LA County ends COVID-19 emergency, a milestone as case rate falls to 20-month low
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County is officially ending its COVID-19 emergency declaration Friday, a milestone that comes as the region’s coronavirus case rate has fallen to its lowest level since summer 2021.
It’s perhaps fitting that the nation’s most populous county delayed lifting its local declaration, doing so a month after the state. L.A. County has been one of the hardest-hit parts of California — so much so that the National Guard had to transport corpses from overwhelmed hospital morgues during the pandemic’s first winter.
Officials also led the nation in sounding the alarm about the danger posed by the Delta variant, which fueled a significant surge the following summer. But L.A. County health officials, like their counterparts across the state, say the local declaration has served its purpose and the region is now ready to enter a promising new phase.
“While it remains critical to continue to control the spread of COVID-19 in our homes, workplaces and communities, we no longer need to rely on emergency orders to ensure we have and can use life-saving tools and mitigation strategies,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said this month. “Investments made to date have resulted in robust tracking methods, ample testing capacity and effective vaccines and therapeutics.”
—Los Angeles Times
Biden blames ‘MAGA extremists’ for advancing ‘hateful and extreme’ law targeting trans children
President Joe Biden on Friday criticized some extreme right-wing lawmakers for advancing a record number of bills restricting the rights of transgender people — particularly trans youth — in legislatures across the country.
In a proclamation marking Transgender Day of Visibility, Biden celebrated “the strength, joy, and absolute courage of some of the bravest people I know,” saying trans people in the U.S. deserve to be “safe and supported in every community.”
“MAGA extremists are advancing hundreds of hateful and extreme state laws that target transgender kids and their families,” he added. “No one should have to be brave just to be themselves.”
So far this year, more than 470 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in statehouses across the country, according to the Human Rights Campaign — with nearly 200 of them specifically restricting the rights of trans people. Per the organization, it’s “the highest number of bills targeting transgender people in a single year.”
—New York Daily News
Sam Bankman-Fried using millions sent to Stanford dad to pay for lawyers, report says
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Stanford Law School professor Joseph Bankman is using a “multimillion gift” he received from his embattled son Sam Bankman-Fried to pay for his son’s high-priced legal defense, according to a new report this week.
The report from Forbes also alleges that this gift to the longtime Stanford academic was created using money taken from Alameda Research, the sister company of Bankman-Friend’s doomed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
One-time billionaire Bankman-Fried claimed in November that he only had $100,000 in his bank account following the collapse of FTX, prompting questions about how he can afford the team of high-powered attorneys he’s hired to fight an array of criminal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, securities fraud and bribery.
Bankman-Fried is accused of misappropriating billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to finance risky bets on his hedge fund, Alameda Research. The entrepreneur allegedly used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle and to funnel contributions to American politicians.
—The Mercury News
US slams Russia for reporter arrest, tells Americans to leave
WASHINGTON — The United States on Thursday strongly condemned Moscow's decision to detain a Wall Street Journal reporter, saying Russia is not a safe country for Americans and those there should leave immediately.
The travel advice came after a Moscow court arrested reporter Evan Gershkovich on Thursday, saying he was spying for the U.S. Russian officials said they would keep the reporter in detention until at least May 29.
"I want to strongly reiterate that Americans should heed the U.S. government’s warning to not travel to Russia, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. "U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately, as the State Department continues to advise," she added.
In a statement, the White House said Russia's targeting of American citizens is "unacceptable" and it condemns Gershkovich's detention "the strongest terms."
—dpa
