Free Republic

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb announced Wednesday that Indiana will remain at Stage 4.5 of its Back On Track reopening plan “for at least the next two weeks.” Wednesday’s press conference took on a more somber tone as state officials stressed the continued danger of the coronavirus. “COVID-19 is not going away any time soon,” Holcomb said. Holcomb also announced he will revise his Executive Order with enhanced regulations on gatherings in the state with more than 250 people.

Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf has announced new coronavirus mitigation restrictions that mainly target bars and restaurants. An order released Wednesday that will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on July 16 reduces indoor dining capacity at businesses in the retail foodservice industry from the current 50 percent to just 25 percent. It also forces bars to close unless they are serving sit-down, dine-in meals, and mandates that alcohol can only be served if it is within the same transaction as a meal or if it is for offsite consumption. Additionally, bar service is prohibited, even outdoors, but the state’s outdoor dining...

The usual suspects have accused President Trump of not following the science because he recently questioned the wisdom of Fauci’s advice. Their ignorance is astounding; if anyone is guilty of ignoring the science, it's Fauci.

Sen. Chuck Schumer on Sunday said if the Trump administration wants schools to reopen safely in New York and across the country this fall, the federal government will have to boost funding to help with some of the costs. “Everyone wants our schools to reopen, but the federal government must lead the way by funding the safety measures that would open the doors of New York and the nation’s schools in a way that helps ensure the coronavirus does not needlessly spread or infect teachers, kids or staff,” the New York Democrat said during a briefing.

Many of the nation’s 3.5 million teachers found themselves feeling under siege this week as pressure from the White House, pediatricians and some parents to get back to physical classrooms intensified — even as the coronavirus rages across much of the country. On Friday, the teachers’ union in Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest district, demanded full-time remote learning when the academic year begins on Aug. 18, and called President Trump’s push to reopen schools part of a “dangerous, anti-science agenda that puts the lives of our members, our students and our families at risk.”

A mother who said her “disabled” son was denied access to Hersheypark posted a video of him crying in the car, and it was a scene that picked up speed on social media like one of the tourist attraction’s iconic roller coasters. Pamela Heinbaugh said in the 2-minute video that her son has severe asthma “so he can’t cover his face,” and is autistic. “He can‘t wear anything on his head. He can’t wear a hat. He doesn’t even like to wear shoes,” she continued, aiming her phone at his feet while continuing to film. She also pointed out that...

(LEX 18) — Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced on Thursday that a Scott Circuit Judge ordered Gov. Andy Beshear to cease issuing or enforcing executive orders related to COVID-19 unless the orders meet specific criteria for an emergency as outlined by state law. The Judge stated that, in order to issue and enforce executive orders related to COVID-19, the Governor must specify the state of emergency that requires the executive order, the location of the emergency, and the name of the local emergency management agency that has determined that the emergency is beyond its capabilities. “The Governor cannot issue broad,...

Since NBC News is nothing more than the public relations arm of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, on Thursday, the Today show welcomed on one of the presumptive Democratic nominee’s biggest supporters to trash President Trump. Of course the network morning show never bothered to tell viewers that its guest, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, had endorsed Biden for president. At the top of the program, co-host Hoda Kotb fretted: “Coronavirus and the classroom. The heated debate over how and if schools should reopen....President Trump threatening to cut off funding if that doesn’t happen.” She then hyped how Weingarten...

President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to “cut off” funding to schools if they do not reopen in the Fall after closing due to coronavirus concerns. “In Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN WITH NO PROBLEMS,” Trump said. “The Dems think it would be bad for them politically if U.S. schools open before the November Election, but is important for the children & families,” he continued. “May cut off funding if not open!”

The Allegheny County Health Department was fielding hundreds of complaints about restaurants and bars not enforcing face masks and other pandemic rules just before the county shut down indoor dining again last week because of a record number of COVID-19 cases. According to county health department data, there were 419 virus-related complaints involving restaurants and bars the week of June 29. That compares with 116 complaints received during the first 20 days of the green phase of the state’s reopening plan from June 5-25. Most of those complaints were related to masks. On June 30, restaurants and bars were ordered...

