usatoday--2020-08-19--Jill Biden talks of Joe Biden's 'unstoppable' will amid grief: Takeaways from night 2 of the DNC

WASHINGTON – The second night of the virtual Democratic National Convention included a roll call in which Joe Biden formally secured the delegates to become the party 's presidential nominee .
The evening featured speeches from two former presidents – Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter – and Colin Powell , former secretary of state to Republican President George W. Bush .
It ended with a moving segment chronicling the love story that led Biden to his wife , Jill Biden .
Jill Biden capped off the night with a personal speech about how family tragedies , including the death of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later the death of their son Beau , helped to shape the former vice president 's character .
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Check now , request an early ballot Live coverage of DNC Night 2 : Joe Biden secures enough delegates to become the Democratic presidential nominee Dr. Jill Biden , the former second lady , spoke from the empty halls of Brandywine High School , where she once taught English .
`` I hear it from so many of you : the frustration of parents juggling work while they support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are afraid that their kids might get sick from school , '' she said , alluding to school closures and openings occurring as a result of the coronavirus pandemic .
`` Across the country , educators , parents , first responders—Americans of all walks of life are putting their shoulders back , fighting for each other .
We haven ’ t given up , '' she said .
Biden 's endorsement of her husband was extremely personal , drawing on the death of their son , Beau .
`` Four days after Beau @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shave and put on his suit .
I saw him steel himself in the mirror — take a breath put his shoulders back and walk out into a world empty of our son .
He went back to work .
That 's just who he is , '' she said .
Biden drew parallels between the couple 's grief over their son and the suffering of the nation amid a deadly pandemic and a recession .
`` How do you make a broken family whole ? ''
she said .
`` The same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ With love and understanding – and with small acts of kindness .
With bravery .
With unwavering faith .
You show up for each other , in big ways and small ones , again and again . ''
Beau Biden died in 2015 at 46 after battling glioblastoma – the most aggressive form of brain cancer .
The former vice president has said Beau 's death was what led him to decide against a run for the White House in 2016 .
The death was also one of the reasons Biden chose Sen. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as the two became friends when Harris was attorney general in California , and Beau Biden held the same role in Delaware .
Biden 's losses have helped define his political career .
Throughout his campaign , he 's been known to shed tears when talking with voters on the campaign trail about his own pain and grief .
Biden lost his first wife , Neilia , and their 1-year-old daughter , Naomi , in a car crash in 1972 when Biden , 29 , was a senator-elect .
The crash left his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who served as secretary of state under Republican former President George W. Bush , endorsed Biden for president , saying that he `` will be a president we will all be proud to salute . ''
`` With Joe Biden in the White House , you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries – never the other way around , '' Powell said .
`` He will trust our diplomats and our intelligence community , not the flattery of dictators and despots . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is also a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff .
Powell has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump , calling him a `` dangerous for our democracy '' in June .
He again hit Trump Tuesday on the divisions he says the president has helped sow across the country .
`` Today , we are a country divided , and we have a president doing everything in his power to make it that way and keep us that way .
What a difference it will make to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Powell said .
Powell was among several Republican critics of Trump featured at the convention .
On Monday , former Ohio Gov .
John Kasich and former Rep. Susan Molinari , criticized Trump and endorsed Biden .
Cindy McCain made an appearance at the DNC Tuesday in a video segment geared toward highlighting Biden 's ability to work across the aisle .
The video put a spotlight on the friendship between Joe Biden and her husband , the late Sen. John McCain , the 2008 Republican presidential nominee .
Cindy McCain joined the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Biden 's character .
`` It was a friendship that should n't have worked , '' Cindy McCain said in the video .
`` John , a former Navy pilot just released from a North Vietnamese prison .
Joe , a young senator from Delaware .
But in the 1970s , Joe was assigned a military aide for a trip overseas . ''
McCain did not outright endorse Biden for president in her video .
She did , however , recount moments of the Biden-McCain friendship , with photos and video clips @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
McCain , along with her daughter , TV commentator Meghan McCain , have been at times outspoken critics against Trump , whose feud with the late senator dates to 2015 , when Trump launched his first bid .
Trump has continued to criticize the late senator even after his death in 2018 after battling brain cancer .
Bill Clinton : Oval Office should be a 'command center , ' not a 'storm center' Former Democratic President Bill Clinton , 74 , offered strong support for Biden in remarks focused heavily on criticism @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's handling of the coronavirus pandemic .
`` COVID hit us much harder than it had to , '' Clinton said .
`` We have just 4 percent of the world ’ s population , but 25 percent of the world ’ s COVID cases .
Our unemployment rate is more than twice as high as South Korea ’ s , two and a half times the United Kingdom ’ s , and more than three times Japan ’ s . ''
`` Our choice is Joe Biden , '' he said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a recession before , and he can do it again . ''
Clinton also criticized Trump 's television appearances in which he has touted his response to the pandemic , as well as the president 's social media presence .
“ If you want a president who spends hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media , he ’ s your man , '' Clinton said .
`` Denying , distracting , and demeaning works great if you 're trying to entertain and inflame .
But in a real crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oval Office should be a command center , instead it 's a storm center , '' Clinton said .
Former President Jimmy Carter , 95 , and former first lady Rosalynn Carter , 93 , praised Biden 's character and accomplishments but did not mention Trump .
The pair offered only audio remarks that played over photos .
The former president noted his work with Biden over the years , calling him a `` loyal and dedicated friend '' who `` understands that honesty and dignity are essential traits that determine not only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Joe has the experience , character , and decency to bring us together and restore America ’ s greatness , '' he said .
`` We deserve a person with integrity and judgment , someone who is honest and fair , someone who is committed to what is best for the American people . ''
Joe Biden formally secured enough Democratic delegates to become the party 's nominee to challenge Trump after a virtual roll call that included remarks from all 57 states and territories .
In a “ Roll Call Across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spoke in front a variety of backdrops , including a fire station in Connecticut , the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma , Alabama or the Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington , D.C. Presidential nominating conventions haven ’ t been contested for decades and Biden demonstrated he had enough support for the nomination months ago , making the roll call a formality .
During the state primaries and caucuses , Biden collected 2,687 delegates – more than twice the 1,073 earned by his closest rival , Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders .
Rep. Alexandria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York who has become a progressive star , seconded the nomination of Sanders in remarks that hailed the Vermont senator but did not mention Biden .
The nomination of Sanders , and remarks by Ocasio-Cortez , were largely procedural , a symbolic moment that has been featured at previous conventions to honor the candidate coming in second place .
Opinion : Sanders is the MVP of the Democratic convention .
We have to save our democracy from Trump .
Ocasio-Cortez outlined Sanders ' work toward goals such as `` guaranteed health care , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ labor rights for all people in the United States . ''
Biden will formally accept the nomination in his convention speech Thursday evening .
When the roll call was completed , applause erupted , showing Democratic supporters across the nation on video clapping as Biden , seated in a library with his wife , Jill Biden , were greeted by mask-wearing supporters throwing confetti .
`` Thank you very , very much from the bottom of my heart , '' a smiling Joe Biden told convention watchers .
`` Thank you all .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ my family and I 'll see you Thursday . ''
A security guard whose wholesome moments with Biden went viral last year marked one of the most touching moments of the evening when she got the opportunity to be the first person to officially nominate Biden for president .
Jacquelyn Brittany met Biden when she escorted the former vice president at The New York Times for a meeting with its editorial board in December .
As they were on an elevator , Brittany blurted out `` I love you , '' telling him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ race .
The two posed for a photo before Biden left the elevator .
More : Security guard who blurted ‘ I love you ’ to Biden last year nominates him for president DNC : Michelle Obama goes 'high ' , GOP 's John Kasich blasts Trump and other top moments from the DNC 's opening night '' I take powerful people up on my elevator all the time .
When they get off , they go to their important meetings .
Me , I just head back to the lobby , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But in the short time I spent with Joe Biden , I could tell he really saw me , that he actually cared , that my life meant something to him .
And I knew , even when he went into his important meeting , he 'd take my story in there with him . ''
She added that Biden had `` room in his heart '' for others and that the country has a long path forward .
`` That 's why I nominate my friend Joe Biden , as the next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said .
Brittany was joined by Sen. Chris Coons , D-Del.
, and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester , D-Del.
, in nominating Biden before the night 's roll call .

