August 31, 2020

NJ plans billions more in solar subsidies billed to ratepayers

New Jersey residents already have paid $3 billion to subsidize firms installing solar panels.

All residents paid for the subsidies through added charges on their monthly utility bills, making it a regressive tax that falls hardest on those least able to afford it. Worse yet, the benefits went overwhelmingly to affluent homeowners and businesses who could afford the subsidized solar panel systems. The working poor and disadvantaged minorities were compelled to pay for a lucrative energy benefit for others.

Two years ago the Legislature and Gov. Phil Murphy enacted a law to rein in the excessive solar subsidies. Under that, one form of the subsidies ended in April when the state reached a benchmark of 5.1% of its retail electricity from solar.

Yet the state is planning to provide new subsidies to the solar industry that will cost utility customers an estimated $800 million annually starting next year and $1.4 billion a year by 2030, according to a report by its consultant, Cadmus Group.

Read more: https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/our-view-nj-plans-billions-more-in-solar-subsidies-billed-to-ratepayers/article_4b5e3735-acc3-54c6-8ea8-66568c17f8ea.html

August 31, 2020

Oroho tells Murphy to use his executive power to stop gas take hike

The top Republican on the State Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee wants Gov. Phil Murphy to use his vast executive authority to stop a gas tax increase his administration announced on Friday.

“Governor Murphy has had no problem issuing executive orders during the current public health emergency to take extreme steps like shutting down the New Jersey economy and preventing voters from casting their ballots in person,” said State Sen. Steve Oroho (R-Franklin), the Senate GOP budget officer. “He has changed statutory deadlines and unilaterally ordered numerous other changes without legislative approval.”

State Treasurer Elizabeth Muoio said that the increase was necessitated by a projected $335 million revenue drop as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s almost unbelievable for the governor to now suggest that preventing a gas tax increase when many families are in economic crisis is the one thing he can’t do by executive order,” Oroho said. “Considering his own executive actions kept people home and off the roads artificially depressing gas consumption, drivers shouldn’t be penalized.”

Read more: https://newjerseyglobe.com/legislature/oroho-tells-murphy-to-use-his-executive-power-to-stop-gas-take-hike/

August 30, 2020

After 90 Years, Columbia Takes Slave Owner's Name Off a Dorm

Little is known about the 18th-century New Yorker described in an advertisement seeking the return of a runaway slave in 1776 beyond his given name (James), what he looked like (tall and thin, with bloodshot eyes) and that he was talkative.

James’s owner, Dr. Samuel Bard, is less obscure. He was a major figure in New York medical circles at the time, President George Washington’s doctor and a founder of Columbia University’s medical school. He also delivered Alexander Hamilton’s son Philip.

When Columbia opened a dormitory for medical students in Upper Manhattan in 1931, Dr. Bard’s name went on it as a tribute to his contributions to the university.

Now — nearly 90 years later, amid a summer of protests against racial injustice and as elite universities and other institutions continue to confront their ties to slavery — his name is about to come off.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/nyregion/columbia-university-slavery-samuel-bard.html

August 30, 2020

Unions concerned that NYC's borrowing request could trigger contract woes: labor sources

For months, NYC Mayor de Blasio has been demanding that the state grant the city more borrowing power to avert tens of thousands of imminent layoffs.

His argument is that without immediate federal aid, which is unlikely under the Trump regime, the city will need to borrow more cash to support daily operating expenses such as teachers’ salaries and trash pick-up at a time when the city’s budget is strained to its breaking point.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson is backing Hizzoner’s efforts, and de Blasio claims that the city’s labor unions are behind him too.

“The labor unions are deeply involved in the effort too to get long-term borrowing,” de Blasio said Friday. “There is a lot of energy in this effort right now.”

Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-de-blasio-labor-unions-cuomo-borrowing-financial-control-20200829-fqzwdw6gqbdltjrc2nh2g6s6zi-story.html

August 30, 2020

Arkansas sheriff resigns after racist rant surfaces

Arkansas County Sheriff Todd Wright resigned Friday after audio surfaced that allegedly exposed him using the N-word nine times.

In the five-minute clip, a man berates a woman for speaking with a Black person at a grocery store, saying “Why you got to holler at f------ [N-word] when I’m around,” according to KATV.

Wright relinquished his post at a Quorum Court session called to address the racist rant, the news station reported.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge called his resignation “appropriate” in a tweet.

Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-arkansas-sheriff-resigns-racist-rant-20200830-bwgvltjzgrc2rjxh6hol76gz74-story.html

August 30, 2020

More than 1,000 students at University of Alabama contract coronavirus in 2 weeks

It’s not the rolling tide they were hoping for.

More than 1,000 University of Alabama students have tested positive for coronavirus since returning to campus two weeks ago.

Only nine university employees have contracted the virus in that time frame, according to the university’s coronavirus dashboard.

Classes began at the university Aug. 19, and 562 students tested positive in the first week. Another 481 joined them during the second week.

Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-coronavirus-university-alabama-students-return-20200829-j4w66xrldzalvomkkdhdxgmlka-story.html

August 30, 2020

Western NY's 'positive rate' is up. But what does that tell us?

Epidemiologists, politicians and public health officials battling the Covid-19 pandemic track more than a dozen different metrics to gauge its spread. But in Western New York, one number has recently attracted particular attention – the “percentage positive” rate, or the share of the region’s Covid-19 tests that come back positive.

For the past nine days, Western New York’s rolling positive rate has strayed above 1%, the highest in the state. On Saturday, the state Department of Health deployed what Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called a regional “SWAT team,” which will conduct free same-day Covid-19 tests at eight new sites in Erie, Niagara and Chautauqua counties.

Public health officials are particularly attentive to the positive rate because the metric is sensitive to early changes in transmission. An uptick in the positive rate often, though not always, precedes an increase in hospital and intensive-care unit admissions.

On Friday, 1.2% of Western New York’s Covid-19 tests came back positive, yielding a seven-day average of 1.49% – both higher than the daily statewide rate of .67%.

Read more: https://buffalonews.com/news/local/wnys-positive-rate-is-up-but-what-does-that-tell-us/article_a510db62-ea3f-11ea-927c-dbe869536cde.html

August 30, 2020

Nurses on NY's front lines call for minimum staffing ratios

ALBANY — Nurses on the front lines of New York’s COVID-19 pandemic are calling for the state to enact minimum staffing standards ahead of another wave of infections.

Health care industry leaders, though, warn that passing such a law would saddle facilities with billions of dollars in extra costs they can’t afford.

Under legislation now before a legislative committee, the state would for the first time set minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, including a standard of one nurse for every two patients in intensive care units.

California now has such a law. Other states don’t. Supporters say the legislation would boost the quality of care, reduce staff burnout and let the state hold health care facilities accountable for inadequate staffing.

Read more: https://www.uticaod.com/news/20200829/nurses-on-nyrsquos-front-lines-call-for-minimum-staffing-ratios
(Utica Observer-Dispatch)

August 30, 2020

Cuomo: Colleges With COVID Spikes Will Move to Remote Learning

Colleges and universities in New York that see elevated coronavirus cases will move to two weeks of remote learning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said.

The criteria announced Thursday in a conference call comes as SUNY campuses around New York are already in session with students on campus. A student this week at the University at Albany tested positive this week.

A school would move to remote learning for two weeks if 100 cases or found or if the number of COVID cases is equal to 5% of the student population.

"We should anticipate clusters" at the campuses, Cuomo said.

Read more: https://nystateofpolitics.com/state-of-politics/new-york/ny-state-of-politics/2020/08/27/cuomo--colleges-with-covid-spikes-will-move-to-remote-learning-

August 30, 2020

Texas officials want to cut funding for women's health services while preserving an anti-abortion

Texas officials want to cut funding for women's health services while preserving an anti-abortion program

by Shannon Najmabadi and Edgar Walters, Texas Tribune


Texas is proposing to cut nearly $3.8 million in funding from programs that offer low-income residents access to contraceptives and breast and cervical cancer screenings, while leaving intact a robustly funded program that discourages women from having abortions.

Texas health officials proposed the cuts while taking great pains to avoid belt-tightening in most other programs that offer direct services in health care. As the coronavirus pandemic ravages parts of the economy, leaving the state with a projected $4.6 billion deficit, Gov. Greg Abbott asked state agencies to cut their spending by 5% — but largely exempted programs deemed crucial to public health.

Among those spared: a rapidly growing Alternatives to Abortion program, which promotes childbirth and offers new parents financial counseling and social service referrals. Lawmakers doubled the program’s budget last year.

While the cuts are not finalized, an August budget document obtained by The Texas Tribune shows funding would be maintained for the anti-abortion program, but reduced for doctors and clinics that provide reduced-cost contraception and health screenings. The document acknowledges fewer people would receive those services as a result.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/29/texas-funding-womens-health/