Author: Kara Hurvitz

Hi there! If you're reading this, you're probably wondering who I am and why you should listen to me. (It's a fair cop.) So here's a little about me: I'm an advocate, educator, and activist with degrees in law and social work. By day, I help people access needed health care and health care coverage. By night, I fight crime--nah, just kidding; I write the NNR and related essays. Why the NNR? Well, I want to do everything I can to help folks stay informed, connected, and empowered during this difficult time, and this project lets me put work I already do to good use. Plus, I get to snark about the news and current administration. Everyone wins!

Year 7, Weeks 40-42 (October 22 – November 11)

November 14, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Friends, I won’t lie to you – it was very, very hard for me to synthesize the news this cycle. This is a rough time for many Americans, between present horrors and the specter of next year’s election, and I don’t see that improving anytime soon. But I am here, and I will continue to try to make it bearable, and I will continue to call for us to exercise our humanity. As Elie Wiesel said, “I continue to cling to words because it is up to us to transform them into instruments of comprehension rather than contempt.”

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be rounding out my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a continuance!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We continue to run 45 stories on the Election Rejection front, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Here’s what has happened since last time:

45 Court Cases. Trump’s court cases and 2024 campaign continue to co-exist, which is graduating from entertaining to terrifying. He may have managed to get the Mar-a-Lago document case delayed, though I don’t believe that has been finalized as I type this. (Of course, several colleagues have already taken deals in the Georgia election case, so I’m not sure how much time this will buy him.) We also saw the reappearance of his gag order in the January 6 case, and yet another violation of a different gag order in the New York civil case. But probably the most sensationalized 45 case story is the Trump family testimony in the New York fraud case, which went about as well as you might expect. Meanwhile, lawsuits to bar Trump from the 2024 ballots due to any of the above sank in Minnesota and are ongoing in Colorado, so we likely will still have to deal with his election campaign. Which is not great, because he is leading in the polls in several places and what passes for his platform is truly disturbing.

Meanwhile, the Biden Rebuilding front is really more the Why Is the House Like This front this cycle. Here’s what I have for you:

A House (and Senate) Divided. Though we do have a House speaker again (and he sure is a piece of work), things are still a mess over there. Perhaps due to his gladhandling the Freedom Caucus, there are still no tenable funding bills as we near the end of our 45-day stopgap, and it seems shutdown is a real possibility again. Meanwhile, the Senate spent this cycle stalling out military promotions (Republicans) and highlighting all of Clarence Thomas’s rampant corruption (Democrats), which led to SCOTUS issuing a hollow ethics code. Finally, Joe Manchin announced that he was retiring but possibly also running for President? (Your guess is as good as mine on that one.)

Your New Normal:

More Normal Election News. We did have a federal election this past Tuesday, which was something of a mixed bag. In Mississippi, several majority Black districts apparently ran out of ballots during the gubernatorial race, which may have contributed to the Republican incumbent’s victory. Meanwhile, several secretaries of state were sent sketchy substances via mail. In more positive news, abortion rights were preserved in several states, including through a ballot initiative in Ohio. We also saw an exonerated Central Park Five member win a seat on city council, the first Black RI federal Senator, and the first openly trans Southern state senator.

The Bad:

Watching the War Fallout. As Israel continues its assault on Gaza, with both the UN and WHO expressing concern about civilian casualties and the effect on hospitals, the U.S. sees ripple effects. in both foreign policy and domestic issues. Though Biden has called for humanitarian pauses several times, this has mostly been both ineffective and criticized by other world leaders. (That said, we did see four-hour pauses last week, which has allowed some refugees to get out.) Here in the U.S., in Chicago, a six-year-old was fatally stabbed because he was Palestinian, and in Indianapolis a woman drove her car into a building because she believed it was an Israeli school. Several college campuses have reported a rise in antisemitism, while several academics have also reported losing their jobs because they posted support for Palestine. And our nation’s only Palestinian-American elected official, Rashida Tlaib, was censured by the House this week after multiple calls to vote. The first call, incredibly, came because Marjorie Taylor Greene decided that Tlaib’s support of Jewish calls for a cease-fire constituted an antisemitic “insurrection.” The second and successful call was due to Tlaib sharing protest footage with the chant “from the river to the sea,” which Jewish Americans commonly regard as a call for a single Palestinian state. In her defense on the House floor, she noted, “The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me. Why? What I don’t understand is why the cries of Palestinians sound different to you all.” Needless to say, this is an incredibly difficult and frightening time to be Palestinian or Jewish in America.