East Room3:12 P.M. EDTTHE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you very much.  It’s an honor to be with everybody, and very importantly, we’re at the White House, and there’s no place like the White House.  And for those of you that this is the first time, I know exactly what you’re thinking, because I was here a first time, and it was still something I’ll never forget.So it’s great to have you.  And our First Lady and I are pleased to welcome everybody to this wonderful place and discuss the vital importance of safety and reopening America’s schools.  We want to...

President Trump on Tuesday said the White House would put pressure on governors to get schools opened in the fall amid rising coronavirus cases in the United States.

Late last week, Illinois Circuit Court Judge Michael McHaney of Clay County ruled in a lawsuit that “all citizens of Illinois” are free from Governor J.B. Pritzker‘s tyrannical orders. This comes after arguably unethical tactics by the Illinois Attorney General to delay the case by trying to remove it to federal court, and the United States Department of Justice filing a Statement of Interest in the case in support of the lawsuit.

LONDON - Lockdown restrictions were eased, the pubs opened and crowds flocked onto the streets of English cities Saturday, many ignoring social distancing rules and prompting complaints from the police. A number of arrests were made. John Apter, chair of the Police Federation for England and Wales, warned that it “crystal clear” that drunk people cannot social distance. Apter, who was on patrol in Southampton, a city on England’s south coast, wrote on Twitter that officers dealt with, “anti-social behavior, naked men, possession of class ‘A’ drugs, happy drunks, angry drunks, fights, more angry drunks.” Elsewhere, in Brentwood, a small...

Having people look at you, knowing they consider you a lawbreaker and a health threat. Looking at yourself, knowing you risked passing a disease that could kill someone’s grandparent or chronically-ill spouse. Those apparently are the harshest punishments Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine hope to impose on violators of their new order to wear face masks in most indoor and outdoor public settings to help block the spread of COVID-19. They were pressed this week on exactly what penalties apply to those who violate the order, such as someone entering a store without a mask...

CLAY COUNTY, Ill. (NEXSTAR) — Governor J.B. Pritzker’s emergency powers to issue executive orders to close businesses or order people to stay at home expired 85 days ago on April 8th, 2020, a judge in Clay County Circuit Court ruled on Thursday afternoon. The ruling did not find the state has no power to forcibly close businesses or to restrict a citizen’s movements, but rather that those powers are derived from the Illinois Department of Public Health Act, not under the Illinois Emergency Management Act. Pritzker’s administration has at times cited both portions of state law to enforce his orders....

The Palmyra Italian eatery Taste of Sicily has now racked up $10,000 in fines for allowing customers to eat in their dining room before they moved to the “green” phase of the state’s reopening plan. The restaurant’s owners showed themselves getting served the latest citation in a video posted to their Facebook page. Two inspectors from the Department of Agriculture enter the Main Street establishment and leave the $4,000 citation behind, without saying a word. “Would you guys care to do an interview?” co-owner Christine Wartluft asks, while following the men to their car. “And you call yourselves an American,...

Public officials in the United States are signaling a reluctance to consider fully reopening schools in the fall, expressing worries that doing so may turn schools into viral hotspots and contribute to the further resurgence of the coronavirus. Those concerns, however, fly in the face of increasing evidence that young children are unlikely to contract coronavirus and are still more unlikely to transmit it either to each other or to adults. Experts, meanwhile, are warning that delaying the reopening of schools could contribute to an ongoing decline in children's well-being as the weeks and months of missed education continue to...

New Jersey will not reopen indoor dining this week as planned in the first major reversal of the state’s Phase 2 coronavirus reopening plan, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday. Indoor dining was scheduled to resume Thursday along with several other big reopening steps including Atlantic City casinos, amusement parks, boardwalk rides and arcades ahead of the busy July 4th weekend. The canceled reopening also includes wedding venues and banquet halls. But the reopening of casinos remains scheduled for Thursday. Murphy cited recent scenes from expanded outdoor bar and restaurants showing packed crowds not wearing masks and ignoring social distancing as...

Rocker Sammy Hagar is over coronavirus lockdowns and said he’d rather perform concerts and die from COVID-19 than watch the economy plummet. The 72-year-old former Van Halen frontman said in a Rolling Stone interview that he’d be comfortable playing a show before there’s a vaccine. “I’m going to make a radical statement here. This is hard to say without stirring somebody up, but truthfully, I’d rather personally get sick and even die, if that’s what it takes,” he said. The Red Rocker, who in the past has said he supports Trump, says he wants to leave behind a strong economy...