washingtontimes--2020-08-29--Virginia home played role in desegregating tennis

LYNCHBURG , Va. ( AP ) - Lange Johnson has big dreams for his grandfather ’ s home on Pierce Street - almost as big as the dreams Walter Johnson nurtured there decades ago .
The simple circa-1911 American Foursquare house , with its white clapboard and wood-shingled second facade , sits boarded up , waiting for an infusion of cash to convert this humble house into a museum and tennis camp to honor the late Dr. Robert Walter “ Whirlwind ” Johnson .
“ The last thing we want to do is allow this property to go by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what took place there.
” Lange said .
“ We can not do that .
We ’ ve got to preserve it because it ’ s important to the history of Black America.
” It was Johnson ’ s mentorship and philanthropy that provided tennis greats Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe the wherewithal to break the color barrier in the game of tennis and gave countless more the resources to get a college education .
Since the Whirlwind Johnson Foundation was formed in 2015 , one important portion of that dream has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ court where hundreds of children learned the game and how to excel in a world that wanted to hold them back .
The tennis court , dedicated in 2018 , is used by the Lynchburg Parks and Recreation Department for free youth tennis programming .
The court restoration was underwritten largely by the U.S. Tennis Association , and Musco Sports Lighting provided money to replace the lighting .
The current estimate on restoring the house at 1422 Pierce Street stands at more than $ 800,000 .
“ We ’ ve been marketing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cared enough about this history to provide the money to get this restored , ” Lange said .
“ The numbers , the estimates are pretty high.
” Lange said the house will need lead and asbestos abatement , new electrical and plumbing systems as well as basement and roof work .
“ It ’ s in bad condition , ” Lange said .
“ It ’ s boarded up .
It ’ s not in living condition at all.
” The interior , according to the application for inclusion in the National @ @ @ @ @ @ @ standard American Foursquare style with an entry hall and living room across the front and the dining room and kitchen across the rear .
The second floor features two bedrooms and a bathroom , and two more bedrooms were crafted from attic space .
The interior features hardwood flooring , molded baseboards , picture molding and five paneled doors with transoms above .
The fireplaces featured a simple mantle with a curved shelf supported by round pilasters .
Johnson owned the house from 1933 until his death in 1971 at age 72 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a nurse from his practice , Erdice Creecy , who lived in the home for about 25 years.The house was deeded to the Whirlwind Johnson Foundation in 2012 .
“ We want to restore the house to its original condition , but obviously better , with new plumbing and lighting , ” Lange said .
“ And then the goal will be to really restart the program that my grandfather initiated , which is having a handful of kids come down to Lynchburg , and train and compete across the country .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Arthur Ashe won the U.S. Open in 1968 and no African American male has done that since , my grandfather would be pretty upset if he were still alive.
” Johnson , born in Norfolk and grew up in North Carolina , earned the nickname “ Whirlwind Johnson ” as a standout football player who was named to the Black All-American Football Team in 1924 .
He graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and coached for a while before entering medical school at Meharry Medical College in Nashville ; it was at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he began his lifelong devotion to the sport .
“ He was a great football player and , you know , the fact that he was practicing medicine he knew a lot about the impact of exercise on people who started early with exercise , whether you were swimmers , basketball players , or whatever , ” Lange said .
“ … He was also looking for sports where he could have some impact on the community.
” Johnson was recruited to practice medicine in Lynchburg in 1933 .
He became the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Lynchburg General Hospital , and was active in Lynchburg area politics and the civil rights movement .
Johnson also was a leading member of the American Tennis Association , formed in 1916 to promote the game of tennis among Black players , since they were barred from playing in the United States Lawn Tennis Association .
He built his tennis court next to his home in 1941 initially as a means to stay in shape .
“ It was essential to have a court at your home because there were no country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back in the day , ” Lange said .
But it quickly became so much more than that .
“ Recognizing that young African Americans were not exposed to the sport at an early age and lacked opportunities to compete , he recruited young players of all races throughout the country to play tennis at his summer camps , ” the Historic Register nomination form reads .
“ In addition to coaching these young players , he provided housing , meals , equipment and clothing .
As founder of the junior development program @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Johnson sponsored these players in tournaments throughout the states on the east coast .
Among his proteges were Althea Gibson , and Arthur Ashe , the first black female and male to win the Wimbledon championship .
“ Through the junior development program and the interscholastic committee of the ATA , Johnson helped to recruit promising young African Americans to the sport of tennis and organized a system of tournaments through which they could compete , these efforts eventually lead to the desegregation of the USLTA.
” In 1946 , Johnson and Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediately began investing their money in her career .
Gibson became the first woman to play the U.S .
Lawn Tennis Association tournament in 1949 and went on to win the U.S. open in 1957 , and Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958 .
She earned a tennis scholarship to Florida A & M ; University .
In 1950 , she became the first person of color to compete at the U.S. National Championships ( today ’ s U.S. Open ) at age 23 .
In 1951 , Johnson opened the American Tennis Association @ @ @ @ @ @ @ backyard .
Each summer , about a dozen kids from across the country - handpicked by Johnson - would come to his all-expenses-paid camp .
Monday to Thursday , the students trained on the court from dawn to dusk .
On Friday , they would load into cars for weekend tournaments .
Practices often were supervised by Johnson ’ s son , Robert , and colleague William “ Babe ” Jones .
On the weekends , Johnson drove the campers to competitions across the Eastern Seaboard .
In 1953 , one of those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Richmond .
He spent summers through 1960 learning on Pierce Street .
In 1968 , Ashe became a U.S. Open champion .
He remains the only Black man to win the U.S. Open , Australian Open and Wimbledon .
“ There were times when I asked myself whether I was being principled or simply a coward , ” Ashe said as quoted in Johnson ’ s page on the International Tennis Association ’ s website .
“ I was wrapped in the cocoon of tennis early in life , mainly by Blacks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Walter Johnson of Lynchburg , Virginia .
They insisted that I be unfailingly polite on the court , unfalteringly calm and detached , so that whites could never accuse me of meanness .
I learned well .
I look at photographs of the skinny , frail , little black boy that I was in the early 1950s , and I see that I was my tennis racket and my tennis racket was me .
It was my rod and my staff.
” Johnson ’ s tennis camps not only taught students the game @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make sure the children were prepared for the world .
“ He was all about the civil rights kind of demeanor , which was you don ’ t complain , you just move forward , ” Lange said .
“ If a ball was two inches out , it was suddenly in for their opponents , because you didn ’ t want to bring any grief or unwanted attention.
” Lange estimates more than 200 players have stepped foot on the courts at Johnson ’ s house , roughly a dozen players a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the program .
“ He was committed to getting younger players on court so he could teach them and train them early , ” Lange said .
“ And then , hopefully get them to the finish line , ” whether it be tennis championships or a college degree .
In 1965 , Lynchburg honored the doctor with R. Walter Johnson Appreciation Day , which featured an exhibition match between Ashe and Dennis Ralston , the number one U.S .
Player at the time .
Johnson was inducted in the Virginia Sports Hall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tennis Hall of Fame in 1988 , and the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009 .
Lynchburg ’ s Johnson Health Center is named in his honor ; his doctor ’ s office stood just a couple blocks away at 5th and Polk streets .
Lange grew up in Washington , D.C. and his family often came down for visits .
He began learning the game at age 5 .
“ I certainly didn ’ t play my best tennis while he was still alive ; he passed away when I was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I started playing really good tennis around 11 or 12 .
… He would have been backing me tremendously .
… “ It was just a wonderful experience to be there in the summers to play on that backyard to this court and play around the city and then to get in the car on the weekends and drive to events every weekend.
” Lange ’ s father , Robert Walter Johnson Jr. , who helped coach the students while Johnson was practicing medicine , died in 2018 .
Lange wants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and his vision - devoting part of the house to preserving this history , and devoting the court to restarting Johnson ’ s tennis program .
After Johnson ’ s death , the court wasn ’ t used and the house and court fell into disrepair .
The property was left to Lange Johnson and his brothers , Bobby and Julian .
It was after Walter Johnson ’ s induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009 that the brothers hatched a plan for the historic home - starting at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really was the launching pad for so many different lives and careers that we felt like that was the first leg of the stool that needed to be completed , followed by the shed and then the home , ” Lange said .
A 15-year-old tennis player from Maryland , Corinne Chau , helped toward the fundraising effort earlier this month .
The ATA Nationals winner learned about Johnson ’ s legacy in a documentary she saw about Althea Gibson and felt compelled to help .
She created a fundraiser with the hope @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by reading 1,000 pages .
In the end , she raised $ 3,314 .
Chau ’ s efforts were rewarded by getting to play with Lange on Johnson ’ s famed tennis court , her shoes touching the same places as Gibson and Ashe .
“ He destroyed the stigma of tennis being only for one race , ” Corinne said , adding she felt compelled to help because of her love for tennis .
” … Dr. Johnson , if he didn ’ t do what he did , I wouldn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted to do something for him and his house and I want to help with building this museum.
” Lange said the Whirlwind Johnson Foundation is actively raising money to preserve and restore the house , hoping to amass enough to start the stabilization process .
Lange said the foundation needs an architect and engineer to evaluate the property .
“ You know , at the end of the day , my goal is to try to find somebody who ’ s interested in the story that would be willing to help us @ @ @ @ @