Christal Hayes and Jason Lalljee, USA TODAY

Jill Biden talks of Joe Biden's 'unstoppable' will amid grief: Takeaways from night 2 of the DNC
Show Caption Hide Caption AOC nominates Sanders, Clinton slams Trump during DNC night 2 Jill Biden, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter highlighted the list of speakers during night two of the Democratic National Convention. Associated Press, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – The second night of the virtual Democratic National Convention included a roll call in which Joe Biden formally secured the delegates to become the party's presidential nominee.
The evening featured speeches from two former presidents – Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter – and Colin Powell, former secretary of state to Republican President George W. Bush.
It ended with a moving segment chronicling the love story that led Biden to his wife, Jill Biden. Jill Biden capped off the night with a personal speech about how family tragedies, including the death of his first wife and infant daughter and later the death of their son Beau, helped to shape the former vice president's character.
Are you registered to vote? Check now, request an early ballot
Live coverage of DNC Night 2: Joe Biden secures enough delegates to become the Democratic presidential nominee
Jill Biden talks of family grief
Dr. Jill Biden, the former second lady, spoke from the empty halls of Brandywine High School, where she once taught English.
"I hear it from so many of you: the frustration of parents juggling work while they support their children’s learning – or are afraid that their kids might get sick from school," she said, alluding to school closures and openings occurring as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Across the country, educators, parents, first responders—Americans of all walks of life are putting their shoulders back, fighting for each other. We haven’t given up," she said.
Biden's endorsement of her husband was extremely personal, drawing on the death of their son, Beau.
"Four days after Beau’s funeral, I watched Joe shave and put on his suit. I saw him steel himself in the mirror — take a breath put his shoulders back and walk out into a world empty of our son. He went back to work. That's just who he is," she said.
Biden drew parallels between the couple's grief over their son and the suffering of the nation amid a deadly pandemic and a recession.
"How do you make a broken family whole?" she said. "The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding – and with small acts of kindness. With bravery. With unwavering faith. You show up for each other, in big ways and small ones, again and again."
Beau Biden died in 2015 at 46 after battling glioblastoma – the most aggressive form of brain cancer. The former vice president has said Beau's death was what led him to decide against a run for the White House in 2016. The death was also one of the reasons Biden chose Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, as the two became friends when Harris was attorney general in California, and Beau Biden held the same role in Delaware.
Biden's losses have helped define his political career. Throughout his campaign, he's been known to shed tears when talking with voters on the campaign trail about his own pain and grief. Biden lost his first wife, Neilia, and their 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, in a car crash in 1972 when Biden, 29, was a senator-elect. The crash left his two sons hospitalized.
Democratic Convention speaker: Jill Biden Dr. Jill Biden delivers a speech from a school in Wilmington, Delaware about COVID and closed schools for the Democratic National Convention. USA TODAY
Colin Powell endorses Biden, accuses Trump of dividing country
Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state under Republican former President George W. Bush, endorsed Biden for president, saying that he "will be a president we will all be proud to salute."
"With Joe Biden in the White House, you will never doubt that he will stand with our friends and stand up to our adversaries – never the other way around," Powell said. "He will trust our diplomats and our intelligence community, not the flattery of dictators and despots."
Powell, a retired four-star Army general, is also a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Powell has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, calling him a "dangerous for our democracy" in June. He again hit Trump Tuesday on the divisions he says the president has helped sow across the country.
"Today, we are a country divided, and we have a president doing everything in his power to make it that way and keep us that way. What a difference it will make to have a president who unites us," Powell said.
Powell was among several Republican critics of Trump featured at the convention. On Monday, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Rep. Susan Molinari, criticized Trump and endorsed Biden.
Democratic Convention speaker: Former U.S. Sec. of State Colin Powell Former Secretary of State Colin Powell delivers remarks to the Democratic National Convention about national security and a strong commander-in-chief. USA TODAY
Cindy McCain video about Biden-McCain friendship
Cindy McCain made an appearance at the DNC Tuesday in a video segment geared toward highlighting Biden's ability to work across the aisle. The video put a spotlight on the friendship between Joe Biden and her husband, the late Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.
Cindy McCain joined the DNC's slate of prominent Republicans attesting to Biden's character.
"It was a friendship that shouldn't have worked," Cindy McCain said in the video. "John, a former Navy pilot just released from a North Vietnamese prison. Joe, a young senator from Delaware. But in the 1970s, Joe was assigned a military aide for a trip overseas."
McCain did not outright endorse Biden for president in her video. She did, however, recount moments of the Biden-McCain friendship, with photos and video clips of the two men throughout their careers.
McCain, along with her daughter, TV commentator Meghan McCain, have been at times outspoken critics against Trump, whose feud with the late senator dates to 2015, when Trump launched his first bid. Trump has continued to criticize the late senator even after his death in 2018 after battling brain cancer.
Democratic Convention video: John McCain Cindy McCain voices a video about the decades-long friendship between Joe Biden and her late husband, Sen. John McCain. USA TODAY
Bill Clinton: Oval Office should be a 'command center,' not a 'storm center'
Former Democratic President Bill Clinton, 74, offered strong support for Biden in remarks focused heavily on criticism of Donald Trump, including the president's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
"COVID hit us much harder than it had to," Clinton said. "We have just 4 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s COVID cases. Our unemployment rate is more than twice as high as South Korea’s, two and a half times the United Kingdom’s, and more than three times Japan’s."
"Our choice is Joe Biden," he said. "Joe helped bring us back from a recession before, and he can do it again."
Clinton also criticized Trump's television appearances in which he has touted his response to the pandemic, as well as the president's social media presence.
“If you want a president who spends hours a day watching TV and zapping people on social media, he’s your man," Clinton said. "Denying, distracting, and demeaning works great if you're trying to entertain and inflame. But in a real crisis, it collapses."
"The Oval Office should be a command center, instead it's a storm center," Clinton said.
Former President Jimmy Carter, 95, and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, 93, praised Biden's character and accomplishments but did not mention Trump. The pair offered only audio remarks that played over photos.
The former president noted his work with Biden over the years, calling him a "loyal and dedicated friend" who "understands that honesty and dignity are essential traits that determine not only our vision but our actions."
"Joe has the experience, character, and decency to bring us together and restore America’s greatness," he said. "We deserve a person with integrity and judgment, someone who is honest and fair, someone who is committed to what is best for the American people."
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton speaks at the Democratic Convention Former President Bill Clinton addresses the Democratic National Convention to talk about the dangers of President Trump and what Joe Biden offers. USA TODAY
Biden formally secures nomination
Joe Biden formally secured enough Democratic delegates to become the party's nominee to challenge Trump after a virtual roll call that included remarks from all 57 states and territories.
In a “Roll Call Across America,” activists and elected officials spoke in front a variety of backdrops, including a fire station in Connecticut, the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama or the Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C.
Presidential nominating conventions haven’t been contested for decades and Biden demonstrated he had enough support for the nomination months ago, making the roll call a formality.
During the state primaries and caucuses, Biden collected 2,687 delegates – more than twice the 1,073 earned by his closest rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a first-term congresswoman from New York who has become a progressive star, seconded the nomination of Sanders in remarks that hailed the Vermont senator but did not mention Biden. The nomination of Sanders, and remarks by Ocasio-Cortez, were largely procedural, a symbolic moment that has been featured at previous conventions to honor the candidate coming in second place.
Opinion: Sanders is the MVP of the Democratic convention. We have to save our democracy from Trump.
Ocasio-Cortez outlined Sanders' work toward goals such as "guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages, and labor rights for all people in the United States."
Biden will formally accept the nomination in his convention speech Thursday evening.
When the roll call was completed, applause erupted, showing Democratic supporters across the nation on video clapping as Biden, seated in a library with his wife, Jill Biden, were greeted by mask-wearing supporters throwing confetti.
"Thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart," a smiling Joe Biden told convention watchers. "Thank you all. It means the world to me and my family and I'll see you Thursday."
A viral moment comes full circle
A security guard whose wholesome moments with Biden went viral last year marked one of the most touching moments of the evening when she got the opportunity to be the first person to officially nominate Biden for president.
Jacquelyn Brittany met Biden when she escorted the former vice president at The New York Times for a meeting with its editorial board in December. As they were on an elevator, Brittany blurted out "I love you," telling him that she hoped he won the primary race. The two posed for a photo before Biden left the elevator.
More: Security guard who blurted ‘I love you’ to Biden last year nominates him for president
DNC: Michelle Obama goes 'high', GOP's John Kasich blasts Trump and other top moments from the DNC's opening night
"I take powerful people up on my elevator all the time. When they get off, they go to their important meetings. Me, I just head back to the lobby," she said during the convention. "But in the short time I spent with Joe Biden, I could tell he really saw me, that he actually cared, that my life meant something to him. And I knew, even when he went into his important meeting, he'd take my story in there with him."
She added that Biden had "room in his heart" for others and that the country has a long path forward. "That's why I nominate my friend Joe Biden, as the next president of the United States," she said.
Brittany was joined by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., in nominating Biden before the night's roll call.
Contributing: Yvonne Wingette Sanchez, John Fritze and Ledyard King


usatoday--2020-08-19--During the pandemic, are the little kids alright? Survey shows COVID is taking a toll now and will i

During the pandemic, are the little kids alright? Survey shows COVID is taking a toll now and will in the future.

