policies related to marijuana enforcement in the next month. Castro, the former HUD secretary under Obama and the former San Antonio mayor, said the party needed a “new blueprint” that would make universal prekindergarten a reality, provide free college for at least the first two years and protect hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation. One of the critiques of Clinton’s 2016 Democratic presidential campaign was that it failed to present a coherent argument on what the party would stand for under her watch. Trump, meanwhile, successfully distilled his message into his slogan, “Make America Great Again,” and narrowly defeated Clinton in Midwestern states like Michigan and Wisconsin that had been safe Democratic territory. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, noted that Trump claimed victory in his home state, a perennial presidential battleground, by nearly 9 percentage points in 2016, saying the president won in “communities he had no business winning.” “I think workers in my state are looking for somebody in elected office to talk about the dignity of work, to talk about whose side are you on, to talk about why work matters,” Brown said. “I don’t hear that enough from elected officials.” Neera Tanden, the center’s president and a longtime Clinton adviser, said that while Trump represents “an unprecedented threat to our values and our norms,” Democrats cannot simply resist the president and his policies but instead need to provide an alternative to his agenda. The event was attended by a number of financial donors, political strategists and activists who are beginning to assess what is expected to be a massive field in 2020, spurred in part by Trump’s sluggish public approval ratings. Robert Wolf, a major Democratic donor who attended the conference, said the party was “starting to build a narrative of things we stand for,” as opposed to simply opposing Trump at every turn. “We have to make sure we’re the party of ‘for things,’” Wolf said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump, big and brash like his hometown, now avoids NYC
For decades, Donald Trump‘s identity was interwoven with his hometown of New York City: big, brash and dedicated to making money. Manhattan was the imposing backdrop as Trump transformed himself from local real-estate developer to celebrity businessman — skyscrapers and gossip pages featured his name — and during last year’s presidential campaign he’d fly thousands of miles to sleep in his own bed at Trump Tower. But since his inauguration more than two months ago, Trump has not set foot within the city limits. The Republican president received only 18 percent of the vote in the decidedly liberal city. Frequent protests now clog Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower. A date for a return trip has yet to be scheduled. Though Trump is expected to travel to New York in the coming weeks, he is unlikely to receive a hero’s welcome. One of his sons says that while the president will enjoy making trips to his hometown, his relationship with the city has changed. “When he was in New York, his No. 1 thing was work. This was where work was,” said Eric Trump in an interview. “He was home. He took the elevator to his office. At the end of the day, he went back up. He did it every day of his life.” “Now his focus isn’t work, but being president, so his attention is elsewhere.” Trump was last in New York Jan. 19, the day before he took office, when he left Trump Tower, his home of 30-plus years, and flew to Washington. His wife, Melania, and their 10-year-old son, Barron, who attends a private Manhattan school, have remained behind, as have Trump’s two adult sons who are now tasked with running their father’s sprawling business interests. During the presidential transition, speculation swirled that Trump, a famed homebody and creature of habit, would return to Manhattan frequently. But while the president has repeatedly left Washington on weekends, he heads south instead, to his palatial Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Mar-a-Lago closes for the season later this spring. Trump has given no indication he will keep it open — he didn’t last year during the campaign — and he is expected to head north for weekend trips, either to his Manhattan high-rise or his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Allies say New Yorkers should be excited about his presence even if they may disagree with his politics. “As someone who loves history, I am excited to go to the Martin Van Buren House in Kinderhook, New York, and New Yorkers should be thrilled to have this president’s house right here in New York City,” said Joe Borelli, a co-chair of Trump’s campaign in New York state. “He’s a quintessential New Yorker. This is going to remain his home.” But Borelli is just one of just three Republicans on the 51-person New York City Council, pointing to the lopsided political divide in the nation’s largest city. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 6-to-1 margin and Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, has denounced many of Trump’s views as “‘un-American.” “I don’t think there’s any doubt that the mayor believes the president is significantly out of step with the values of New York City,” said Erik Phillips, de Blasio’s spokesman. “That said, the mayor’s attitude also is that he wants the president to feel and see the potential impacts on his hometown of some of these budget cuts he’s talked about.” Another of de Blasio’s concerns: the cost of safeguarding the president in the 58-story skyscraper on one of Manhattan’s busiest streets. The New York Police Department estimated that it cost their agency about $24 million to protect Trump Tower when the president-elect stayed there between Election Day and the inauguration 73 days later. That works out to about $328,000 per day; when it’s just Melania and Barron Trump in the building, the cost to the NYPD drops to about $127,000 to $146,000 per day. The police department is seeking federal reimbursement. Secret Service expenses also balloon while Trump is in town. Eric Trump said his father is mindful of the impact of his presence in New York, particularly on traffic. But when asked this week if Trump is concerned about criticism of the cost of his trips, White House press secretary Sean Spicer responded, “No, he feels great.” Many who worked with — or against — Trump in New York have expressed surprise he’s stayed away so far. Trump was born in Queens but didn’t want to stay there, pushing his family’s development firm into the glitzy and cutthroat Manhattan market. He rehabilitated dilapidated city landmarks — like Central Park’s ice skating rink and a 42nd Street hotel — and gained a reputation as a publicity-hungry celebrity in a town that celebrated success. He’d frequently call into the city’s tabloids, sometimes adopting an alias to act as his own spokesman. “For all his braggadocio, he was kind of a likable guy if you didn’t pay any attention to the truth,” said George Rush, longtime gossip columnist at the New York Daily News. “He’d love to say, ‘This is off the record but you can use it,’” said Rush, who recalled Trump’s tireless efforts to make himself part of the city’s celebrity firmament. “You couldn’t turn the corner without running into his name — and needing to put on sunglasses because of the sun’s glare off the bronze,” Rush recalled. “But he’s always someone who needed to be loved and he’s not loved here now. He’s become sort of the prodigal son of New York.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Hillary Clinton’s turn: Guide to the Democratic National Convention
It’s Hillary Clinton‘s turn. The Democratic National Convention opening Monday in Philadelphia is Clinton’s chance to hit reset after a vigorous primary against Bernie Sanders and the unlikely movement that formed behind the Vermont senator. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, has endorsed Clinton, but many of his supporters have not. Some of them were dismayed by her choice of Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., as her running mate. Last week’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland exposed deep, lingering reservations about Donald Trump from within his own party. The Democratic gathering is expected to be a more smoothly choreographed display of unity among Clinton, Sanders and Democratic lawmakers and voters. What to know about the week: THE POINT Both parties use their national conventions to formally nominate candidates for president and vice president. Party leaders showcase their nominees, and the prime-time speeches by the candidates and prominent politicians win some of the largest television audiences of the campaign. That makes the convention a critical opportunity for a party to introduce its candidates to the country. Democrats also will adopt its platform, which lays out policy principles but has no binding effect. THE LOCATION The Wells Fargo Center, home to the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, is the convention site. The arena has been transformed with stages, platforms, cameras and lights. Democrats are hoping that city’s historical role in the founding of American democracy will serve as a powerful backdrop for the themes they’ll highlight. WHO’S GOING More than 5,000 delegates are among the 50,000 people set to be in Philadelphia. They include alternates, lawmakers, special guests, journalists and protesters. Among the delegates, about 15 percent are superdelegates, mainly members of Congress and members of the Democratic National Committee. At the GOP convention, a striking number of prominent Republican lawmakers and party leaders were nowhere to be seen, including the party’s previous two presidents and its two most recent presidential nominees. In contrast, bold-name Democrats have been eagerly vying for a chance to speak in Philadelphia. Most Democratic senators and House members are expected to attend. THE SCHEDULE First lady Michelle Obama is set to speak Monday. That’s also when Sanders will give his speech — a closely watched moment for signs of whether his loyal supporters will line up behind Clinton, as he’s asked them to do. Former President Bill Clinton, the candidate’s husband, is the speech to watch Tuesday. A day later, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden come to Philadelphia. On Thursday, the final night, Chelsea Clinton will introduce her mother for her speech accepting the Democratic nomination. Kaine, who made his debut as Clinton’s running mate at a joint appearance Saturday, will give a speech introducing himself to the country. Officials haven’t yet said when, but the running mate typically speaks Wednesday. Other scheduled speakers are Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. THE ENTERTAINMENT Shoop Dogg, Lady Gaga, Lenny Kravitz and Cyndi Lauper will appear in Philadelphia during the convention. Fergie will perform at The Creative Coalition’s gala. THE ROLL CALL States will get a chance