Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman, jck, and Besame. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
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Chicago Tribune: Illinois COVID-19 restrictions will ease Friday for nonessential retailers and animal groomers, but it won’t be business as usual by Lauren Zumbach and Ally Marotti
Thousands of vegetables, herb and house plants died after Adams & Son Gardens closed more than five weeks ago to help stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
But since Gov J.B. Pritzker revised the state’s stay-at-home order, the Humboldt Park shop, which didn’t have to close but chose to, is again receiving truckloads of plants to sell to people who are staying close to home and eager to start gardening.
The changes to the stay-at-home order, which take effect Friday, are expected to generate some sales at cash-crunched businesses while providing Illinois residents with more ways to help a battered economy.
But merchants and many service providers, most of which had been branded nonessential, will operate under conditions still considered far from business as usual, especially amid ongoing concerns about the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Colorado Times Recorder: Cory Gardner Boasts He & Vice President Got COVID-19 Tests for Meatpacking Plant. But Workers Never Got Tested by Erik Maulbetsch
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) might want to pick a better anecdote to showcase his strong relationship with Vice President Mike Pence than their recent work to reopen Greeley’s JBS meatpacking plant.
Speaking online to an invite-only group of Republican activists Monday evening, Gardner was asked to describe his work with Pence during the pandemic.
Gardner recounted their recent effort to address the deadly outbreak at the JBS facility, concluding, “We got 5,000 tests for that plant, and they’re up and running again as of this past Friday.”
JBS is indeed open for business, but only after the company’s leaders broke its promise to test all employees for COVID-19 before they returned to work.
As Denver Channel 7’s Investigative team reported, “Contact7 Investigates has confirmed promises from the White House and JBS management to provide testing for employees at the massive meatpacking plant in Greeley have not been kept.”
As noted above, it wasn’t just corporate managers who reneged on the deal, Vice President Pence himself also publicly promised that JBS workers would get tests. According to Gardner, he was intimately involved in the discussions that led to that promise.
Washington Post: Virus spread at Virginia chicken plants alarms health officials by Delvin Barrett
MACHIPONGO, Va. — Health officials on Virginia's Eastern Shore are increasingly worried that clusters of coronavirus tied to two poultry plants may overwhelm the one local hospital, even as the Trump administration insists such facilities remain open to keep the country fed during the crisis.
The chicken plants, one operated by Perdue Farms, the other by Tyson Foods, have continued operating as the number of cases linked to them climbed in the past week, according to health officials. Hospital officials said Tuesday that there are nearly 100 cases of Tyson employees or people who came in contact with them contracting covid-19, while the Perdue plant has about 80 such cases.
The concerns about chicken-processing facilities in Virginia come amid a larger national debate about the safety of workers in the meat industry, which has seen eruptions of coronavirus and tensions between health officials who have ordered some sites closed to prevent further infection, and industry officials who say they need to stay open to feed the country.
Des Moines Register: University of Iowa researchers warn 'a second wave of infections is likely' if COVID-19 prevention efforts are lifted by Barbara Rodriguez
Researchers at the University of Iowa warned Gov. Kim Reynolds' administration it should keep COVID-19 mitigation efforts in place within the state or "a second wave of infections is likely."
The warning was included in a 12-page report sent last week to the Iowa Department of Public Health from a team of researchers at the University of Iowa College of Public Health. The report said researchers found signs of a slowdown in COVID-19 infection and mortality rates in Iowa, "but not that a peak has been reached."
"There is considerable uncertainty still in how many cases and deaths Iowa could eventually have, with possible projections between 150 and >10,000 total deaths. Therefore, prevention measures should remain in place. Without such measures being continued, a second wave of infections is likely," according to the report.
About a week after receiving the report, Reynolds announced plans to begin reopening parts of Iowa's economy starting this Friday. As she announced plans to allow some businesses and religious institutions to resume operations, she said she favors a targeted mitigation strategy.
San Jose Mercury News: School in July? Newsom details plan to reopen coronavirus-paralyzed state by Marisa Kendall, Fiona Kelliher, and Aldo Toledo
Laying out plans to revive the economy if the state’s coronavirus caseload holds stable, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday suggested starting the upcoming school year as much as a month early — a controversial idea that sparked a passionate reaction from Bay Area parents and educators.
After missing more than a month of in-person classes because of the COVID-19 pandemic, students are falling behind — particularly those who don’t have access to reliable internet and other tools for remote learning, Newsom said. To help make up for lost time, he proposed starting the school year in late July or early August.
“There’s been a learning loss, and you can either just roll over and just accept that, or you can do something about it,” Newsom said. “So that’s our thinking. If we can maybe start up the school year a little earlier, that would help … close that gap a little bit.”
The suggestion was part of Newsom’s much-anticipated plan for reopening the state, for which he provided details Tuesday. Some businesses, including retail stores, nonessential manufacturing and office spaces, likely will be allowed to open within the next few weeks, he said. But Californians eager to have their nails or hair done or go to a movie theater will have to wait longer — likely months.