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) - Lange Johnson has big dreams for his grandfather’s home on Pierce Street - almost as big as the dreams Walter Johnson nurtured there decades ago.
The simple circa-1911 American Foursquare house, with its white clapboard and wood-shingled second facade, sits boarded up, waiting for an infusion of cash to convert this humble house into a museum and tennis camp to honor the late Dr. Robert Walter “Whirlwind” Johnson.
“The last thing we want to do is allow this property to go by the wayside and with it the memories of what took place there.” Lange said. “We cannot do that. We’ve got to preserve it because it’s important to the history of Black America.”
It was Johnson’s mentorship and philanthropy that provided tennis greats Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe the wherewithal to break the color barrier in the game of tennis and gave countless more the resources to get a college education.
Since the Whirlwind Johnson Foundation was formed in 2015, one important portion of that dream has been realized - the restoration of the tennis court where hundreds of children learned the game and how to excel in a world that wanted to hold them back.
The tennis court, dedicated in 2018, is used by the Lynchburg Parks and Recreation Department for free youth tennis programming. The court restoration was underwritten largely by the U.S. Tennis Association, and Musco Sports Lighting provided money to replace the lighting.
The current estimate on restoring the house at 1422 Pierce Street stands at more than $800,000.
“We’ve been marketing, fundraising, trying to find someone who cared enough about this history to provide the money to get this restored,” Lange said. “The numbers, the estimates are pretty high.”
Lange said the house will need lead and asbestos abatement, new electrical and plumbing systems as well as basement and roof work.
“It’s in bad condition,” Lange said. “It’s boarded up. It’s not in living condition at all.”
The interior, according to the application for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, is the standard American Foursquare style with an entry hall and living room across the front and the dining room and kitchen across the rear. The second floor features two bedrooms and a bathroom, and two more bedrooms were crafted from attic space.
The interior features hardwood flooring, molded baseboards, picture molding and five paneled doors with transoms above. The fireplaces featured a simple mantle with a curved shelf supported by round pilasters.
Johnson owned the house from 1933 until his death in 1971 at age 72. The home and tennis court were left to a nurse from his practice, Erdice Creecy, who lived in the home for about 25 years.The house was deeded to the Whirlwind Johnson Foundation in 2012.
“We want to restore the house to its original condition, but obviously better, with new plumbing and lighting,” Lange said. “And then the goal will be to really restart the program that my grandfather initiated, which is having a handful of kids come down to Lynchburg, and train and compete across the country. … When you think about the fact that Arthur Ashe won the U.S. Open in 1968 and no African American male has done that since, my grandfather would be pretty upset if he were still alive.”
Johnson, born in Norfolk and grew up in North Carolina, earned the nickname “Whirlwind Johnson” as a standout football player who was named to the Black All-American Football Team in 1924.
He graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and coached for a while before entering medical school at Meharry Medical College in Nashville; it was at his internship at Grandview Hospital in Texas that he began his lifelong devotion to the sport.
“He was a great football player and, you know, the fact that he was practicing medicine he knew a lot about the impact of exercise on people who started early with exercise, whether you were swimmers, basketball players, or whatever,” Lange said. “… He was also looking for sports where he could have some impact on the community.”
Johnson was recruited to practice medicine in Lynchburg in 1933. He became the first Black doctor to receive staff privileges at Lynchburg General Hospital, and was active in Lynchburg area politics and the civil rights movement.
Johnson also was a leading member of the American Tennis Association, formed in 1916 to promote the game of tennis among Black players, since they were barred from playing in the United States Lawn Tennis Association.
He built his tennis court next to his home in 1941 initially as a means to stay in shape.
“It was essential to have a court at your home because there were no country clubs that would allow access to African-Americans back in the day,” Lange said.
But it quickly became so much more than that.
“Recognizing that young African Americans were not exposed to the sport at an early age and lacked opportunities to compete, he recruited young players of all races throughout the country to play tennis at his summer camps,” the Historic Register nomination form reads. “In addition to coaching these young players, he provided housing, meals, equipment and clothing. As founder of the junior development program of the American Tennis Association, Dr. Johnson sponsored these players in tournaments throughout the states on the east coast. Among his proteges were Althea Gibson, and Arthur Ashe, the first black female and male to win the Wimbledon championship.
“Through the junior development program and the interscholastic committee of the ATA, Johnson helped to recruit promising young African Americans to the sport of tennis and organized a system of tournaments through which they could compete, these efforts eventually lead to the desegregation of the USLTA.”
In 1946, Johnson and Dr. Hubert Eaton learned of Althea Gibson and immediately began investing their money in her career. Gibson became the first woman to play the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association tournament in 1949 and went on to win the U.S. open in 1957, and Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958. She earned a tennis scholarship to Florida A&M University. In 1950, she became the first person of color to compete at the U.S. National Championships (today’s U.S. Open) at age 23.
In 1951, Johnson opened the American Tennis Association’s Junior Development Program in his backyard. Each summer, about a dozen kids from across the country - handpicked by Johnson - would come to his all-expenses-paid camp. Monday to Thursday, the students trained on the court from dawn to dusk. On Friday, they would load into cars for weekend tournaments.
Practices often were supervised by Johnson’s son, Robert, and colleague William “Babe” Jones. On the weekends, Johnson drove the campers to competitions across the Eastern Seaboard.
In 1953, one of those pupils was Arthur Ashe, a 9-year-old from Richmond. He spent summers through 1960 learning on Pierce Street. In 1968, Ashe became a U.S. Open champion. He remains the only Black man to win the U.S. Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon.
“There were times when I asked myself whether I was being principled or simply a coward,” Ashe said as quoted in Johnson’s page on the International Tennis Association’s website. “I was wrapped in the cocoon of tennis early in life, mainly by Blacks like my most powerful mentor Dr. Robert Walter Johnson of Lynchburg, Virginia. They insisted that I be unfailingly polite on the court, unfalteringly calm and detached, so that whites could never accuse me of meanness. I learned well. I look at photographs of the skinny, frail, little black boy that I was in the early 1950s, and I see that I was my tennis racket and my tennis racket was me. It was my rod and my staff.”
Johnson’s tennis camps not only taught students the game of tennis, but he wanted to make sure the children were prepared for the world.
“He was all about the civil rights kind of demeanor, which was you don’t complain, you just move forward,” Lange said. “If a ball was two inches out, it was suddenly in for their opponents, because you didn’t want to bring any grief or unwanted attention.”
Lange estimates more than 200 players have stepped foot on the courts at Johnson’s house, roughly a dozen players a year for the 20 years he operated the program.
“He was committed to getting younger players on court so he could teach them and train them early,” Lange said. “And then, hopefully get them to the finish line,” whether it be tennis championships or a college degree.
In 1965, Lynchburg honored the doctor with R. Walter Johnson Appreciation Day, which featured an exhibition match between Ashe and Dennis Ralston, the number one U.S. Player at the time.
Johnson was inducted in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1972, the Mid-Atlantic Tennis Hall of Fame in 1988, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009.
Lynchburg’s Johnson Health Center is named in his honor; his doctor’s office stood just a couple blocks away at 5th and Polk streets.
Lange grew up in Washington, D.C. and his family often came down for visits. He began learning the game at age 5.
“I certainly didn’t play my best tennis while he was still alive; he passed away when I was 9 years old,” Lange said. “I started playing really good tennis around 11 or 12. … He would have been backing me tremendously. …
“It was just a wonderful experience to be there in the summers to play on that backyard to this court and play around the city and then to get in the car on the weekends and drive to events every weekend.”
Lange’s father, Robert Walter Johnson Jr., who helped coach the students while Johnson was practicing medicine, died in 2018.
Lange wants to restore his grandfather’s home and his vision - devoting part of the house to preserving this history, and devoting the court to restarting Johnson’s tennis program.
After Johnson’s death, the court wasn’t used and the house and court fell into disrepair.
The property was left to Lange Johnson and his brothers, Bobby and Julian. It was after Walter Johnson’s induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2009 that the brothers hatched a plan for the historic home - starting at the tennis courts.
“(It) really was the launching pad for so many different lives and careers that we felt like that was the first leg of the stool that needed to be completed, followed by the shed and then the home,” Lange said.
A 15-year-old tennis player from Maryland, Corinne Chau, helped toward the fundraising effort earlier this month. The ATA Nationals winner learned about Johnson’s legacy in a documentary she saw about Althea Gibson and felt compelled to help. She created a fundraiser with the hope of raising $1,000 toward the project by reading 1,000 pages. In the end, she raised $3,314.
Chau’s efforts were rewarded by getting to play with Lange on Johnson’s famed tennis court, her shoes touching the same places as Gibson and Ashe.
“He destroyed the stigma of tennis being only for one race,” Corinne said, adding she felt compelled to help because of her love for tennis. ”… Dr. Johnson, if he didn’t do what he did, I wouldn’t be here playing. So I wanted to do something for him and his house and I want to help with building this museum.”
Lange said the Whirlwind Johnson Foundation is actively raising money to preserve and restore the house, hoping to amass enough to start the stabilization process. Lange said the foundation needs an architect and engineer to evaluate the property.
“You know, at the end of the day, my goal is to try to find somebody who’s interested in the story that would be willing to help us,” Lange said.


washingtontimes--2020-08-29--AP FACT CHECK: Is US great again or dystopian? GOP says both