During the pandemic , people are talking a lot about children .
They 're talking about the older kids who 've been robbed of proms and graduations , of levity and closure and in some cases plans for their futures .
There 's been plenty of talk about kids missing out on school , the ways in which they may fall behind , the challenges of remote learning ahead .
Frustrated parents have repeatedly lamented the hardships of working at home with kids – scrambling for time , desperate for space , leaning heavily on screens they 've long tried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ less attention , child development experts say , is the impact the pandemic is having on the youngest children : babies , toddlers , preschoolers , kindergartners .
Birth to age five is a critical time for child development , research shows , and new data from the Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development Early Childhood Household Survey Project ( RAPID-EC Project ) shows caregiver distress is cascading down to young children in ways science shows can be toxic in the short- and long-term .
`` The national conversation is not focused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is the period that we know is most important for brain development and in which the brain is most effected by what 's going on in the world around it , '' said RAPID project director Phil Fisher .
The RAPID-EC project was formed in March by leading early childhood advocates and researchers to study the impacts of the pandemic on children 5 years old and younger .
Since researchers ca n't survey young children or study them in labs , the next best thing is to check in on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shows how closely connected the emotional well-being of a caregiver is to the emotional well-being of a child .
The project has been conducting weekly surveys since April and has found caregivers of young children are experiencing distress , material hardship and loss of emotional supports .
Since the project 's data is sequential , it also is able to show a chain reaction .
When a family is stressed about meeting basic needs , the next week they report more emotional distress , and the week after report increases in their child @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no question that if you ca n't buy food or you ca n't pay your rent , that you are experiencing the kind of stress that is going to be toxic to your children , '' Fisher said .
Researchers have found caregiver well-being is tied to coronavirus infection rates in the state where they live .
As a state 's rate of infection climbs , so does caregiver distress .
As it declines , well-being improves .
The survey also found : • 68 % of caregivers of young children report a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic • 63 % of caregivers say they have lost emotional support • As of the last week of July , 78 % of caregivers reported their child was exhibiting behavior problems '' As much as the coronavirus has been a slow-moving catastrophe , what 's going to happen to the next generation is going to be an even slower moving catastrophe , '' Fisher said .
`` It 's going to be in three years when kids enter school and in five years when kids are going into high school , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to see the health effects , increased rates of heart disease and diabetes from kids who lived through this extraordinary , stressful time . ''
The surveys found caregivers in lower income households report experiencing more depression and anxiety .
Anxiety and stress among Black households was lower than the overall sample when the surveys began , but since May , when the death of George Floyd sparked racial unrest , the trend reversed .
If it continues , Black caregivers ’ anxiety and stress will soon be higher than the overall sample @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trends do not bode well for the future .
Without interventions to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 , many families of young children will suffer .
`` My sense is that what is driving stress on parents is a combination of worry about contracting the virus , concern about how best to protect their children and elderly family members , and ongoing financial issues that are threatening their ability to meet basic needs , '' said Joan Lombardi , chair of the RAPID-EC National Advisory Group and former deputy assistant secretary for early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happens at the beginning of a child 's life is crucial to what comes after , research shows .
Early emotional experiences become embedded in the architecture of children 's brains , which is why the impact of COVID could have lifelong consequences .
A child 's emotional well-being can impact everything from the formation of friendships and intimate relationships to whether they can hold a job .
These years are critical to a child 's ability to understand their feelings and to empathize with the feelings of others .
`` The emotional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ absence of it – is closely tied to the social and emotional characteristics of the environments in which they live , which include not only their parents but also the broader context of their families and communities , '' the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child wrote in a paper on children 's emotional development .
Lombardi says RAPID 's data should be a wake-up call for policymakers .
`` Families across the country need action , they need continued unemployment benefits , housing and food supports , '' she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to helping end this pandemic . ''
RAPID 's researchers say the expiration last month of key pieces of The Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic Security ( CARES ) Act – which included extended unemployment insurance and a moratorium on evictions – will increase vulnerabilities for families with young kids .
They 're calling on lawmakers to enact policies that ensure these families can meet basic needs .
`` The clock is ticking , '' Fisher said .
Alia E. Dastagir is a recipient of a Rosalynn Carter fellowship for mental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : @ alia_e

During the pandemic, are the little kids all right? Survey shows COVID is taking a toll now and will in the future.
Show Caption Hide Caption COVID-19: How to take care of your children during the pandemic More than 97,000 children in the US have tested positive for COVID-19. Here's how to care for your kids during the pandemic. USA TODAY
During the pandemic, people are talking a lot about children.
They're talking about the older kids who've been robbed of proms and graduations, of levity and closure and in some cases plans for their futures. There's been plenty of talk about kids missing out on school, the ways in which they may fall behind, the challenges of remote learning ahead. Frustrated parents have repeatedly lamented the hardships of working at home with kids – scrambling for time, desperate for space, leaning heavily on screens they've long tried to limit.
What has received far less attention, child development experts say, is the impact the pandemic is having on the youngest children: babies, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners.
Birth to age 5 is a critical time for child development, research shows, and new data from the Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development Early Childhood Household Survey Project (RAPID-EC Project) shows caregiver distress is cascading down to young children in ways science shows can be toxic in the short- and long-term.
"The national conversation is not focused nearly enough on early childhood and infancy, which is the period that we know is most important for brain development and in which the brain is most effected by what's going on in the world around it," said RAPID project director Phil Fisher.
The RAPID-EC project was formed in March by leading early childhood advocates and researchers to study the impacts of the pandemic on children 5 years old and younger. Since researchers can't survey young children or study them in labs, the next best thing is to check in on the people caring for them, since research shows how closely connected the emotional well-being of a caregiver is to the emotional well-being of a child.
The project has been conducting weekly surveys since April and has found caregivers of young children are experiencing distress, material hardship and loss of emotional supports. Since the project's data is sequential, it also is able to show a chain reaction. When a family is stressed about meeting basic needs, the next week they report more emotional distress, and the week after report increases in their child's emotional distress.
"There's no question that if you can't buy food or you can't pay your rent, that you are experiencing the kind of stress that is going to be toxic to your children," Fisher said.
Researchers have found caregiver well-being is tied to coronavirus infection rates in the state where they live. As a state's rate of infection climbs, so does caregiver distress. As it declines, well-being improves. The project also found:
68% of caregivers of young children report a significant increase in stress from before the pandemic.
63% of caregivers say they have lost emotional support.
20% of households are experiencing material hardship.
As of the last week of July, 78% of caregivers reported their child was exhibiting behavior problems.
"As much as the coronavirus has been a slow-moving catastrophe, what's going to happen to the next generation is going to be an even slower moving catastrophe," Fisher said. "It's going to be in three years when kids enter school and in five years when kids are going into high school, and in 20 years, when we start to see the health effects, increased rates of heart disease and diabetes from kids who lived through this extraordinary, stressful time."
The surveys found that caregivers in lower-income households report experiencing more depression and anxiety. Anxiety and stress among Black households was lower than the overall sample when the surveys began, but since May, when the death of George Floyd sparked racial unrest, the trend reversed. If it continues, Black caregivers’ anxiety and stress will soon be higher than the overall sample, Fisher said.
Experts say these trends do not bode well. Without intervention, many families of young children will suffer.
"My sense is that what is driving stress on parents is a combination of worry about contracting the virus; concern about how best to protect their children and elderly family members; and ongoing financial issues that are threatening their ability to meet basic needs," said Joan Lombardi, chair of the RAPID-EC National Advisory Group and former deputy assistant secretary for early childhood during the Obama Administration.
What happens at the beginning of a child's life is crucial to what comes after, research shows. Early emotional experiences become embedded in the architecture of children's brains, which is why the impact of COVID could have lifelong consequences.
A child's emotional well-being can impact everything from the formation of friendships and intimate relationships to whether they can hold a job. These years are critical to a child's ability to understand their feelings and to empathize with the feelings of others.
"The emotional health of young children – or the absence of it – is closely tied to the social and emotional characteristics of the environments in which they live, which include not only their parents but also the broader context of their families and communities," the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child wrote in a paper on children's emotional development.
Lombardi says RAPID's data should be a wake-up call for policy makers.
"Families across the country need action, they need continued unemployment benefits, housing and food supports," she said. "They need leadership that is committed to helping end this pandemic."
RAPID's researchers say the expiration last month of key pieces of The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act – which included extended unemployment insurance and a moratorium on evictions – will increase vulnerabilities for families with young kids. They're calling on lawmakers to enact policies that ensure these families can meet basic needs.
"The clock is ticking," Fisher said.
Alia E. Dastagir is a recipient of a Rosalynn Carter fellowship for mental health journalism. Follow her on Twitter: @alia_e


usatoday--2020-08-19--Black babies are more likely to survive when cared for by Black doctors, study finds

Black newborns are more likely to survive during childbirth when cared for by Black doctors , according to a new study .
In the United States , Black babies die at three times the rate of white newborns during their initial hospital stays , according to a peer-reviewed study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
But when Black doctors cared for Black babies , their mortality rate was cut in half .
While this data does n't tell us exactly why this happens , a mix of structural issues could 've contributed and `` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Brad Greenwood , study co-author and an associate professor of Information Systems & Operations Management Sciences at George Mason University said '' I do n't think any of us would suggest as co-authors that these results are manifesting as a result of malicious bias on the part of physicians , '' Greenwood said .
`` I also think that underscores how insidious something like this is .
Children are dying as a result of just structural problems . ''
Maternal deaths : What states are n't doing to save new mothers ' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ records in Florida between 1992 and 2015 and identified the race of the doctor .
The study found the largest decrease in Black newborn mortality rate occurred in complex births and at hospitals that deliver more Black babies .
The race of the doctor caring for white babies did not make much difference to the likelihood of survival and there was no statistically significant improvement in maternal mortality — which is also higher for Black women —when mothers were the same race as their doctor .
'Going to the doctor is a fear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city lower its high rate of black infant deaths The stark differences in infant mortality are not due to a biological difference , but rather likely due to the legacy of structural racism , according to study co-author Rachel Hardeman , a reproductive health equity researcher and associate professor at the University of Minnesota .
She cited one theory that suggests Black women are less healthy and at greater risk for negative health outcomes during pregnancy because of the cumulative effects of racism and socioeconomic disadvantage over the course of their lives .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ access to health care and education , are the same factors behind the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on people of color .
`` We ’ re talking about a social construct that has gotten under the skin , '' she said .
Hardeman said infant mortality rates are often used by researchers as a marker of overall community health and well being .
The U.S.experiences a higher infant mortality rate than other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries , only ranking higher than Mexico , Turkey and Chile .
Although infant mortality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the U.S. , severe racial disparities remain .
Research published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019 found that Black babies died at double the rate of white , Asian or Latin infants before their first birthday , regardless of the mother ’ s income or education level .
`` As an industrialized nation the fact that we have the infant mortality rates we have , certainly the infant mortality rates that we see based on race and ethnicity are incredibly concerning , '' Hardeman said .
'This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ finds persistent racial disparities exacerbated during pandemic Hardeman said this study provides the first robust empirical evidence of this problem and the data may help researchers figure out how to mitigate it .
Both researchers cautioned that this data does not mean only Black doctors should treat Black patients , but rather illustrated the need to better educate all doctors on how to treat people of color .
Hardeman said increasing diversity in the medical workforce could be one way to create change , noting that about 13 % of the U.S. population @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doctors are African American , according to the Association of American Medical Colleges .
`` It could go a long ways to helping with this , but also we don ’ t know that the answer is necessarily that we just need more Black doctors , '' she said .
`` We have to be thinking about the health care institutions themselves and how physicians are being trained ... to think about the role of race and racism in the clinical encounter but also in people ’ s lives outside of healthcare settings @ @