Buzzfeed: This Nurse Is Speaking Out Against Coronavirus Rumors And Hoaxes That Are Putting Him And His Colleagues In Danger by Craig Silverman
Eric Sartori arrived home on April 19 after working in the COVID-19 unit of a community hospital in Arizona. After reading social media posts claiming the virus was a hoax, the intensive care nurse opened Facebook and vented.
“While we're busy working to save people's lives we're also growing really concerned about the conspiracy theory BS that's seeming to become a bigger problem than #covid19,” he wrote.
"If you don't know what the fuck you're talking about it's okay to just shut the fuck up right NOW. This is not a joke."
A month ago, Sartori was going to work and spending time with his family, in addition to tending to his Facebook page, where he posts about work and his urban farm for just over 5,000 followers. Now he had people telling him the virus was a hoax and sending him death threats.
“We're feeling personally attacked," Sartori told BuzzFeed News. “And it's just like we have this eerie feeling of ‘How can this be reality right now?’”
New York Times: Trump’s Response to Virus Reflects a Long Disregard for Science by Lisa Friedman and Brad Plumer
WASHINGTON — At a March visit with doctors and researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the public health agency at the heart of the fight against the coronavirus, President Trump spoke words of praise for the scientific acumen in the building — particularly his own.
“Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability,” Mr. Trump said.
It was a striking boast, even amid a grave health crisis in which Mr. Trump has repeatedly contradicted medical experts in favor of his own judgment. But a disregard for scientific advice has been a defining characteristic of Mr. Trump’s administration.
As the nation confronts one of its worst public health disasters in generations, a moment that demands a leader willing to marshal the full might of the American scientific establishment, the White House is occupied by a president whose administration, critics say, has diminished the conclusions of scientists in formulating policy, who personally harbors a suspicion of expert knowledge, and who often puts his political instincts ahead of the facts.
Roll Call: Mfume headed back to House as Cummings’ successor by Stephanie Akin and Jessica Wehrman
Former congressman and NAACP president Kweisi Mfume is heading back to the House after a special election in Maryland on Tuesday made him both the successor and immediate predecessor of former House Oversight Chairman Elijah E. Cummings, who died in October.
Voters in Ohio on Tuesday also chose House nominees in primaries that were rescheduled at the last minute in mid-March. Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty faced a challenge in the Columbus-based 3rd District from an opponent backed by the liberal Justice Democrats, while two Democrats vied for the nomination in the Cincinnati-area 1st District to take on Republican Rep. Steve Chabot.
The elections were the first major test of a rapid shift to voting almost entirely by mail since the coronavirus pandemic forced states across the country to postpone or cancel in-person voting to control the spread of infections.
Official results in Maryland will not be released until May 8 to allow time for all ballots mailed by Tuesday’s deadline to be delivered and counted.
Washington Post: Will summer kill coronavirus? Cities fear heat waves will quickly become deadly. By Jada Yuan, Tim Craig, and Holly Bailey
NEW YORK — The windowless corridor on a 20th floor in the Mott Haven Houses — a cluster of public-housing towers in the South Bronx — felt like a thoroughfare, even in the middle of a pandemic when residents are supposed to be avoiding one another.
People and their dogs poured out of the elevator, joining others in an already crowded hallway. Many residents kept their apartment doors open, allowing for a slight breeze even though the air stank of urine in some places and bleach in others.
If anyone had a face mask, they wore it around their neck.
Yet as he hung out in a stairwell holding his cane, Edgar Martinez said he believes the hardest days are still to come here.
“The summer is going to make it worse,” said Martinez, 62, who is Puerto Rican and has lived in these projects since he was 12. “These kids can’t go to the park no more. They can’t play. Imagine if you have four, five kids in your house.”
BBC News: Coronavirus: Putin admits PPE shortage as lockdown extended
Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted that there is a shortage of protective kit for medics as the country battles the coronavirus.
This was despite a big increase in production and imports, he said.
Mr Putin warned that the peak of the coronavirus infection rate had not yet been reached in the country, and the population must remain vigilant.
Russia's lockdown aimed at containing the spread of Covid-19 was extended until 11 May.
It has more than 93,000 coronavirus cases, with 867 recorded deaths.
The president said there was still not enough protective equipment for health workers on the frontline of the crisis.
"Compared to before, [we're producing] a lot. But compared what we need, it's still not enough," he said during a televised briefing.
"Despite increased production, imports - there's a deficit of all sorts of things," he added.
Even Vladimir Putin was compelled to tell the truth, in this instance.
AFP: Torment in Ecuador: virus dead piled up in bathrooms
Front line medics in one of Latin America's coronavirus epicenters are lifting the lid on the daily horrors they face in an Ecuadoran city whose health system has collapsed.
In one hospital in Guayaquil overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, staff have had to pile up bodies in bathrooms because the morgues are full, health workers say.
In another, a medic told AFP that doctors have been forced to wrap up and store corpses to be able to reuse the beds they died on.
