npr--2020-08-05--Fauci Reveals He Has Received Death Threats And His Daughters Have Been Harassed

Fauci Reveals He Has Received Death Threats And His Daughters Have Been Harassed Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that he has received death threats and his daughters have been harassed as a result of his high-profile statements about the coronavirus pandemic .
`` Getting death threats for me and my family and harassing my daughters to the point where I have to get security is just , I mean , it 's amazing , '' Fauci said .
Fauci , who plays a key role on the White House Coronavirus Task Force , did n't reveal any more details about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said he and his wife , and his three daughters , who live in three separate cities , are weathering the stress .
`` I wish that they did not have to go through that , '' Fauci said .
He made his comments Wednesday during an online forum sponsored by Harvard University that CNN 's Dr. Sanjay Gupta moderated .
Fauci has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and has advised six presidents on matters of public health .
In recent months , he has sometimes made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` I would n't have imagined in my wildest dreams that people who object to things that are pure public health principles are so set against it , and do n't like what you and I say , namely in the word of science , that they actually threaten you .
I mean , that to me is just strange , '' Fauci said .
Fauci called the threats and harassment `` unseemly things that crises bring out in the world , '' adding that `` it brings out the best of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fauci is not alone in receiving threats for work in the public health response to the pandemic .
Local health officials around the country have reported getting threatening comments online .

Fauci Reveals He Has Received Death Threats And His Daughters Have Been Harassed
Enlarge this image toggle caption Erin Scott/Pool via AP Erin Scott/Pool via AP
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that he has received death threats and his daughters have been harassed as a result of his high-profile statements about the coronavirus pandemic.
"Getting death threats for me and my family and harassing my daughters to the point where I have to get security is just, I mean, it's amazing," Fauci said.
Fauci, who plays a key role on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, didn't reveal any more details about the threats and harassment. But he said he and his wife, and his three daughters, who live in three separate cities, are weathering the stress.
"I wish that they did not have to go through that," Fauci said. He made his comments Wednesday during an online forum sponsored by Harvard University that CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta moderated.
Fauci has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and has advised six presidents on matters of public health. In recent months, he has sometimes made statements that have contradicted President Trump.
"I wouldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams that people who object to things that are pure public health principles are so set against it, and don't like what you and I say, namely in the word of science, that they actually threaten you. I mean, that to me is just strange," Fauci said.
Fauci called the threats and harassment "unseemly things that crises bring out in the world," adding that "it brings out the best of people and the worst of people."
Fauci is not alone in receiving threats for work in the public health response to the pandemic. Local health officials around the country have reported getting threatening comments online.


npr--2020-08-05--CSU Investigating Report Of Failure To Disclose COVID-19 Symptoms In Football Players

CSU Investigating Report Of Failure To Disclose COVID-19 Symptoms In Football Players Colorado State is investigating its football department , the university announced in a press release , following reports that coaches in the program had attempted to coerce players out of reporting possible symptoms of the coronavirus and warned the team against submitting themselves to self quarantine .
Following a story first published in the Coloradoan , officials at CSU said on Tuesday they were taking `` extremely seriously '' the accusations that football coaches had threatened students with reduced field time and had also attempted to manipulate contact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ players from practice .
`` An article published today reports some extremely serious and deeply troubling allegations about how CSU Athletics is handling public health precautions surrounding COVID-19 .
Quoting several student athletes and members of the Athletics staff , the story raises concerns about whether the health and well-being of our student athletes is truly the top priority of Colorado State University , '' read a letter signed by university President Joyce E. McConnell .
`` We take the concerns of our student athletes extremely seriously .
If we learn that there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do not share Colorado State University 's commitment to student health and well-being above all else , we will address the issue immediately . ''
Since late July , the CSU football department has seen at least 11 football players and five additional student athletes test positive for the virus that has stunted the global economy and upended the world of U.S. sports .
Professional athletic leagues in recent weeks have attempted to launch their seasons with some measure of normalcy , to varying degrees of success .
The National Basketball Association , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ teams secluded in a tightly restricted `` bubble '' to limit players ' exposure to the outside world , has begun playing the remaining games of its truncated season all in Orlando , Fla. , where players have been quarantined .
In Major League Baseball , however , several games had to be postponed after some 17 players on the Miami Marlins tested positive for COVID-19 .
Dozens of players and coaches in the league have also been confirmed positive for the illness .

CSU Investigating Report Of Failure To Disclose COVID-19 Symptoms In Football Players
Colorado State is investigating its football department, the university announced in a press release, following reports that coaches in the program had attempted to coerce players out of reporting possible symptoms of the coronavirus and warned the team against submitting themselves to self quarantine.
Following a story first published in the Coloradoan, officials at CSU said on Tuesday they were taking "extremely seriously" the accusations that football coaches had threatened students with reduced field time and had also attempted to manipulate contact tracing efforts to avoid having to remove players from practice.
"An article published today reports some extremely serious and deeply troubling allegations about how CSU Athletics is handling public health precautions surrounding COVID-19. Quoting several student athletes and members of the Athletics staff, the story raises concerns about whether the health and well-being of our student athletes is truly the top priority of Colorado State University," read a letter signed by university President Joyce E. McConnell.
"We take the concerns of our student athletes extremely seriously. If we learn that there are any employees of CSU Athletics who do not share Colorado State University's commitment to student health and well-being above all else, we will address the issue immediately."
Since late July, the CSU football department has seen at least 11 football players and five additional student athletes test positive for the virus that has stunted the global economy and upended the world of U.S. sports.
Professional athletic leagues in recent weeks have attempted to launch their seasons with some measure of normalcy, to varying degrees of success.
The National Basketball Association, which has had 22 of its 30 teams secluded in a tightly restricted "bubble" to limit players' exposure to the outside world, has begun playing the remaining games of its truncated season all in Orlando, Fla., where players have been quarantined.
In Major League Baseball, however, several games had to be postponed after some 17 players on the Miami Marlins tested positive for COVID-19. Dozens of players and coaches in the league have also been confirmed positive for the illness.


npr--2020-08-05--Virginia Unveils App To Aid Contact Tracing

Virginia is rolling out a new app designed to aid in contact tracing during the coronavirus pandemic .
Virginia Gov .
Ralph Northam said COVIDWISE is the first statewide app to use technology developed for the purpose by Google and Apple .
It relies on Bluetooth technology that can notify users if they may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus .
`` We know people are contagious before they show symptoms .
This can really help us catch new cases early before they spread as far , '' Northam said during a press conference on Wednesday .
COVIDWISE @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` exposure notification '' app , not an app for direct contact tracing – allows users to voluntarily and anonymously report positive COVID-19 test results , and alert other app users who 've been near them .
Rather than tracking users ' identity and location , Virginia officials say , the Bluetooth technology creates anonymous `` tokens , '' or random sequences of numbers , and exchanges them with other nearby users .
The app uses that information to inform users if they 've been near someone who has reported a positive test @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tracing during the coronavirus pandemic has raised privacy concerns in some circles .
In South Korea , for example , smartphone apps have been used to identify infected people and enforce mandatory quarantines .
During a briefing earlier Wednesday , Jeff Stover with the Virginia Department of Health said officials chose to use the Bluetooth-based app , rather than location-based contact tracing technology some other states have used , in response to such concerns .
`` We ca n't do our job well if we ca n't ensure that the people that we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the privacy and confidentiality of our data , '' Stover said .
`` We were very aware of that as we went into the development of this app . ''
Calling the app an `` exciting step forward '' to help get a handle on the spread of the virus , Northam echoed that message .
`` This is your choice – but I hope Virginians across the state will use this , '' Northam said .
`` No one is tracking you ; none of your personal information is going to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were launching a marketing and educational campaign to help inform the public about the app and dispel fear and misinformation .
That will include reaching out to religious leaders and offering public health officials as guests on talk radio shows .
Earlier in the week , Virginia and five other states announced they are joining a consortium to purchase three million rapid antigen tests that can detect the virus in 20 minutes or less .
Northam said quick test results are critical to being able to reduce the spread of the virus and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Alabama this week announced it 's using similar technology from Google and Apple for an app designed to help with contact tracing on state university campuses .