Black babies are more likely to survive when cared for by Black doctors, study finds
Show Caption Hide Caption Why people of color are dying at higher rates from COVID-19 Communities of color are dying at higher rates from the novel coronavirus than white Americans. Here's how structural inequities play a role. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
Black newborns are more likely to survive during childbirth when cared for by Black doctors, according to a new study.
In the United States, Black babies die at three times the rate of white newborns during their initial hospital stays, according to a peer-reviewed study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. But when Black doctors cared for Black babies, their mortality rate was cut in half.
While this data doesn't tell us exactly why this happens, a mix of structural issues could've contributed, and "each are really disturbing," said Brad Greenwood, study co-author and an associate professor of Information Systems & Operations Management Sciences at George Mason University.
"I don't think any of us would suggest as co-authors that these results are manifesting as a result of malicious bias on the part of physicians," Greenwood said. "I also think that underscores how insidious something like this is. Children are dying as a result of just structural problems."
Maternal deaths: What states aren't doing to save new mothers' lives
Researchers analyzed 1.8 million hospital birth records in Florida from 1992 to 2015 and identified the race of the doctor. The study found the largest decrease in Black newborn mortality rate occurred in complex births and at hospitals that deliver more Black babies.
The race of the doctor caring for white babies did not make much difference to the likelihood of survival, and there was no statistically significant improvement in maternal mortality – which is also higher for Black women – when mothers were the same race as their doctor.
'Going to the doctor is a fear': How doulas are helping one city lower its high rate of black infant deaths
The stark differences in infant mortality are not the result of a biological difference but rather likely the legacy of structural racism, said study co-author Rachel Hardeman, a reproductive health equity researcher and associate professor at the University of Minnesota. She cited one theory that suggests Black women are less healthy and at greater risk for negative health outcomes during pregnancy because of the cumulative effects of racism and socioeconomic disadvantage over the course of their lives.
She said those effects, including limited access to health care and education, are the same factors behind the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on people of color.
"We’re talking about a social construct that has gotten under the skin," she said.
CDC: Hispanic, Black children at higher risk of coronavirus-related hospitalization
Hardeman said infant mortality rates are often used by researchers as a marker of overall community health and well-being. The U.S. has a higher infant mortality rate than almost all other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, ranking higher only than Mexico, Turkey and Chile.
Although infant mortality rates overall have been declining for decades in the U.S., severe racial disparities remain. Research published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019 found that Black babies died at double the rate of white, Asian or Hispanic infants before their first birthday, regardless of the mother’s income or education level.
"As an industrialized nation, the fact that we have the infant mortality rates we have, certainly the infant mortality rates that we see based on race and ethnicity, are incredibly concerning," Hardeman said.
'This is a crisis': National Urban League finds persistent racial disparities exacerbated during pandemic
Hardeman said the new study provides the first robust empirical evidence of the problem, and the data may help researchers figure out how to mitigate it.
Both researchers cautioned that the data does not mean only Black doctors should treat Black patients but rather illustrated the need to better educate all doctors on how to treat people of color. Hardeman said increasing diversity in the medical workforce could be one way to create change, noting that about 13% of the U.S. population is Black, but just 5% of doctors are African American, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
World maternal mortality rate is improving; The US's isn't The U.N. reports the world maternal mortality rate has dropped 44 percent since 1990, but the U.S.'s rate has gone up. Video provided by Newsy Newsy
"It could go a long ways to helping with this, but also we don’t know that the answer is necessarily that we just need more Black doctors," she said. "We have to be thinking about the health care institutions themselves and how physicians are being trained ... to think about the role of race and racism in the clinical encounter but also in people’s lives outside of health care settings."
Follow N'dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg


usatoday--2020-08-19--Jill Biden: 9 things you might not know about the former second lady after her DNC speech

Editor 's note : This story originally published in May 2019 and has been updated .
`` How did you get this number ? ''
Those were the first words then-college student Jill Jacobs said to Sen. Joe Biden when he called her `` out of the blue '' to ask her out on a date .
She told him no .
She had other plans that night .
In her memoir , `` Where the Light Enters , '' former second lady Jill Biden reveals details of the early days of her relationship with former Vice President Joe Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the oldest of five girls , being married and divorced before graduating from the University of Delaware and becoming a parent to two boys whose mother had tragically died just years before .
She told a similar story in her introduction to voters in her speech Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention .
The key issues and events that made Delaware 's favorite son A comprehensive look at the Democratic nominee One of the most compelling chapters in the book , and also discussed Tuesday , focuses on how she formed a relationship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boys when Jill started dating Joe in 1975 .
Their mother Neilia and baby sister Naomi died in a car accident in 1972 , just weeks before Joe was to be sworn in as U.S. senator .
`` In our family , Neilia would always be Mommy , but I was Mom , '' she writes .
`` There was room enough , there was love enough , for us all . ''
Here 's what else we learned about the former second lady : She pushed boundaries in her 'Leave it to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grew up in Willow Grove , Pennsylvania , part of a tight-knit family in which she was the oldest of five girls .
Her father was a bank teller and her mother a homemaker .
Family dinners were the center of the Jacobs family 's life — a tradition Jill keeps today .
Yet when she was a teenager , she was the child who broke curfew , smoked cigarettes and broke into the local country club with her friends .
It led her to butting heads with her father , who was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the book that the birth of her daughter Ashley was her father 's `` perfect revenge '' as the two of them would get into mother-daughter arguments during those teenage years .
`` It made me unafraid to push as hard as I needed to , '' she writes of her parents ' love , `` to take chances and pick myself up when I fell flat on my face . ''
Jill is the one in the marriage who holds the grudges Since she was a rebellious teenager , few people would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a politician like Joe Biden , Jill writes .
She describes him as a `` statesman '' who approaches his job with `` grace and dignity . ''
`` This is one of his most admirable traits , but to be honest , his approach drives me a little crazy at times , '' she writes .
For example , Joe will be friendly and make conversation with anyone , even if it 's a colleague who previously badmouthed him , she writes .
He often forgets the person made the comment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that means I end up being the holder of the grudges , '' she writes .
`` I 'm the one who wants to stomp up the hill to confront the mean kid .
I remember every slight committed against the people I love .
`` I can forgive , sure — but I do n't believe in rewarding bad behavior . ''
She was 'embarrassed and ashamed ' of her divorce Before she was Jill Biden , she was Jill Stevenson — a married University of Delaware student .
At just the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stevenson , a former football player who would go on to open the famous Stone Balloon Ale House in Newark .
Her parents loved Stevenson , she writes , and she thought at the time it would be a marriage that would last forever .
`` Looking back , it may seem like that relationship was a mistake of my youth , '' she writes .
`` But there was a time when I truly believed we were destined for each other . ''
Biden attributes the end of the marriage to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ different directions . ''
Although she tried to repair the marriage , she did n't want to `` settle for a counterfeit love . ''
When the couple divorced after a couple years of marriage , Biden writes that she felt like a failure , partly because she did n't know anyone who was divorced .
`` I questioned if I would ever find love , if I would ever have a family of my own , '' she writes .
`` How could I give my heart to someone again ? ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who Jill met first .
Jill 's first husband , she writes , was a big supporter of Joe 's improbable senate race in 1972 against incumbent J. Caleb Boggs .
When Joe Biden won the senate race , Jill and her husband attended the victory party at Hotel du Pont .
`` She had an easy , natural beauty that made her look almost out of place in the frantic crowd , '' Jill writes of Neilia .
She and her daughter Naomi would die weeks later .
Jill did n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three years later , Biden would call her after seeing her photo in an advertisement at the Wilmington airport .
His brother Frank was a friend of Jill 's , and the two knew each other at the University of Delaware .
Joe Biden proposed to her five times before she said 'yes' Although she knew she loved Joe and his boys , Jill was n't sure she could marry him .
The couple retold this story in a video montage '' Being Joe 's wife would mean life in the spotlight that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ writes .
`` I was a college student when we 'd first met , and I liked living under the radar .
Joe lived with constant public visibility . ''
Beau and Hunter , 7 and 6 years old at the time , were also inquiring about marriage , telling Joe one morning : `` We think we should marry Jill . ''
Jill writes in the memoir that she was afraid she would n't `` measure up '' as a parent , even though that was never a thought Beau or Hunter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before leaving on a congressional delegation trip to South Africa , Joe told Jill he was proposing one final time , saying he was `` too much in love '' with her `` to just be friends . ''
When he returned from his trip , Jill finally said yes .
Jill writes that she was never `` threatened '' by Neilia since Joe has `` always made sure that I feel his love for me . ''
Even decades after her death , Jill made sure to preserve Neilia 's memory by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As Jill writes , `` there was no 'us ' without her . ''
One year for Christmas , the boys gave Jill their mother 's engagement ring .
Although Jill was touched , she thought it would be best to pass the ring to the first granddaughter in the family .
Fittingly , it will go to Hunter 's daughter Naomi , who is named after his sister who died in the car accident with Neilia .
On the anniversary of the car accident , the family would go to church together @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go to the cemetery .
Jill would make sure to have a spread of food ready when they returned and always bought a grave blanket with three white roses — Neilia 's favorite flower .
She placed it in the backseat of Joe 's car .
It was n't until after Beau 's death in 2015 that Jill went to the cemetery with Joe for the first time .
`` I owed her so much : my loyalty , my gratitude for the gift of these beautiful boys , and yes , my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do fight '' If Joe and I had a disagreement , '' Jill writes , `` we did n't feel comfortable hashing it out publicly , so we found other ways to do it . ''
Biden writes she and Joe would sometimes fight by text message , even if they were in the same room , to avoid making the Secret Service detail feel awkward about the couple having typical marital spats .
But boy do they make up .
It 's a small detail in the book , but Jill reveals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote her a book of poems .
She includes her favorite , which centers around her finally saying `` yes '' to his marriage proposal : It 's still too hard for her to talk ( or write ) about Beau 's death In the final chapter of the memoir , titled `` Shattered , '' Biden writes about Beau 's death in 2015 .
Despite being diagnosed with a rare and deadly brain cancer , Biden believed her stepson would live .
`` I still do n't have much to say about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Words all feel hollow .
Nothing can convey what we lost .
Nothing can describe the hell we found ourselves living through . ''
Jill writes that she and Joe deal with the grief of Beau 's death differently .
Her husband finds comfort reading the many letters the family received at the White House following their son 's death .
But Jill still ca n't face them .
She writes that she has kept her letters in her closet , where they remain unopened .
`` I know two things as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ healed , but I am also not alone . ''
`` I was never a natural as a 'political spouse , ' '' Jill writes in the memoir .
She prefers to stay in the background , which is the complete opposite of her extroverted , gregarious husband .
She 's more comfortable in the classroom , where students call her Dr. B instead of Mrs. Biden .
There have been times when students have no idea who she is .
While Joe was a senator , Jill earned her master 's degree @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Brandywine High School , a local psychiatric facility , and Delaware Technical Community College .
In a way , teaching at a community college was an awakening for Biden .
Although she enjoyed teaching high school English , something `` clicked '' for her at Del Tech , she writes .
`` I saw so much courage and determination in my students , '' she writes .
`` They cared about education in a way the people who have never had to fight just to be in class , who have never skipped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , just could n't understand . ''
When Joe Biden became President Barack Obama 's vice president , Jill decided to keep working full time as a professor while juggling second lady duties .
She became the first woman to do so .
`` I never intended to make a statement .
I just wanted to do the thing I love best . ''
Contact Meredith Newman at mnewman @ delawareonline.com or 302-324-2386 .
Follow her on Twitter @ merenewman .

