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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
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Renovations are underway to repair and upgrade the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in downtown Spokane. The city of Spokane approved permits to close Riverside Avenue and Madison Street for two weeks, allowing contractors to bring in large cranes to clean, repair and paint the cathedral’s towers at 1115 W. Riverside Ave., according to a parish email.
As a person who went through more than a month in early 2021 trying to get an appointment anywhere within 30 miles for a COVID vaccination, I confess to scratching my head at reports there is currently more vaccine than people willing to sit down and roll up their sleeves. Some states now offer incentives, because apparently it’s not enough for some people to get a free shot to have a much reduced chance of getting a serious disease, and a miniscule chance of dying from it if you do contract it. One state is offering $100 savings bonds to persons 35 and under who get shots, and another is offering a free beer.
Today’s question: Why is the Declaration of Independence important?
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, the Declaration of Independence served not only as a document proclaiming national sovereignty from Great Britain, but spelled out basic rights for all American citizens .
The Alamo needs a makeover; on that, at least, everyone agrees. Plaster is flaking off the walls of the nearly 300-year-old former Spanish mission, the most revered battle site in Texas history. Its one-room exhibit space can hold only a fraction of key artifacts. And the surrounding plaza is a tourist circus, packed with novelty shops and a Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum. But Texans are deeply divided over how, exactly, to remember the Alamo. A $450 million plan to renovate the site has devolved into a five-year brawl over whether to focus narrowly on the 1836 battle or present a fuller view that delves into the site’s indigenous history and the role of slavery in the Texas Revolution.
Top House Republican Kevin McCarthy on Sunday publicly endorsed Rep. Elise Stefanik for the post of No. 3 leader, cementing party support of the Donald Trump loyalist over Rep. Liz Cheney, an outspoken critic of the former president for promoting discredited claims that the 2020 election was stolen. House Republicans could vote as early as Wednesday to remove Cheney, the highest-ranking woman in the Republican leadership and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and replace her with Stefanik, whose ascension has received Trump’s backing.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday expressed hope that Europe would rediscover the path of “great projects, great ambitions and great dreams” as the European Union launched a wide consultation process meant to design the shape of the bloc’s future. Macron spoke as part of Europe Day, the inaugural event of the Conference on the Future of Europe in the French city of Strasbourg. “What Europe do we want in 10 years, 15 years from now?,” Macron asked in his opening speech, calling on people to debate all major issues, from the bloc’s borders to new institutions, cultural projects, education and the fight against climate change. The process also aims at bringing the EU’s complex decision-making closer to its 450 million citizens.
There’s “no doubt” the U.S. has undercounted its number of deaths from COVID-19, which now stand at more than 581,000, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser said. But Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that a University of Washington analysis published May 6 that the true toll is probably over 900,000 is “a bit more than I would have thought.”
Though still awaiting money from the latest federal coronavirus relief act, some governors and state lawmakers already are making plans to add the multibillion-dollar boon to their budgets. Among their priorities: bailing out depleted unemployment accounts, expanding high-speed internet and providing additional aid to schools and businesses. The $1.9 trillion pandemic relief law signed by President Joe Biden earlier this year contains $350 billion of flexible aid for state and local governments, plus billions of dollars more for specific programs such as housing assistance. Unlike earlier coronavirus aid, states have broad leeway to use the money to plug budget holes, invest in certain infrastructure or address the “negative economic impacts” of the pandemic. States are expected to receive an initial installment soon, with a second round coming a year later.
The recent court ruling striking down a national eviction moratorium has heightened concerns that tenants won’t receive tens of billions of dollars in promised federal aid in time to avoid getting kicked out of their homes. A federal judge on Wednesday found the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention exceeded its authority when it imposed the moratorium last year. Housing advocates believe the ban saved lives and not only should continue, but be extended past its initial June 30 deadline. For now, the moratorium remains: A judge stayed the court’s order following an appeal from the Justice Department. Without the moratorium, advocates say, the only thing standing between many tenants and eviction is the nearly $50 billion allocated by Congress for rental assistance. Advocates say very few tenants have received any of the money – which is up to individual states to distribute – and they fear it won’t get to the neediest people in time if the moratorium is scrapped.
In a cavernous warehouse above the Clearwater River east of Lewiston, 1.14 million spring chinook swam, swirling together into evanescent balls of silver, breaking into smaller configurations and then returning. It’s a hypnotic dance under harsh industrial lights and spread among 38 large green tubs, each holding more than 30,000 of the small fish. It’s just another Monday for the Nez Perce Tribe’s fisheries program. A sprawling operation that employs upward of 180 people depending on the season, it runs projects in Idaho, Montana and Oregon. The tribe grows 10 million fish a year and spends around $22 million yearly trying to preserve ocean-going species like salmon and steelhead.
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