The Good:

Recent Labor Wins. We had several additional favorable strike settlements this cycle. The UAW reached a deal with GM, ending a six-week auto strike with record wage increases. And SAG-AFTRA reached a deal last Thursday, marking the end of an incredible 118-day strike with protections against AI and another significant wage increase. Progress!

So that’s what I have for you, and I think we can agree it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this porcupette guitar solo and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Year 7, Week 38-39 (October 8-21)

October 24, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Secret voting! Kenneth Chesebro! Agents of Egypt! The news has really outdone itself this cycle with its general… now-ness. I recommend the application of ice cream.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a gag order!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We’re now back to 45 stories on the Election Rejection front, as the House nonsense gets its own section. Here’s what has happened since last time:

Gag Real and Plea Deals. Within only a few days of Trump appealing a gag order placed on him in the D.C. election interference case, he was fined $5,000 for violating said gag order. (The judge declined to hold him in contempt this time, but made it clear that prison was on the table when he inevitably does this again.) Meanwhile, former Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro both pled guilty this cycle on the GA election case. This brings us to three flipped henchmen on that case, as Scott Hall pled guilty last cycle.

We also have a handful of odds and ends on the Biden Rebuilding front, though things were pretty upstaged by everything else going on. Here’s what I have for you:

Zero Tolerance, $105 Billion. Biden was in the news this week for reaching a settlement deal with the ACLU regarding the families separated during Trump’s illegal Zero Tolerance policy. However, he got considerably more attention for requesting $105 billion in aid to Ukraine and Israel for their respective wars, going so far as to give a rare Oval Office address on the topic. Of course, given the Congressional dysfunction on display at the moment, he can’t actually get the funding right now–but more on that below.

Your New Normal:

The Headless House Mess. Since the last news cycle, when I covered the hot Speaker mess created from McCarthy’s ouster, the House GOP has hit rock bottom and started to dig. First, charming fascist Steve Scalise got the nomination, but he withdrew from the running because he lacked the votes. Then nightmare man Jim Jordan had his fifteen minutes, but after he managed to lose votes by alienating his own allies and making several death threats, the GOP held a secret vote and pulled the plug on his nomination. So now we have a bunch of insurrectionists in the running, and the acting Speaker is threatening to quit because people keep trying to make him hold votes he can’t legally hold. And while all of this is going on, the House hasn’t functioned for nearly three weeks.

The Bad:

Social Media Sown Confusion. Social media has been flooded with gruesome and inaccurate posts about the Israel-Hamas war this cycle, exacerbating tensions and anxieties that were already sky-high. Particular attention is being paid to Elon Musk’s brave new twitter, which has been especially full of fetid falsehoods. This problem is exacerbated by Twitter’s formerly large role over the past fifteen or so years in spreading information from the ground–particularly in Iran and Egypt.

The Good:

Recent Labor Wins. The news is weird and dire this week, but we did see a few labor wins. The workers at Kaiser Permanente reached a deal, ending the largest health sector strike in history with favorable terms. The WGA strike ended recently on favorable terms as well, although the SAG-AFTRA strike is still going after talks fell through badly this week.

So that’s what I have for you, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this reluctant heffalump and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me pumpkin spice flavored things!

