‘Growing numb’: Frustrated McConnell tries to keep focus on inflation, not culture wars
WASHINGTON – The Louisville mother who has sketched out a plan just to pay for groceries. The Nevada office worker who has replaced her children’s juice with water. The Arizona family forced to the food bank to put dinner on the table.
These are the stories Mitch McConnell wants at the forefront of America’s political mindset in the final 50-some days before an election that’s developing into one of the most unpredictable midterm campaigns of the modern era.
But while the economy and inflation remain the top concern of voters, McConnell is also contending with a twin set of powerful cultural issues – abortion rights and gay marriage – that are complicating his path back to majority leader.
“The media may have grown somewhat numb to month after month of 8 and 9% inflation, but working Americans have not had the luxury of growing numb,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Thursday. “The pain gets worse every single time they have to fill a shopping cart or pay their credit card bill.”
—McClatchy Washington Bureau
Texas sheriff will investigate Florida flying Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard
Authorities in Texas have opened a criminal investigation into Gov. Ron DeSantis’ operation to fly roughly 50 Venezuela migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard last week.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said in a news release Monday that his office is investigating whether the migrants were the victims of a crime.
“The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office has opened an investigation into the migrants that were lured from the Migrant Resource Center, located in Bexar County, TX, and flown to Florida, where they were ultimately left to fend for themselves in Martha’s Vineyard, MA,” said Salazar, referring to an aid center for migrants in San Antonio, which is in Bexar County.
Salazar said his office was working with private attorneys for the migrants, as well as advocacy groups. “We are also preparing to work with any federal agencies that have concurrent jurisdiction, should the need arise,” added Salazar, who is a Democrat.
—McClatchy Washington Bureau
California's dead will have a new burial option: Human composting
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will begin allowing an alternative burial method known as human composting in 2027, under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday.
Assembly Bill 351 by Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, will create a state regulatory process for natural organic reduction, a method in which human remains naturally decompose over a 30-to-45-day period after being placed in a steel vessel and buried in wood chips, alfalfa and other biodegradable materials. The nutrient-dense soil created by the process can then be returned to families or donated to conservation land.
Supporters say it's an eco-friendly alternative to traditional end-of-life options. Cremation, for example, is an energy-intense process that produces carbon dioxide emissions, while traditional burial uses chemicals to embalm bodies and a nonbiodegradable coffin to store them.
California will join Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Vermont in allowing human composting.
—Los Angeles Times
China warns against skin-to-skin contact with foreigners after monkeypox case
A top Chinese health official warned people against having skin-to-skin contact with foreigners to avoid contracting monkeypox, spurring a backlash among the country’s dwindling expatriate community.
China reported its first case of the infectious disease on Friday in Chongqing, a municipality in the southwestern part of the country. The patient has been isolated and the risk of an outbreak is low, the local health commission said in a statement on its website.
Despite the reassurance, an official at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggested extreme steps to dodge the virus responsible for an onslaught of infections worldwide since an outbreak was reported in Europe in May.
“To prevent possible monkeypox infection and as part of our healthy lifestyle, it is recommended that one, you do not have direct skin-to-skin contact with foreigners,” Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the CCDC, said on his official Weibo page on Saturday.
—Bloomberg News