WASHINGTON ( AP ) - The Republican National Convention begged this question : Why are President Donald Trump ’ s most fervent supporters describing the state of his union as a hellscape ?
It was perhaps the central paradox for voters wondering what to believe in the rhetoric , because it defied logic to believe it all .
Are Americans living in a dystopia or in an America made great again by Trump ?
Four years ago , candidate Trump promised that if he won , “ The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 2017 , safety will be restored.
” Now ?
“ I ’ ve never seen our streets go this bad so quickly , ” Pat Lynch , representing tens of thousands of New York police officers , told the GOP proceedings .
“ We are staring down the barrel of a public safety disaster.
” He said this in remarks singing Trump ’ s praises .
Rudy Giuliani , Trump ’ s personal lawyer and a former New York mayor , spoke of years of “ carnage ” and violence rising now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President , make our nation safe again.
” All of the convention ’ s apocalyptic rhetoric was in service of bashing Trump challenger Joe Biden , Democratic mayors and national Democrats both in and out of office as being soft on violence and anarchy .
Yet the landscape of lawlessness they described is Trump ’ s America now .
Hyperbole suffused the proceedings , both when Trump and his supporters hailed his record and when they denounced the other side .
Outright falsehoods were heard every night on the social justice protests , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s agenda .
VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE , expressing support for people in uniform : “ People like Dave Patrick Underwood , an officer in Homeland Security ’ s Federal Protective Service , who was shot and killed during the riots in Oakland , California.
” - Wednesday .
THE FACTS : Pence is blurring what happened , leaving the impression that Underwood was a victim of rioters .
Underwood was not killed by demonstrators in Oakland who were protesting for racial justice .
Federal authorities say Underwood was fatally shot by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sergeant they say has ties to a far-right , anti-government movement , while Underwood was guarding a federal courthouse during protests in May .
Officials believe Carrillo used the protests as a cover for the slaying and his subsequent escape .
Carrillo , 32 , hatched a plot to target officers with at least one other accomplice online , federal authorities allege .
Over an eight-day span before his capture , they say , Carrillo fatally shot Underwood and wounded his partner , then killed a California sheriff ’ s deputy and injured @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enforcement officers killed , Pence only mentioned the one who was in the vicinity of the protest .
The other is Santa Cruz County Sgt .
Damon Gutzwiller , who authorities say was killed by Carrillo while pursuing him in June .
KENTUCKY ATTORNEY GENERAL DANIEL CAMERON : “ On the economy : Joe Biden couldn ’ t do it , but President Trump did build an economy that worked for everyone , especially minorities.
” - Tuesday .
Republicans can talk successfully about the decline in unemployment rates for Black and Hispanic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one gauge ; plenty of economic troubles and inequalities abound for minorities .
Minority groups still lagged behind white people with regard to incomes , wealth and home ownership before the pandemic .
But when the disease struck , it became clear that the economy did not work well for everybody as the job losses and infections disproportionately hit minorities .
Black unemployment now stands at 14.6 % .
Hispanic unemployment is 12.9 % .
The white unemployment rate is 9.2 % .
For every dollar of total wealth held by white households @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to the Federal Reserve .
It ’ s 4 cents for Hispanics .
That is not evidence of an economy working “ especially ” for minorities .
ERIC TRUMP : “ Biden has pledged to defund the police.
” - Wednesday .
REP. STEVE SCALISE of Louisiana : “ Joe Biden has embraced the left ’ s insane mission to defund them.
” THE FACTS : No , Biden has explicitly rejected the call by some on the left to defund the police .
He has proposed more money for police , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden ’ s criminal justice agenda , released long before the protests over racial injustice , proposes more federal money for “ training that is needed to avert tragic , unjustifiable deaths ” and hiring more officers to ensure that departments are racially and ethnically reflective of the populations they serve .
Specifically , he calls for a $ 300 million infusion into federal community policing grant programs .
That ’ s more money , not less .
GIULIANI : “ Black Lives Matter and antifa sprang into action and , in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into vicious , brutal riots.
” - Thursday .
There ’ s no evidence that Black Lives Matter or antifa , or any political group for that matter , is infiltrating racial injustice protests and injecting violence .
In June , The Associated Press analyzed court records , employment histories and social media posts for 217 people arrested in Minneapolis and the District of Columbia , cities at the center of the protests earlier this year .
More than 85 percent of the people arrested were local residents , and few had affiliation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ posts for a few of those arrested indicated they were involved in left-leaning activities while others expressed support for the political right and Trump himself .
Local police departments were forced to knock down widespread social media rumors that busloads of “ antifa , ” a term for leftist militants , were coming to violently disrupt cities and towns during nationwide racial justice protests .
In June , Twitter and Facebook busted accounts linked to white supremacy groups that were promoting some of those falsehoods online .
TRUMP : “ The United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of any major country anywhere in the world.
” - Thursday .
THE FACTS : Not true .
Not if you consider Russia , Saudi Arabia , the Philippines and India to be major countries .
The U.S. sits right in the middle when it comes to COVID-19 mortality rates in the 20 nations most impacted by the pandemic , according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center .
Of the 20 , Mexico has the highest mortality rate at 10.8 deaths for every 100 confirmed COVID cases , followed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had the lowest rate of the 20 nations at 1.2 , followed by Bangladesh , the Philippines , Russia , Morocco , India , Argentina , South Africa and Chile .
The U.S. had the 10th lowest of the 20 nations , with a mortality rate of 3.1 .
When the center looked at the data in another way , analyzing the COVID death rate for every 100,000 residents , the U.S. fares even worse .
Only three nations - Brazil , Chile and Peru - posted higher death rates .
Understanding deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a percentage of known infections is problematic because countries track and report COVID-19 deaths and cases differently .
Many other factors are in play in shaping a death toll besides how well a country responded to the pandemic , such as the overall health or youth of national populations .
TRUMP : “ Instead of following the science , Joe Biden wants to inflict a painful shutdown on the entire country .
His shutdown would inflict unthinkable and lasting harm on our nation ’ s children , families , and citizens of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FACTS : That ’ s false .
Biden has publicly said he would shut down the nation ’ s economy only if scientists and public health advisers recommended he do so to stem the COVID-19 threat .
In other words , he said he would follow the science , not disregard it .
Speaking Sunday in an ABC interview , Biden said he “ will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives ” when he was asked if he would be willing to shut the country again .
“ So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
” asked ABC ’ s David Muir .
“ I would shut it down , ” Biden responded .
“ I would listen to the scientists.
” The former vice president has said repeatedly that no one knows what January would look like .
DONALD TRUMP JR. on the coronavirus response : “ The president quickly took action and shut down travel from China.
” - Monday .
THE FACTS : No , he didn ’ t shut down travel from China .
He restricted it .
Dozens of countries took similar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before or around the same time the U.S. did .
The U.S. restrictions that took effect Feb. 2 continued to allow travel to the U.S. from China ’ s Hong Kong and Macao territories over the past five months .
The Associated Press reported that more than 8,000 Chinese and foreign nationals based in those territories entered the U.S. in the first three months after the travel restrictions were imposed .
Additionally , more than 27,000 Americans returned from mainland China in the first month after the restrictions took effect .
U.S. officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them who were supposed to be monitored for virus exposure .
Dr. Anne Schuchat , the No .
2 official at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , also told the AP that the federal government was slow to understand how much the coronavirus was spreading from Europe , which helped drive the acceleration of outbreaks across the U.S. in late February .
Trump didn ’ t announce travel restrictions for many European countries until mid-March .
TRUMP : “ Biden also vowed to oppose school choice and oppose all charter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : That ’ s false .
Biden doesn ’ t oppose charter schools .
He opposes federal money going to for-profit charter companies .
Such companies are only a slice of the charter school market , meaning Biden ’ s position wouldn ’ t substantially alter the charter landscape that is dominated by nonprofit organizations .
TRUMP : “ We protected your preexisting conditions .
Very strongly protected preexisting … and you don ’ t hear that.
” - Monday .
THE FACTS : You don ’ t hear it because it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ medical problems have health insurance protections because of President Barack Obama ’ s health care law , which Trump is trying to dismantle .
One of Trump ’ s alternatives to Obama ’ s law - short-term health insurance , already in place - doesn ’ t have to cover preexisting conditions .
Another alternative is association health plans , which are oriented to small businesses and sole proprietors and do cover those conditions .
Neither of the two alternatives appears to have made much difference in the market .
Meanwhile , Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Court for full repeal of the Obama-era law , including provisions that protect people with preexisting conditions from health insurance discrimination .
With “ Obamacare ” still in place , preexisting conditions continue to be covered by regular individual health insurance plans .
Insurers must take all applicants , regardless of medical history , and charge the same standard premiums to healthy people and those who are in poor health , or have a history of medical problems .
Before the Affordable Care Act , any insurer could deny coverage - or charge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ condition who was seeking to buy an individual policy .
NIKKI HALEY , former ambassador to the United Nations , on the Democrats : “ They want a government takeover of health care .
They want to ban fracking and kill millions of jobs.
” - Monday .
REP. JIM JORDAN of Ohio : “ Defund the police , defund border patrol and defund our military.
” - Monday .
RONNA McDANIEL , chairwoman of the Republican National Committee : “ You deserve to know that they would ban fracking and eliminate fossil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good-paying jobs and raise the cost of driving our cars and heating our homes .
You deserve to know that they want a complete government takeover of our health care system , so moms like me won ’ t be able to take our kids to the same pediatrician they ’ ve been seeing for years.
” - Monday .
THE FACTS : Those aren ’ t Biden ’ s positions .
A number of Republican speakers seized on proposals of the Democratic left , in some cases distorting those positions , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t share those views .
He does not favor a government takeover of health care ; instead he proposes building on Obama ’ s law , which preserves the private insurance market while expanding Medicaid .
Biden also did not endorse proposals to cease border enforcement or even to decriminalize illegal crossings .
Biden supports banning only new oil and gas permits , fracking included , on federal land .
But most U.S. production is on private land .
The government says production on federal land accounted for less than 10 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In a March 15 primary debate , Biden misstated his energy policy , suggesting he would allow no new fracking .
His campaign quickly corrected the record .
Biden has otherwise been consistent on his middle-of-the-road position , going so far as to tell an anti-fracking activist that he “ ought to vote for somebody else ” if he wanted an immediate fracking ban .
IVANKA TRUMP : “ Our president rapidly mobilized the full force of government and the private sector … to build the most robust testing system in the world.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Her assertion of superior U.S. testing for COVID-19 is dubious .
The U.S. repeatedly stumbled with testing in the early weeks of the outbreak , allowing the virus to quickly spread in the U.S .
The president ’ s own experts say the U.S. is nowhere near the level of testing needed to control the virus .
The U.S. currently is conducting nearly 750,000 tests a day , far short of what many public health experts say the U.S. should be testing to control the spread of the virus .
Looking to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4 million or more tests daily , while a group assembled by Harvard University estimated that 20 million a day would be needed to keep the virus in check .
Public-health authorities acknowledge testing was a critical failure in the crucial early months .
The number of tests being done has since surged but remains inadequate .
Many who do get tested have unduly long waits for results , during which time they can be spreading the virus to others .
SEN. TOM COTTON of Arkansas : “ Joe Biden sent pallets of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
THE FACTS : This is a distorted tale Trump and Republicans love to tell .
Yes , the U.S. flew cash to Iran in the Obama years , but it was money the United States owed to that country .
Cotton also played into the convention ’ s pattern of attributing every questionable action of Obama ’ s administration to Biden personally .
PENCE : “ Four years ago we inherited … an economy struggling to break out of the slowest recovery since the Great Depression .
… In our first three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world.
” - Wednesday .
LARRY KUDLOW , Trump economic adviser : Trump was ” inheriting a stagnant economy on the front end of recession , ” and under the president , “ the economy was rebuilt in three years.
” - Tuesday .
THE FACTS : This is false .
The economy was healthy when Trump arrived at the White House .
Even if the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis was slow , Trump took office with unemployment at a low 4.7 % , steady job growth and a falling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in U.S. history began in the middle of 2009 and continued until the start of the year , spanning both the Obama and Trump presidencies .
The U.S. economy did benefit from Trump ’ s 2017 tax cuts with a jump in growth in 2018 , but the budget deficit began to climb as a result of the tax breaks that favored companies and the wealthy in hopes of permanently expanding the economy .
Annual growth during Obama ’ s second term averaged about 2.3 % .
Trump notched a slightly better 2.5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but the country swung into recession this year because of the coronavirus and will probably leave Trump with an inferior track record to his predecessor over four years .
SEN. RAND PAUL : “ Joe Biden voted for the Iraq war , which President Trump has long called the worst geopolitical mistake of our generation.
” - Tuesday .
THE FACTS : Trump had no more foresight on this matter than Biden .
Neither was against it when it started .
When asked during a Sept. 11 , 2002 , radio interview if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump responded , “ Yeah , I guess so.
” The next month , Biden as a senator voted to authorize George W. Bush to use force in Iraq .
The next March , just days after the U.S. launched its invasion , Trump said it “ looks like a tremendous success from a military standpoint.
” It wasn ’ t until September 2003 that Trump first publicly raised doubts about the invasion , saying “ a lot of people ( are ) questioning the whole concept of going in in the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ called his Senate vote to authorize force a mistake .
ERIC TRUMP : The president slashed taxes and “ wages went through the roof.
” - Tuesday .
THE FACTS : Not quite .
Wage growth did improve , but there is clearly still a roof on workers ’ incomes .
The 2017 tax cuts appear unlikely to deliver on their promised pay increases .
White House economists argued that incomes would surge by at least $ 4,000 because of the lower corporate tax rate .
That has yet to occur and seems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ average hourly wages did improve to a 3.5 % annual gain by February 2019 , much better than the 2.7 % annual gain in December 2016 before Trump became president .
The problem was that wage growth then began to slip through the end of last year despite the steady hiring .
Wage gains only accelerated again with the pandemic and layoffs of millions of poor workers that artificially raised average wages .
What workers have yet to see is a meaningful change in the distribution of income .
More than half of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20 % of earners , according to the Census Bureau .
Their share has increased slightly under Trump with data that is current through 2018 .
The bottom 20 % of earners get just 3.1 % of total income , just as they did before Trump ’ s presidency .
CRIS PETERSON , from a Wisconsin dairy family : “ Our entire economy and dairy farming are once again roaring back .
One person deserves the credit and our vote , President Donald J. Trump.
” - Tuesday .
THE FACTS : Not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as booming , especially as larger operations are putting smaller family farms out of business .
The Agriculture Department reported this summer that “ dairy herds fell by more than half between 2002 and 2019 , with an accelerating rate of decline in 2018 and 2019 , even as milk production continued to grow.
” Part of the problem is that smaller farms face higher production costs .
Farms with more than 2,000 cattle are more likely for their sales to exceed their total costs , while smaller farms are more likely to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to government figures .
PATRICIA McCLOSKEY on Democrats : “ They want to abolish the suburbs altogether by ending single-family home zoning .
This forced rezoning would bring crime , lawlessness and low-quality apartments into thriving suburban neighborhoods .
President Trump smartly ended this government overreach , but Joe Biden wants to bring it back.
” - Monday .
THE FACTS : That ’ s a false account of what Biden supports .
In 2015 , during the Obama administration , a regulation took effect intended to ensure that communities confront @ @ @ @ @ @ @ required more than 1,200 jurisdictions receiving federal Housing and Urban Development block grants and housing aid to analyze their housing stock and come up with plans to combat patterns of segregation and discrimination .
It did not eliminate zoning for single-family homes in the suburbs .
Trump revoked the rule ; Biden supports it .
But Biden does not support requiring municipalities to refrain from building single-family homes as a condition for getting money from HUD .
McClosky and her husband have been charged with a felony for brandishing guns outside their St. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
TRUMP , on mail-in voting : “ Absentee - like in Florida - absentee is good .
But other than that , they ’ re very , very bad.
” - Monday .
THE FACTS : He ’ s making a false distinction .
Mail-in ballots are cast in the same way as absentee mail ballots , with the same level of scrutiny such as signature verification in many states .
In more than 30 states and the District of Columbia , voters have a right to “ no excuse ” absentee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mail-in ballots for any reason , regardless of whether a person is out of town or working .
In Florida , the Legislature in 2016 voted to change the wording of such balloting from “ absentee ” to “ vote-by-mail ” to make clear a voter can cast such ballots if they wish .
So there is no “ absentee ” voting in that state , as Trump alludes to .
More broadly , voter fraud has proved exceedingly rare .
The Brennan Center for Justice in 2017 ranked the risk of ballot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , based on studies of past elections .
TRUMP , on the November vote count and Democrats : “ We have to be very , very careful and this time they are trying to do it with the whole post office scam .
They will blame it on the post office .
You can see them setting it up.
” - Monday .
THE FACTS : No postal scam has emerged from the Democrats .
Instead Trump has given credence to suspicions that he wants to suppress mail-in voting to help his chances @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said as much .
In an interview this month , he admitted he ’ s trying to starve the U.S .
Postal Service of money in order to make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots , which he worries could cost him the election .
TRUMP , on defective ballots in an election : “ What does defective mean ?
It means fraud.
” - Monday .
THE FACTS : No , defective ballots do not equate to fraud .
The overwhelming majority aren ’ t .
According to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vast majority of ballots are disqualified because they arrive late , a particular worry this year because of recent U.S .
Postal Service delays and an expected surge in mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic .
Ballots also are deemed defective if there is a missing signature - common with newer voters unfamiliar with the process - or it doesn ’ t match what ’ s on file .
In addition , some states require absentee voters to get a witness or notary to sign their ballots .
“ None of those are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ director of Brennan ’ s democracy program at NYU School of Law .
When suspected cases are investigated for potential fraud , studies have borne out the main reason for defects is voter mistake , she said .
Defective ballots also disproportionately impact voters of color , and recent lawsuits have successfully challenged some requirements as posing health risks or disenfranchising voters .
Earlier this year , for instance , a federal judge ruled that a South Carolina requirement to have witnesses to mail-in ballots could put voters ’ health at risk ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ June primary .
Others states including Minnesota and Rhode Island have also suspended that requirement due to the pandemic .
Associated Press writers Amanda Seitz in Chicago ; David Klepper in Providence , Rhode Island ; Bill Barrow in Atlanta ; Matthew Lee , Paul Wiseman and Matthew Daly in Washington ; and Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines , Iowa , contributed to this report .
EDITOR ’ S NOTE - A look at the veracity of claims by political figures .