Year 7, Week 36 to 37 (September 24 – October 7)

October 10, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Well folks, I sure picked a time to restart the NNR. (Thank you for your patience over these last few weeks while I sorted out a very frenetic time, by the way.) We’re not going to do a deep dive into this week’s international stories, such as Israel’s declaration of war on Hamas or the massive earthquake in Afghanistan, because there’s so much news just on the national front. But suffice to say, there’s a lot happening on the global stage right now too.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a motion to vacate!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We have a change from our usual fare for Election Rejection stories this cycle, but it’s nonetheless a wild ride. Here’s what has happened since last time:

Votes and No Confidence. Despite serious concern from basically all of us over the last few weeks, Congress managed to pass a stopgap measure to keep the lights on for another month (just in time for Fat Bear Week!). However, this was partially achieved by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy negotiating with Democrats, which made the Freedom From Reality Caucus big mad. And since Kevin McCarthy had given them a big metaphorical stick in exchange for getting to be Speaker, Matt Gaetz used it to call for McCarthy’s removal. Then those Democrats who worked with McCarthy to keep the government open didn’t actually like him enough to save him from his own party, and voted as a block to remove him. So for the first time ever, a Speaker of the House was removed by a motion from his own party in the middle of a session. Then Republicans spent a week posturing about how Trump should be the new Speaker and ceremoniously kicking Democrats out of offices because said Dems didn’t save them from themselves. Now, we finally have some candidates for new Speaker, which are alt-right nightmare men Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise and… possibly Kevin McCarthy again, as of today? Honestly, your guess is as good as mine about what is even happening over there.

We also have a handful of odds and ends on the Biden Rebuilding front, though I’m not loving most of them. Here’s what I have for you:

Bills and Building a Wall. As foretold by prophecy, by which I mean the Biden administration, federal student loan payments officially became due again this news cycle after over three years of pause. And in other administration and funding news, Biden was in the news this week for resuming construction on Trump’s asinine wall at the southern border. Biden is saying that he had no choice, but he was already facing increasing complaints from his own party about how he is handling asylum issues, and that seems like a relevant factor here.

Your New Normal:

COVID Redux. Though it has gotten much harder to track cases, it would appear that COVID cases are on the rise again with the start of fall, particularly for hospitalization and death rates. That said, this rise coincided with the release of new COVID vaccines, which are recommended for everyone over six months old. The Biden administration has also announced that they will resume sending test kits through the mail, though only four tests per household at this time. Hooray, everything new is old again. Good thing we ended that public health emergency, amirite?

The Bad:

Political Determinants of Death. On a somewhat related note, multiple outlets ran stories this week about political determinants of health. STAT released an article about conservative rhetoric causing a drop in American health outcomes because doctors can’t safely do their jobs. Meanwhile, the Washington Post wrote an entire series of articles on the the plummeting American life expectancy, which are some of the bluntest I’ve ever seen from such a mainstream outlet. One article directly linked Republican policy to early death. Another meticulously unpacks other death inequities within the U.S., noting how income gaps and politics are hurting subpopulations in our country. There’s also an interactive article which invites the reader to compare their life expectancy to that of residents in other countries–spoiler, the results aren’t awesome.

The Good:

Recent Biden Policy Wins. We did have a couple of bright spots from the Biden administration this cycle. Biden announced the launch of the American Climate Corps, which will be a new kind of job corps designed to train young people in clean energy. He also announced a new policy which will grant veterans’ benefits to people who were discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell just for being gay. Finally, he visited the UAW strike to encourage workers to keep striking, something no President has ever done before. Credit where credit is due, these are all good things.

So that’s what I have for you, and I think we can agree it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this excited dove dance and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me several extra hours of sleep!

Year 7, Week 31 to 33 (August 13–September 2)

September 5, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Good gravy, does the news pile up if I let the cycle go an extra week. This cycle’s NNR will be extra jam-packed, though I did my best to keep the overall length the same. I can’t promise the content is fun to read. (That said, I personally find that reading about 45’s indictments never gets old.)