Virginia Unveils App To Aid Contact Tracing
Enlarge this image toggle caption Steve Helber/AP Steve Helber/AP
Virginia is rolling out a new app designed to aid in contact tracing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said COVIDWISE is the first statewide app to use technology developed for the purpose by Google and Apple. It relies on Bluetooth technology that can notify users if they may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus.
"We know people are contagious before they show symptoms. This can really help us catch new cases early before they spread as far," Northam said during a press conference on Wednesday.
COVIDWISE – which state officials stress is an "exposure notification" app, not an app for direct contact tracing – allows users to voluntarily and anonymously report positive COVID-19 test results, and alert other app users who've been near them.
Rather than tracking users' identity and location, Virginia officials say, the Bluetooth technology creates anonymous "tokens," or random sequences of numbers, and exchanges them with other nearby users. The app uses that information to inform users if they've been near someone who has reported a positive test.
The use of technology for contact tracing during the coronavirus pandemic has raised privacy concerns in some circles. In South Korea, for example, smartphone apps have been used to identify infected people and enforce mandatory quarantines.
During a briefing earlier Wednesday, Jeff Stover with the Virginia Department of Health said officials chose to use the Bluetooth-based app, rather than location-based contact tracing technology some other states have used, in response to such concerns.
"We can't do our job well if we can't ensure that the people that we're working with trust us to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of our data," Stover said. "We were very aware of that as we went into the development of this app."
Calling the app an "exciting step forward" to help get a handle on the spread of the virus, Northam echoed that message.
"This is your choice – but I hope Virginians across the state will use this," Northam said. "No one is tracking you; none of your personal information is going to be saved."
State officials said they were launching a marketing and educational campaign to help inform the public about the app and dispel fear and misinformation. That will include reaching out to religious leaders and offering public health officials as guests on talk radio shows.
Earlier in the week, Virginia and five other states announced they are joining a consortium to purchase three million rapid antigen tests that can detect the virus in 20 minutes or less. Northam said quick test results are critical to being able to reduce the spread of the virus and relax social distancing guidelines.
The state of Alabama this week announced it's using similar technology from Google and Apple for an app designed to help with contact tracing on state university campuses.


npr--2020-08-05--FDA Adviser: Not Realistic To Expect A COVID-19 Vaccine In 2020

FDA Adviser : Not Realistic To Expect A COVID-19 Vaccine In 2020 In June , the Trump administration introduced Operation Warp Speed , an initiative to deliver 300 million doses of an effective COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021 .
On Fox & Friends Wednesday morning , President Trump said the effort to accelerate the development , manufacturing and distribution of a vaccine for COVID-19 is making good progress .
`` I 've streamlined the process , '' the president said .
`` This would have taken three , four years to be where we are right now .
And we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believe , long before the end of the year . ''
This comes with elections just months away and as the virus continues to spread across the United States .
More than 4.7 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for the virus , more than in any other nation , and more than 157,000 people have died .
Dr. Paul Offit , a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who serves on a panel advising the Food and Drug Administration , tells All Things Considered that he 's cautiously optimistic for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but that he does n't think one will be ready before the end of the year .
Here are excerpts of the conversation .
Does it seem realistic to have a vaccine before the end of the year ?
No , it does n't .
As it stands right now , the vaccines that we 've been talking about , which are two-dose vaccines , those phase 3 trials — meaning large , prospective , placebo-controlled trials — just started .
You wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in June and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announce a vaccine prematurely .
Do you think the administration has been racing ahead too quickly ?
The way this process has worked so far is fine .
As long as you do a phase 3 trial , then you have proven that the vaccine is safe , at least in , say , 15,000 or 20,000 people , and that it 's effective at least for a certain length of time , which is reasonable .
That 's as big as many vaccines trials are .
What you do n't want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the administration to reach their hand into the `` warp speed '' bucket , where there are tens of millions of doses , pull out one or more vaccines and say , look , it 's been tested in a few thousand people , we know it induces an immune response without knowing whether or not it 's effective , and then putting it out into the American public .
That would be a mistake .
Well , what could happen is that the vaccine is far less effective than you think it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shaken what is a fragile vaccine confidence in this country , or that it has a safety problem that would have been picked up in 15,000 or 20,000 people but was n't picked up in only a few thousand people .
Peter Granitz and Martha Wexler produced and edited the audio version of this story .
Christianna Silva adapted it for the web .

FDA Adviser: Not Realistic To Expect A COVID-19 Vaccine In 2020
Enlarge this image toggle caption Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
In June, the Trump administration introduced Operation Warp Speed, an initiative to deliver 300 million doses of an effective COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021.
On Fox & Friends Wednesday morning, President Trump said the effort to accelerate the development, manufacturing and distribution of a vaccine for COVID-19 is making good progress.
"I've streamlined the process," the president said. "This would have taken three, four years to be where we are right now. And we're going to have one, I believe, long before the end of the year."
This comes with elections just months away and as the virus continues to spread across the United States. More than 4.7 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for the virus, more than in any other nation, and more than 157,000 people have died.
Dr. Paul Offit, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who serves on a panel advising the Food and Drug Administration, tells All Things Considered that he's cautiously optimistic for the future of an effective COVID-19 vaccine but that he doesn't think one will be ready before the end of the year.
Here are excerpts of the conversation.
Does it seem realistic to have a vaccine before the end of the year?
No, it doesn't. As it stands right now, the vaccines that we've been talking about, which are two-dose vaccines, those phase 3 trials — meaning large, prospective, placebo-controlled trials — just started.
You wrote an op-ed for The New York Times in June and expressed some concern that the president could announce a vaccine prematurely. Do you think the administration has been racing ahead too quickly?
The way this process has worked so far is fine. As long as you do a phase 3 trial, then you have proven that the vaccine is safe, at least in, say, 15,000 or 20,000 people, and that it's effective at least for a certain length of time, which is reasonable. That's as big as many vaccines trials are.
What you don't want to have happen is you don't want the administration to reach their hand into the "warp speed" bucket, where there are tens of millions of doses, pull out one or more vaccines and say, look, it's been tested in a few thousand people, we know it induces an immune response without knowing whether or not it's effective, and then putting it out into the American public. That would be a mistake.
What could happen?
Well, what could happen is that the vaccine is far less effective than you think it is, in which case you've shaken what is a fragile vaccine confidence in this country, or that it has a safety problem that would have been picked up in 15,000 or 20,000 people but wasn't picked up in only a few thousand people.
Peter Granitz and Martha Wexler produced and edited the audio version of this story. Christianna Silva adapted it for the web.


npr--2020-08-05--Parks In Nonwhite Areas Are Half The Size Of Ones In Majority-White Areas, Study Says

