I’m on Day 44 of isolation, folks, and I gotta tell you I can no longer keep track of the weeks. Nonetheless, I am keeping track of which stories I think flew under the radar this week. Let’s get to it.
Julián Castro talks coronavirus response, putting people first, and our anxiety these days
By Gabe Ortíz
Ortíz: I think a lot of folks are really anxious right now just because it seems like nobody really is in control when it comes to the federal level—it kind of feels like there’s nobody guiding the ship. What’s your message to folks who are really anxious right now?
Castro: That there’s strong leadership to be found in governor’s offices, in the mayor’s office. That there’s a community spirit out there that should lift us right now. There is this greater sense right now that we’re all in this together, and people’s willingness to help one another out. People’s recognition that we are, in some ways, more interdependent than we ever have been. Today, our safety depends on other people’s social distancing as well, and it makes you realize how connected all of us are. So for people that are feeling anxious, I would say that there is strong leadership in many places, even though we haven’t seen that out of the Oval Office, and there’s a community spirit out there, and a support for one another that I hope is finding them as well.
Secretary Castro has always been the best. But we already knew that.
Elizabeth Warren mourns her 'charming and funny' oldest brother after his coronavirus death
By Laura Clawson
Herring was a 20-year Air Force veteran who flew 288 combat missions in Vietnam and retired as a lieutenant colonel. He leaves a wife and two sons as well as Warren and two brothers.
Warren described him as “charming and funny, a natural leader” with a “quick and crooked” smile that “lit up everyone around him.” The Boston Globe reports that Herring contracted COVID-19 at an inpatient facility where he was recovering from pneumonia and didn’t initially show symptoms but was transferred to intensive care on April 15 and died six days later. His wife was unable to visit him in the final weeks of his life, and “Warren spoke with him daily before he was transferred to the hospital, but that became more difficult to do as he grew sicker,” The Globe reports. “She last spoke with him on Sunday, when he seemed to be doing better.”
Though a Republican, Herring did appear in campaign videos for his sister.
Our hearts break for Sen. Warren and her family. We are so sorry for her loss. As someone who grew up as the only girl among brothers, this one made me cry.
Keep that same energy! Wisconsin's spring election is over, but the battle for democracy continues
By Anoa Changa for Our Prism
Black voters in Wisconsin put their lives on the line to vote during the April 7 election, flipping a state Supreme Court seat and winning a ballot referendum in Milwaukee. Wisconsin’s spring election offered a crash course in civics and state and local governance for the entire country.
While the news cycle may have moved on, election season is still underway with several states having elections in the coming months. In several states, voters have been encouraged to vote by absentee ballot to avoid potential exposure to COVID-19. A recent nationwide poll found that two-thirds of voters support voting by mail for the November general election.
Elections will be happening this year, pandemic or not. We need to organize nationwide to ensure that those elections are accessible to voters at home.
And that’s it for this week. Was there a story you read this week that you think flew under the radar and deserved more attention? Let me know in the comments below. Stay safe out there.