Dose Of News Useful Today

Thursday, May 7th

And The Winner Is…

Good morning. The winner of our Cup & Leaf Healthy Tea Bundle giveaway from Tuesday is (drumroll please) … Trudy from New Jersey! A big thank you to all who participated. Now, on to the news - let’s make it a great day everyone.

Daily Sprinkle

“Determination, motivation, and dedication are what you need for inspiration.”

- Danielle Duckery, Words For The Occasion

The Whole IX Yards

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued the final version of rules for how schools must handle allegations of sexual harassment and assault yesterday.

Working Title
These rules effectively tell U.S. schools how to apply the 1972 federal law known as Title IX, which bars sex-based discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding (including federal financial aid programs for students).

For years, colleges and universities relied on a series of letters from the Obama administration - known as the “Dear Colleague” letters - telling them how to respond to complaints of sexual harassment.
DeVos revoked those guidelines in 2017 and proposed her new policy one year later, opening it up for public comment.

The proposal drew more than 124,000 comments - more than any other in the department’s history - which officials say led to some notable updates to the rules.

Rules For Schools
The final policy narrows the type of complaints schools are required to investigate, and bars them from using a single official to do so. Instead, the measure creates a judicial-like process to review allegations. Both the accuser and the accused are now allowed to:

Submit evidence to school officials and bring an advisor (which can be a lawyer) to all proceedings.
Participate in cross-examination in live hearings, which is done through representatives to avoid direct confrontation.
Appeal the school’s ruling, to be decided by an independent decision-maker.

Institutions can choose between one of two standards of evidence to apply equally across all cases:

Clear and convincing: The evidence is highly and substantially more likely to be true than untrue.
Preponderance of the evidence: There is a greater than 50% chance that the claim is true.

What’s Next?
Victims-rights advocates voiced their opposition to the new policy, which they say will subject sexual assault victims to more trauma and discourage them from coming forward. The National Women’s Law Center, a Washington advocacy group, has pledged to take to the courts to fight the regulation.

So… what are people saying?

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Coronavirus Updates

Global cases rose to nearly 3.82 million yesterday with more than 265,000 deaths. The number of confirmed U.S. cases rose to almost 1.26 million with 74,799 confirmed deaths.

California reported more than 2,500 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, its highest single-day number.
India’s capital city of New Delhi imposed a “corona fee” - a 70 percent tax on liquor store purchases - to discourage large gatherings after loosening their six-week lockdown.
Republican legislative leaders in Michigan on Wednesday sued Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) for extending the state of emergency orders until May 28 without their approval.
New cases are rising in some states and falling in others - check out where your state lies on this map. (Bonus: Here’s a map of state-by-state business reopening guidelines)
The Blue Angels flew over New Orleans, Houston, and Dallas to salute frontline workers on Wednesday, one of several flyovers that have occurred over the past few weeks.

Top Kashmir Rebel Commander Killed

Indian troops killed four Kashmir rebels, including top commander Riyaz Naikoo, in a skirmish on Wednesday. Naikoo and the rebels were members of Hizbul Mujahideen - a pro-Pakistan armed separatist group that opposes Indian rule in Kashmir.

More: The conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir has long-standing roots. Here’s how it all began.

LEFT CENTER → Al Jazeera	RIGHT CENTER → Times of India

NY Primary Election Restored

A district court judge sent an order to restore New York’s primary election late Tuesday night in response to a legal challenge by Andrew Yang and his pledged delegates. The vote was originally canceled due to coronavirus concerns, but will now take place on June 23 with all previous contenders on the ballot.

More: Former candidate Bernie Sanders has said he will stay on the ballot in the remaining primary states to garner enough delegates to exert influence at the Democratic National Convention.


NEUTRAL → Associated Press	NEUTRAL → Reuters

The Coronavirus Effect

Uber announced it will lay off 3,700 employees in an SEC filing on Wednesday, roughly 14% of the company’s workforce.
ADP Research Institute’s monthly private jobs report showed the private sector lost 20.2 million jobs in April (Note: This is separate from the Labor Department’s jobs report coming out this Friday).
Meatpacking plants are closing across the U.S. - the WSJ explains how this will affect consumers ordering takeout or shopping at the grocery store.
Papa John's CEO Rob Lynch said April was the best month in company history, reporting a 27% increase in comparable sales for North America.
Peloton reported a 66% year-over-year increase in sales during the fiscal third quarter, while the company’s earnings fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Set The Record Straight

Sinclair Broadcasting will pay a record $48 million civil penalty and abide by a strict compliance plan to close three investigations launched by the FCC, the agency said on Wednesday. The probe was triggered by Sinclair’s failed bid to take over Tribune Media in 2018, during which the company allegedly misled the FCC as it sought approval for the deal.

Wide World Of Sports

In a set of memos sent by Roger Goodell, the NFL set out protocols for reopening team facilities, and said it plans on holding its full regular-season schedule this fall. NASCAR last week announced plans to resume racing on May 17, while UFC 249 will take place this Saturday (May 9) in Jacksonville, Florida.

Pledge Of Allegiance

When Wendy Blackwell-Moore received her stimulus check, the Portland (Maine) resident’s first thought was to donate the money to others less fortunate than herself. So she reached out to her state representative, Victoria Morales, with an idea.

Unbeknownst to Wendy, another Portland community leader - Rev. Tamara McGovern - had contacted Victoria just hours earlier with the exact same idea. The representative connected the two, who together founded nonprofit Pledge My Stimulus, which has raised over $88,000 to date.

Going The Extra File

Millions of Americans have filed for unemployment benefits in recent weeks, overrunning the system with requests and leaving many people unable to access much-needed welfare payments.

Debbie Torrence is a former financial counselor living in East Tennessee, who has made it her mission to assist people with filing for unemployment. To date, Debbie has helped more than 185 people across six states, often mixing in words of encouragement with advice on how to navigate the system.

Donation Salvation

Food Connection is an organization in Asheville, SC, which partners with restaurants to donate unused food to the hungry. Due to the pandemic, the organization’s food supply was rapidly drying up - until an anonymous donor swooped in to save the day.

This unknown source recently gifted Food Connection with a whopping $200,000 donation to cover food and distribution costs, allowing the team to provide food for more than 5,000 people each week.

🏠 Work In Progress… an IBM survey of more than 25,000 U.S. adults found that 54 percent of those polled would like working from home to become their primary way of working once the pandemic subsides.

🚗 Free Parking… with cafes, coffee shops, and libraries closed for the time being, Americans without internet access have resorted to sitting outside in their cars to access free and fast connections.

🔑 (Not So) Private Parts… an anonymous researcher was reportedly able to gain access to sensitive data on more than a dozen previous owners from old Tesla car parts he purchased on eBay.

🌌 Close Encounters… the European Southern Observatory yesterday announced the discovery of the closest-known black hole to Earth, roughly 1,000 light-years away.