Jill Biden: 9 things you might not know about the former second lady after her DNC speech
Show Caption Hide Caption Jill Biden, Joe Biden's wife, is more than a former second lady Dr. Jill Biden has championed for her husband, Joe Biden, throughout his political career. But she has her own incredible accomplishments. USA TODAY
Editor's note: This story originally published in May 2019 and has been updated.
"How did you get this number?"
Those were the first words then-college student Jill Jacobs said to Sen. Joe Biden when he called her "out of the blue" to ask her out on a date. She told him no.
She had other plans that night.
In her memoir, "Where the Light Enters," former second lady Jill Biden reveals details of the early days of her relationship with former Vice President Joe Biden. She writes about growing up as the oldest of five girls, being married and divorced before graduating from the University of Delaware and becoming a parent to two boys whose mother had tragically died just years before.
She told a similar story in her introduction to voters in her speech Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention.
READ BIDEN 2020 COVERAGE
The key issues and events that made Delaware's favorite son
A comprehensive look at the Democratic nominee
One of the most compelling chapters in the book, and also discussed Tuesday, focuses on how she formed a relationship with Beau and Hunter, who were boys when Jill started dating Joe in 1975. Their mother Neilia and baby sister Naomi died in a car accident in 1972, just weeks before Joe was to be sworn in as U.S. senator.
"In our family, Neilia would always be Mommy, but I was Mom," she writes. "There was room enough, there was love enough, for us all."
Here's what else we learned about the former second lady:
She pushed boundaries in her 'Leave it to Beaver' kind of family
Jill Jacobs grew up in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, part of a tight-knit family in which she was the oldest of five girls.
Her father was a bank teller and her mother a homemaker. Family dinners were the center of the Jacobs family's life — a tradition Jill keeps today. Yet when she was a teenager, she was the child who broke curfew, smoked cigarettes and broke into the local country club with her friends.
It led her to butting heads with her father, who was the disciplinarian. Biden writes later in the book that the birth of her daughter Ashley was her father's "perfect revenge" as the two of them would get into mother-daughter arguments during those teenage years.
"It made me unafraid to push as hard as I needed to," she writes of her parents' love, "to take chances and pick myself up when I fell flat on my face."
Jill is the one in the marriage who holds the grudges
Since she was a rebellious teenager, few people would have guessed she would have ended up with a politician like Joe Biden, Jill writes.
She describes him as a "statesman" who approaches his job with "grace and dignity."
"This is one of his most admirable traits, but to be honest, his approach drives me a little crazy at times," she writes.
For example, Joe will be friendly and make conversation with anyone, even if it's a colleague who previously badmouthed him, she writes. He often forgets the person made the comment in the first place.
Democratic Convention speaker: Jill Biden Dr. Jill Biden delivers a speech from a school in Wilmington, Delaware about COVID and closed schools for the Democratic National Convention. USA TODAY
"But that means I end up being the holder of the grudges," she writes. "I'm the one who wants to stomp up the hill to confront the mean kid. I remember every slight committed against the people I love.
"I can forgive, sure — but I don't believe in rewarding bad behavior."
She was 'embarrassed and ashamed' of her divorce
Before she was Jill Biden, she was Jill Stevenson — a married University of Delaware student.
At just the age of 18, Jill married Bill Stevenson, a former football player who would go on to open the famous Stone Balloon Ale House in Newark. Her parents loved Stevenson, she writes, and she thought at the time it would be a marriage that would last forever.
"Looking back, it may seem like that relationship was a mistake of my youth," she writes. "But there was a time when I truly believed we were destined for each other."
Biden attributes the end of the marriage to the couple being young and growing in "different directions." Although she tried to repair the marriage, she didn't want to "settle for a counterfeit love."
When the couple divorced after a couple years of marriage, Biden writes that she felt like a failure, partly because she didn't know anyone who was divorced.
"I questioned if I would ever find love, if I would ever have a family of my own," she writes. "How could I give my heart to someone again?"
Jill met Neilia Biden before she met Joe
It was Neilia Biden, not Joe, who Jill met first.
Jill's first husband, she writes, was a big supporter of Joe's improbable senate race in 1972 against incumbent J. Caleb Boggs. When Joe Biden won the senate race, Jill and her husband attended the victory party at Hotel du Pont.
"She had an easy, natural beauty that made her look almost out of place in the frantic crowd," Jill writes of Neilia. She and her daughter Naomi would die weeks later.
Jill didn't meet Joe that night. Instead, three years later, Biden would call her after seeing her photo in an advertisement at the Wilmington airport. His brother Frank was a friend of Jill's, and the two knew each other at the University of Delaware.
Joe Biden proposed to her five times before she said 'yes'
Although she knew she loved Joe and his boys, Jill wasn't sure she could marry him. The couple retold this story in a video montage
"Being Joe's wife would mean life in the spotlight that I had never wanted," she writes. "I was a college student when we'd first met, and I liked living under the radar. Joe lived with constant public visibility."
Beau and Hunter, 7 and 6 years old at the time, were also inquiring about marriage, telling Joe one morning: "We think we should marry Jill."
Jill writes in the memoir that she was afraid she wouldn't "measure up" as a parent, even though that was never a thought Beau or Hunter had.
By spring of 1977, before leaving on a congressional delegation trip to South Africa, Joe told Jill he was proposing one final time, saying he was "too much in love" with her "to just be friends."
When he returned from his trip, Jill finally said yes.
Jill made sure to preserve Neilia's memory
Jill writes that she was never "threatened" by Neilia since Joe has "always made sure that I feel his love for me."
Even decades after her death, Jill made sure to preserve Neilia's memory by having her photos throughout the house. As Jill writes, "there was no 'us' without her."
One year for Christmas, the boys gave Jill their mother's engagement ring.
Although Jill was touched, she thought it would be best to pass the ring to the first granddaughter in the family. Fittingly, it will go to Hunter's daughter Naomi, who is named after his sister who died in the car accident with Neilia.
On the anniversary of the car accident, the family would go to church together and then Joe and the boys would go to the cemetery. Jill would make sure to have a spread of food ready when they returned and always bought a grave blanket with three white roses — Neilia's favorite flower. She placed it in the backseat of Joe's car.
It wasn't until after Beau's death in 2015 that Jill went to the cemetery with Joe for the first time.
"I owed her so much: my loyalty, my gratitude for the gift of these beautiful boys, and yes, my love."
Joe and Jill really do fight
"If Joe and I had a disagreement," Jill writes, "we didn't feel comfortable hashing it out publicly, so we found other ways to do it."
Enter "fexting."
Biden writes she and Joe would sometimes fight by text message, even if they were in the same room, to avoid making the Secret Service detail feel awkward about the couple having typical marital spats.
But boy do they make up.
It's a small detail in the book, but Jill reveals that last Christmas the former vice president wrote her a book of poems.
She includes her favorite, which centers around her finally saying "yes" to his marriage proposal:
I had lost all hope for the future But the moment I saw you I knew I worked so hard to get you to say I do When you did — you made the world anew.
It's still too hard for her to talk (or write) about Beau's death
In the final chapter of the memoir, titled "Shattered," Biden writes about Beau's death in 2015. Despite being diagnosed with a rare and deadly brain cancer, Biden believed her stepson would live.
"I still don't have much to say about his death," she writes. "Words all feel hollow. Nothing can convey what we lost. Nothing can describe the hell we found ourselves living through."
Jill writes that she and Joe deal with the grief of Beau's death differently. Her husband finds comfort reading the many letters the family received at the White House following their son's death.
But Jill still can't face them. She writes that she has kept her letters in her closet, where they remain unopened.
"I know two things as I write this: I am not healed, but I am also not alone."
Teaching has become Jill's 'internal compass'
"I was never a natural as a 'political spouse,'" Jill writes in the memoir. She prefers to stay in the background, which is the complete opposite of her extroverted, gregarious husband.
She's more comfortable in the classroom, where students call her Dr. B instead of Mrs. Biden. There have been times when students have no idea who she is.
While Joe was a senator, Jill earned her master's degree and doctorate in education and taught at Brandywine High School, a local psychiatric facility, and Delaware Technical Community College.
In a way, teaching at a community college was an awakening for Biden. Although she enjoyed teaching high school English, something "clicked" for her at Del Tech, she writes.
"I saw so much courage and determination in my students," she writes. "They cared about education in a way the people who have never had to fight just to be in class, who have never skipped dinner so they could save up tuition, just couldn't understand."
When Joe Biden became President Barack Obama's vice president, Jill decided to keep working full time as a professor while juggling second lady duties. She became the first woman to do so.
"I never intended to make a statement. I just wanted to do the thing I love best."
Contact Meredith Newman at mnewman@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2386. Follow her on Twitter @merenewman.