Parks In Nonwhite Areas Are Half The Size Of Ones In Majority-White Areas , Study Says In the midst of another hot summer and an ongoing pandemic , public parks are vital refuge .
But a new study has found that access to parks in the U.S. differs sharply according to income and race .
A study published by The Trust for Public Land found that parks serving primarily nonwhite populations are , on average , half the size of parks that serve majority-white populations , and are potentially five times more crowded .
The data showed that parks serving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , four times smaller — and potentially four times more crowded — than parks that serve mostly high-income households .
As temperatures rise due to climate change , spaces to escape from the heat can be a matter of life and death .
Heat waves kill more people in the U.S. than any other extreme weather event , including hurricanes , tornadoes or floods .
More than 65,000 people visit an emergency room for heat-related illness each year , and an average of more than 700 people die of heat-related causes annually .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ environment and are vital to reducing urban heat islands .
Shaded surfaces can be 20 to 45 degrees lower than unshaded surfaces .
In The Trust for Public Land study , researchers overlaid satellite heat data with census tract data , then wrote software that converts that thermal data from satellite imagery into a heat value .
The result was a high-resolution data set for the entire U.S. , giving a heat value for every 30-by-30-meter geographic area .
( The researchers excluded parks greater than 70,000 acres , such as large conservation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ study analyzed 14,000 cities and towns and found that temperatures areas within a 10-minute walk of a park are as much as 6 degrees lower than the areas beyond .
The new data adds to what other studies have found about heat and economic and racial disparities .
Last year , an investigation by NPR and the University of Maryland 's Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found that in dozens of major U.S. cities , low-income neighborhoods are more likely to be hotter than their wealthier counterparts .
In this age of social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trust 's researchers looked at how many people live within a 10-minute walk of each park and used that figure to determine how many people each park serves , as a proxy for crowdedness .
They found that parks serving mostly low-income households were on average a quarter of the size of parks in majority high-income areas : 25 acres compared with 101 acres .
And the study 's findings show that when it comes to parks as a refuge from heat , the type of park also matters .
Some American parks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Other parks are small and covered in asphalt .
The latter parks are going to be hotter – and they 're more likely to serve nonwhite and low-income households .
Conversations about park equity and access have tended to treat all parks as the same , says Linda Hwang , managing director of Strategy and Innovation at the Trust for Public Land .
If you assume that all parks offer the same benefits to their communities , `` the distribution looks OK .
But we know that not every park is the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we know anecdotally and we know through our own lived experience that that 's just not the case . ''
The tiny asphalt-covered pocket park does not offer the same cooling benefit as a big tree-filled park , nor the same space to maintain social distance .
`` In low-income communities of color , parks are more often smaller and they serve more people , which can lead to park pressure because of that less park space per person , '' Hwang says .
`` So if it is the case that 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hotter , then that distribution and the size of parks and the concentration of people around them becomes a really significant public health issue . ''
So what 's to be done ?
One of the trust 's initiatives involves working with school districts and cities to improve schoolyards and to convert them into public parks , by establishing joint-use agreements for the spaces .
`` We had a project in Oakland where we sent kids out with laser temperature [ sensors ] , '' Hwang says .
`` I think the day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 70s .
And there are temperature readings in the school yard of like 120 , 130 degrees .
I mean , it 's just awful for these kids . ''
The initiative works to make the schoolyards more climate-friendly , by replacing fenced-in asphalt expanses and replacing them with trees , gardens and other features — which help reduce both extreme heat and flooding issues .
José González is the founder of Latino Outdoors , a community and organization for connecting Latinos with the outdoors and pushing for their representation .
He says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ color care deeply about parks , are willing to invest in them and support policy measures accordingly .
But the public investment by those in power simply has n't matched that level of interest , he says .
`` It 's never been a question about caring , '' he says .
`` That leads us to this question of the power structure , to say , 'Well , then how are we investing ?
Why is that gap between high care and concern , and the reality of investment ? '
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , González points to all of the things that parks provide : Space for social distancing .
Sunlight to kill off potential surface contamination .
And an outdoor environment that 's safer than indoors , in terms of virus transmission .
González says more investment in parks in low-income communities of color is overdue .
And it needs to be done with care , he says , so that it does n't cause what 's called `` green gentrification '' — in which new parks or urban greening programs cause housing prices to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were meant to benefit .
Two things are critical to doing park investment right , González says .
One is making sure the investments are serving the communities they 're intended to serve .
The second is to look at parks as part of a holistic system , along with housing and education , `` so that parks do n't become this out-of-the-blue outlier that you just kind of drop into a community . ''
Community engagement and participatory design also avoids building parks according to outsiders ' assumptions about what a community @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take part in a more expansive conversation about what a park can be .
`` Because often then what ends up being limited is , 'Ah well , it is going to be another Latino community so we 're just going to put a soccer field . '
And while it may be true that a soccer field is appreciated , it does n't mean that they would only care about a soccer field , '' González says .
The pandemic is making people pay attention to the inequities that have existed for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and explore what a new future could look like .
`` This is an opportunity to continue to see parks as essential , and not just a nicety .
In the past , they tended to be one of the first things to get cut .
You would see with cities : 'Protect fire , protect police , parks can wait until the very end , ' `` González says .
`` We ca n't afford to continue to do that . ''

Parks In Nonwhite Areas Are Half The Size Of Ones In Majority-White Areas, Study Says
Enlarge this image toggle caption Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images
In the midst of another hot summer and an ongoing pandemic, public parks are vital refuge. But a new study has found that access to parks in the U.S. differs sharply according to income and race.
A study published by The Trust for Public Land found that parks serving primarily nonwhite populations are, on average, half the size of parks that serve majority-white populations, and are potentially five times more crowded.
The data showed that parks serving mostly low-income households are, on average, four times smaller — and potentially four times more crowded — than parks that serve mostly high-income households.
As temperatures rise due to climate change, spaces to escape from the heat can be a matter of life and death. Heat waves kill more people in the U.S. than any other extreme weather event, including hurricanes, tornadoes or floods. More than 65,000 people visit an emergency room for heat-related illness each year, and an average of more than 700 people die of heat-related causes annually.
Trees and other plants help cool the environment and are vital to reducing urban heat islands. Shaded surfaces can be 20 to 45 degrees lower than unshaded surfaces.
In The Trust for Public Land study, researchers overlaid satellite heat data with census tract data, then wrote software that converts that thermal data from satellite imagery into a heat value. The result was a high-resolution data set for the entire U.S., giving a heat value for every 30-by-30-meter geographic area. (The researchers excluded parks greater than 70,000 acres, such as large conservation areas and national forests.)
The study analyzed 14,000 cities and towns and found that temperatures areas within a 10-minute walk of a park are as much as 6 degrees lower than the areas beyond.
The new data adds to what other studies have found about heat and economic and racial disparities. Last year, an investigation by NPR and the University of Maryland's Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found that in dozens of major U.S. cities, low-income neighborhoods are more likely to be hotter than their wealthier counterparts.
In this age of social distancing, park size matters. The trust's researchers looked at how many people live within a 10-minute walk of each park and used that figure to determine how many people each park serves, as a proxy for crowdedness. They found that parks serving mostly low-income households were on average a quarter of the size of parks in majority high-income areas: 25 acres compared with 101 acres.
And the study's findings show that when it comes to parks as a refuge from heat, the type of park also matters.
Some American parks are spacious, leafy and green. Other parks are small and covered in asphalt. The latter parks are going to be hotter – and they're more likely to serve nonwhite and low-income households.
Conversations about park equity and access have tended to treat all parks as the same, says Linda Hwang, managing director of Strategy and Innovation at the Trust for Public Land.
If you assume that all parks offer the same benefits to their communities, "the distribution looks OK. But we know that not every park is the same," Hwang says. "We know anecdotally and we know through our own lived experience that that's just not the case."
The tiny asphalt-covered pocket park does not offer the same cooling benefit as a big tree-filled park, nor the same space to maintain social distance.
"In low-income communities of color, parks are more often smaller and they serve more people, which can lead to park pressure because of that less park space per person," Hwang says. "So if it is the case that 2020 is already on track to be even hotter, then that distribution and the size of parks and the concentration of people around them becomes a really significant public health issue."
So what's to be done?
One of the trust's initiatives involves working with school districts and cities to improve schoolyards and to convert them into public parks, by establishing joint-use agreements for the spaces.
"We had a project in Oakland where we sent kids out with laser temperature [sensors]," Hwang says. "I think the day in Oakland was like in the high 70s. And there are temperature readings in the school yard of like 120, 130 degrees. I mean, it's just awful for these kids."
The initiative works to make the schoolyards more climate-friendly, by replacing fenced-in asphalt expanses and replacing them with trees, gardens and other features — which help reduce both extreme heat and flooding issues.
José González is the founder of Latino Outdoors, a community and organization for connecting Latinos with the outdoors and pushing for their representation.
He says many studies have shown that communities of color care deeply about parks, are willing to invest in them and support policy measures accordingly. But the public investment by those in power simply hasn't matched that level of interest, he says.
"It's never been a question about caring," he says. "That leads us to this question of the power structure, to say, 'Well, then how are we investing? Why is that gap between high care and concern, and the reality of investment? ' "
During the public health crisis of COVID-19, González points to all of the things that parks provide: Space for social distancing. Sunlight to kill off potential surface contamination. And an outdoor environment that's safer than indoors, in terms of virus transmission.
González says more investment in parks in low-income communities of color is overdue. And it needs to be done with care, he says, so that it doesn't cause what's called "green gentrification" — in which new parks or urban greening programs cause housing prices to rise, pushing out the communities they were meant to benefit.
Two things are critical to doing park investment right, González says. One is making sure the investments are serving the communities they're intended to serve.
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The second is to look at parks as part of a holistic system, along with housing and education, "so that parks don't become this out-of-the-blue outlier that you just kind of drop into a community."
Community engagement and participatory design also avoids building parks according to outsiders' assumptions about what a community wants. Instead, the community can take part in a more expansive conversation about what a park can be.
"Because often then what ends up being limited is, 'Ah well, it is going to be another Latino community so we're just going to put a soccer field.' And while it may be true that a soccer field is appreciated, it doesn't mean that they would only care about a soccer field," González says.
The pandemic is making people pay attention to the inequities that have existed for a long time, González says, and explore what a new future could look like.
"This is an opportunity to continue to see parks as essential, and not just a nicety. In the past, they tended to be one of the first things to get cut. You would see with cities: 'Protect fire, protect police, parks can wait until the very end,' " González says. "We can't afford to continue to do that."


npr--2020-08-05--'Sick To My Core': Aurora, Colo., Chief Apologizes After Black Family Is Handcuffed

