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-- Transport Canada has banned all cruise ships over 100 persons (passengers and crew) from operating within its waters until October 31, effectively ending the 2020 cruise season on both coasts. The move was announced by Minister of Transport Marc Garneau and follows Canada's earlier decision to ban cruise ships from operating in Canadian waters until July 1. “We understand the federal government’s motivations,” said Barry Penner, legal advisor to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Northwest & Canada. “In fact, the cruise industry was one of the first to voluntarily suspend operations when the World Health Organization declared a pandemic...

You’re going to find this very strange, but I’m more of an anti-mask person,” Laura Howard told me last week, recounting the success of her business selling “Trump 2020” masks on an Etsy store called “isewformygrandkids.” The 63-year-old grandmother of eight, a retired Walmart assistant manager from Stanton, Michigan, grumbles about Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s strict stay-at-home guidelines. She invited her kids and grandkids over on Mother's Day, telling them masks and social distancing were optional. But most retail stores around her require customers to wear masks. And so, since the start of the crisis, Howard had been sewing masks...

Dominion Energy imploded its former office building tower in downtown Richmond. The building, part of Richmond’s skyline for decades, took mere seconds to come down Saturday morning.

Covid-19 Weekly Time Series Maps and Charts Click on thumbnail to view larger image. At the end of this post is a PDF you can download and view later. Data is sourced mainly from JHU data. County Map Active Cases County Map Active Cases Per 1000 United States Daily Reported Cases Alabama Daily Reported Cases Alaska Daily Reported Cases Arizona Daily Reported Cases Arkansas Daily Reported Cases California Daily Reported Cases Colorado Daily Reported Cases Connecticut Daily Reported Cases Delaware Daily Reported Cases District of Columbia Daily Reported Cases Florida Daily Reported Cases Georgia Daily Reported Cases Hawaii Daily Reported...

These protesters are so dumb, why piss off people who may be sympathetic to you?

A former Samsung employee who spent nearly a year protesting his firing by living atop a 25-meter (82-foot) traffic camera tower in South Korea’s capital was helped back down Friday after the business giant apologized over his plight. Kim Yong-hee, 60, waved a banner with a Samsung logo and a protest slogan while a rescue worker on a fire-truck ladder escorted him down from his perch along a street near a Samsung Electronics office in Seoul. Kim was fired from the company in 1995 over what he says were his attempts to organize a labor union. Kim's decision to end...

Europe’s extensive social welfare net was showing signs of fraying under economic strain from the coronavirus, as protests erupted Friday for a second day in Spain against layoffs by French carmaker Renault, while Italy’s chief central banker warned that “uncertainty is rife.” Elsewhere, New Zealand has all but eradicated the coronavirus with just one person in the nation of 5 million known to be infected. But developments were grim in other nations, with India reporting a record increase in cases, and Pakistan and Russia a record number of deaths. As cases steadily rose across Africa, officials who are losing the...

SANTA FE – With New Mexico set to take another step toward fully reopening its beleaguered economy, state officials said Thursday they will launch an aggressive testing campaign aimed at limiting coronavirus outbreaks at workplaces statewide. In addition, Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel said the state will step up testing of vulnerable populations as a way to monitor and quickly respond to outbreaks. The ramped-up workplace testing, set to begin Monday, will focus on employees in restaurants, child care centers, prisons and hospitals and other health care facilities. “If we see one case in a business, that’s an outbreak to us,”...

CNN journalist Omar Jimenez has been taken into police custody during a live broadcast at the site of the protests in Minneapolis, after clearly identifying himself to officers. Jimenez's crew, including a producer and a camera operator, were also placed in handcuffs. Watch the video here:

At least one player thinks there won't be a 2020 MLB season as players and owners dispute over money. Jon Heyman of MLB Network discussed a recent call between the league and the players association Thursday on Ordway, Merloni & Fauria (via Ryan Hannable of WEEI), relaying a message from someone involved. "The call was last night. I was getting texts. I got a text from a player—and I think they are going to get a deal, I think they are going to work it out. I can't believe they are going to blow it up over economics. But, from...

**SNIP** Thanks to the pandemic, this hearing, before a three-judge federal appeals court panel, took place in part via telephone. It was recorded, which means you can still listen in, on the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit website. If you do, you’ll catch University of Chicago (and NYU) law professor Richard Epstein asking for a reversal of last year’s decision by District Court judge John Robert Blakey to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the activist group Protect Our Parks that sought to keep the Obama Presidential Center out of Jackson Park. And you’ll hear city attorney Benna Ruth...

CHICAGO (AP) - Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday announced an end to his 10-week-old stay-at-home order, declaring that every region of the state has met conditions necessary to allow more social interaction amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic. The state will move into the third phase of the Democrat's five-stage “Restore Illinois” plan, a step that will see reopening of manufacturing and retail, outdoor dining at restaurants and small social gatherings. Restless residents have agitated for more freedom to leave their houses and resume some sense of normalcy. In loosening the restrictions, Pritzker cited more favorable conditions, including decreased hospitalizations and...

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Thursday that outdoor stadiums will be allowed to open to fans next month at limited capacity for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. While many state leaders have discussed the possibility of reopening stadiums to professional sports teams, most have said welcoming fans inside to watch competitions will not be possible until the country achieves better containment of the virus. Abbott signed the proclamation as an expansion of another he announced last week that approved more businesses and services to reopen. While the original proclamation last Friday allowed professional sports teams to resume...

Gov. Phil Murphy warned Thursday that it’s still too early for indoor businesses like gyms and salons to reopen as the coronavirus outbreak continues to slow in New Jersey. Murphy was asked to respond to social media groups attempting to organize businesses for a coordinated defiance of the coronavirus closures on Monday, June 1. “I would just say to folks: You’re playing with fire,” he said at his daily coronavirus briefing in Trenton. “It has to be done the right way and at the right time,” Murphy added. “And I think we’re going to, if you bear with us over...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Joe Biden will close out Texas Democrats' virtual convention next month that was moved online over fears of the coronavirus. The announcement Thursday rounds out an unusual slate of big names that Texas Democrats have rounded up for their state convention. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Kamala Harris of California and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts will also speak at the weeklong event via video. Democrats are redoubling efforts in Texas this year after gaining ground in the nation's biggest red state in 2018. A major target for them is the Texas House, where Democrats need...

For years, WRAL Investigates chronicled troubles inside North Carolina’s Employment Security Commission, now called the Division of Employment Security. Those troubles became even more noticeable with a flood of new unemployment claims because of the coronavirus pandemic. Since mid-March, the system has been swamped by 1.3 million claims, representing 955,000 people out of work. Some had to file twice based on the type of coverage they qualified for. Of those 955,000, about two thirds have received payments. "I’m sorry," said Lockhart Taylor, Assistant Secretary and head of Employment Security, as complaints piled up from people who couldn’t get into the...

Some help here? I received 2 phone calls yesterday from friends who have children (young adults) on unemployment. They both stated that their children went and pulled all the unemployment money off their debit cards because Kudlow? said on tv that any unused money from unemployment left on the debit cards at the end of July will be pulled off and go back to the feds because the money was meant to be spent and not saved. That there were too many debit cards out there with thousands of dollars on them that apparently the people didn't need. I don't...