COVID Archives - Page 5 of 6 - The Minnesota Sun

McAuliffe Fundraising Prowess Becomes Liability After Vineyard Gala, Disabilities Snub

August 23, 2021August 22, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe is famous for his voracious fundraising, from his roles as head of the Clinton money machine to his success the last time he was governor. But now his fund-raising is earning him some infamy.

McAuliffe, in a close race to reclaim the Virginia governorship against GOP nominee Glenn Youngkin, has for decades raised millions for his party and some of its marquee candidates including former President Bill Clinton and wife Hillary Clinton, a two-time White House candidate.

Texas Counties That Requested Disaster Aid for Border Crisis Haven’t Got it, Officials Say

August 22, 2021August 22, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

While Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this spring allocated $1 billion in border security funds to the state’s Department of Public Safety and 1,000 members of law enforcement to secure the border, counties that made disaster declarations over the illegal migrant crisis say they still haven’t received the resources they sought four months later.

“Kinney County has not received anything that we requested from the governor on April 21,” County Attorney Brent Smith told Just The News. “We have heard promises and have been told that all the resources that we so desperately require are available, but thus far, nothing has been delivered. Empty promises don’t keep our residents safe. Empty promises don’t secure our border.”

Commentary: Distrust in Television Ratings

August 20, 2021August 19, 2021 RealClearWire

While they may not agree on nearly anything else, one issue manages to unite Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN: an archaic television ratings system that is known to wildly misrepresent viewership.

At a time when cord-cutting has brought about many new ways to consume television news and entertainment, the industry’s primary measurement tool, Nielsen Ratings, seems stuck in another era. Those chosen as “Nielsen families” have complained for years about the cumbersome, almost primitive methods used to track their viewership.

Michigan Bill Aims to Ban Employers from Requiring Vaccines, Masks

August 20, 2021August 19, 2021 The Center Square

Lawmakers heard testimony on House Bill 4471, which aims to ban employers from requiring certain vaccines and wearing masks.

The bill aims to ban employers from firing or discriminating against employees who choose not to get certain vaccinations, including tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, or COVID-19, or making them wear masks or disclosing vaccination status.

Minnesota Department of Health Recommends School Aged Children Test ‘at Least’ Weekly for COVID

August 20, 2021August 19, 2021 Hayley Feland

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has recommended that school aged children test at least weekly for COVID. Local districts can choose to take part in the program offering on-site testing at elementary schools and receive a grant to fund it.

In Wisconsin, Madison and Dane Counties Reinstate Mask Mandates

August 19, 2021August 18, 2021 The Center Square

Madison and Dane County residents will have to wear their masks once again.

The city and county’s joint public health office, Public Health Madison & Dane County, on Tuesday reinstated its indoor mask mandate.

Minnesota State Fair Not Requiring Masks

August 19, 2021August 18, 2021 Hayley Feland

The Minnesota State Fair announced Wednesday that they will not be requiring masks. Their statement reads that, “Mandating masks fairgrounds-wide would be extremely difficult for our organization to enforce, so we are urging you to pitch in and do what’s right.”

Science on Mask Usage Indicates Scant Benefit

August 18, 2021August 17, 2021 Bradley Vasoli

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have recommended that all schools require mask-wearing indoors by teachers and students, vaccinated or unvaccinated against COVID-19.

And many school districts are adopting that requirement, to the dismay of many parents.

Minnesota Activist and Parent Groups Representing Thousands of Parents Sign on to Anti-Masking Letter

August 18, 2021August 17, 2021 Hayley Feland

Minnesota activist and parent groups that allegedly represent over 30,000 Minnesota parents have signed on to a letter opposing mandatory masking of children. The letter, which has also been used in Wisconsin to protest mandatory masking, was addressed to Governor Tim Walz and President Joe Biden. The letter was written and released under the group Open Schools USA.

College Students Giving Up on Their Degrees in Significant Numbers: Report

August 17, 2021August 17, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

American colleges continue to face the consequences of COVID, as data show they experienced a significant decrease in returning students this past school year.

Many post-secondary education plans to take classes were canceled in 2020. In August of last year, the US Census Bureau conducted a survey which showed 29.4 percent of households with at least one prospective student had canceled their plans to take classes in the fall of 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic.