'Sick To My Core ' : Aurora , Colo. , Chief Apologizes After Black Family Is Handcuffed The police chief in Aurora , Colo. , has apologized after officers handcuffed children and reportedly drew their weapons on a Black family — an incident captured on video this week that renewed criticism the department is racially insensitive and disconnected from its community .
A woman and four girls were wrongly detained , police later acknowledged .
`` I want to reach out and just tell the family I am terribly sorry .
I am sick to my core that these children @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Chief Vanessa Wilson said in an interview Tuesday with NPR member station KUNC .
Police said officers approached Brittney Gilliam 's car under the belief that it had been reported stolen .
Gilliam was taking her daughter , 6 , and her sister , 12 , and two nieces , ages 14 and 17 , to get their nails done at a salon Sunday morning .
When police approached , they were sitting in a parking lot where the salon is located .
The car had not been stolen – but before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gilliam and two of the girls .
Nearby , a woman recorded the encounter on her phone , showing the officers standing over the children .
`` The video shows four children , ages 6 to 17 , face down on asphalt surrounded by police officers , '' Colorado Public Radio 's Hayley Sanchez reported for NPR .
`` Two are handcuffed and a child is crying for her mother .
The witness who recorded the video says the officers surrounded the family 's vehicle and drew their guns . ''
In an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gilliam said of the officers , `` There 's no excuse why you did n't handle it a different type of way . ''
Referring to the children who were present , she added , `` You could have even told them , 'Step off to the side ; let me ask your mom or your auntie a few questions so we can get this cleared up . '
There [ were ] different ways to handle it . ''
The officers were following the Aurora department 's policy for approaching suspected stolen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she issued Monday night .
Wilson said there was confusion over the vehicle 's status because its license plate matched a stolen vehicle 's information .
But she acknowledged the officers should have used their discretion to determine that it did not qualify as a `` high-risk stop . ''
The video of the encounter , the chief said , is disturbing .
`` It 's very hard to watch and listen to , '' Wilson told KUNC .
`` It should n't have happened , '' she added .
`` Someone should @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's stop what we 're doing .
Yes , we normally do felony stops , but this is not the time or the place and it 's not appropriate in this instance . '
And that did n't happen . ''
Wilson apologized for the encounter on the same day the Aurora City Council voted to approve her appointment as Aurora 's full-time chief .
She had been serving on an interim basis since January , leading an agency that has faced months of protests and ongoing investigations into the death of Elijah @ @ @ @ @ @ @ died after police detained him .
Discussing the changes she would like to see the department adopt , Wilson said she wants training classes to be adjusted to help officers be sensitive to implicit bias and treat people `` with the dignity and respect they deserve . ''
Saying she wants officers to `` not be robotic '' in following procedures , Wilson added , `` I hope the community knows that I 'm serious about change , and I 'm serious about moving this agency forward , and hopefully healing in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @

'Sick To My Core': Aurora, Colo., Chief Apologizes After Black Family Is Handcuffed
The police chief in Aurora, Colo., has apologized after officers handcuffed children and reportedly drew their weapons on a Black family — an incident captured on video this week that renewed criticism the department is racially insensitive and disconnected from its community.
A woman and four girls were wrongly detained, police later acknowledged.
"I want to reach out and just tell the family I am terribly sorry. I am sick to my core that these children were traumatized the way they were," Chief Vanessa Wilson said in an interview Tuesday with NPR member station KUNC.
Police said officers approached Brittney Gilliam's car under the belief that it had been reported stolen. Gilliam was taking her daughter, 6, and her sister, 12, and two nieces, ages 14 and 17, to get their nails done at a salon Sunday morning. When police approached, they were sitting in a parking lot where the salon is located.
The car had not been stolen – but before police made that determination, officers handcuffed Gilliam and two of the girls. Nearby, a woman recorded the encounter on her phone, showing the officers standing over the children.
"The video shows four children, ages 6 to 17, face down on asphalt surrounded by police officers," Colorado Public Radio's Hayley Sanchez reported for NPR. "Two are handcuffed and a child is crying for her mother. The witness who recorded the video says the officers surrounded the family's vehicle and drew their guns."
In an interview with local TV outlet 9News, Gilliam said of the officers, "There's no excuse why you didn't handle it a different type of way."
Referring to the children who were present, she added, "You could have even told them, 'Step off to the side; let me ask your mom or your auntie a few questions so we can get this cleared up.' There [were] different ways to handle it."
The officers were following the Aurora department's policy for approaching suspected stolen vehicles, Wilson said in an apology she issued Monday night. Wilson said there was confusion over the vehicle's status because its license plate matched a stolen vehicle's information. But she acknowledged the officers should have used their discretion to determine that it did not qualify as a "high-risk stop."
The video of the encounter, the chief said, is disturbing.
"It's very hard to watch and listen to," Wilson told KUNC.
"It shouldn't have happened," she added. "Someone should have said, 'Time out, let's stop what we're doing. Yes, we normally do felony stops, but this is not the time or the place and it's not appropriate in this instance.' And that didn't happen."
Wilson apologized for the encounter on the same day the Aurora City Council voted to approve her appointment as Aurora's full-time chief. She had been serving on an interim basis since January, leading an agency that has faced months of protests and ongoing investigations into the death of Elijah McClain, a young Black man who died after police detained him.
Discussing the changes she would like to see the department adopt, Wilson said she wants training classes to be adjusted to help officers be sensitive to implicit bias and treat people "with the dignity and respect they deserve."
Saying she wants officers to "not be robotic" in following procedures, Wilson added, "I hope the community knows that I'm serious about change, and I'm serious about moving this agency forward, and hopefully healing in the community as best we can."


npr--2020-08-05--UConn Huskies Football Season Canceled Over Coronavirus Risks

The University of Connecticut Department of Athletics on Wednesday announced it was canceling its football program for the 2020-21 school @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
`` After receiving guidance from state and public health officials and consulting with @ @ @ @ @ decided that we will not compete on the gridiron this season , '' UConn Director @ @ @ @ @ .
`` The safety challenges created by COVID-19 place our football student-athletes at an unacceptable @ @ @ @ @ The team is the first in the Football Bowl Subdivision to cancel its season as @ @ @ @ @ , ESPN reports .
`` The necessary measures needed to mitigate risk of football student-athletes @ @ @ @ @ conducive to delivering an optimal experience for our team , '' Benedict said .
`` @ @ @ @ @ rather preserve their year of eligibility with an eye to competing under more typical circumstances @ @ @ @ @ '' In a press release , the school said that none of its student-athletes have @ @ @ @ @ the virus .

UConn Huskies Football Season Canceled Over Coronavirus Risks
Enlarge this image toggle caption Michael Hickey/Getty Images Michael Hickey/Getty Images
The University of Connecticut Department of Athletics on Wednesday announced it was canceling its football program for the 2020-21 school year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"After receiving guidance from state and public health officials and consulting with football student-athletes, we've decided that we will not compete on the gridiron this season," UConn Director of Athletics David Benedict said. "The safety challenges created by COVID-19 place our football student-athletes at an unacceptable level of risk."
The team is the first in the Football Bowl Subdivision to cancel its season as a result of the virus, ESPN reports.
"The necessary measures needed to mitigate risk of football student-athletes contracting the coronavirus are not conducive to delivering an optimal experience for our team," Benedict said. "Ultimately, the student-athletes would rather preserve their year of eligibility with an eye to competing under more typical circumstances during the 2021 season."
In a press release, the school said that none of its student-athletes have so far tested positive for the virus.


npr--2020-08-05--Former Atlanta Police Officer Who Shot Rayshard Brooks Sues City Over Firing

Former Atlanta Police Officer Who Shot Rayshard Brooks Sues City Over Firing A former Atlanta police officer , charged in the fatal shooting of a Black man in a Wendy 's parking lot in June , has sued the city 's mayor and interim police chief over his firing .
In the suit filed Tuesday against Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and interim police Chief Rodney Bryant , former Officer Garrett Rolfe 's attorneys claim that his use of deadly force against Rayshard Brooks had been justifiable .
`` The Petitioner has suffered irreparable injury to his personal and professional reputation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' the suit says .
`` As a result of the unlawful action of the Respondent , the Petitioner has become a public spectacle and object of ridicule .
His unlawful termination was unnecessarily public and has attracted national media attention . ''
Rolfe , who is white , was fired from the Atlanta police force on June 13 , a day after Brooks ' death , in a killing that further escalated racial tensions and discussions on police treatment of Black Americans .
The same day Rolfe 's lawsuit was filed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the former officer 's $ 500,000 bond , alleging he had traveled to Florida without permission , according to The Associated Press .
Late on the night of June 12 , Rolfe and another officer , Devin Brosnan , responded to a call that 27-year-old Brooks had fallen asleep in the Wendy 's drive-through lane .
After interacting for more than 40 minutes , Rolfe and Brosnan attempted to handcuff Brooks , who struggled and broke free from their restraint .
Brooks began to run away .
After a brief chase , Rolfe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the back .
Brosnan , the other officer involved in the attempted arrest , is facing lesser charges and remains with the Atlanta Police Department .