usatoday--2020-08-19--Open-air schools helped fight pandemics in the 1900s. Should they make a comeback?

NEWARK , N.J. – The Boylan Street School fulfilled its public health mission long ago , but its role in the fight against tuberculosis remains wrought in its rusty iron entrance gates : “ Open Air School.
” The school was specifically designed for children susceptible to the infectious respiratory disease , opening in Newark in 1930 .
Today it stands as a red-brick remnant of an experimental era that sought to curb the airborne spread of a pandemic by exposing education to the outdoors .
In the coronavirus era , it may offer lessons anew .
The two-story , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access to the natural environment , its soaring windows and south-facing skylights drinking in fresh air and sunlight .
On the second floor , a covered porch offered room for 100 cots where students took daily outdoor naps .
On cloudy days , children were treated with quartz lamps in a basement `` heliotherapy room , '' according to a history written by state preservationists .
“ They were in the same crisis mode as we are now , and they were trying to understand and figure it out and do right by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , chair of the interdisciplinary learning and teaching department at the University of Texas at San Antonio .
Open-air therapy was considered the best treatment for tuberculosis before the advent of antibiotics .
As the disease festered in crowded , poorly ventilated indoor spaces in the early 20th century , Germans established a school in a forest and taught sickly children in open sheds between pine trees .
Educators across Europe and North America soon took notice .
The first open-air school in the United States was fashioned out of an unused schoolhouse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1908 .
One of the walls in a second-floor classroom was torn down and replaced with floor-to-ceiling windows that could be raised with pulleys .
Students braved a harsh winter that year , snuggling in woolen wearable blankets and using heated soapstone as foot warmers .
It may have been cold , but by the end of the school ’ s first year , none of the children had gotten sick and each gained an average of 5 pounds , according to the book `` Open Air Schools , '' published in 1918 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moved onto rooftops , into open-windowed classrooms or fully outdoors on vacant lots and beaches in 168 American cities , according to a report published in 1916 by the U.S. Department of the Interior .
Boston erected a tent classroom with canvas curtains on the roof of a park refectory , and New York City opened its first open-air school on an abandoned ferryboat , according to `` Open Air Schools . ''
As the open-air movement became more organized , districts began replacing makeshift classrooms with permanent buildings like the Boylan Street @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that getting sun and fresh air was a very important thing , especially for children who lived in a city , and that we needed to not just help academically but also help stimulate students physically , ” said Ray Lindgren , vice chair of the Newark Public Schools Historical Preservation Committee .
The school ’ s sanitarium-style design included bands of large glass-less windows , a retractable roof and a covered porch for daily outdoor rests .
`` All standard windows opened widely and contained 'helio glass , ' which was thought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rays normally filtered out by regular glass , '' according to the history compiled by the Historic Preservation Office .
Desks and chairs were lightweight and portable to allow as much outdoor learning as possible on Boylan ’ s lawns .
The school combined academics with exercise , regular medical checkups , a closely monitored diet with three meals a day and a focus on hygiene .
Nurses and teachers also visited students ’ families at home to emphasize the importance of nutrition , cleanliness and fresh air .
“ It was this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of teaching and learning , ” Ryan said .
“ It was part of the Progressive Era , where there was this monitoring of family life and children and trying to figure out what the source of the problem was .
It was also invasive and very judgmental about students and poverty.
” Tuberculosis was largely associated with dirty living conditions at the time , and many students at Boylan came from the city ’ s tenements .
The need for open-air schools diminished significantly after two New Jersey microbiologists discovered the antibiotic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helping students with special needs and then into a regular elementary school , Lindgren said .
It became an early-childhood center in 1997 and closed in 2014 .
Open-air schools receded into nearly forgotten history until the novel coronavirus reignited fears over how readily a pathogen can spread in closed spaces .
Research has shown that the risk of contracting the virus is much lower outdoors than indoors .
Interest in outdoor classrooms has “ exploded ” in recent weeks as schools nationwide scramble to devise reopening plans , Ryan said .
Three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for outdoor learning in a New York Daily News opinion piece last month , writing that a return to traditional classrooms could spark another mass outbreak .
The New Jersey Education Association , the statewide teachers ' union , is not opposed to classes meeting outdoors but questions the practicality of open-air learning , said spokesman Steve Baker .
`` There are simply too many days when weather , noise or other factors make it impossible or impractical for students to learn outdoors , '' he said .
`` I ’ m not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if the safety plan is to be outside and students aren ’ t able to be outside on any given day . ''
USPS : Postmaster General DeJoy says he will stop Postal Service changes until after November election At least one New Jersey district , the Chathams , is making fresh air a cornerstone of in-person instruction .
The district is encouraging teachers to take classes outside and principals are working on placing furniture outdoors , according to a letter Superintendent Michael LaSusa wrote to parents last month .
Windows will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ advise schools reopening this fall to allow outdoor classrooms and open windows for greater circulation when weather permits .
That can be difficult in classrooms where districts have installed stoppers to prevent windows from opening more than 4 to 6 inches .
The stoppers prevent students from falling out but drastically reduce the amount of outdoor air in a classroom , according to the NJEA .
History : This hospital was at the center of NJ 's last great epidemic .
Now it 's slated for housing Schools like Boylan inspired a brief @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in school architecture , Lindgren said .
By the 1950s and 1960s , as heating , ventilation and air conditioning technology advanced , ceilings dropped and windows shrank to reduce sun glare , seal off pollution and cut heating and cooling costs .
The result was nearly windowless buildings .
Two schools near Boylan were built in 1984 , when educators believed windows posed a safety risk and distracted students .
The schools have a total of about five windows between them , Lindgren said .
“ Fresh air goes out of vogue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in using engineering to organize spaces and manage environmental conditions , ” said Daniel Freund , a social studies professor at Bard High School Early College in Manhattan and author of “ American Sunshine : Diseases of Darkness and the Quest for Natural Light.
” “ Buildings become completely hermetically sealed , ” he said .
The ventilation systems that now pump air into school buildings are considered a key component for safely reopening schools this fall .
But an estimated 41 % of districts in the country need to update or replace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools , according to a June report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office .
As in so many other areas , the coronavirus pandemic has pushed shortcomings in building design and ventilation to the forefront , Freund said .
It has also highlighted the close relationship between health and environment .
“ Maybe it ’ s time to reconsider and rethink how the indoors look , what fresh air means , how air can circulate through spaces and what brings health and what brings illness , ” Freund said .
“ The fresh-air @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with incredible enthusiasm , with real innovation , with real concern , and I hope that we ask those questions now.
” The Newark school district , the largest in the state , will reopen on Sept. 8 with in-person learning for those who are comfortable with it .
HVAC systems are being upgraded and windows are being checked for functionality , Lindgren said .
It is possible some classes will include limited outdoor time , but the logistics of taking classes outside are more complicated than a century ago , when schools @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concerns .
“ There ’ s a clear understanding of the importance of getting out and getting air , '' Lindgren said .
`` The challenge now becomes : How do we do that ? ''