Minnesota Nurse Speaks Against Masking at Prior Lake School Board Meeting, Quits Job

August 13, 2021August 12, 2021 Hayley Feland

A school nurse spoke out against masking students at a Prior Lake school board meeting and then quit her job. In a video of the school board meeting, shared by Representative Erik Mortenson, the nurse said that what happened over the last year “goes against my beliefs and morals and against my oath as a mother and a nurse.”

Minnesota Governor Walz to Require COVID Vaccine for Government Employees

August 13, 2021August 12, 2021 Hayley Feland

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced that the COVID vaccine will be required for government employees in Minnesota. If employees choose not to be vaccinated and get an exemption, they will need to undergo weekly COVID testing. The State of Minnesota is the second largest business to require employees to be vaccinated, with over 40,000 employees, second to Mayo Clinic.

University of Minnesota Will Require Student Vaccination If FDA Approved

August 11, 2021August 10, 2021 Hayley Feland

The University of Minnesota announced that they will require the COVID vaccine for students if the vaccine is Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved. As long as the plan to mandate the vaccine is approved by the Board, the University has said that they will offer some exemptions, the email from University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel said. The vaccine will not be required for faculty or staff.

Minnesota Department of Health Partner Andy Slavitt Says Going to Public Places ‘Not Constitutional Right’

August 11, 2021August 11, 2021 Hayley Feland

Andy Slavitt, who has been helping the Minnesota Department of Health to vaccinate school children, said in a Twitter thread that going to public events is not a constitutional right. Slavitt was a former Biden COVID Response Senior Advisor and worked in the Obama administration as the head of Medicare and Medicaid.

First #StopTheMandate Rally Held at St. Johns Hospital in Maplewood, Minnesota

August 8, 2021August 7, 2021 Hayley Feland

MAPLEWOOD, Minnesota – Over 250 protesters showed up at the first of several Stop The Mandate protests at St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood, Minnesota. St. John’s is part of the M Health Fairview network which mandated COVID vaccines for their employees last week. M Health Fairview is requiring employees, volunteers, students, vendors, and all contracted staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID by October 31.

University of Minnesota Faculty Pushing for Mandatory COVID Vaccinations

August 7, 2021August 6, 2021 Hayley Feland

More than 500 University of Minnesota faculty, staff, students, and alumni signed a letter asking the university to mandate the COVID vaccine for the 2021 school year as cases continue to rise. According to WCCO, a statement released by The University of Minnesota chapter of the American Association of University Professors says that there is “broad frustration and deep anger among faculty at Twin Cities that has been building over the summer about the unsafe reopening policies put forward by the administration.”

Minnesota Medical Groups Pushing K-12 Schools to Require Masks

August 5, 2021August 4, 2021 Hayley Feland

Little girl wearing pink mask, hair up in a braid, sitting at a table

Several Minnesota medical groups are pushing local K-12 schools to require masks when school resumes in the fall. They are asking the school districts to enact masking mandates that follow the latest federal guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

Minnesotans Organize Protest for Medical Freedom Following Vaccine Mandates for Some Healthcare Providers

August 5, 2021August 5, 2021 Hayley Feland

Minnesotans are organizing a protest for medical freedom following several Minnesota healthcare providers requiring employees to take the COVID vaccine or lose their jobs. The protest will be held at the Minnesota State Capitol on August 28. Mayo Clinic, Allina Health, and M Health Fairview are three major healthcare providers that will be requiring employees to take the vaccine. The organizers are holding the protest to “demand informed consent and transparency in matters of health choice and medical freedom without coercion.”

Minnesota State Fair Happening, May Require Masks

August 4, 2021August 3, 2021 Hayley Feland

The Minnesota State Fair is still happening, but fair officials are anticipating that masks may be required to enter. While a decision has not been made yet regarding possible capacity limits and masking requirements, Jerry Hammer, the fair’s general manager, said, “Based on what we know today, that’s a likely scenario.”

Five out of Six ‘New’ COVID Deaths in Minnesota Actually from February

August 3, 2021August 2, 2021 Hayley Feland

Five out of the six “newly reported” COVID deaths for Minnesota were actually from February. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) heralded Monday as having the highest number of newly reported deaths in the last two months. A tweet, from a person who analyzes the Minnesota data showed the specific dates that the “newly reported” deaths were from.