Former Atlanta Police Officer Who Shot Rayshard Brooks Sues City Over Firing
Enlarge this image toggle caption Joe Raedle/Getty Images Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Updated at 10:47 a.m. ET Thursday
A former Atlanta police officer, charged in the fatal shooting of a Black man in a Wendy's parking lot in June, has sued the city's mayor and interim police chief over his firing.
In the suit filed Tuesday against Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and interim police Chief Rodney Bryant, former Officer Garrett Rolfe's attorneys claim that his use of deadly force against Rayshard Brooks had been justifiable.
"The Petitioner has suffered irreparable injury to his personal and
professional reputation as a result of his unlawful dismissal," the suit says. "As a result of the unlawful action of the Respondent, the Petitioner has become a public spectacle and object of ridicule. His unlawful termination was unnecessarily public and has attracted national media attention."
Rolfe, who is white, was fired from the Atlanta police force on June 13, a day after Brooks' death, in a killing that further escalated racial tensions and discussions on police treatment of Black Americans.
The same day Rolfe's lawsuit was filed, prosecutors asked the court to revoke the former officer's $500,000 bond, alleging he had traveled to Florida without permission, according to The Associated Press.
Rolfe faces 11 charges, including felony murder, in Brooks' killing.
Late on the night of June 12, Rolfe and another officer, Devin Brosnan, responded to a call that 27-year-old Brooks had fallen asleep in the Wendy's drive-through lane. After interacting for more than 40 minutes, Rolfe and Brosnan attempted to handcuff Brooks, who struggled and broke free from their restraint.
When Rolfe and Brosnan attempted to put handcuffs on Brooks, he was able to break away and take one of their stun guns. As Brooks ran, he fired it back at police. After a brief chase, Rolfe fired his service weapon at Brooks, shooting him twice in the back.
Brosnan, the other officer involved in the attempted arrest, is facing lesser charges and remains with the Atlanta Police Department.


npr--2020-08-06--Coronavirus World Map: Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak

Coronavirus World Map : Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak Since the new coronavirus was first reported in Wuhan , China , in December , the infectious respiratory disease COVID-19 has spread rapidly within China and to neighboring countries and beyond .
The first confirmed coronavirus cases outside China occurred on Jan. 20 , in Japan , Thailand and South Korea .
On Jan. 21 , the first case in the U.S. was identified in Washington state .
On Jan. 24 , the first two European cases were confirmed in France .
By Feb. 1 , eight European nations had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ month later that count had risen to 24 countries with at least 2,200 cases , most of them in Italy .
On March 11 , Italy eclipsed 10,000 cases and the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic — the first since H1N1 in 2009 .
That 's also when China , the original epicenter , began seeing drops in daily counts of new cases .
March also saw exponential spread of the virus throughout the U.S. , with all 50 states reporting cases by March 17 .
This particular virus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the third strain of coronavirus known to frequently cause severe symptoms in humans .
The other two strains cause Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome .
Click here to see the state-by-state breakdown of cases in the United States .
This story was originally published on March 30 , 2020 .

Coronavirus world map: We've now passed the 600 million mark for infections
Editor's note: This page is no longer being updated. The last update was Sept. 5, 2022. For current data about COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world, Johns Hopkins University and Our World in Data are useful resources.
In late January 2020 only a few dozen COVID-19 infections had been identified outside of China. A year later, the world tallied its first 100 million cases. It took the globe just 7 more months to pass the 200 million mark— then another 5 months to hit 300 million, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Now the virus has spread to every corner of the globe and has been blamed for more than 6 million deaths.
The United States, India and Brazil in that order have had the most COVID cases and the three nations collectively account for almost half of all recorded infections so far in the pandemic.
Explore the chart below to find a country-by-country breakdown of new and total cases since January 2020.
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Explore how the number of coronavirus cases have shifted in different parts of the world over time. The first chart compares each continent to each other, while the next charts highlight the number of cases in select countries by region.
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This story was originally published on March 30, 2020.


npr--2020-08-06--Tracking The Pandemic: Are Coronavirus Cases Rising Or Falling In Your State?

Tracking The Pandemic : Are Coronavirus Cases Rising Or Falling In Your State ?
More than 4 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 150,000 have died .
Though growth in new cases slowed in late spring , by mid-June new cases began to trend upward nationally .
In the graphics below , explore the trend in new cases in your state to see whether cases are rising , falling or staying level .
You can view the data via a heat map ( immediately below ) , a curve chart and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case trends over the last three weeks .
Or to see states ' total cases and deaths on a map , click here .
The following chart displays states ' trends in new daily case counts , total cases , and per capita totals .
To compare state outbreaks , the trend lines for average new daily cases are graphed against each state 's total case count to date .
This highlights a state 's daily growth relative to the overall size of its outbreak .
When both new and total case counts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As cases slow , the curve levels or bends down .
In New York , site of the country 's largest outbreak , the state 's curve rose sharply before reaching over 170,000 total cases in April .
Since then , new cases have fallen from about 10,000 per day in mid-April to under 800 per day in mid July .
Conversely , Florida peaked around 1,200 new cases per day on average in April , only to surge again to nearly 12,000 per day in mid-July Coronavirus case totals are much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In the spring , a large share of U.S. cases were centered around New York City .
As of mid July , other large , populous states such as California , Florida and Texas have reached high totals as well .
Some other states such as Arizona and Louisiana show a heavy burden of infection relative to their population size .
Explore the map below to see totals and per capita figures around the country for both cases and deaths .
Click here to see a global map of confirmed cases and deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the table below shows the change in average new cases per day in each state , week over week .
States marked in shades of red are showing growth , those in shades of green , are showing declines .
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources , including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ; the World Health Organization ; national , state and local government health departments ; 1point3acres ; and local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its data uploads and regularly checks them for anomalies .
This may result in occasional data discrepancies on this page as the JHU team resolves anomalies and updates its feeds .
State-by-state recovery data are unavailable at this time .
There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department 's website .
Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships .
In early June , Michigan health authorities started including probable cases in its totals .
This resulted in a brief spike in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ JHU team was able to reconcile the historical data .
On June 25 , New Jersey included 1,854 previously-unreported probable deaths in its totals , resulting in a spike in the state 's daily death numbers .
This story was originally published on March 16 , 2020 .
Elena Renken was a co-author on that version .
Sean McMinn contributed to and Carmel Wroth edited this story .

Tracking the coronavirus around the U.S.: See how your state is doing
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Note: This page was last updated on Feb. 1, 2023. It will no longer be updated. For current data on COVID cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Feb. 1, there have been more than 101 million confirmed coronavirus infections in the U.S. and more than 1 million people have died of COVID-19. In the graphics below, explore the trends in your state.
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The above charts show average new cases per 100,000 people for each state over the last 12 months.
Note: Actual cases may be substantially higher, since many who test positive with at-home tests don't report their cases.
For additional data about COVID-19 in the U.S, including cases and deaths, demographics, and hospitalizations, consult the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
To show trends, the table below shows the change in average new cases per day in each state, week over week for the last 28 days. States marked in shades of red have growing outbreaks; those in shades of green, are declining.
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Methodology
The graphics on this page pull from data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University from several sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the World Health Organization; national, state and local government health departments; 1point3acres; and local media reports.
The JHU team automates its data uploads and regularly checks them for anomalies. This may result in occasional data discrepancies on this page as the JHU team resolves anomalies and updates its feeds. There may be discrepancies between what you see here and what you see on your local health department's website. Figures shown do not include cases on cruise ships.
Fluctuations in the numbers may happen as health authorities review old cases, process testing backlogs or update their methodologies. The JHU team maintains a list of such changes.
This story was originally published on March 16, 2020. Elena Renken was a co-author on that version. Sean McMinn and Audrey Carlsen contributed to this story. Carmel Wroth edited this story.


npr--2020-08-06--Drive-Through Voting? Texas Gets Creative In Its Scramble For Polling Places

