‘COVID? What COVID?’ More and more people say they’ve returned to normal
PHILADELPHIA — It’s no secret that some people stopped taking precautions against COVID-19 ages ago. With infections now at a fairly low level, a growing number say their lives have returned to normal.
That’s one of the findings in the latest survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, which has been tracking attitudes and behaviors toward COVID every few months since the spring of 2021.
In the latest survey, completed on July 18, a nationally representative sample of 1,580 people was polled via internet and telephone. Asked when they expected to return to their “normal” pre-COVID lives, 41% said they already had done so, up from 16% in January.
More than half said they never or rarely wore masks when indoors with people outside their households. While the number of reported cases has been low by the standards of this pandemic, lately more than 400 people are dying each day from COVID, according to Covid Act Now, a pandemic tracking site — including 5 to 10 each day in Pennsylvania.
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
Biden administration forgives $3.9 billion in student loans at ITT Technical Institute
The Department of Education announced Tuesday that it was putting forward another round of loan cancellations for former students of a closed for-profit college.
The department is forgiving $3.9 billion for 208,000 students who attended ITT Technical Institute between Jan. 1, 2005 until it closed in September 2016.
When the school closed, it was being investigated both federally and in a number of states for allegations of defrauding its students. “It is time for student borrowers to stop shouldering the burden from ITT’s years of lies and false promises,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
“The evidence shows that for years, ITT’s leaders intentionally misled students about the quality of their programs in order to profit off federal student loan programs, with no regard for the hardship this would cause.” The borrowers won’t have to apply to have their debt wiped out, the department said.
—New York Daily News
Texas school staff told to pull Bible, Anne Frank adaptation from libraries
DALLAS — A day before students return to class, officials from the Keller Independent School District instructed campuses to pull any book that was challenged last year from library shelves.
This includes those that were flagged but later approved by a committee to remain in libraries and classrooms. Among the titles recently challenged by parents and community members: Toni Morrison’s "The Bluest Eye," "Anne Frank’s Diary (The Graphic Adaptation)" and the Bible.
Jennifer Price, the district’s curriculum director, emailed principals a set of instructions Tuesday morning, along with a spreadsheet of every challenged title.
“By the end of today, I need all books pulled from the library and classrooms,” she wrote. “More information will be sent regarding action for these books. … Once this has been completed, please email me a confirmation. We need to ensure this action is taken by the end of today.”
District spokesman Bryce Nieman said Keller school trustees recently approved a new policy that requires every book that was previously challenged to be reconsidered.
—The Dallas Morning News
Gina Lollobrigida, icon from Hollywood's Golden Age, to run for Senate in Italy
Cinema icon Gina Lollobrigida will compete for a Senate seat in Italy's elections next month.
The 95-year-old actor is running as part of the Sovereign and Populist Italy (ISP) party. The political faction was founded in July and described by Marco Rizzo, one of the party's leaders, as "the only alternative against the liberal, warmongering and sanitary totalitarianism."
"I was just tired of hearing politicians arguing with each other without ever getting to the point," Lollobrigida told Italian outlet Corriere della Sera on Sunday. "I will fight for the people to decide, from health to justice. Italy is in bad shape, I want to do something good and positive."
She went on to cite Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, especially for his "way of doing things, for his nonviolence." And later noted she was a "good friend" of Indira Gandhi, India's first female prime minister. "I saw her every time she came to Rome. She was an extraordinary woman."
—Los Angeles Times