Commentary: Biden’s Approval Rating Is Dropping Fast

July 31, 2021July 31, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

In recent days, conservative media outfits have gleefully presented one of the least surprising headlines of modern times. Namely, that Joe Biden’s presidential approval rating has sunk below the waves.

In the latest Rasmussen poll, Biden is now at a 47 percent approval rating, with 52 percent disapproval. Worse, his Strong Approval number is only 27 percent, compared to a Strong Disapproval of 42. That gives him a minus-15 in Rasmussen’s approval index numbers.

Thursday’s numbers were one point better than Wednesday’s, which is likely statistical noise. The trend, however, is not Biden’s friend.

Health Officials Less Confident in COVID Vaccine Efficacy with Rise of Delta Variant

July 31, 2021July 30, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Public health confidence in the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine appears to be waning as officials warn of enhanced danger — even for vaccinated individuals — from the “Delta variant” of the SARS-Cov-2 virus.

For most of the past year officials have claimed that vaccinations are the only viable path back to normalcy and away from lockdowns and other aggressive mitigation measures. “Look at the folks in your community who have gotten vaccinated and are getting back to living their lives — their full lives,” President Joe Biden said at a May press conference, arguing that the vaccine was “going to help them and their loved ones be safe, get our businesses open again, and get us back to normal.”

The rollout of the vaccines starting last year and continuing throughout the spring and summer of this year has been hailed as the driving force behind the reopening of the economy and the ending of masking mandates and similar restrictions.

Minnesota Begins ‘Vax to School’ Campaign

July 30, 2021July 29, 2021 Hayley Feland

Minnesota has begun its “Vax to School” campaign to try to get students and families fully vaccinated against COVID before the start of the school year. To kick off the campaign, the Minnesota Department of Health partnered with teachers across Minnesota to make a “Vax to School” video.

Minnesota Barber Shops Participating in ‘Shots at the Shop’ Campaign to Get More Vaccination in Black Communities

July 29, 2021July 28, 2021 Hayley Feland

14 Minneapolis barber shops are participating in a national program called “Shots at the Shop” which is seeking to increase COVID vaccination rates in the Black community. The campaign is “a White House-led effort that is working with 1,000 barbershops and beauty salons across the country.” Some of the barber shops are even offering the COVID vaccine on site, including one Minneapolis shop.

After Testing Positive for COVID, Olympic Athletes Summarily Expelled

July 27, 2021July 26, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Five U.S. athletes have tested positive for coronavirus prior to the start of the Tokyo Olympics, crushing their dreams of competing in the world’s largest sporting event.

U.S. men’s basketball player Bradley Beal tested positive on July 15 which made him unable to travel to Tokyo, USA basketball announced in a tweet.

U.S women’s tennis star Coco Gauff announced on twitter that she tested positive for COVID on July 18. Gauff, 17, received her positive test in Tokyo, and has been barred from competing in the Olympic games, according to the tweet.

Congressman Clay Higgins Gets COVID for a Second Time

July 27, 2021July 26, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Louisiana Republican Rep. Clay Higgins said Sunday that he, his wife and his son all tested positive for COVID-19.

“I have COVID, Becca has COVID, my son has COVID,” Higgins wrote on Facebook, adding that he and his wife had already tested positive for the virus early in 2020.

“Becca and I have had COVID before, early on, in January 2020, before the world really knew what it was,” Higgins wrote. “So, this is our second experience with the CCP biological attack weaponized virus… and this episode is far more challenging.”

University of Minnesota Website Scrubs Reference to China Origin for COVID after Bias Complain

July 26, 2021July 25, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Person in green protective gear in lab with safety glasses and mask on

The University of Minnesota system’s Bias Response and Referral Network asked students to report suspected bias “related to the COVID-19 outbreak.”

As a result, it appears that the School of Public Health removed a reference to COVID-19’s origin in China.

The College Fix filed a public records request with the University of Minnesota system for all COVID bias reports for the past year. This is the first response to the request.