Drive-Through Voting ?
Texas Gets Creative In Its Scramble For Polling Places Caitlin Boehne was n't too happy that she had to vote in person during a recent primary runoff in Austin , Texas .
Boehne is under 65 and is n't disabled , so voting by mail was n't available to her under current Texas law .
She says it was a frustrating situation .
`` The workers , the voters — everybody has to risk their health in order to participate in the democratic process , '' she says .
`` It 's astounding . ''
All in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in person went as well as it could during a pandemic .
She voted on the first day of early voting .
So there were no lines , and everything looked pretty safe .
`` I was really impressed , '' she says .
`` Everything was very spaced out — lots of hand sanitizer , protective equipment and stuff . ''
This is what local election officials across Texas are hoping to replicate on a much larger scale in November .
But now that the coronavirus pandemic has made some past polling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homes , less safe this year , officials are considering less conventional options as they scramble to find enough polling sites before the presidential election .
Texas is one of very few states that is not expanding mail-in voting during the pandemic , which means most Texans will cast their ballots in person this fall .
Myrna Pérez , director of the Brennan Center 's Voting Rights and Elections Program , says adequate polling places are going to be important across the United States .
She says they will be key even in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Polling places are the way that many , many Americans will be voting on Election Day , '' she says .
`` There are some people for whom it is really the only realistic option . ''
That includes people without reliable mail service , people with visual impairments or people who need language assistance , Pérez says .
In Texas , though , access to a polling site is going to be crucial to most voters .
`` I think polling places are going to play an outsized role in Texas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been aggressive about limiting who can take advantage ... of vote by mail , '' Pérez says .
Texas officials are , however , giving voters more time to vote in person .
The governor recently extended the state 's early voting period from 12 days to 18 for the presidential election .
Because of the pandemic , though , logistics for choosing in-person polling sites is going to be more complicated .
Ali Lozano , the voting rights outreach coordinator for the Texas Civil Rights Project , says local officials have to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this particular election .
`` It 's of the utmost importance that election administrators and county officials start preparing now , '' she says , `` to make sure that we have enough polling locations , enough poll workers and that everybody knows what they need to be doing in order to make everyone feel safe . ''
In Austin , Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir is among the 254 local officials searching for safe in-person voting sites .
She said she plans to have about 35 early voting centers and 200 Election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ DeBeauvoir says , finding locations for those sites has been a challenge .
`` A lot of the owners of the facilities we want wo n't give us an answer for sure one way or another that we can or can not use the facility , '' she says .
Some locations are completely off the table .
The state has advised against the use of nursing homes and senior centers and suggests moving to larger venues when possible .
For example , polling sites at grocery stores were super-popular in Austin because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , DeBeauvoir says , the pandemic has made grocery stores a terrible idea .
`` There 's no way to socially distance the voters , especially from the shoppers , '' she says .
`` And it was just too close , too crowded .
It was never going to work . ''
During this last election , DeBeauvoir says , she relied heavily on schools .
Now that schools may be reopening at some point in the fall , though , it 's up in the air .
Chris Davis , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Central Texas , says polling places that primarily serve older voters are also a bad idea these days .
`` We are relatively certain we are going to take off the table nursing homes and assisted living that we have used and enjoyed — and the residents had enjoyed in the past — as Election Day polling places , '' he says .
To replace these former sites , election officials are going to have to get creative , Davis says .
`` It 's not going to be uniform from one county @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For example , Davis is looking for open-air options in an effort to keep the possible spread of the coronavirus down .
`` We are considering sites that we can have kind of a robust drive-through voting , '' he says , `` [ maybe ] a defunct or closed bank with several teller lanes ... perhaps parking garages .
Something that can give one-stop service . ''
DeBeauvoir says she 's looking at setting up polling stations in lobbies , hotel ballrooms and amenity centers at apartment complexes .
Where these new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pérez says election officials also have to be mindful of how voting locations are distributed within their counties .
`` They need to make sure that there 's enough polling places in the communities that need them , '' she says , `` especially in communities that are underserved or have low rates of vote-by-mail usage . ''
Voting rights groups worry that not having enough polling sites could lead to longer lines during the upcoming election .
Texas has roughly 750 fewer polling sites than it did about a decade ago , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at risk .
Plus , voting during the pandemic is going to take longer than it did in 2016 because of added safety measures .
`` And that 's if people keep the same amount of polling locations , '' Lozano says .
`` If we have even less polling locations with these added steps , it 's just a perfect storm for problems that is absolutely going to lead to longer lines if we do not substantively prepare now . ''

Drive-Through Voting? Texas Gets Creative In Its Scramble For Polling Places
Enlarge this image toggle caption Eric Gay/AP Eric Gay/AP
Caitlin Boehne wasn't too happy that she had to vote in person during a recent primary runoff in Austin, Texas.
Boehne is under 65 and isn't disabled, so voting by mail wasn't available to her under current Texas law. She says it was a frustrating situation.
"The workers, the voters — everybody has to risk their health in order to participate in the democratic process," she says. "It's astounding."
All in all, though, Boehne says voting in person went as well as it could during a pandemic. She voted on the first day of early voting. So there were no lines, and everything looked pretty safe.
"I was really impressed," she says. "Everything was very spaced out — lots of hand sanitizer, protective equipment and stuff."
This is what local election officials across Texas are hoping to replicate on a much larger scale in November. But now that the coronavirus pandemic has made some past polling locations, like grocery stores and nursing homes, less safe this year, officials are considering less conventional options as they scramble to find enough polling sites before the presidential election.
Texas is one of very few states that is not expanding mail-in voting during the pandemic, which means most Texans will cast their ballots in person this fall.
Myrna Pérez, director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights and Elections Program, says adequate polling places are going to be important across the United States. She says they will be key even in states that are expanding mail-in voting.
"Polling places are the way that many, many Americans will be voting on Election Day," she says. "There are some people for whom it is really the only realistic option."
That includes people without reliable mail service, people with visual impairments or people who need language assistance, Pérez says.
In Texas, though, access to a polling site is going to be crucial to most voters.
"I think polling places are going to play an outsized role in Texas elections particularly because Texas statewide officials have been aggressive about limiting who can take advantage ... of vote by mail," Pérez says.
Texas officials are, however, giving voters more time to vote in person. The governor recently extended the state's early voting period from 12 days to 18 for the presidential election.
Because of the pandemic, though, logistics for choosing in-person polling sites is going to be more complicated.
Ali Lozano, the voting rights outreach coordinator for the Texas Civil Rights Project, says local officials have to plan for a lot more ahead of this particular election.
"It's of the utmost importance that election administrators and county officials start preparing now," she says, "to make sure that we have enough polling locations, enough poll workers and that everybody knows what they need to be doing in order to make everyone feel safe."
In Austin, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir is among the 254 local officials searching for safe in-person voting sites. She said she plans to have about 35 early voting centers and 200 Election Day voting sites.
So far, DeBeauvoir says, finding locations for those sites has been a challenge.
"A lot of the owners of the facilities we want won't give us an answer for sure one way or another that we can or cannot use the facility," she says.
Some locations are completely off the table. The state has advised against the use of nursing homes and senior centers and suggests moving to larger venues when possible.
For example, polling sites at grocery stores were super-popular in Austin because they were so convenient. But now, DeBeauvoir says, the pandemic has made grocery stores a terrible idea.
"There's no way to socially distance the voters, especially from the shoppers," she says. "And it was just too close, too crowded. It was never going to work."
During this last election, DeBeauvoir says, she relied heavily on schools. Now that schools may be reopening at some point in the fall, though, it's up in the air.
Chris Davis, the elections administrator for Williamson County, in Central Texas, says polling places that primarily serve older voters are also a bad idea these days.
"We are relatively certain we are going to take off the table nursing homes and assisted living that we have used and enjoyed — and the residents had enjoyed in the past — as Election Day polling places," he says.
To replace these former sites, election officials are going to have to get creative, Davis says.
"It's not going to be uniform from one county to another," he says.
For example, Davis is looking for open-air options in an effort to keep the possible spread of the coronavirus down.
"We are considering sites that we can have kind of a robust drive-through voting," he says, "[maybe] a defunct or closed bank with several teller lanes ... perhaps parking garages. Something that can give one-stop service."
DeBeauvoir says she's looking at setting up polling stations in lobbies, hotel ballrooms and amenity centers at apartment complexes.
Where these new polling sites are located matters too.
Pérez says election officials also have to be mindful of how voting locations are distributed within their counties.
"They need to make sure that there's enough polling places in the communities that need them," she says, "especially in communities that are underserved or have low rates of vote-by-mail usage."
Voting rights groups worry that not having enough polling sites could lead to longer lines during the upcoming election.
Texas has roughly 750 fewer polling sites than it did about a decade ago, so Lozano says many counties are already at risk.
Plus, voting during the pandemic is going to take longer than it did in 2016 because of added safety measures.
"And that's if people keep the same amount of polling locations," Lozano says. "If we have even less polling locations with these added steps, it's just a perfect storm for problems that is absolutely going to lead to longer lines if we do not substantively prepare now."


