NEW YORK (AP) – Pregnancy, birth and life with a newborn in the middle of a pandemic has been a lot for new moms to handle over the past year. They’ve battled high anxiety, ever-shifting hospital protocols and intense isolation. Demographers are studying the varied reasons for an anticipated pandemic baby bust. Women who have…… MORE
OxyContin Maker Purdue Proposes $10B Plan to Exit Bankruptcy
(AP) — The company that makes the prescription painkiller OxyContin would be transformed into a new entity that would funnel profits into combatting the U.S. opioid crisis under a $10 billion plan submitted to a federal bankruptcy judge late Monday. Members of the Sackler family who own Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma would pay more than $4…… MORE
Calif. Mulls Relaxing Rules About Ballot Signatures
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California’s Democratic-controlled state Legislature is considering making it more difficult for local election officials to disqualify ballots. Voters who cast ballots by mail must now sign their ballot. Election officials then compare that signature to the one in the voter’s file. Officials can reject ballots when the signatures don’t match. Temporary…… MORE
CA Ethnic Studies Debate: Whose Stories Get Told?
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Race and ethnicity can be tricky topics to discuss, especially in the classroom. But the California Department of Education had no idea how heated the debate would get when it set out to draft a model ethnic studies curriculum for high schools across the state. After several years and nearly 100,000…… MORE
Newsom Will Appoint Black Woman if Feinstein Retires Early
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he’ll appoint a Black woman to the U.S. Senate if Sen. Dianne Feinstein retires before her term ends in 2024. He made the commitment Monday when asked on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” and says he has multiple names in mind. Feinstein is the chamber’s oldest member at…… MORE
As Signature Collection Ends, Calif. Heads Toward Recall
ROCKLIN, Calif. (AP) – Organizers behind a proposed recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom face a Wednesday deadline to submit nearly 1.5 million petition signatures to qualify the proposal for the ballot. Supporters say they have collected over 2 million, though hundreds of thousands remain unverified by election officials. A months-long review gets underway to…… MORE
3 Killed by Car in Downtown San Diego
[vemba-video id=”us/2021/03/15/san-diego-pedestrian-deaths-elam-nr-vpx.cnn”] At least three people have died and six others were injured after being struck by a vehicle that veered onto a sidewalk in downtown San Diego, according to Fire Chief Colin Stowell. The 71-year old driver of the vehicle, a Volvo station wagon, attempted to render aid and identified himself to officers. He…… MORE
‘Big Burden’ for Schools Trying to Give Kids Internet Access
(AP) — Schools had to figure out quickly how to get kids online after the coronavirus pandemic shut them down. They had to work with a patchwork approach born of desperation due to the federal failure to get all Americans connected. They scrounged wireless hot spots, struck deals with cable companies and even created networks…… MORE
Ag Market Outlook is More Optimistic
The USDA’s Food and Ag Policy Research Institute says the Market Outlook Report is uncertain, but it’s more optimistic than it was a few months ago. The most recent baseline projections for agricultural and biofuel markets were prepared using market information available as of January 2021. The agency says commodity markets will continue to…… MORE
Cities, Groups Aim to Stop Ohio’s Push for Early Census Data
UNDATED (AP) – A coalition of local governments and civil rights groups sued the U.S. Census Bureau last year to stop it from ending the 2020 census early out of fear it would undercount minority communities. Now, that coalition is attempting to block Ohio from trying to force the bureau into releasing data used for…… MORE