Opponents of Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf’s COVID Orders Present Case to Third Circuit Court

July 23, 2021July 22, 2021 Bradley Vasoli

Before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia on Thursday, legal counsel for several Pennsylvania counties as well as numerous public officials and private companies, argued Governor Tom Wolf (D) abused his police powers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, the private-sector compainaints charge that the governor’s shutdown of and other demands on businesses during parts of 2020 and 2021 violate the takings clause and the due-process clause of the U.S. Constitution. All plaintiffs, governmental and private, further insist that the governor’s restrictions on public gatherings over the past year violated the rights of assembly, association and religion secured by the First Amendment.

Minneapolis Has Experienced One of the Largest Homicide Increases in the Nation, Study Finds

July 19, 2021July 18, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

A new study found that Minneapolis experienced the fifth-highest increase in homicides in the nation between 2019 to 2021.

The overall rankings were based on both a city’s current homicide rate and the change in its number of homicides across the last two years. Minneapolis landed in the 11th position overall, behind cities like New Orleans, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Detroit, according to the WalletHub survey.

From the second quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2021, the city of lakes saw the fifth-highest increase in per capita homicides in the nation. In this time, Minneapolis endured the death of George Floyd, unprecedented levels of rioting, mass unemployment caused by COVID-19 lockdowns, and a political assault on its police department.

Hamline University Will Require COVID Vaccine for 2021 School Year

July 18, 2021July 29, 2021 Hayley Feland

Hamline University announced that they will be requiring students to be vaccinated against COVID before classes commence in the fall. The University’s President Fayneese Miller said, “We want, and need, to be together as a community. We value a sense of community at Hamline and all that entails, but to return to what we value and who we are, mandating a COVID-19 vaccine is necessary.” The announcement was made on Thursday with the expectation that students will be fully vaccinated before returning to campus in August.

Minnesota Restaurants Struggling with Labor Shortage

July 10, 2021July 10, 2021 Hayley Feland

Many Minnesota restaurants are struggling to find enough staff to be open at full capacity. A Champlin couple who were opening a Pizza Ranch franchise had to delay their grand opening two months to fill the labor shortage with teens out of school. Even with the school-age employees, the Pizza Ranch that opened in June still has to close one hour earlier than normal due to the shortages.

Judicial Watch Sues Biden Administration over Cover-Up of Illegal Aliens’ COVID Information

June 30, 2021June 29, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Last week, the watchdog group Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration over the administration’s refusal to disclose information regarding how it is handling the coronavirus among illegal aliens who are flooding the southern border, Breitbart reports.

FDA Adds Heart Inflammation Warning to Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines

June 29, 2021June 28, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

a health care provider places a bandage on the injection site of a patient, who just received a vaccine

The Food and Drug Administration has added a warning to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine fact sheets that describes a rare but serious heart inflammation problem that’s now been attributed to the pharmaceutical companies’ COVID-19 vaccines.

Economy Added 559,000 Jobs in May, Below Expectations for Second Straight Month

June 5, 2021June 4, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. economy reported an increase of 559,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate declined to 5.8%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.

Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 559,000 in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report, and the number of unemployed persons dropped to 9.3 million. Economists projected 671,000 Americans would be added to payrolls prior to Friday’s report, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“We think it will take several months for frictions in the labor market to work themselves out,” Barclays chief U.S. economist Michael Gapen told the WSJ. “That just means we shouldn’t be expecting one to two million jobs every month. Instead, it will be a more gradual process.”

Analysis: Deficit Will Top $3.6 Trillion in Fiscal Year 2021 as $7.27 Trillion of the National Debt Comes Due in the 2022

June 1, 2021May 31, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The annual budget deficit has already hit $1.9 trillion and counting for the fiscal year that will end in September, according to the U.S. Treasury’s April statement, and it will reach as high as $3.6 trillion this year, says the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Comparatively, in 2020, the deficit totaled about $3.1 trillion for the entire year.

This comes amid the massive government spending in response to the Covid pandemic, including the $2.2 trillion CARES Act in March 2020, the $900 billion phase four legislation in Dec. 2020 and then President Joe Biden’s additional $1.9 trillion Covid stimulus bill in March 2020. Another $2.1 trillion infrastructure plan is in the works. And now, Biden is offering his $6 trillion budget, which will blow another $1.8 trillion hole in the deficit in 2022.