npr--2020-08-06--Judge, Shielding Cop Via 'Qualified Immunity,' Asks Whether It Belongs In 'Dustbin'

Judge , Shielding Cop Via 'Qualified Immunity , ' Asks Whether It Belongs In 'Dustbin' Seven years ago , a white police officer pulled over Black man driving through Mississippi in a newly purchased Mercedes convertible .
For nearly two hours , the officer pushed to search the vehicle , allegedly lied to its owner , enlisted a drug detection dog and ultimately left the exhausted man by the side of the road to put his car back together again .
The Mercedes had been ripped apart and the driver was so shaken he sued the police officer .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the officer should benefit from qualified immunity , a legal doctrine that shields law enforcement from many claims of wrongdoing on the job .
But the way Judge Carlton Reeves made that determination is drawing national attention to the case .
In a legal opinion that traced the racist origins of policing , the Black Lives Matter movement and Mississippi 's own tragic history of traffic stops , the judge urged the Supreme Court to revisit the issue of qualified immunity and to toss it into `` the dustbin of history . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Reeves wrote .
`` And the harm in this case to one man sheds light on the harm done to the nation by this manufactured doctrine . ''
Police stopped Clarence Jamison , a welder , in 2013 , as he returned home to South Carolina after a vacation in Phoenix .
Richland Police Officer Nick McClendon said the temporary tag on the car was hard to see .
A background check and a criminal history check came back all clear .
But the officer asked to search the car for drugs , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also lied to the driver , Jamison said , and claimed he had gotten a phone call about 10 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the car , insisting that he search the vehicle .
In his ruling , Reeves said he doubted that search was really voluntary .
The judge pointed out that South Carolina 's Sen. Tim Scott , the lone Black Republican U.S .
Senator , had been pulled over seven times in one year — and that he 'd even been stopped in the Capitol building .
`` In an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even when they are in their living rooms eating ice cream , asleep in their beds , playing in the park , standing in the pulpit of their church , bird-watching , exercising in public , or walking home from a trip to the store to purchase a bag of Skittles , who can say that Jamison felt free that night on the side of Interstate 20 ? ''
the judge wrote .
`` Who can say that he felt free to say no to an armed Officer McClendon ? ''
The site @ @ @ @ @ @ @ historical echoes .
The judge noted that Pelahatchie , Mississippi , is only an hour away from Philadelphia , where civil rights workers James Chaney , Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were stopped and ultimately killed during Freedom Summer in 1964 .
Reeves ' opinion did n't mention the timing explicitly , but his ruling came out the same day their bodies were discovered after an intense search by the FBI 56 years ago .
`` For Black people , this is n't mere history , '' the judge wrote .
`` It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Reeves wrote , he was forced to dismiss the heart of the case because under the qualified immunity doctrine , plaintiffs need to prove law enforcement violated a `` clearly established right '' by finding other legal cases that match the specific facts in their cases to demonstrate the police officer was acting unreasonably .
Even as he ruled the qualified immunity doctrine applied in this case , the judge questioned whether police should be able to use it .
`` The U.S. Congress of the Reconstruction era stood up to the white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Section 1983 , '' Reeves wrote .
`` The late Congressman John Lewis stared down the racists of his era when he marched over the Edmund Pettus Bridge .
The Supreme Court has answered the call of history as well , most famously when it issued its unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education and resigned the 'separate but equal ' doctrine to the dustbin of history .
The question of today is whether the Supreme Court will rise to the occasion and do the same with qualified immunity . ''
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will take up his plea .
The justices declined to hear several cases challenging the qualified immunity doctrine this year .
Reeves , 56 , attended Jackson State University , as the first person in his family to attend college , and the University of Virginia .
President Obama appointed him to a lifetime seat on the federal bench in 2010 .
Five years later , as he sentenced three men who yelled `` white power '' after they ran over a Black man with their truck , the judge delivered a speech @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stained with the blood '' of freedom fighters and lesser known people of color .
Last year , as he received special honors from the University of Virginia School of Law , Reeves called on the audience to defend judges against political attacks by President Trump and threats by other people across the nation .
`` The proof is in my mailbox , in the countless letters of hatred , '' Reeves said .
`` The deliverers of hate , who send these messages , aim to bully and scare judges . ''

Judge, Shielding Cop Via 'Qualified Immunity,' Asks Whether It Belongs In 'Dustbin'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Christian Monterrosa/AP Christian Monterrosa/AP
Seven years ago, a white police officer pulled over Black man driving through Mississippi in a newly purchased Mercedes convertible.
For nearly two hours, the officer pushed to search the vehicle, allegedly lied to its owner, enlisted a drug detection dog and ultimately left the exhausted man by the side of the road to put his car back together again.
The Mercedes had been ripped apart and the driver was so shaken he sued the police officer.
This week, a federal judge reluctantly concluded the officer should benefit from qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that shields law enforcement from many claims of wrongdoing on the job.
But the way Judge Carlton Reeves made that determination is drawing national attention to the case.
In a legal opinion that traced the racist origins of policing, the Black Lives Matter movement and Mississippi's own tragic history of traffic stops, the judge urged the Supreme Court to revisit the issue of qualified immunity and to toss it into "the dustbin of history."
"Immunity is not exoneration," Reeves wrote. "And the harm in this case to one man sheds light on the harm done to the nation by this manufactured doctrine."
Read Reeves' ruling here.
The traffic stop
Police stopped Clarence Jamison, a welder, in 2013, as he returned home to South Carolina after a vacation in Phoenix.
Richland Police Officer Nick McClendon said the temporary tag on the car was hard to see. A background check and a criminal history check came back all clear. But the officer asked to search the car for drugs, cash, or other items.
McClendon also lied to the driver, Jamison said, and claimed he had gotten a phone call about 10 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the car, insisting that he search the vehicle.
Ultimately, Jamison gave up the fight.
In his ruling, Reeves said he doubted that search was really voluntary. The judge pointed out that South Carolina's Sen. Tim Scott, the lone Black Republican U.S. Senator, had been pulled over seven times in one year — and that he'd even been stopped in the Capitol building.
"In an America where Black people are considered dangerous even when they are in their living rooms eating ice cream, asleep in their beds, playing in the park, standing in the pulpit of their church, bird-watching, exercising in public, or walking home from a trip to the store to purchase a bag of Skittles, who can say that Jamison felt free that night on the side of Interstate 20?" the judge wrote.
"Who can say that he felt free to say no to an armed Officer McClendon?"
The site of the Jamison traffic stop also carried historical echoes.
The judge noted that Pelahatchie, Mississippi, is only an hour away from Philadelphia, where civil rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were stopped and ultimately killed during Freedom Summer in 1964.
Reeves' opinion didn't mention the timing explicitly, but his ruling came out the same day their bodies were discovered after an intense search by the FBI 56 years ago.
"For Black people, this isn't mere history," the judge wrote. "It's the present."
Still, Reeves wrote, he was forced to dismiss the heart of the case because under the qualified immunity doctrine, plaintiffs need to prove law enforcement violated a "clearly established right" by finding other legal cases that match the specific facts in their cases to demonstrate the police officer was acting unreasonably.
Even as he ruled the qualified immunity doctrine applied in this case, the judge questioned whether police should be able to use it.
"The U.S. Congress of the Reconstruction era stood up to the white supremacists of its time when it passed Section 1983," Reeves wrote. "The late Congressman John Lewis stared down the racists of his era when he marched over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The Supreme Court has answered the call of history as well, most famously when it issued its unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education and resigned the 'separate but equal' doctrine to the dustbin of history. The question of today is whether the Supreme Court will rise to the occasion and do the same with qualified immunity."
Fate unclear in Washington
It's not clear the current Supreme Court will take up his plea. The justices declined to hear several cases challenging the qualified immunity doctrine this year.
Reeves, 56, attended Jackson State University, as the first person in his family to attend college, and the University of Virginia. President Obama appointed him to a lifetime seat on the federal bench in 2010.
Five years later, as he sentenced three men who yelled "white power" after they ran over a Black man with their truck, the judge delivered a speech about how "Mississippi soil had been stained with the blood" of freedom fighters and lesser known people of color.
Last year, as he received special honors from the University of Virginia School of Law, Reeves called on the audience to defend judges against political attacks by President Trump and threats by other people across the nation.
"The proof is in my mailbox, in the countless letters of hatred," Reeves said. "The deliverers of hate, who send these messages, aim to bully and scare judges."