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Republican National Convention begged this question: Why are President Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters describing the state of his union as a hellscape?
It was perhaps the central paradox for voters wondering what to believe in the rhetoric, because it defied logic to believe it all. Are Americans living in a dystopia or in an America made great again by Trump?
Four years ago, candidate Trump promised that if he won, “The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th, 2017, safety will be restored.”
Now? “I’ve never seen our streets go this bad so quickly,” Pat Lynch, representing tens of thousands of New York police officers, told the GOP proceedings. “We are staring down the barrel of a public safety disaster.” He said this in remarks singing Trump’s praises.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer and a former New York mayor, spoke of years of “carnage” and violence rising now, and implored, “Mr. President, make our nation safe again.”
All of the convention’s apocalyptic rhetoric was in service of bashing Trump challenger Joe Biden, Democratic mayors and national Democrats both in and out of office as being soft on violence and anarchy. Yet the landscape of lawlessness they described is Trump’s America now.
Hyperbole suffused the proceedings, both when Trump and his supporters hailed his record and when they denounced the other side. Outright falsehoods were heard every night on the social justice protests, the coronavirus, the economy and Biden’s agenda.
A selection from the week:
PROTESTS
VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE, expressing support for people in uniform: “People like Dave Patrick Underwood, an officer in Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service, who was shot and killed during the riots in Oakland, California.” - Wednesday.
THE FACTS: Pence is blurring what happened, leaving the impression that Underwood was a victim of rioters. Underwood was not killed by demonstrators in Oakland who were protesting for racial justice.
Federal authorities say Underwood was fatally shot by Steven Carrillo, an Air Force staff sergeant they say has ties to a far-right, anti-government movement, while Underwood was guarding a federal courthouse during protests in May. Officials believe Carrillo used the protests as a cover for the slaying and his subsequent escape.
Carrillo, 32, hatched a plot to target officers with at least one other accomplice online, federal authorities allege. Over an eight-day span before his capture, they say, Carrillo fatally shot Underwood and wounded his partner, then killed a California sheriff’s deputy and injured four others.
Of the two law enforcement officers killed, Pence only mentioned the one who was in the vicinity of the protest. The other is Santa Cruz County Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, who authorities say was killed by Carrillo while pursuing him in June.
—
RACIAL INEQUALITY
KENTUCKY ATTORNEY GENERAL DANIEL CAMERON: “On the economy: Joe Biden couldn’t do it, but President Trump did build an economy that worked for everyone, especially minorities.” - Tuesday.
THE FACTS: Not accurate.
Republicans can talk successfully about the decline in unemployment rates for Black and Hispanic workers. But that’s just one gauge; plenty of economic troubles and inequalities abound for minorities. Minority groups still lagged behind white people with regard to incomes, wealth and home ownership before the pandemic. But when the disease struck, it became clear that the economy did not work well for everybody as the job losses and infections disproportionately hit minorities.
Black unemployment now stands at 14.6%. Hispanic unemployment is 12.9%. The white unemployment rate is 9.2%. For every dollar of total wealth held by white households, Blacks have just 5 cents, according to the Federal Reserve. It’s 4 cents for Hispanics. That is not evidence of an economy working “especially” for minorities.
___
POLICE
ERIC TRUMP: “Biden has pledged to defund the police.” - Wednesday.
REP. STEVE SCALISE of Louisiana: “Joe Biden has embraced the left’s insane mission to defund them.”
THE FACTS: No, Biden has explicitly rejected the call by some on the left to defund the police. He has proposed more money for police, conditioned on improvements in their practices.
Biden’s criminal justice agenda, released long before the protests over racial injustice, proposes more federal money for “training that is needed to avert tragic, unjustifiable deaths” and hiring more officers to ensure that departments are racially and ethnically reflective of the populations they serve.
Specifically, he calls for a $300 million infusion into federal community policing grant programs. That’s more money, not less.
___
BLACK LIVES MATTER
GIULIANI: “Black Lives Matter and antifa sprang into action and, in a flash, they hijacked the peaceful protest into vicious, brutal riots.” - Thursday.
THE FACTS: That’s a hollow claim.
There’s no evidence that Black Lives Matter or antifa, or any political group for that matter, is infiltrating racial injustice protests and injecting violence.
In June, The Associated Press analyzed court records, employment histories and social media posts for 217 people arrested in Minneapolis and the District of Columbia, cities at the center of the protests earlier this year.
More than 85 percent of the people arrested were local residents, and few had affiliation with any organized groups. Social media posts for a few of those arrested indicated they were involved in left-leaning activities while others expressed support for the political right and Trump himself.
Local police departments were forced to knock down widespread social media rumors that busloads of “antifa,” a term for leftist militants, were coming to violently disrupt cities and towns during nationwide racial justice protests. In June, Twitter and Facebook busted accounts linked to white supremacy groups that were promoting some of those falsehoods online.
___
COVID-19
TRUMP: “The United States has among the lowest case fatality rates of any major country anywhere in the world.” - Thursday.
THE FACTS: Not true. Not if you consider Russia, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and India to be major countries.
The U.S. sits right in the middle when it comes to COVID-19 mortality rates in the 20 nations most impacted by the pandemic, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
Of the 20, Mexico has the highest mortality rate at 10.8 deaths for every 100 confirmed COVID cases, followed by Ecuador at 5.8. Saudi Arabia had the lowest rate of the 20 nations at 1.2, followed by Bangladesh, the Philippines, Russia, Morocco, India, Argentina, South Africa and Chile.
The U.S. had the 10th lowest of the 20 nations, with a mortality rate of 3.1.
When the center looked at the data in another way, analyzing the COVID death rate for every 100,000 residents, the U.S. fares even worse. Only three nations - Brazil, Chile and Peru - posted higher death rates.
Understanding deaths as a percentage of the population or as a percentage of known infections is problematic because countries track and report COVID-19 deaths and cases differently. Many other factors are in play in shaping a death toll besides how well a country responded to the pandemic, such as the overall health or youth of national populations.
___
TRUMP: “Instead of following the science, Joe Biden wants to inflict a painful shutdown on the entire country. His shutdown would inflict unthinkable and lasting harm on our nation’s children, families, and citizens of all backgrounds.” - Thursday.
THE FACTS: That’s false. Biden has publicly said he would shut down the nation’s economy only if scientists and public health advisers recommended he do so to stem the COVID-19 threat. In other words, he said he would follow the science, not disregard it.
Speaking Sunday in an ABC interview, Biden said he “will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives” when he was asked if he would be willing to shut the country again.
“So if the scientists say shut it down?” asked ABC’s David Muir.
“I would shut it down,” Biden responded. “I would listen to the scientists.” The former vice president has said repeatedly that no one knows what January would look like.
___
DONALD TRUMP JR. on the coronavirus response: “The president quickly took action and shut down travel from China.” - Monday.
THE FACTS: No, he didn’t shut down travel from China. He restricted it. Dozens of countries took similar steps to control travel from hot spots before or around the same time the U.S. did.
The U.S. restrictions that took effect Feb. 2 continued to allow travel to the U.S. from China’s Hong Kong and Macao territories over the past five months. The Associated Press reported that more than 8,000 Chinese and foreign nationals based in those territories entered the U.S. in the first three months after the travel restrictions were imposed.
Additionally, more than 27,000 Americans returned from mainland China in the first month after the restrictions took effect. U.S. officials lost track of more than 1,600 of them who were supposed to be monitored for virus exposure.
Dr. Anne Schuchat, the No. 2 official at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also told the AP that the federal government was slow to understand how much the coronavirus was spreading from Europe, which helped drive the acceleration of outbreaks across the U.S. in late February. Trump didn’t announce travel restrictions for many European countries until mid-March.
___
EDUCATION
TRUMP: “Biden also vowed to oppose school choice and oppose all charter schools.” - Thursday.
THE FACTS: That’s false. Biden doesn’t oppose charter schools. He opposes federal money going to for-profit charter companies.
Such companies are only a slice of the charter school market, meaning Biden’s position wouldn’t substantially alter the charter landscape that is dominated by nonprofit organizations.
Biden does oppose federal money for tuition vouchers.
___
HEALTH CARE
TRUMP: “We protected your preexisting conditions. Very strongly protected preexisting … and you don’t hear that.” - Monday.
THE FACTS: You don’t hear it because it’s not true.
People with such medical problems have health insurance protections because of President Barack Obama’s health care law, which Trump is trying to dismantle.
One of Trump’s alternatives to Obama’s law - short-term health insurance, already in place - doesn’t have to cover preexisting conditions. Another alternative is association health plans, which are oriented to small businesses and sole proprietors and do cover those conditions.
Neither of the two alternatives appears to have made much difference in the market.
Meanwhile, Trump’s administration is pressing the Supreme Court for full repeal of the Obama-era law, including provisions that protect people with preexisting conditions from health insurance discrimination.
With “Obamacare” still in place, preexisting conditions continue to be covered by regular individual health insurance plans.
Insurers must take all applicants, regardless of medical history, and charge the same standard premiums to healthy people and those who are in poor health, or have a history of medical problems.
Before the Affordable Care Act, any insurer could deny coverage - or charge more - to anyone with a preexisting condition who was seeking to buy an individual policy.
___
BIDEN’S AGENDA
NIKKI HALEY, former ambassador to the United Nations, on the Democrats: “They want a government takeover of health care. They want to ban fracking and kill millions of jobs.” - Monday.
REP. JIM JORDAN of Ohio: “Defund the police, defund border patrol and defund our military.” - Monday.