As a result, 33 percent of marketable national debt, or about $7.27 trillion of the $22 trillion of publicly held debt, will be coming due within the next year, according to the latest data by the U.S. Treasury. For perspective, that’s more debt than existed as recently as 2003.

Commentary: The Left Will Not Let Go of COVID

May 5, 2021May 4, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

COVID’s grip on America is relaxing, not so the Left’s. The Left seized COVID as an unprecedented statist opportunity to advance their agenda. Unsurprisingly, they now resist relinquishing it. Since the Left refuse to let go of America, America must let go of the Left.

Last week the CDC relaxed its guidelines for outdoor mask-wearing by those fully vaccinated against COVID. It was more a rearguard action than a vanguard one, but at least it was a start. Several states are well ahead in their return to normalcy.

America’s virus statistics demonstrate the remission of the virus and validate accelerating relaxation of the lockdowns. On a seven-day moving average, active cases, daily new cases, and daily deaths have been plummeting since the beginning of the year.
On the ledger’s other side, vaccinations began in the U.S. in December, averaging over two million a day since February; as a result, around 31 percent of the population is now fully vaccinated at this writing.

Fauci Admits Biden Administration is Flouting CDC Guidance in Border Facilities

April 19, 2021April 18, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci on Thursday conceded in a tense exchange with Louisiana Republican Rep. Steve Scalise that the Biden administration is violating major Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coronavirus guidelines by packing countless illegal immigrants into relatively small facilities without enforcing social distancing or masking measures.

The CDC has aggressively pushed those guidelines over the past year, directing that Americans should work to remain six feet apart from each other in public spaces and wear face coverings when away from the home.

Images from U.S. border facilities over the past several weeks, however, have shown little enforcement of those guidelines among illegal immigrants detained amid the current surge of unlawful migration at the southern border.

Commentary: The American Jobs Plan and the China Conundrum

April 11, 2021April 10, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

President Joe Biden’s new spending plan amps up rhetoric on national competition with China, maintaining the confrontational approach established by the previous administration. But whereas the 45th president championed what he called American energy dominance as a key element of grand strategy, the 46th seems bent on eschewing America’s natural resource advantages and playing to China’s strengths.

The White House fact sheet on the American Jobs Plan refers to China five times directly, claiming that the plan will “position the United States to out-compete China,” that China’s ambitions are one of “the great challenges of our time,” that the U.S. is “falling behind countries like China” on infrastructure, that “countries like China are investing aggressively in R&D,” and that the U.S. market share of plug-in electric vehicle (EV) sales is one-third of that in China — something President Biden “believes that must change.”

The president asserts that this plan will simultaneously reduce the risks posed by climate change and by China’s rise, but the evidence suggests his approach to energy will undermine the United States’ strategic positioning, not reinforce it.

More Than 700 Kids Currently Detained in Border Patrol Custody, Report Shows

February 28, 2021February 27, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

More than 700 migrant children are currently detained in Customs and Border Patrol facilities, according to an internal government report.

At least 200 children had been held in the facilities for over 48 hours and nine had been held more than 72 hours, according to an internal Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) report dated Feb. 21, Axios reported. The CBP is not allowed to hold children more than 72 hours, according to a previous agreement.

FDA Panel Votes to Recommend Johnson & Johnson’s Coronavirus Vaccine for Emergency Authorization

February 28, 2021February 27, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory panel voted Friday evening to recommend Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency approval, clearing the way for its authorization, distribution and administration nationwide.

The vote followed hours of the panel live-streaming its process of scouring over data from the pharmaceutical company in order to reaffirm that the vaccine was safe for the millions of Americans who will receive it. The FDA also released the vaccine’s clinical trial data on Wednesday showing that the vaccine was effective in fighting the virus itself.

Vaccinations Slow After Storms Delay Shipments of 6 Million COVID-19 Doses

February 23, 2021February 22, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The extreme cold weather across much of the country has delayed 6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, slowing a vaccination rate that has been steadily rising since the Biden administration took office last month.

The backlogged doses account for roughly three days’ of delayed shipments affecting all 50 states, due to road closures, snowed-in workers and power outages, said Andy Slavitt, senior adviser on the White House’s COVID-19 response, during a news conference Friday.