to announce how their delegates are voting in the formal roll call Tuesday. It’s a high point for Sanders delegates; they’re pushing to have their votes fully tallied. In 2008, Clinton halted the roll call midway through to call for then-Sen. Barack Obama’s approval by acclamation, or unanimous vote. Sanders says he favors a state-by-state roll call, but he hasn’t indicated exactly what he will do. There’s a total of 4,763 delegates. It takes 2,382 to win the Democratic nomination. Clinton arrives in Philadelphia with 2,814 delegates to Sanders’ 1,893, according to an Associated Press count. That includes the superdelegates, who can vote for any candidate they choose. This year, those superdelegates overwhelmingly backed Clinton. The remaining 4,051 are pledged delegates, won by the candidates based on the results of state primaries and caucuses. THE PROTESTS If there are any fireworks in Philadelphia, expect them to come from Sanders supporters. They have said they plan to show up in full force. Philadelphia officials estimate between 35,000 and 50,000 people will demonstrate across the city each day. Activists have put the estimate higher, at roughly 100,000. Among the groups planning to demonstrate are gun control advocates, the group Occupy DNC Convention and Trump supporters from Pennsylvania. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows
Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows: ABC’s “This Week” — Not immediately available. ___ NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders; Paul Manafort, convention manager for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump; New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. ___ CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Sanders; Republican presidential candidate John Kasich. ___ CNN’s “State of the Union” — Sanders; Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. ___ “Fox News Sunday” — President Barack Obama. ___ Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Trademarked: Donald Trump makes money off the name ‘Central Park’
Donald Trump is arguably New York City’s most famous resident, and he’s made some of his money off the name of one of the city’s most famous public landmarks: Central Park. The leading Republican presidential candidate first applied for a trademark to use the words “Central Park” on merchandise more than two decades ago, when the park had a far less glamorous reputation than it does today. Since then, Trump has used the nonexclusive trademark to brand furniture, chandeliers, pillows and even key chains. A Trump spokesman declined to say how much Trump has earned from the trademark, but noted the developer’s deep connections to the park. Trump once owned the Plaza Hotel along Central Park South, operates a skyscraper hotel overlooking the park and famously renovated the park’s once-downtrodden ice rink. “Mr. Trump, over the course of his career, has owned and developed some of the most iconic buildings in the city, many of which … sit only footsteps away from Central Park,” said Alan Garten, executive vice president and general counsel to The Trump Organization. Since it is a public space, no one can put an exclusive trademark on the words “Central Park.” But, as first reported by cable news channel NY1, records show that Trump is the single biggest private, for-profit holder of Central Park trademarks on specific goods. It was undeniably a savvy move. His first application came in 1991, when the city’s violent crime rate was near its height and the park often conjured up fears of urban danger. There were 2,154 murders in the city that year, as opposed to 328 last year, and 1991 was just two years removed from the Central Park jogger case in which a woman was attacked and raped while running through the park. According to the records kept by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Trump first received permission to use Central Park for parking garage services, and later expanded the trademark as the park became synonymous with the high-priced real estate that surrounds it in a safer, more affluent New York. A 2007 trademark allowed him to put the park’s name on dozens of Trump-branded furniture and lighting options. Beds, tables, desks, lamps, flashlights, picture frames and throw pillows all bore the names “Central Park” and “Donald Trump.” A glossy, 44-page furniture catalog boasted photos of the “elegant and rich” furnishings with stylized shots of the park and Trump. Many of Trump’s Central Park products are not currently in production, but they can be found in some discount stores and gift shops. The park isn’t the only New York-area landmark on which Trump has filed a trademark. He owns one for “Westchester,” the county north of the city, that was the namesake of a furniture line, and one for “Fifth Avenue,” to label items within his casino business. Trademark experts say it’s difficult to precisely gauge how much a name is worth. “The question would be, how much more likely is someone to buy something called ‘Central Park’ over the name of some other landmark?” said June Besek, a Columbia Law School professor with an expertise on intellectual property issues. “But if people have a positive association with ‘Central Park’ — or a positive association with simply ‘Trump’ — that would clearly be worth something.” The park is jointly operated by the city and the private Central Park Conservancy. Neither has any ability to revoke a trademark from Trump or any other owner. The nonprofit conservancy sells items such as sweat shirts and snow globes, which, unlike Trump’s products, can carry the official park logo. “Nobody has ownership of the words ‘Central Park.’ It is a public space, with a city-owned logo,” said Monica Klein, a spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio. “When individuals or companies attempt to infringe on city-owned trademarks, we take appropriate legal actions.” The city owns the rights to more than 200 trademarks and stepped up its efforts to acquire new ones and protect existing ones, including the city’s police and fire departments, after demand for their merchandise grew dramatically after the Sept. 11 attacks. When Trump launched his presidential campaign in June with a speech in which he said Mexican immigrants were “bringing drugs” and were “rapists,” the city reviewed millions of dollars’ worth of contracts it has with him, including for a golf course and skating rinks, but found no legal way to cancel them. De Blasio, a Democrat, has said he wouldn’t do any new business with Trump. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Presidential Primary Brief: 372 days until Election Day
118 days until AL Presidential Primary 372 days until Election Day Convention Dates: Republican July 18-21 2016, Democratic July 25-28 2016 Weekly Headlines: Poll: Hillary Clinton Hits 50 Percent Support GOP mega-donor Paul Singer endorses Marco Rubio NY Times Calls on Chris Christie to Drop Out of Presidential Race Press Clips: Small-dollar donors and the 2016 presidential election (Center for Public Integrity 10/27/15) Center for Public Integrity senior reporter Dave Levinthal appeared on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” program on Oct. 24 to detail the influence and importance of small- dollar donors in the 2016 presidential election. He also spoke more generally about how much money campaigns, nonprofits and super PACs are raising and spending. Ryan rules out immigration reform before 2016 election (LA Times 11/1/15) House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sunday he will not consider or negotiate an immigration reform bill during President Obama’s tenure, ruling out calls to revive the issue in an effort to broaden GOP appeal to Latino voters before the 2016 election. Ryan, who was elected speaker last week, said he had promised the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which opposes easing immigration laws, that he would not move forward on the issue before a new president takes office. Ryan, who appeared on Hive major TV talk shows, blamed Obama, not the caucus, however. In Virginia, Donald Trump unveils Veterans Affairs plan (CBS News 10/31/15) Calling the Department of Veterans Affairs “a total disaster,” business mogul Donald Trump unveiled his plan to reform the beleaguered department in front of thousands at a Saturday rally in Norfolk, Virginia. With the USS Wisconsin, a retired World War II-era battleship, docked behind him and with a number of veterans flanking the podium, Trump called for all veterans eligible for health care at VA hospitals to be allowed the same care at any hospital that accepts Medicare. This, according to Trump, would increase competition and decrease wait times. Major Florida newspaper editorial board: Marco Rubio should resign (Politico 10/28/15) The editorial board of one of Florida’s most prominent newspapers has a recommendation for Sen. Marco Rubio: just resign already. The editorial in the Florida Sun-Sentinel follows an interview the senator did with The Washington Post where he said he was “frustrated” with his chamber. The story also quoted a “longtime friend from Florida” who said “he hates it.” Well, the Sun-Sentinel editorial board has had enough. The Wednesday editorial said that the 2016 presidential candidate “has missed more votes than any other senator this year. His seat is regularly empty for floor votes, committee meetings and intelligence briefings. He says he’s MIA from his J-O-B because he Hinds it frustrating and wants to be president, instead.” Bill De Blasio Endorses Hillary Clinton For 2016 Presidential Bid (HNGN 10/30/15) New York Mayor Bill de Blasio finally announced Friday that he is backing Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s bid in the 2016 presidential election. De Blasio said that Clinton was the candidate that was best suited to go to Washington and follow through on enacting liberal policies to combat income inequality. “The candidate who I believe can fundamentally address income inequality effectively, the candidate who has the right vision and the right experience to get the job done is Hillary Clinton,” he said during an early morning appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” Bush team bracing for cash crunch (Politico 10/30/15) Jeb Bush’s campaign, wounded after another mediocre debate performance, is bracing for the possibility that revenue dries up in the coming weeks ahead. It’s a striking turn for a campaign that had embarked on a “shock and awe” approach to fundraising and then delivered a record-breaking haul of $114 million of hard money and super PAC dollars during the Hirst half of the year. After Wednesday’s bruising in the third GOP debate, Bush spent much of the latter half of this week responding to media questions about whether his presidential bid is now “terminal” or “on life support.” The candidate didn’t do himself any favors with his seemingly pained delivery of “having lots of fun” when asked if he’s enjoying himself on the trail.