RONNA McDANIEL, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee: “You deserve to know that they would ban fracking and eliminate fossil fuels, which would kill millions of good-paying jobs and raise the cost of driving our cars and heating our homes. You deserve to know that they want a complete government takeover of our health care system, so moms like me won’t be able to take our kids to the same pediatrician they’ve been seeing for years.” - Monday.
THE FACTS: Those aren’t Biden’s positions. A number of Republican speakers seized on proposals of the Democratic left, in some cases distorting those positions, and assigned them to Biden, who doesn’t share those views.
He does not favor a government takeover of health care; instead he proposes building on Obama’s law, which preserves the private insurance market while expanding Medicaid.
Biden also did not endorse proposals to cease border enforcement or even to decriminalize illegal crossings.
Biden supports banning only new oil and gas permits, fracking included, on federal land. But most U.S. production is on private land. The government says production on federal land accounted for less than 10% of oil and gas in 2018.
In a March 15 primary debate, Biden misstated his energy policy, suggesting he would allow no new fracking. His campaign quickly corrected the record. Biden has otherwise been consistent on his middle-of-the-road position, going so far as to tell an anti-fracking activist that he “ought to vote for somebody else” if he wanted an immediate fracking ban.
___
VIRUS TESTING
IVANKA TRUMP: “Our president rapidly mobilized the full force of government and the private sector … to build the most robust testing system in the world.” - Thursday.
THE FACTS: Her assertion of superior U.S. testing for COVID-19 is dubious. The U.S. repeatedly stumbled with testing in the early weeks of the outbreak, allowing the virus to quickly spread in the U.S. The president’s own experts say the U.S. is nowhere near the level of testing needed to control the virus.
The U.S. currently is conducting nearly 750,000 tests a day, far short of what many public health experts say the U.S. should be testing to control the spread of the virus. Looking to the fall, some experts have called for 4 million or more tests daily, while a group assembled by Harvard University estimated that 20 million a day would be needed to keep the virus in check.
Public-health authorities acknowledge testing was a critical failure in the crucial early months. The number of tests being done has since surged but remains inadequate. Many who do get tested have unduly long waits for results, during which time they can be spreading the virus to others.
___
IRAN
SEN. TOM COTTON of Arkansas: “Joe Biden sent pallets of cash to the ayatollahs.” - Thursday.
THE FACTS: This is a distorted tale Trump and Republicans love to tell. Yes, the U.S. flew cash to Iran in the Obama years, but it was money the United States owed to that country.
Cotton also played into the convention’s pattern of attributing every questionable action of Obama’s administration to Biden personally.
___
ECONOMY
PENCE: “Four years ago we inherited … an economy struggling to break out of the slowest recovery since the Great Depression. … In our first three years we built the greatest economy in the world.” - Wednesday.
LARRY KUDLOW, Trump economic adviser: Trump was ”inheriting a stagnant economy on the front end of recession,” and under the president, “the economy was rebuilt in three years.” - Tuesday.
THE FACTS: This is false. The economy was healthy when Trump arrived at the White House.
Even if the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis was slow, Trump took office with unemployment at a low 4.7%, steady job growth and a falling federal budget deficit. The longest expansion in U.S. history began in the middle of 2009 and continued until the start of the year, spanning both the Obama and Trump presidencies.
The U.S. economy did benefit from Trump’s 2017 tax cuts with a jump in growth in 2018, but the budget deficit began to climb as a result of the tax breaks that favored companies and the wealthy in hopes of permanently expanding the economy.
Annual growth during Obama’s second term averaged about 2.3%. Trump notched a slightly better 2.5% during his first three years, but the country swung into recession this year because of the coronavirus and will probably leave Trump with an inferior track record to his predecessor over four years.
___
WAR
SEN. RAND PAUL: “Joe Biden voted for the Iraq war, which President Trump has long called the worst geopolitical mistake of our generation.” - Tuesday.
THE FACTS: Trump had no more foresight on this matter than Biden. Neither was against it when it started.
When asked during a Sept. 11, 2002, radio interview if he would support an Iraq invasion, Trump responded, “Yeah, I guess so.” The next month, Biden as a senator voted to authorize George W. Bush to use force in Iraq.
The next March, just days after the U.S. launched its invasion, Trump said it “looks like a tremendous success from a military standpoint.”
It wasn’t until September 2003 that Trump first publicly raised doubts about the invasion, saying “a lot of people (are) questioning the whole concept of going in in the first place.” In November 2005, Biden called his Senate vote to authorize force a mistake.
___
TAXES
ERIC TRUMP: The president slashed taxes and “wages went through the roof.” - Tuesday.
THE FACTS: Not quite. Wage growth did improve, but there is clearly still a roof on workers’ incomes.
The 2017 tax cuts appear unlikely to deliver on their promised pay increases. White House economists argued that incomes would surge by at least $4,000 because of the lower corporate tax rate. That has yet to occur and seems unlikely given the current recession.
But average hourly wages did improve to a 3.5% annual gain by February 2019, much better than the 2.7% annual gain in December 2016 before Trump became president. The problem was that wage growth then began to slip through the end of last year despite the steady hiring. Wage gains only accelerated again with the pandemic and layoffs of millions of poor workers that artificially raised average wages.
What workers have yet to see is a meaningful change in the distribution of income. More than half of total household income goes to the top 20% of earners, according to the Census Bureau. Their share has increased slightly under Trump with data that is current through 2018. The bottom 20% of earners get just 3.1% of total income, just as they did before Trump’s presidency.
___
FARMING
CRIS PETERSON, from a Wisconsin dairy family: “Our entire economy and dairy farming are once again roaring back. One person deserves the credit and our vote, President Donald J. Trump.” - Tuesday.
THE FACTS: Not everyone in the dairy industry views it as booming, especially as larger operations are putting smaller family farms out of business.
The Agriculture Department reported this summer that “dairy herds fell by more than half between 2002 and 2019, with an accelerating rate of decline in 2018 and 2019, even as milk production continued to grow.”
Part of the problem is that smaller farms face higher production costs. Farms with more than 2,000 cattle are more likely for their sales to exceed their total costs, while smaller farms are more likely to operate at a loss by this metric, according to government figures.
___
SUBURBS
PATRICIA McCLOSKEY on Democrats: “They want to abolish the suburbs altogether by ending single-family home zoning. This forced rezoning would bring crime, lawlessness and low-quality apartments into thriving suburban neighborhoods. President Trump smartly ended this government overreach, but Joe Biden wants to bring it back.” - Monday.
THE FACTS: That’s a false account of what Biden supports. In 2015, during the Obama administration, a regulation took effect intended to ensure that communities confront racial segregation in housing.
The rule required more than 1,200 jurisdictions receiving federal Housing and Urban Development block grants and housing aid to analyze their housing stock and come up with plans to combat patterns of segregation and discrimination. It did not eliminate zoning for single-family homes in the suburbs.
Trump revoked the rule; Biden supports it. But Biden does not support requiring municipalities to refrain from building single-family homes as a condition for getting money from HUD.
McClosky and her husband have been charged with a felony for brandishing guns outside their St. Louis home as racial justice protesters passed.
___
VOTING FRAUD
TRUMP, on mail-in voting: “Absentee - like in Florida - absentee is good. But other than that, they’re very, very bad.” - Monday.
THE FACTS: He’s making a false distinction. Mail-in ballots are cast in the same way as absentee mail ballots, with the same level of scrutiny such as signature verification in many states.
In more than 30 states and the District of Columbia, voters have a right to “no excuse” absentee voting. That means they can use mail-in ballots for any reason, regardless of whether a person is out of town or working.
In Florida, the Legislature in 2016 voted to change the wording of such balloting from “absentee” to “vote-by-mail” to make clear a voter can cast such ballots if they wish. So there is no “absentee” voting in that state, as Trump alludes to.
More broadly, voter fraud has proved exceedingly rare. The Brennan Center for Justice in 2017 ranked the risk of ballot fraud at 0.00004% to 0.0009%, based on studies of past elections.
___
TRUMP, on the November vote count and Democrats: “We have to be very, very careful and this time they are trying to do it with the whole post office scam. They will blame it on the post office. You can see them setting it up.” - Monday.
THE FACTS: No postal scam has emerged from the Democrats. Instead Trump has given credence to suspicions that he wants to suppress mail-in voting to help his chances in the election.
He’s said as much. In an interview this month, he admitted he’s trying to starve the U.S. Postal Service of money in order to make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots, which he worries could cost him the election.
___
TRUMP, on defective ballots in an election: “What does defective mean? It means fraud.” - Monday.
THE FACTS: No, defective ballots do not equate to fraud. The overwhelming majority aren’t.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, the vast majority of ballots are disqualified because they arrive late, a particular worry this year because of recent U.S. Postal Service delays and an expected surge in mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ballots also are deemed defective if there is a missing signature - common with newer voters unfamiliar with the process - or it doesn’t match what’s on file. In addition, some states require absentee voters to get a witness or notary to sign their ballots.
“None of those are fraud,” said Wendy Weiser, director of Brennan’s democracy program at NYU School of Law. When suspected cases are investigated for potential fraud, studies have borne out the main reason for defects is voter mistake, she said.
Defective ballots also disproportionately impact voters of color, and recent lawsuits have successfully challenged some requirements as posing health risks or disenfranchising voters. Earlier this year, for instance, a federal judge ruled that a South Carolina requirement to have witnesses to mail-in ballots could put voters’ health at risk; the requirement was suspended it for the June primary. Others states including Minnesota and Rhode Island have also suspended that requirement due to the pandemic.
___
Associated Press writers Amanda Seitz in Chicago; David Klepper in Providence, Rhode Island; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Matthew Lee, Paul Wiseman and Matthew Daly in Washington; and Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.
___
EDITOR’S NOTE - A look at the veracity of claims by political figures.
___
Find AP Fact Checks at http://apnews.com/APFactCheck
Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheck


washingtontimes--2020-08-29--Debate churns over rebel statue after board votes to keep it

OXFORD , Miss .
( AP ) - Refusing to give up , some north Mississippi residents are still urging an all-white board of county officials to move a Confederate monument away from an old courthouse on the town square in Oxford .
The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors voted in July to keep the rebel soldier statue in place , with one supervisor saying he had been a victim of racism because he ’ s white and others saying that African American leaders had never expressed concerns about the statue .
A newspaper ’ s public-records request shows that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business people , college athletes and politicians who asked them to relocate the monument because it presents an unwelcoming image in a diverse community .
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal received hundreds of email and text messages that were sent to the supervisors about the monument , which has stood since 1907 .
Protests against racial injustice across the U.S. in the past three months have brought renewed debate about the display of Confederate monuments and other symbols in public spaces .
Former Oxford Mayor Richard Howorth owns Square Books , which faces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and asked them to relocate the monument because it ’ s “ both the smart and the right thing ” to do .
Howorth later told the Daily Journal that debate about the monument has lasted too long .
“ I look at it every single day , ” Howorth said of the statue .
“ Every day , I think it is a sign that we are disrespecting our Black fellow citizens , neighbors and friends .
For that reason alone , it needs to be dealt with.
” Kesha Howell-Atkinson , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Board of Aldermen , emailed several supervisors June 13 , saying the statue “ is a negative representation ” of Oxford , and she would like to see it relocated .
“ I believe the statue also hinders positive strides our town and community at large have made in the area of race relations , ” Howell-Atkinson wrote .
“ There are projects , people and events coming to Oxford .
We should not allow visitors to be able to judge us , develop a negative impression of our community and convey to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Another Oxford alderman , Janice Antonow , told supervisors in a mid-July email that she would give them “ complete support ” if they moved the statue .
“ Besides being offensive to many citizens , the statue in its present location will always serve as a magnet for protests , pro and con , and will continue to strain our resources that could be better used for more positive events , ” Antonow wrote .
The University of Mississippi is in Oxford and Lafayette County .
In June , several of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on social media calling for supervisors to move the statue .
Records also indicate county supervisors met with football player Mohamed “ MoMo ” Sanogo to discuss the monument .
“ If one of y ’ all want to join , I am meeting with Momo Sanago at 1 at chancery , ” board president Mike Roberts wrote in a group text to other supervisors .
Another supervisor asked what the meeting was about .
Roberts said Sanogo wanted to talk about the monument and then Roberts used a sad face emoji .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Daily Journal ’ s request for comment .
Sanogo , through a spokesman for the university ’ s athletics department , said he was grateful for conversations with supervisors .
“ Obviously we are disappointed with the current decision , ” Sanago said .
“ We realize the negative pressure that the board faces , and we will continue to provide positive support for the removal of the statue.
” The Rev .
Duncan Gray III , retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi , has a long history as an advocate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a relative newcomer to the effort to move Confederate monuments from prominent spaces .
Gray texted Supervisor Chad McLarty and asked him to place the monument question on the board ’ s July 6 agenda , and he offered to speak in favor of relocation .
McLarty responded by thanking Gray for his opinion , but did not ask him speak .
Gray said he passed the statue “ a thousand times growing up and never thought about it.
” But he said that through research , he discovered that language inscribed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supremacists used as a justification for lynching African Americans during the Jim Crow era .
He also believes that symbols play an important role in the subconscious mind of people .
“ Christian and other clergy know this intuitively , if not by training , ” Gray said .
“ It ’ s why we ’ re so careful with the symbols of the faith.
” Gray later participated in a news conference with local clergy asking supervisors to reverse their decision and relocate Confederate monuments .
Lafayette County supervisors have shown no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government entities , including the University of Mississippi , the City of Grenada , Lowndes County , Bolivar County , Leflore County , Noxubee County and Washington County have voted to move Confederate monuments .
Oxford officials have raised questions about whether the Lafayette supervisors control the monument .
Oxford sent county supervisors a letter Aug. 18 , raising the possibility that the statue is on property owned by the city and not the county .

