In the News – “It’s Genocide”, COVID in RI, national/local news, passings

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

UKRAINE WAR

“It’s Genocide – Putin is trying to wipe out the Ukraine – the evidence is mounting,” said President Biden yesterday.

The International Court of Justice is considering a claim of Genocide that Ukraine asked be designated against Russia. In a provisional decision, the court issued commands to cease the political operation – read their consideration in full: https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/182/182-20220316-ORD-01-00-EN.pdf – Their final decision will be one of historical significance.

Putin said yesterday that never again would Russia be dependent upon the United States. He also said negotiations are at a standstill. Others say they are continuing in written exchange form.

A new front is being targeted to surround Ukrainian troops, with escalated actions expected soon.

Ukraine found and put under house arrest Putin’s best friend. Putin is godfather to his children.

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COVID

NYC Mayor Adams tested positive on Sunday

More COVID people in govt: Maine Senator Susan Collins tests positive. House Speaker Pelosi. DC Mayor Bowser, Sen. Rafael Warnock, CT Gov. Ned Lamont – all test positive, all with either mild or no symptoms. They join Merrick Garland and Commerce Sect. Gina Raimondo.

Anderson Cooper has COVID

PM Boris Johnson of England paid fines for his indoor social function during a ban on them from 2021.

Court reinstates mandatory vaccination for federal workers.

Without vaccines, there would have been 2 more million deaths.

Ivermectin as Treatment for COVID-19 May Become More Accessible in Tennessee

US will soon hit deaths from COVID: 1 million, basically the size of Rhode Island’s population.

COVID is more contagious, but not more severe.

Philadelphia is restoring mask mandate for indoors, due to increased COVID numbers.

Germany may bring back mask mandates this fall.

President Biden’s sister has COVID – she attended the same dinner where approximately 18 other high level officials contracted COVID.

Approx. 82 people now have COVID from the one dinner event in DC.

Runners from Russia will be banned from the Boston Marathon.

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NYC Brooklyn Subway attack injured nearly 20 – assailant still not caught, but has been identified.

NY Lt. Gov. resigned after being charged with taking campaign contributions illegally.

Pres. Biden lauded unions and said, “Amazon, just wait…” at a recently held union event.

Amazon wants to recall the union vote, saying the voting process was tainted.

Elon Musk now says he will decline a seat on the Twitter board.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signs bill allowing guns to be carried without license

Pres. Biden announced he will allow more percentage of ethanol to be put into gasoline to reduce the price of gas – car and truck experts say an increased percentage is destructive to their autos as well as emissions being pollutive.

Nearly 40% of people polled say inflation is due to failed Biden policies. Pres. Biden continues to refer to inflation as the Putin Price Hike. Only 6% of Americans believe inflation is due to the war.

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RHODE ISLAND

COVID

While hospitalizations in RI are low (average 48 people hospitalized statewide), Rhode Island currently has the highest seven-day case rate at 172.4 cases per 100,000 people in the US.

Outdoor dining on Federal Hill is back.

12 MA State Police have been terminated for not getting vaccinated.

“We can’t get to herd immunity in US,” says Dr. MacDonald of RIDOH. “In other countries it might happen. What’s ironic about it is in our country we have the best vaccines, but we have the most ambivalence about getting the vaccine. In other countries, they have more commitment to getting the vaccine, but they have cruddier vaccines. It’s just the weirdness of America.”

$4.5 million in Take It Outside grants funded through the McKee Administration’s RI Rebounds Program.

Dr. Ronald Aubert will replace Dr. Ashish Jha as Dean of the School of Public Health at Brown while Jha is at White House.

In MA, 8 food banks will receive 1 million COVID tests

Lifespan & Care New England hospitals are considering bringing back unvaccinated workers.

RI DATA: Long term care facilities with new cases, over 5, in the seven days prior to April 6th:

Cedar Crest, Cranston, 5-9

Grand Islander, Middletown, 15-19

Silver Creek Manor, Bristol, 5-9

Tockwotton, East Providence, 15-19

Schools with cases over 5 in the past 7 days up to 4/12/2022:

Father John Doyle, 5-9

LaSalle Academy, 5-9

Chariho Regional, 5-9

Cranston East, 10-14

Cranston West, 5-9

Arthur Cole, EG, 5-9

James Eldredge, EG, 5-9

Ponagansett, Foster, 5-9

Birchwood Middle, No. Prov, 5-9

West Warwick High, 5-9

Rhode Island breakthrough cases for March:

March

3,869 cases

96 hospitalizations

13 deaths

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Plans to restore the Superman building were announced – a $220 million project with multiple funding venues were presented at a press conference. The building would be a combination of residential, including some units described as “affordable living” (80% and 120% of the average median Income), and commercial and event space on the ground floor, to secure access to the general public. Inside demolition will begin in 3-6 months, with opening set for 3 years.

The Tidewater Landing Project in Pawtucket is now seeking subcontractors, accepting bids from interested contractors for the construction of a soccer stadium. The 25-acre project will feature 5 mixed-use buildings containing 60,000 SF of commercial space, 56,750 SF of retail and restaurant space, and 435 residential units as well a 200-key hotel.

CCRI will be named after former RI Senate president Teresa Paiva Weed in their Newport campus.

David Letterman said he has “nothing but lovely things to say” about Rhode Island Hospital’s emergency department, when last summer he tripped on a sidewalk in Providence, fell, hit his head and was unconscious, needing stitches.

Gov. McKee said he will form a statewide Domestic Violence Working Group to reduce the prevalence of domestic violence in Rhode Island.

Bill Clinton will speak at Brown University on April 26^th , giving the Casey Shearer Memorial Lecture – https://www.brown.edu/caseyshearer/

The Conimicut Light in Warwick will be restored, with a federal grant for approx. $775,000

Some MA schools milk containers provided by Garelick Farms contained cleaning fluid. No RI locations were impacted. A few children were taken to the hospital after getting sick on the milk.

RI renewed its contract of non-emergency medical transpiration provider MMT for another year:

6 new speed cameras will go live in Providence – warnings until June.

While Somerville and Cambridge are targeting rats with electrified boxes, the city of Boston has its own new weapon of vermin war. Sean Phillip Cotter of the Herald reports the city recently deployed two $2,600 smoke machines that essentially suffocate the rodents in their burrows.

The four finalists selected for new RI state laboratories are:

• Ancora | GRE proposing lot 402 in Providence’s I-195 Redevelopment District
• Pebb Capital | Lincoln Property Company proposing 33-51 Bassett Street/174 Clifford Street
• Related Beal | Boston Andes Capital proposing lot 402 in Providence’s I-195 Redevelopment District 
• Wexford Science & Technology proposing lot 402 in Providence’s I-195 Redevelopment District

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Passings

Gilbert Gottfried, Comedian and ‘Aladdin’ Star, Dies at 67

Jack Higgins, 92, acclaimed author

Mimi Reinhard, a secretary in Oskar Schindler’s office who typed up the list of Jews he saved from extermination by Nazi Germany, has died in Israel at the age of 107.

Arthur D. Riggs, 82, dies; led team that invented artificial insulin.

John Rossi, 79, drummer with Roomful of Blues