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a drug price!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

I think at this point, we can just assume that Election Rejection stories will involve 45 for the duration. Here’s what has happened since last time:

Indictment Season (again again). The Georgia case indictment, which came down just ahead of our last NNR, turned out to have 13 separate counts against Trump and 41 charges total in its 98 pages–many of which relate to racketeering. It’s a big, sprawling matter, with 19 different people charged in all. If you were hoping all of this maybe this would make 45 be less obnoxious for five seconds, I’m afraid I have to disappoint you, because Trump used his booking as a fundraising opportunity. At the time that I type this, all nineteen defendants have surrendered in GA, and most have already pleaded not guilty (though they have until Wednesday to do so). At the time that I type this, Trump has moved to sever his case from the others because he wants his trial to take a billion years. That said, the Georgia DA is requesting that all 19 defendants’ trials begin in October. Meanwhile, his January 6 federal case was scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024, which is both a totally normal timeline and two years earlier than his ridiculous request last cycle. For those of you playing the home game, that means it will fall directly over Super Tuesday. And speaking of January 6, several convicted Proud Boys were sentenced this cycle, all of whom got ten years or more in prison for their troubles.

We have a surprising glut of news this cycle on the Biden Rebuilding front, possibly because the House Republicans are kind of forcing the point. Here’s what I have for you:

Labor and Libel. The big positive news on the Biden front this week is that his administration proposed new overtime rules, which would dramatically expand the number of workers entitled to overtime pay. The shine of this news is dulled a bit, though, by the House nonsense that is happening at the same time. More specifically, we’re staring down the barrel of yet another government shutdown because McCarthy made mouth noises about impeaching Biden and now the Freedom Caucus is doing their thing in response. I really want to stress that as far as I can tell, Biden has done literally nothing that merits impeachment, and this is now just the GOP playbook for obstruction. It’s worth noting that the GOP is calling to impeach the Georgia DA prosecuting Trump as well.

Your New Normal:

Climate Change Catastrophes (again). This cycle saw yet another wave of alarming weather, some of which was definitely caused by climate change. In California, tropical storm Hilary was the first to hit the region in 80 years, causing massive flooding and mudslides. (The region was also hit by an earthquake while preparing.) Shortly after, Hurricane Idalia pummeled Florida, making landfall as a Cat 3 storm on the southern part of the eastern coast. There was also massive flooding in Black Rock City, NV, where the annual Burning Man festival had drawn more than 70,000 visitors. This left many of those people stranded in a muddy desert over the weekend, though some folks have been able to leave as I type this.

The Bad:

Political Determinants of Health (again). The health news this cycle is a gauntlet of political determinants and restricted access. In Texas, a total ban of gender-affirming care for minors went back into effect after the state’s supreme court ended the injunction pausing it. A similar ban in Alabama was put back into effect the same way. All things considered, that makes it difficult to feel optimistic about Georgia’s ban on gender-affirming care, which was blocked by a federal district court judge this cycle. Meanwhile, in abortion access news, South Carolina’s all-male supreme court just upheld a six-week ban. This coincides with a 5th Circuit decision to restrict mifepristone, which is now being teed up to go to the U.S. Supreme Court and I hate everything.

The Good:

Recent Health Resilience. We did get a touch of good health news this week, when the White House released its list of the first ten drugs that will be eligible for Medicare price negotiations. The list marks the first step forward under the new Inflation Reduction Act, which authorizes Medicare to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers for the first time since the program’s inception in 1965. These negotiations will likely be ongoing for some time, and the final prices will go into effect in 2026. Still, it’s a big deal!

So that’s what I have for you, and I think we can agree it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this canine betrayal and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me energy for unpacking things!