Open-air schools helped fight pandemics in the 1900s. Should they make a comeback?
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NEWARK, N.J. – The Boylan Street School fulfilled its public health mission long ago, but its role in the fight against tuberculosis remains wrought in its rusty iron entrance gates: “Open Air School.”
The school was specifically designed for children susceptible to tuberculosis, opening in Newark in 1930. Today, it stands as a red-brick remnant of an experimental era that sought to curb the airborne spread of a pandemic by exposing education to the outdoors.
In the coronavirus era, it may offer lessons anew.
The two-story, art deco school was designed to maximize access to the natural environment, its soaring windows and south-facing skylights drinking in fresh air and sunlight. On the second floor, a covered porch offered room for 100 cots where students took daily outdoor naps. On cloudy days, children were treated with quartz lamps in a basement "heliotherapy room," according to a history written by state preservationists.
“They were in the same crisis mode as we are now, and they were trying to understand and figure it out and do right by kids,” said Ann Marie Ryan, chair of the interdisciplinary learning and teaching department at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Open-air therapy was considered the best treatment for tuberculosis before the advent of antibiotics. As the disease festered in crowded, poorly ventilated indoor spaces in the early 20th century, Germans established a school in a forest and taught sickly children in open sheds between pine trees. Educators across Europe and North America soon took notice.
The first open-air school in the United States was fashioned out of an unused schoolhouse in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1908. One of the walls in a second-floor classroom was torn down and replaced with floor-to-ceiling windows that could be raised with pulleys. Students braved a harsh winter that year, snuggling in woolen wearable blankets and using heated soapstone as foot warmers.
It may have been cold, but by the end of the school’s first year, none of the children had gotten sick, and each gained an average of 5 pounds, according to the book "Open Air Schools," published in 1918 amid the Spanish Flu pandemic.
Education moved onto rooftops, into open-windowed classrooms or fully outdoors on vacant lots and beaches in 168 American cities, according to a report published in 1916 by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Boston erected a tent classroom with canvas curtains on the roof of a park refectory, and New York City opened its first open-air school on an abandoned ferryboat, according to "Open Air Schools."
As the open-air movement became more organized, districts began replacing makeshift classrooms with permanent buildings like the Boylan Street School.
“There was a feeling that getting sun and fresh air was a very important thing, especially for children who lived in a city, and that we needed to not just help academically, but also help stimulate students physically,” said Ray Lindgren, vice chair of the Newark Public Schools Historical Preservation Committee.
Helio glass
The school’s sanitarium-style design included bands of large glass-less windows, a retractable roof and a covered porch for daily outdoor rests.
"All standard windows opened widely and contained 'helio glass,' which was thought to allow in beneficial types of light rays normally filtered out by regular glass," according to a history compiled by the Historic Preservation Office.
Desks and chairs were lightweight and portable to allow as much outdoor learning as possible on Boylan’s lawns. The school combined academics with exercise, regular medical checkups, a closely monitored diet with three meals a day and a focus on hygiene. Nurses and teachers also visited students’ families at home to emphasize the importance of nutrition, cleanliness and fresh air.
“It was this kind of very over-the-top public health model of teaching and learning,” Ryan said. “It was part of the Progressive Era, where there was this monitoring of family life and children and trying to figure out what the source of the problem was. It was also invasive and very judgmental about students and poverty.”
Tuberculosis at the time was largely associated with dirty living conditions, and many students at Boylan came from the city’s tenements.
The need for open-air schools diminished significantly after two New Jersey microbiologists discovered the antibiotic streptomycin in 1943. Boylan transitioned to helping students with special needs and then into a regular elementary school, Lindgren said. It became an early-childhood center in 1997 before closing in 2014.
Open-air schools receded into history until the novel coronavirus reignited fears over how readily a pathogen can spread in closed spaces. Research has shown that the risk of contracting the virus is much lower outdoors than indoors. Interest in outdoor classrooms has “exploded” in recent weeks as schools nationwide scramble to devise reopening plans, Ryan said.
Three public elementary school teachers in Brooklyn called for outdoor learning in a New York Daily News opinion piece last month, writing that a return to traditional classrooms could spark another mass outbreak.
The New Jersey Education Association, the statewide teachers' union, is not opposed to classes meeting outdoors but questions the practicality of open-air learning, spokesman Steve Baker said.
"There are simply too many days when weather, noise or other factors make it impossible or impractical for students to learn outdoors," he said. "I’m not sure how a district protects student safety if the safety plan is to be outside and students aren’t able to be outside on any given day."
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An open-air comeback?
At least one New Jersey district, the Chathams, is making fresh air a cornerstone of in-person instruction. The district is encouraging teachers to take classes outside, and principals are working on placing furniture outdoors, according to a letter Superintendent Michael LaSusa wrote to parents last month. Windows will be open in every classroom.
State guidelines advise schools reopening this fall to allow outdoor classrooms and open windows for greater circulation when weather permits. That can be difficult in classrooms where districts have installed stoppers to prevent windows from opening more than 4 to 6 inches. The stoppers prevent students from falling out but also drastically reduce the amount of outdoor air in a classroom, according to the NJEA.
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Schools like Boylan inspired a brief period of 8-foot-tall windows and high ceilings in school architecture, Lindgren said. By the 1950s and 1960s, as heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technology advanced, ceilings dropped and windows shrank to reduce sun glare, seal off pollution and cut heating and cooling costs.
The result was nearly windowless buildings. Two schools near Boylan were built in 1984 when educators believed windows posed a safety risk and distracted students. The schools have a total of about five windows between them, Lindgren said.
Hermetically sealed
“Fresh air goes out of vogue around the time you get this rise in using engineering to organize spaces and manage environmental conditions,” said Daniel Freund, a social studies professor at Bard High School Early College in Manhattan and author of “American Sunshine: Diseases of Darkness and the Quest for Natural Light.”
“Buildings become completely hermetically sealed."
The ventilation systems that now pump air into school buildings are considered a key component for safely reopening schools this fall. But an estimated 41% of districts in the country need to update or replace HVAC systems in at least half their schools, according to a June report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
As in so many other areas, the coronavirus pandemic has pushed shortcomings in building design and ventilation to the forefront, Freund said. It has also highlighted the close relationship between health and environment.
“Maybe it’s time to reconsider and rethink how the indoors look, what fresh air means, how air can circulate through spaces and what brings health and what brings illness,” Freund said. “The fresh-air school is a moment that was done with incredible enthusiasm, with real innovation, with real concern, and I hope that we ask those questions now.”
The Newark school district, the largest in the state, will reopen Sept. 8 with in-person learning for those who are comfortable with it. HVAC systems are being upgraded and windows are being checked for functionality, Lindgren said. It is possible some classes will include limited outdoor time, but the logistics of taking classes outside are more complicated than a century ago, when schools were more rural and had fewer safety concerns.
“There’s a clear understanding of the importance of getting out and getting air," Lindgren said. "The challenge now becomes: How do we do that?"
Follow reporter Svetlana Shkolnikova on Twitter: @svetashko


usatoday--2020-08-19--'Game changer' for community nonprofits: Gannett Foundation relaunches multimillion-dollar crowdfund

Nonprofit and municipal organizations with projects aimed at building their communities may apply to the 2020 A Community Thrives program , a $ 2.3 million initiative of the Gannett Foundation .
The program is sponsored by the USA TODAY Network 's parent company , Gannett .
The nationwide crowdfunding and grant program is entering its fourth year of supporting organizations that address social issues including education , housing , arts and culture , wellness and the environment .
Typically , organizations apply to raise money for a specific project .
Accepted organizations will work to raise funds on their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be eligible for more than 100 grants .
Organizers said A Community Thrives gives nonprofit groups the opportunity to fundraise on a national platform , while grants help further accelerate exceptional projects .
`` The Gannett Foundation grants will support our readers ' top community-building ideas to help address local needs and ensure a vibrant , healthy community .
We are committed to work in partnership to help our communities connect , act and thrive , '' Maribel Perez Wadsworth , Gannett Media president of news and Gannett Foundation vice president , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dozen national grants to support projects are set to be distributed , ranging from $ 25,000 to $ 100,000 .
Separate incentives aimed at rewarding high-fundraising projects will be offered .
Dozens more regional grants will be distributed for general operating support , starting at $ 2,500 .
These grants are chosen by leaders across Gannett 's nationwide USA TODAY Network of newsrooms .
Michael A. Anastasi , vice president and editor of The ( Nashville ) Tennessean , said journalists are always searching for the “ opportunity to make the world a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We know the community in a way that those outside the community just can ’ t. ” A Community Thrives harnesses that local knowledge in selecting winners of grants .
The combination of fundraising and grant opportunities is a `` game changer '' for charities , Anastasi said – an ideal chance to get an `` infusion of money . ''
Anastasi said a diverse group of leaders will assemble in Nashville to pick winners .
They will especially keep in mind communities of color and underrepresented communities as they evaluate projects .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the area have been selected for national and local grants .
Anastasi highlighted the `` uniquely Nashville '' nonprofit Girls Write Nashville , which helps connect and empower female songwriters , who face well-documented challenges .
Last year , the organization received a $ 50,000 project grant in addition to a $ 5,000 local grant and a $ 2,000 bonus grant through A Community Thrives .
Also in 2019 , Nashville Launch Pad received a $ 100,000 national grant .
The organization impressed Anastasi through its commitment to serving homeless gay youths , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last Community Thrives initiative , Gannett has expanded the footprint of the USA TODAY Network , joining GateHouse Media to become the largest U.S. media company by print circulation , serving communities in 47 states .
For nonprofit groups , that means more regions will offer local grants .
Last year , more than $ 4.5 million was distributed to nonprofit groups as a result of the program .
Applicants raised more than $ 2.5 million through their own fundraising efforts and the Gannett Foundation gave out $ 2 million in grants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ awarded based on the proposed projects ' viability , sustainability , community need and service to historically disadvantaged groups .
Organizations may submit applications from Aug. 18 to Sept. 11 on A Community Thrives ' website : acommunitythrives.mightycause.com .

