This article originally appeared in the New York Times
The Next Hurdle for Bernie Sanders: Nevada’s Top Union Dislikes ‘Medicare for All’
Sen. Bernie Sanders is a longtime supporter of “Medicare for All” and his support for universal health care has helped propel him to the front of the 2020 Democratic field. But in Nevada, where the race heads next, his signature policy is a liability with the largest labor union in the state. And the union has enthusiastic allies in Sanders’ opponents. A flurry of attacks against Sanders in Nevada illustrates his growing strength – and the urgency his Democratic rivals feel about the need to stop him from winning the most votes in a third consecutive contest next Saturday.
As Floods Spread in Mississippi, Officials Say the Worst Is Still Ahead
Authorities in charge of the dam that regulates the flow of water from a sprawling reservoir into the Pearl River strained to hold off the inevitable. But the Ross R. Barnett Reservoir, a 33,000-acre lake northeast of Jackson, Mississippi, was filling to the brim. Sooner or later, officials cautioned, something would have to give. Time ran out Saturday evening. The dam’s spillway was opened, unleashing a surge of water into the already swollen river, fueling one of the most severe floods to hit the central part of Mississippi in decades. On Sunday, officials warned the worst was still to come.
Former Justice Dept. Lawyers Press for Barr to Step Down
More than 1,100 former federal prosecutors and Justice Department officials called on Attorney General William Barr on Sunday to step down after he intervened last week to lower the Justice Department’s sentencing recommendation for President Donald Trump’s longtime friend Roger Stone. They also urged current government employees to report any signs of unethical behavior at the Justice Department to the agency’s inspector general and to Congress. “Each of us strongly condemns President Trump’s and Attorney General Barr’s interference in the fair administration of justice,” the former Justice Department lawyers, who came from across the political spectrum, wrote Sunday.
As Homelessness Plagues Los Angeles, Success Comes for Veterans
For nearly two decades, Bobby Shriver, the onetime mayor of Santa Monica, would look at the sprawling Department of Veterans Affairs complex in the upscale neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles and wonder why it could not house some of the homeless veterans who had been living in squalor in his beachside city for a generation. In 2011, he sued. One legal victory and years of negotiations later, veterans are getting homes on the 388-acre campus. The master plan unfolding there is a demonstration of the success stories emerging across the country in housing veterans experiencing homelessness.
For Asian Americans, a Sneeze Brings Suspicion
The coronavirus outbreak has so far largely spared the United States, with only 15 confirmed cases across the country, even as the virus has rapidly spread around the globe. Most Americans have gone about their lives, confident that they have little to fear. But many Asian Americans in the U.S. have felt an unnerving public scrutiny, noticing that a simple cough or sneeze can send people around them scattering. “Instead of ‘Bless you’ or ‘Are you OK,'” said Aretha Deng, 20, a junior at Arizona State University, “their reaction is an instant state of panic.”
Democrats See a Common Enemy: Bloomberg
The Democratic presidential candidates raced Sunday to make the most of their final weekend day before the Nevada caucuses, selling their messages and tearing into their opponents. But the rival they focused on most intently was one who isn’t even competing in the state. “I got news for Mr. Bloomberg,” Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said in Carson City, Nevada, taking aim at former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, within five minutes of opening his remarks. “The American people are sick and tired of billionaires buying elections.” The fixation on Bloomberg reflected his rising prominence in the Democratic race.
Doctor’s Suicide Note Has Parents Asking: Was My Child Really Vaccinated?
An Illinois pediatrician’s mysterious suicide note has raised troubling questions about the immunization records of children in the Chicago-area community he served for years. Van Koinis had been missing since August when he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Sept. 10 in a forest preserve, the authorities said. Investigators said they had found an “unusual” and “dark” suicide note at the scene in which Koinis expressed “horrible regrets” regarding immunizations over the past 10 years, prompting an investigation into which of his patients received vaccinations and which did not, Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart said Friday.
Officer Pointed Gun at Black College Student’s Head, Lawsuit Says
Jaylan Butler and his Eastern Illinois University swim teammates were returning from a tournament last year when their bus driver pulled off Interstate 80 near a rest stop in East Moline, Illinois. Butler, the only black student on the bus, got out of the bus to stretch his legs. He was walking back to the bus when several law enforcement vehicles pulled up and officers appeared with their guns drawn and pointed at him, according to court records. One officer pressed his handgun to Butler’s forehead, the court records continued. Now Butler’s account is the subject of a lawsuit.