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Refusing to give up, some north Mississippi residents are still urging an all-white board of county officials to move a Confederate monument away from an old courthouse on the town square in Oxford.
The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors voted in July to keep the rebel soldier statue in place, with one supervisor saying he had been a victim of racism because he’s white and others saying that African American leaders had never expressed concerns about the statue.
A newspaper’s public-records request shows that the Lafayette County supervisors received messages from business people, college athletes and politicians who asked them to relocate the monument because it presents an unwelcoming image in a diverse community.
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal received hundreds of email and text messages that were sent to the supervisors about the monument, which has stood since 1907. Protests against racial injustice across the U.S. in the past three months have brought renewed debate about the display of Confederate monuments and other symbols in public spaces.
Former Oxford Mayor Richard Howorth owns Square Books, which faces the monument. He texted several supervisors and asked them to relocate the monument because it’s “both the smart and the right thing” to do.
Howorth later told the Daily Journal that debate about the monument has lasted too long.
“I look at it every single day,” Howorth said of the statue. “Every day, I think it is a sign that we are disrespecting our Black fellow citizens, neighbors and friends. For that reason alone, it needs to be dealt with.”
Kesha Howell-Atkinson, the only Black woman on the Oxford Board of Aldermen, emailed several supervisors June 13, saying the statue “is a negative representation” of Oxford, and she would like to see it relocated.
“I believe the statue also hinders positive strides our town and community at large have made in the area of race relations,” Howell-Atkinson wrote. “There are projects, people and events coming to Oxford. We should not allow visitors to be able to judge us, develop a negative impression of our community and convey to others a negative impression about us.”
Another Oxford alderman, Janice Antonow, told supervisors in a mid-July email that she would give them “complete support” if they moved the statue.
“Besides being offensive to many citizens, the statue in its present location will always serve as a magnet for protests, pro and con, and will continue to strain our resources that could be better used for more positive events,” Antonow wrote.
The University of Mississippi is in Oxford and Lafayette County. In June, several of the school’s athletes posted a video on social media calling for supervisors to move the statue. Records also indicate county supervisors met with football player Mohamed “MoMo” Sanogo to discuss the monument.
“If one of y’all want to join, I am meeting with Momo Sanago at 1 at chancery,” board president Mike Roberts wrote in a group text to other supervisors.
Another supervisor asked what the meeting was about. Roberts said Sanogo wanted to talk about the monument and then Roberts used a sad face emoji.
None of the supervisors responded to the Daily Journal’s request for comment.
Sanogo, through a spokesman for the university’s athletics department, said he was grateful for conversations with supervisors.
“Obviously we are disappointed with the current decision,” Sanago said. “We realize the negative pressure that the board faces, and we will continue to provide positive support for the removal of the statue.”
The Rev. Duncan Gray III, retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, has a long history as an advocate for racial reconciliation but says he’s a relative newcomer to the effort to move Confederate monuments from prominent spaces.
Gray texted Supervisor Chad McLarty and asked him to place the monument question on the board’s July 6 agenda, and he offered to speak in favor of relocation. McLarty responded by thanking Gray for his opinion, but did not ask him speak.
Gray said he passed the statue “a thousand times growing up and never thought about it.” But he said that through research, he discovered that language inscribed on the statue reflects the language white supremacists used as a justification for lynching African Americans during the Jim Crow era. He also believes that symbols play an important role in the subconscious mind of people.
“Christian and other clergy know this intuitively, if not by training,” Gray said. “It’s why we’re so careful with the symbols of the faith.”
Gray later participated in a news conference with local clergy asking supervisors to reverse their decision and relocate Confederate monuments. Lafayette County supervisors have shown no intention of revisiting the issue.
Several government entities, including the University of Mississippi, the City of Grenada, Lowndes County, Bolivar County, Leflore County, Noxubee County and Washington County have voted to move Confederate monuments.
Oxford officials have raised questions about whether the Lafayette supervisors control the monument. Oxford sent county supervisors a letter Aug. 18, raising the possibility that the statue is on property owned by the city and not the county.


washingtontimes--2020-08-29--Census, like Post Office, politicized in election year

ORLANDO , Fla. ( AP ) - The postal service isn ’ t the only staid federal agency to be drawn into a political battle in 2020 .
Unlike the department charged with delivering mail , however , the U.S. Census Bureau has been here before .
It has found itself targeted by politicians repeatedly since it conducted its first nationwide head count in 1790 .
The reason is obvious : The census determines not only how much federal money each state gets but also how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes .
“ The census was political from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” former Census Bureau director Kenneth Prewitt wrote in an essay almost two decades ago .
“ Although the science of measurement is used to complete the task as accurately as possible , the central purpose of the census remains : to shift power from one set of interests to another.
” And yet some fear that this year - during a time of historic partisan and cultural divides - the scientific task of measuring the country ’ s population is more at risk than ever of being overtaken by politics .
Throughout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , civil rights groups , states and cities have been engaged in a battle with President Donald Trump ’ s administration as it unsuccessfully tried to add a citizenship question ; filled three top positions with political appointees who have limited experience ; and issued a directive to exclude residents living illegally in the country when drawing congressional districts .
“ What this administration has done is unprecedented in breadth and scope , ” said Thomas Saenz , who heads the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund .
“ Every decision made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been politically infected.
” Political interference has real consequences , said Terri Ann Lowenthal , a former congressional staffer who specializes in census issues .
“ Any time political leaders of whatever stripe question data … try to direct how data are collected , I think it undermines confidence in the agencies and the process , ” Lowenthal said .
“ People are less likely to participate and the quality of the data collected diminishes over time.
” MALDEF and other civil rights organizations have gone to court to challenge Trump ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wants to exclude people in the country illegally when congressional districts are drawn in order to benefit Republicans and non-Hispanic whites .
Civil rights groups , states and cities are also challenging the Census Bureau ’ s decision to complete the census a month early , which they fear will leave minority communities undercounted .
Census officials asked for an extension of an end-of-the-year deadline to turn in numbers used for drawing congressional districts , a request that passed the Democrat-controlled House .
But then - when it appeared unlikely the measure would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the bureau announced it would try to meet the original deadline .
To do so , however , officials noted that they would have to finish up the census by the end of September instead of the end of October .
At times , the goals of the Census Bureau ’ s career staff have been at odds with the agenda of political appointees in the Commerce Department , which oversees the bureau .
For instance , the bureau ’ s chief scientist warned that adding a citizenship question would result in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a set of very good professionals in the Census Bureau and they are dedicated people , ” said Steven Murdock , a former Census Bureau director in the George W. Bush administration .
“ If you bring in people with totally different goals for the census that could lead to real problems.
” Politics have a long history of influencing the census , from determining which questions are asked to what happens with the numbers that are collected .
After the 1920 census , Congress failed to redraw congressional districts in response @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t want to cede power to fast-growing cities , the primary destinations for immigrants .
In the 1940 and 1960 censuses , the Census Bureau found itself in the political cross-hairs after it asked questions about income and the number of bathrooms homes had .
And during the 1970 and 1980 censuses , political fights were waged over how to fix the undercounting of minorities .
But perhaps the closest parallel to the 2020 census is what happened in the lead-up to the 1990 census , said Margo Anderson , a historian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decades of criticism for undercounting minorities , the Census Bureau came up with a technical method to correct it .
The Republican administration under President Ronald Reagan shot it down , however .
An associate director resigned in protest .
“ Essentially , the Commerce Department went in and said , ‘ Oh , no you don ’ t , ’ ” Anderson said .
“ It was a bald political attack on the agency.
” Johnny Zuagar , whose union represents career workers at the Census Bureau , said the debate over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard work that rank-and-file employees are putting in , day after day , to get an accurate head count .
Some workers have moved temporarily from metro Washington to far-flung states , away from their families , to work on the head count in regional offices .
Others have been working late into the night every day and on weekends .
Workers at the bureau ’ s National Processing Center in Indiana are coming into the facility to process paper census forms despite risks from the pandemic , said Zuagar , president of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hyperpolitical season , it ’ s just like people who deliver the mail .
There are actually people doing the work , ” Zuagar said .
“ They don ’ t bring their politics to work .
They are trying to do something that is very difficult .
”