'Game changer' for community nonprofits: Gannett Foundation relaunches multimillion-dollar crowdfunding and grant program
Nonprofit and municipal organizations with projects aimed at building their communities may apply to the 2020 A Community Thrives program, a $2.3 million initiative of the Gannett Foundation. The program is sponsored by the USA TODAY Network's parent company, Gannett.
The nationwide crowdfunding and grant program is entering its fourth year of supporting organizations that address social issues including education, housing, arts and culture, wellness and the environment.
Typically, organizations apply to raise money for a specific project. Accepted organizations will work to raise funds on their own through a crowdfunding campaign, then may be eligible for more than 100 grants.
Organizers said A Community Thrives gives nonprofit groups the opportunity to fundraise on a national platform, while grants help further accelerate exceptional projects.
"The Gannett Foundation grants will support our readers' top community-building ideas to help address local needs and ensure a vibrant, healthy community. We are committed to work in partnership to help our communities connect, act and thrive," Maribel Perez Wadsworth, Gannett Media president of news and Gannett Foundation vice president, said in a statement.
More than a dozen national grants to support projects are set to be distributed, ranging from $25,000 to $100,000. Separate incentives aimed at rewarding high-fundraising projects will be offered.
Dozens more regional grants will be distributed for general operating support, starting at $2,500. These grants are chosen by leaders across Gannett's nationwide USA TODAY Network of newsrooms.
Michael A. Anastasi, vice president and editor of The (Nashville) Tennessean, said journalists are always searching for the “opportunity to make the world a better place through our work. ... We know the community in a way that those outside the community just can’t.”
A Community Thrives harnesses that local knowledge in selecting winners of grants. The combination of fundraising and grant opportunities is a "game changer" for charities, Anastasi said – an ideal chance to get an "infusion of money."
Anastasi said a diverse group of leaders will assemble in Nashville to pick winners. They will especially keep in mind communities of color and underrepresented communities as they evaluate projects.
In previous years, nonprofit groups in the area have been selected for national and local grants.
Anastasi highlighted the "uniquely Nashville" nonprofit Girls Write Nashville, which helps connect and empower female songwriters, who face well-documented challenges. Last year, the organization received a $50,000 project grant in addition to a $5,000 local grant and a $2,000 bonus grant through A Community Thrives.
Also in 2019, Nashville Launch Pad received a $100,000 national grant. The organization impressed Anastasi through its commitment to serving homeless gay youths, who face difficulties and dangers.
Since the last Community Thrives initiative, Gannett has expanded the footprint of the USA TODAY Network, joining GateHouse Media to become the largest U.S. media company by print circulation, serving communities in 47 states. For nonprofit groups, that means more regions will offer local grants.
Last year, more than $4.5 million was distributed to nonprofit groups as a result of the program. Applicants raised more than $2.5 million through their own fundraising efforts and the Gannett Foundation gave out $2 million in grants.
This year, grants will be awarded based on the proposed projects' viability, sustainability, community need and service to historically disadvantaged groups.
Organizations may submit applications from Aug. 18 to Sept. 11 on A Community Thrives' website: acommunitythrives.mightycause.com.
Contributing: Morgan Hines and Ashley May


usatoday--2020-08-19--Tim Norman, 'Welcome to Sweetie Pie's' reality star, charged in alleged murder-for-hire plot

James `` Tim '' Norman , the star of the OWN reality series `` Welcome to Sweetie Pie 's , '' has been arrested on federal charges for his alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the death of his nephew .
Norman , 41 , also the owner of the Jackson , Mississippi , restaurant , was arrested by FBI agents Tuesday in Jackson on charges of conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire resulting in death , according to a statement released by the FBI 's Jackson office .
The reality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2018 , followed Norman and his mother Robbie Montgomery , a former backup singer for Ike and Tina Turner , as they ran the family restaurant franchise .
An affidavit filed Aug. 11 states Norman conspired with Terica Ellis , of Memphis , Tennessee , using prepaid cellphones to coordinate the murder of Norman 's 21-year-old nephew , Andre Montgomery , on March 14 , 2016 , in St. Louis , Missouri .
Ellis also faces one count of conspiracy , according to the complaint .
The affidavit states Norman attempted to obtain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the amount of $ 250,000 in October 2014 , but the policy was not issued .
Another policy totaling $ 450,000 was issued by a separate insurance company two weeks later , and Norman was named as the sole beneficiary .
On March 10 , 2016 , Ellis allegedly contacted Montgomery , who informed him she was `` on her way into ( St. Louis ) , '' according to communications obtained by the FBI .
On March 13 , 2016 , the day before Montgomery 's death , Norman flew from his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Two prepaid cellphones , which were later traced to both Norman and Ellis , were activated on March 14 , 2016 , and used throughout the day for communication between the suspects .
According to the affidavit , Montgomery sent the address where he was ultimately killed to Ellis ' cellphone that evening .
Ellis then contacted Norman .
Montgomery was shot and killed less than an hour later and location data from Ellis ' phone places her in the vicinity at the time of Montgomery 's death .
Ellis allegedly contacted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ then began returning to Memphis .
Both Ellis ' and Norman 's devices ceased all activity on March 15 , 2016 .
Four days later , Norman attempted to collect on Montgomery 's insurance policy , but was subsequently denied because he could not provide several requested documents , according to the affidavit .
In addition , Ellis made several cash deposits into her bank accounts in Memphis between March 15-17 , 2016 , totaling over $ 9,000 .
Records show that Ellis , along with her mother and daughter , traveled to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and were in the same location as Norman on at least one occasion before they returned to Memphis on March 28 , 2016 .
The affidavit also states Norman wired money to Ellis one month later .
Norman has previously had several run-ins with the law .
According to his biography in the `` Welcome to Sweetie Pie 's '' section on the OWN website , he was arrested on armed robbery charges and served 10 years in prison .
In 2018 , he was charged for misdemeanor assault charges in Harris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a former employee in the face , according to several news outlets .
In 2019 , a Houston-based property company sued Norman for unpaid rent totaling over $ 254,000 .
He faced similar trouble in Jackson in December 2019 after the owners of the Plaza Building said he owed them $ 100,000 in rent .
Norman said at the time he had n't paid due to issues with the building .
Previously , the restaurant was forced to close for eight days by the city due to operations violations .
Contact Keisha Rowe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or at ( 601 ) 961-7101 .

Tim Norman, 'Welcome to Sweetie Pie's' reality star, charged in alleged murder-for-hire plot
James "Tim" Norman, the star of the OWN reality series "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's," has been arrested on federal charges for his alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the death of his nephew.
Norman, 41, also the owner of the Jackson, Mississippi, restaurant, was arrested by FBI agents Tuesday in Jackson on charges of conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of a murder-for-hire resulting in death, according to a statement released by the FBI's Jackson office.
The reality show, which ran from 2011 to 2018, followed Norman and his mother Robbie Montgomery, a former backup singer for Ike and Tina Turner, as they ran the family restaurant franchise.
An affidavit filed Aug. 11 states Norman conspired with Terica Ellis, of Memphis, Tennessee, using prepaid cellphones to coordinate the murder of Norman's 21-year-old nephew, Andre Montgomery, on March 14, 2016, in St. Louis, Missouri. Ellis also faces one count of conspiracy, according to the complaint.
The affidavit states Norman attempted to obtain a life insurance policy for Montgomery in the amount of $250,000 in October 2014, but the policy was not issued. Another policy totaling $450,000 was issued by a separate insurance company two weeks later, and Norman was named as the sole beneficiary.
On March 10, 2016, Ellis allegedly contacted Montgomery, who informed him she was "on her way into (St. Louis)," according to communications obtained by the FBI. On March 13, 2016, the day before Montgomery's death, Norman flew from his then-residence in Los Angeles to St. Louis.
Two prepaid cellphones, which were later traced to both Norman and Ellis, were activated on March 14, 2016, and used throughout the day for communication between the suspects. According to the affidavit, Montgomery sent the address where he was ultimately killed to Ellis' cellphone that evening. Ellis then contacted Norman.
Montgomery was shot and killed less than an hour later and location data from Ellis' phone places her in the vicinity at the time of Montgomery's death. Ellis allegedly contacted Norman again after Montgomery's death, then began returning to Memphis. Both Ellis' and Norman's devices ceased all activity on March 15, 2016.
Four days later, Norman attempted to collect on Montgomery's insurance policy, but was subsequently denied because he could not provide several requested documents, according to the affidavit. In addition, Ellis made several cash deposits into her bank accounts in Memphis between March 15-17, 2016, totaling over $9,000.
Records show that Ellis, along with her mother and daughter, traveled to Los Angeles on March 22, 2016, and were in the same location as Norman on at least one occasion before they returned to Memphis on March 28, 2016. The affidavit also states Norman wired money to Ellis one month later.
Norman has previously had several run-ins with the law. According to his biography in the "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" section on the OWN website, he was arrested on armed robbery charges and served 10 years in prison. In 2018, he was charged for misdemeanor assault charges in Harris County, Texas, after allegedly punching a former employee in the face, according to several news outlets.
In 2019, a Houston-based property company sued Norman for unpaid rent totaling over $254,000. He faced similar trouble in Jackson in December 2019 after the owners of the Plaza Building said he owed them $100,000 in rent. Norman said at the time he hadn't paid due to issues with the building. Previously, the restaurant was forced to close for eight days by the city due to operations violations.
Contact Keisha Rowe at nrowe@gannett.com, on Twitter or at (601) 961-7101.