Home Schooling in Minnesota Skyrocketed 50% Amid School Closures

February 22, 2021February 21, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

A Friday report from the Minnesota Department of Education confirmed what many have suspected all along: parents are opting to take their children out of public schools.

Overall public-school enrollment decreased by 2% between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, MDE said in its report, which translates to a net loss of about 17,000 students. This decrease was driven largely by a 9% drop in public kindergarten enrollment, according to the MDE.

Johnson & Johnson Files for Emergency Authorization for Its Coronavirus Vaccine

February 6, 2021February 5, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Johnson & Johnson filed for emergency use authorization from the FDA on Thursday for its coronavirus vaccine.

The drug maker’s application followed its announcement that its vaccine was 72% effective in combating the virus. Although that’s slightly lower than Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines, Johnson & Johnson’s requires one dose instead of two.

Newt Gingrich Commentary: Small Business Will Continue to Suffer Unless We Reopen Society

January 31, 2021January 30, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Small businesses have been decimated by the pandemic shutdowns. Many have struggled to survive. Many have had to lay off employees. If they haven’t closed their doors yet, the next six to nine months will be a real challenge.

There is some help on the way. The Small Business Administration has released a second round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) — a forgivable loan program designed to assist small businesses with money to stay afloat. Part two of the PPP opened on Jan. 15.

Nearly 20 Percent of American Renters Are Behind on Payments, Analysis Shows

January 27, 2021January 26, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

About 18% of renters, or roughly 10 million people, in the U.S. are behind on their monthly payments as of early January, according to an Urban Institute analysis.

Researchers Jim Parrott, a fellow at the Urban Institute, and Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, calculated that 18% of U.S. renters were behind on payments and warned that if lawmakers didn’t act fast, there could be a major eviction crisis. The average delinquent renter is four months behind on payments and owes $5,600, the researchers estimated using Bureau of Labor Statistics figures.

Chinese Media: COVID Originated in U.S. Military Lab

January 25, 2021January 24, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

A Chinese state broadcaster revived a conspiracy theory that the coronavirus pandemic originated in a US military lab, and told its millions of viewers there is “something fishy” happening at Fort Detrick in Maryland.

A female anchor on China’s Central Television Station Thursday asked viewers: ”Exactly what fishy businesses were going on?,” the Daily Mail reported.

Youth Hockey District Will Impose Penalty of $1,000 Fine for Noncompliance with Mask Mandate

January 23, 2021January 22, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Some youth hockey associations could be fined if players and coaches don’t wear masks during practices or games.

Minnesota Hockey is the governing body of youth hockey in the state of Minnesota and teams are divided between twelve districts, including District 10. Each district includes several local hockey associations.

New Jobless Claims Decrease to 900,000, Economists Expected 925,000

January 22, 2021January 21, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims decreased to 900,000 last week as the economy continued to suffer the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) figure released Thursday represented a decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending Jan. 16, in which there were 965,000 new jobless claims reported. Roughly 16 million Americans continue to collect unemployment benefits, according to the BLS report Thursday.

Biden to Extend Student Loan Payment Freeze Until September 2021

January 21, 2021January 20, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

President-elect Joe Biden will order the Department of Education to extend the student loan payment moratorium through September in one of his first presidential moves.

Joe Biden is set to sign the executive order on Wednesday following his inauguration, extending the current pause on student loan payments, which has been in effect since March, according to CBS News. The order is a fulfillment of Biden’s campaign promise to prioritize the U.S. student loan debt crisis.

Commentary: Five Ways Hospitals Can Help Fix Vaccine Rollout Debacle

January 21, 2021January 20, 2021 RealClearWire

Hospitals have come under sharp criticism for their part in the chaotic COVID-19 vaccine rollout. That’s because in the rush to get the vaccine out quickly, many hospitals were shipped more vaccine than anticipated and fewer staff took it than anticipated. As a result, hospitals accrued a vaccine surplus and offered it to their low-risk grad students and young administrative staff working from home and are now scrambling to figure out what to do with the rest. The answer should be simple: give it to older members of your community, but a recent letter from the American Hospital Association cited a number of important barriers to effective vaccine distribution including a lack of coordination and guidance from federal, state, and local governments.