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The postal service isn’t the only staid federal agency to be drawn into a political battle in 2020.
Unlike the department charged with delivering mail, however, the U.S. Census Bureau has been here before. It has found itself targeted by politicians repeatedly since it conducted its first nationwide head count in 1790.
The reason is obvious: The census determines not only how much federal money each state gets but also how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes.
“The census was political from the very beginning and remains so,” former Census Bureau director Kenneth Prewitt wrote in an essay almost two decades ago. “Although the science of measurement is used to complete the task as accurately as possible, the central purpose of the census remains: to shift power from one set of interests to another.”
And yet some fear that this year - during a time of historic partisan and cultural divides - the scientific task of measuring the country’s population is more at risk than ever of being overtaken by politics.
Throughout this year’s census, lawmakers, civil rights groups, states and cities have been engaged in a battle with President Donald Trump’s administration as it unsuccessfully tried to add a citizenship question; filled three top positions with political appointees who have limited experience; and issued a directive to exclude residents living illegally in the country when drawing congressional districts.
“What this administration has done is unprecedented in breadth and scope,” said Thomas Saenz, who heads the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “Every decision made about the conduct of the census has been politically infected.”
Political interference has real consequences, said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former congressional staffer who specializes in census issues.
“Any time political leaders of whatever stripe question data … try to direct how data are collected, I think it undermines confidence in the agencies and the process,” Lowenthal said. “People are less likely to participate and the quality of the data collected diminishes over time.”
MALDEF and other civil rights organizations have gone to court to challenge Trump’s efforts. They claim the Republican administration wants to exclude people in the country illegally when congressional districts are drawn in order to benefit Republicans and non-Hispanic whites. Civil rights groups, states and cities are also challenging the Census Bureau’s decision to complete the census a month early, which they fear will leave minority communities undercounted.
Census officials asked for an extension of an end-of-the-year deadline to turn in numbers used for drawing congressional districts, a request that passed the Democrat-controlled House. But then - when it appeared unlikely the measure would go anywhere in the Republican-controlled Senate - the bureau announced it would try to meet the original deadline. To do so, however, officials noted that they would have to finish up the census by the end of September instead of the end of October.
At times, the goals of the Census Bureau’s career staff have been at odds with the agenda of political appointees in the Commerce Department, which oversees the bureau. For instance, the bureau’s chief scientist warned that adding a citizenship question would result in a less accurate count.
“There’s a set of very good professionals in the Census Bureau and they are dedicated people,” said Steven Murdock, a former Census Bureau director in the George W. Bush administration. “If you bring in people with totally different goals for the census that could lead to real problems.”
Politics have a long history of influencing the census, from determining which questions are asked to what happens with the numbers that are collected.
After the 1920 census, Congress failed to redraw congressional districts in response to pushback from rural districts that didn’t want to cede power to fast-growing cities, the primary destinations for immigrants.
In the 1940 and 1960 censuses, the Census Bureau found itself in the political cross-hairs after it asked questions about income and the number of bathrooms homes had. And during the 1970 and 1980 censuses, political fights were waged over how to fix the undercounting of minorities.
But perhaps the closest parallel to the 2020 census is what happened in the lead-up to the 1990 census, said Margo Anderson, a historian at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
After decades of criticism for undercounting minorities, the Census Bureau came up with a technical method to correct it. The Republican administration under President Ronald Reagan shot it down, however. An associate director resigned in protest.
“Essentially, the Commerce Department went in and said, ‘Oh, no you don’t,’” Anderson said. “It was a bald political attack on the agency.”
Johnny Zuagar, whose union represents career workers at the Census Bureau, said the debate over the agency’s politicization overlooks the hard work that rank-and-file employees are putting in, day after day, to get an accurate head count.
Some workers have moved temporarily from metro Washington to far-flung states, away from their families, to work on the head count in regional offices. Others have been working late into the night every day and on weekends. Workers at the bureau’s National Processing Center in Indiana are coming into the facility to process paper census forms despite risks from the pandemic, said Zuagar, president of Census Council 241.
“In this hyperpolitical season, it’s just like people who deliver the mail. There are actually people doing the work,” Zuagar said. “They don’t bring their politics to work. They are trying to do something that is very difficult.”
___
Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP


washingtontimes--2020-08-29--The Preservation Trust of Vermont gets $745k grant, leader

MONTPELIER , Vt. ( AP ) - The Preservation Trust of Vermont is getting a $ 745,000 grant from the National Park Service that is now named after the late founder of the Vermont organization .
The Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant was one of eight applications funded nationally as part of the Leahy-created program to invest in historic preservation in rural communities .
The program was renamed in honor Vermonter Paul Bruhn , a longtime champion of historic preservation and original founder of the Preservation Trust of Vermont who died last year .
“ The adaptation and reuse of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to preserving the identity of our local communities , ” Leahy said in a statement .
“ While this pandemic has forced us to be physically apart , it has made clear how important it is to invest in spaces where people can gather to socialize , exchange ideas and participate in democracy.
” The trust announced separately that Ben Doyle , of Montpelier will become the permanent head of the organization on Oct. 5 .
Since Bruhn ’ s death in September 2019 , the organization has been led by interim director @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trust ’ s board of directors .
Doyle is currently the northern Vermont area director at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development .

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The Preservation Trust of Vermont is getting a $745,000 grant from the National Park Service that is now named after the late founder of the Vermont organization.
The Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant was one of eight applications funded nationally as part of the Leahy-created program to invest in historic preservation in rural communities.
The program was renamed in honor Vermonter Paul Bruhn, a longtime champion of historic preservation and original founder of the Preservation Trust of Vermont who died last year.
“The adaptation and reuse of Vermont’s historic structures is crucial to preserving the identity of our local communities,” Leahy said in a statement. “While this pandemic has forced us to be physically apart, it has made clear how important it is to invest in spaces where people can gather to socialize, exchange ideas and participate in democracy.”
The trust announced separately that Ben Doyle, of Montpelier will become the permanent head of the organization on Oct. 5.
Since Bruhn’s death in September 2019, the organization has been led by interim director Liz Gamache, a member of the trust’s board of directors.
Doyle is currently the northern Vermont area director at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.


washingtontimes--2020-08-29--Bear hunting season starts Sept. 1

Bear hunting season starts Sept. 1

CONCORD , N.H. ( AP ) - Bear hunters in New Hampshire will have new ways to register their kills @ @ @ @ @ .
All bear harvests must be reported to state Fish and Game conservation officers within @ @ @ @ @ call the department Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. to report their @ @ @ @ @ year , they also can fill out an online form to start the process .
@ @ @ @ @ with more people enjoying the outdoors because of the coronavirus pandemic , they should be @ @ @ @ @ , less-crowded locations .

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - Bear hunters in New Hampshire will have new ways to register their kills when the season opens Tuesday.
All bear harvests must be reported to state Fish and Game conservation officers within 12 hours. Hunters can call the department Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. to report their kill. And starting this year, they also can fill out an online form to start the process.
Officials are reminding hunters that with more people enjoying the outdoors because of the coronavirus pandemic, they should be extra careful and consider new, less-crowded locations.


washingtontimes--2020-08-29--Be cautious around late summer bats, Maine CDC warns

PORTLAND , Maine ( AP ) - The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is asking residents to be @ @ @ @ @ can carry rabies and are at their most active during this part of the year @ @ @ @ @ from August to early September .
Maine CDC said the flying mammals are important to @ @ @ @ @ spread rabies to humans , pets and livestock .
Maine last reported a case of @ @ @ @ @ 1938 , but nine bats tested positive for the virus last year .
Bats can @ @ @ @ @ scratches .
Maine CDC has asked residents to take precautions in trapping bats , avoid @ @ @ @ @ and only release them outdoors if certain no people or pets have been exposed .
@ @ @ @ @ to contact their health care providers about potential exposures .

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is asking residents to be cautious about bats, which can carry rabies and are at their most active during this part of the year.
Bats are most active from August to early September. Maine CDC said the flying mammals are important to ecosystems, but can also spread rabies to humans, pets and livestock. Maine last reported a case of rabies in a human in 1938, but nine bats tested positive for the virus last year.
Bats can transmit rabies via bites and scratches. Maine CDC has asked residents to take precautions in trapping bats, avoid handling them with bare hands and only release them outdoors if certain no people or pets have been exposed.
It has also asked residents to contact their health care providers about potential exposures.