Ecuador has recorded close to 23,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 600 deaths, with Guayaquil by far its worst affected city. But the real toll is thought to be far higher.
A 35-year-old nurse at the first hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the trauma of what he saw had affected him professionally and personally.
When the health emergency broke out in March, every nurse went from caring for 15 patients to 30 in the space of just 24 hours, he added.
"So many people arrived that... they were practically dying in our hands," said the nurse.
DW: Riots in Lebanon with economy in crisis
Lebanon saw intense rioting on Tuesday as hundreds of protesters clashed with soldiers in Tripoli for a second day.
The clashes, which lasted late into the night, have left several people injured on both sides.
Unrest over a mounting economic crisis amid a weeks-long coronavirus lockdown has renewed anti-government sentiment that has been brewing in the country for months.
The country is seeing a financial collapse, with unprecedented inflation and a plunging Lebanese pound.
Tuesday's spurt in violence was triggered by the death of Fawaz al-Samman, a man in his mid 20s, who was shot by soldiers when clashes began on Monday night. He died a few hours later in the hospital.
There was a brief calm around sunset, when Muslims broke their fast during the ongoing holy month of Ramadan. But clashes resumed soon after al-Samman's tense funeral. Protesters were seen torching and vandalizing banks and army vehicles.
Guardian: Jair Bolsonaro faces inquiry into claims of meddling with police by Tom Phillips
The political whirlwind convulsing Brazilian politics has intensified with the supreme court approving an investigation into explosive allegations that the president, Jair Bolsonaro, illegally attempted to interfere in the federal police.
“The president of the republic … is also subject to the laws, just like any other of the country’s citizens,” the supreme court judge Celso de Mello noted in his decision on Monday night.
“No one, absolutely no one, is entitled to infringe and show contempt for our country’s laws and constitution.”
In a separate blow, a judge gave the federal government 48 hours to hand over the results of two Covid-19 tests Bolsonaro took last month but has refused to publish.
More than 20 members of a delegation Bolsonaro took to meet Donald Trump in early March were infected, fuelling suspicions that Brazil’s president – whose handling of the coronavirus crisis has been widely criticised – had also been contaminated.
AlJazeera: Somalia struggles with coronavirus as infections go undetected by Amanda Sperber
Six weeks after registering its first coronavirus case, Somalia on Monday had confirmed 480 infections out of 764 people tested for COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease that has disrupted life worldwide.
The figures, given to Al Jazeera by Dr Abdirizak Yusuf Ahmed, the person leading Somalia's COVID-19 response, raised major concerns that the actual tally could be much higher.
"We believe we are missing thousands of cases," said Ahmed, incident manager of Somalia's task force.
He explained that infections are going undetected because only highly symptomatic people are being tested, which also in part explains the number of positives given the sample size.
Ahmed also said the country does not have the capacity to mass test. There are currently only three labs equipped to safely test for the disease, including one in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland and one in the breakaway region of Somaliland.
South China Morning Post: Hong Kong protests: as Covid-19 situation comes under control, city braces for fresh wave of anti-government demonstrations in coming months by Natalie Wong and Zoe Low
The chanting of protest songs and slogans such as “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times” by more than 100 masked demonstrators at the International Financial Centre mall in Central was the second protest in just three days.
One of the protesters at the mall was a 45-year-old woman working in the IT sector.
“I was working from home, but I thought I should come out to show my support for the protests,” she said. “I cannot bear the situation in Hong Kong now. There is no rule of law and the judges are handing down unfair judgments.”
The peaceful protest came after riot police on Sunday evening flooded into an upscale mall in Taikoo Shing to disperse black-clad protesters holding anti-government banners. Police issued 40 verbal warnings that the protesters were breaching coronavirus social-distancing rules, but no arrests were made.
Chicago Tribune: ‘Don’t mess up’: Jeffrey Jordan — Michael Jordan’s oldest son — talks growing up in the shadow of a legend, that Scott Burrell hug request and his hopes for ‘Last Dance’ by Teddy Greenstein
Michael Jordan’s oldest son kindly answers to Jeff, Jeffrey, @HeirJordan13 (on Twitter and Instagram) and “Bones.”
“That’s my family nickname,” he says. “Growing up I was really skinny.”
He is reliving those days while watching “The Last Dance,” the ESPN documentary series captivating Chicago sports fans.
The first episode featured 8-year-old Jeffrey sitting and dribbling a basketball with his left hand.
“Don’t mess up,” Michael tells him.
“Sounds about right,” Jeffrey says now, chuckling at the memory of his demanding dad.
Jeffrey, 31, works in digital innovation on the Jordan Brand. The six-year veteran of Nike Inc. lives in Oregon and is recently married.
During two interviews lasting nearly an hour, the former University of Illinois guard spoke of growing up in the shadow of a legend, the high point of his hoops life and his hopes for “The Last Dance.”
Don’t forget that Meteor Blades is hosting a Tuesday night owls thread tonight.
Everyone have a good evening.