npr--2020-08-06--Hiroshima Atomic Bombing Raising Questions 75 Years Later

The dawn of the nuclear age began with a blinding , flesh-melting blast directly above the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Aug. 6 , 1945 .
It was 8:16 a.m. on a Monday , the start of another work day in a city of nearly 300,000 inhabitants .
An estimated two-thirds of that population — nearly all civilians — would soon be dead .
The dropping by American warplanes of that first atomic bomb , code-named Little Boy -- and another , code-named Fat Man , three days later in Nagasaki — led to Japan 's surrender on Aug. 15 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ World War II .
At the time , the morality and legality of those nuclear attacks was hardly the subject of public debate .
`` Let there be no mistake ; we shall completely destroy Japan 's power to make war , '' President Harry Truman , who ordered the attacks , declared in a speech to the nation hours after the bombing of Hiroshima .
`` If they do not now accept our terms , they may expect a rain of ruin from the air , the like of which has never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The last surviving member of the crew that flew over Hiroshima that day died in November .
Before then , he recalled what he thought while aboard a B-29 named Necessary Evil as the bomb dropped from another warplane , the Enola Gay .
`` We had to go out and kill every one of them , '' former Army 2nd Lt. Russell Gackenbach , who flew as a navigator on both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki missions , told the Voices of the Manhattan Project in 2016 .
In a 2018 NPR interview @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the annihilation of most of Hiroshima 's inhabitants .
`` I do not regret what we did that day , '' he said .
`` All war is hell .
The Japanese started the war .
It was our turn to finish it . ''
But another witness to the 900-foot-wide fireball that heated the air above Hiroshima to 500,000 degrees Fahrenheit has made it her life 's mission to eliminate nuclear weapons .
`` We atomic bomb survivors are greatly disturbed by the continued modernization of nuclear weapons by the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ willingness to use these instruments of genocide , '' 88-year-old Setsuko Thurlow wrote to President Trump in a letter published Monday in The Daily Hampshire Gazette .
`` Nuclear weapons are not a necessary evil , they are the ultimate evil .
It is unacceptable for any state to possess them . ''
Thurlow was a 13-year-old a mile from ground zero in Hiroshima the day the bomb fell there .
`` Although that happened in the morning , it was already very dark , like twilight , '' she told NPR 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could see some dark moving object approaching to me .
They happened to be human beings .
They just did n't look like human beings .
I called them ghosts . ''
`` They were covered with blood and burned and blackened and swollen , and the flesh was hanging from the bones , '' the atomic blast survivor added .
`` Parts of their bodies were missing , and some were carrying their own eyeballs in their hands .
And as they collapsed , their stomach burst open . ''
Four years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first American head of state to visit Hiroshima 's Peace Memorial .
He offered condolences , but pointedly did not offer apologies .
`` The morning of August 6 , 1945 must never fade , '' Obama told a crowd gathered near the shell of the sole building left standing where the bomb exploded .
`` That memory allows us to fight complacency .
It fuels our moral imagination .
It allows us to change . ''
Pope Francis took a more critical stance during a November visit to that same peace memorial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to wage war is today , more than ever , a crime , '' the pontiff declared , adding it was immoral even to possess nuclear weapons .
Some prominent experts in the law of war are also reexamining the Hiroshima attack .
`` There is no question that a dropping of a large nuclear weapon amongst the civilian population is a war crime , '' says Harvard Law School professor Gabriella Blum .
`` Under the current laws of war , if you know you are going to impact civilians , you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ precautions to avoid harming civilians to the extent possible .
There is no doubt none of that was considered and none of that was seriously weighed in reference to Hiroshima and Nagasaki . ''
In a similar critical vein , the cover story for the current issue of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is titled , `` Why the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima Would Be Illegal Today . ''
`` We know that one of the main objectives was to cause as much civilian harm as possible , to create a shock among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professor Allen Weiner , one of the cover story 's three authors .
`` The bomb in Hiroshima was dropped quite far away from the edge of town where the factories and worker housing was located , '' Weiner notes , `` and one of the great ironies is that those factories and worker housing that were [ cited by U.S. officials ] in selecting Hiroshima as a target survived the atomic bombing .
They were not destroyed . ''
But Weiner also points out that in 1945 no nations had signed a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of civilians that the U.S. carried out in Hiroshima .
`` I 'm prepared to really give a quite hardcore hedge and say that in 1945 , the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not clearly illegal , '' says Weiner .
`` Today , it would clearly be illegal . ''

Hiroshima Atomic Bombing Raising New Questions 75 Years Later
Enlarge this image toggle caption Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images
The dawn of the nuclear age began with a blinding, flesh-melting blast directly above the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. It was 8:16 a.m. on a Monday, the start of another workday in a city of nearly 300,000 inhabitants. An estimated two-thirds of that population — nearly all civilians — would soon be dead.
The dropping by American warplanes of that first atomic bomb, code-named Little Boy -- and another, code-named Fat Man, three days later in Nagasaki — led to Japan's surrender on Aug. 15, 1945, and the end of World War II.
At the time, the morality and legality of those nuclear attacks were hardly the subject of public debate.
"Let there be no mistake; we shall completely destroy Japan's power to make war," President Harry Truman, who ordered the attacks, declared in a speech to the nation hours after the bombing of Hiroshima.
"... If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth."
The last surviving member of the crew that flew over Hiroshima that day died in November. Before then, he recalled what he thought while aboard a B-29 named Necessary Evil as the bomb dropped from another warplane, the Enola Gay.
"We had to go out and kill every one of them," former Army 2nd Lt. Russell Gackenbach, who flew as a navigator on both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki missions, told the Voices of the Manhattan Project in 2016.
In a 2018 NPR interview, Gackenbach expressed no second thoughts about the annihilation of most of Hiroshima's inhabitants.
"I do not regret what we did that day," he said. "All war is hell. The Japanese started the war. It was our turn to finish it."
But another witness to the 900-foot-wide fireball that heated the air above Hiroshima to 500,000 degrees Fahrenheit has made it her life's mission to eliminate nuclear weapons.
"We atomic bomb survivors are greatly disturbed by the continued modernization of nuclear weapons by the United States and other countries, and your stated willingness to use these instruments of genocide," 88-year-old Setsuko Thurlow wrote to President Trump in a letter published Monday in the Daily Hampshire Gazette. "... Nuclear weapons are not a necessary evil, they are the ultimate evil. It is unacceptable for any state to possess them."
Thurlow was a 13-year-old a mile from ground zero in Hiroshima the day the bomb fell there.
"Although that happened in the morning, it was already very dark, like twilight," she told NPR's Kelly McEvers in 2016. "I could see some dark moving object approaching to me. They happened to be human beings. They just didn't look like human beings. I called them ghosts."
"They were covered with blood and burned and blackened and swollen, and the flesh was hanging from the bones," the atomic blast survivor recalled. "Parts of their bodies were missing, and some were carrying their own eyeballs in their hands. And as they collapsed, their stomach burst open."
Four years ago, President Barack Obama became the first American head of state to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. He offered condolences, but pointedly did not offer apologies.
"The morning of Aug. 6, 1945, must never fade," Obama told a crowd gathered near the shell of the sole building left standing where the bomb exploded. "That memory allows us to fight complacency. It fuels our moral imagination. It allows us to change."
Pope Francis took a more critical stance during a November visit to that same memorial in Hiroshima.
"Using nuclear power to wage war is today, more than ever, a crime," the pontiff declared, adding it was immoral even to possess nuclear weapons.
Some prominent experts in the law of war are also reexamining the Hiroshima attack.
"There is no question that a dropping of a large nuclear weapon amongst the civilian population is a war crime," Harvard Law School professor Gabriella Blum says. "Under the current laws of war, if you know you are going to impact civilians, you must provide warning, and you must take precautions to avoid harming civilians to the extent possible. There is no doubt none of that was considered, and none of that was seriously weighed in reference to Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
In a similar critical vein, the cover story for the current issue of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is titled "Why the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima Would Be Illegal Today."
"We know that one of the main objectives was to cause as much civilian harm as possible, to create a shock among the civilians," says Stanford Law School professor Allen Weiner, one of the cover story's three authors.
"The bomb in Hiroshima was dropped quite far away from the edge of town where the factories and worker housing was located," Weiner notes, "and one of the great ironies is that those factories and worker housing that were [cited by U.S. officials] in selecting Hiroshima as a target survived the atomic bombing. They were not destroyed."
But Weiner also points out that in 1945 no nations had signed a treaty barring the kind of aerial bombardment of civilians that the U.S. carried out in Hiroshima.
"I'm prepared to really give a quite hardcore hedge and say that in 1945, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not clearly illegal," Weiner says. "Today, it would clearly be illegal."