Year 7, Week 29 and 30 (July 30–August 12)

August 15, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

I return triumphant from my one-week engagement in the woods, and good gravy, there’s a lot to report. I’ll do my best to cover all the highlights and lowlights; this is a news cycle that is quite a ride. As always, my inbox is here if you have any questions.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an indictment!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

This week is yet another drink from the gross firehose, as Election Rejection stories involve 45 yet again. Here’s what has happened:

Indictment Season (again again). Initially, the biggest news this cycle was the four new indictments against Trump regarding his actions on January 6, which dropped last Tuesday and bring us to 78 total indictments against him as I type this. That said, that number is very likely to change imminently–the Georgia election case, which was in grand jury proceedings and hearing testimony for most of the day, returned an indictment this evening. (Clear details are not yet known on that, which means we all get to enjoy unwrapping Indictmas criminal charges tomorrow unspoiled.) In more petty news, we also had an entire mini-saga about whether Trump can say whatever he wants about the Jan 6 proceedings (spoiler: an annoyed judge says no he can’t). Meanwhile, we also saw new charges in the Mar-a-Lago documents case for Trump and his valet, and Twitter got fined for refusing to cough up Trump data when the special counsel requested it.

There are a handful of odds and ends on the Biden Rebuilding front, largely involving courts unpausing policies. Here’s what I have for you:

Biden Court Cases. The Biden asylum plan that was barred last cycle is already back in place as I type this, resumed by the Ninth Circuit while the underlying court case about it plays out. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court did the same thing, deciding 5-4 to resume Biden’s restriction of ghost guns while that case plays out. So I guess it was a good week for the Biden administration getting to do things that courts said they couldn’t do.

Your New Normal:

Health Mini-Roundup. The big news in health this week, of course, is that we have a full-blown new COVID variant yet again, known as EG.5 or “Eris.” (Where can I return my ticket for the world’s worst showing of Groundhog Day?) Symptoms appear to be cold-like in most people, with runny noses and dry coughs being common. Experts currently believe bivalent vaccines should still be effective against it–we’ll see if that stays true. In more optimistic health news, the CDC approved an RSV antibody for infants this week, and the FDA approved its first postpartum depression pill in the U.S. as well.

The Bad:

Tragedy in Hawaii. Hawaii has been experiencing massive conflagration since Wednesday, destroying the historic city of Lahaina and killing at least 100 people. The fire is still burning as I type this. Experts say it is the deadliest wildfire in over a century, and believe that both mismanagement of the local alarm system and climate change played a role in its severity. Hundreds have been displaced while the fire is raging, and Lahaina’s destruction is a huge cultural blow to the people of Hawaii. Needless to say, Hawaiians will likely benefit from financial support as they grieve and rebuild, and Governor Green has recommended donating to the Maui Strong fund, run by the Hawai’i Community Foundation, if you want to help.

The Good:

Recent Legal Resilience. This cycle was a good one for civic and legal resilience. In Tennessee, the two Democrats who had been illegally ousted from the House due to peaceful protest several months ago regained their seats in a special election. In Ohio, voters rejected anti-abortion efforts to change their constitutional amendment process. (Fun fact: As some outlets noted, abortion rights have won literally every single time they have come onto a popular ballot since the Dobbs case was decided, in both blue and red states.) We had similar good news in recent court cases; in Mississippi, the Fifth Circuit concluded that Mississippi‘s practice of disenfranchising people for life post-conviction is unconstitutional. And just today in Montana, a judge concluded that state agencies were infringing on a constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by permitting development of fossil fuels. Progress!

Year 7, Week 27 and 28 (July 16-29)

August 1, 2023August 1, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

As I’m sure folks have figured out by now, we are indeed moving to a biweekly cycle–the feedback overwhelmingly skewed in a “yes please save yourself” direction. It’s very possible (and in fact likely) that we’ll need to switch back once Criminal Election Season is truly underway, but for now, we’ll all take this opportunity to breathe. I’m sure we’ll all need it.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a tree trimmer!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

Boy howdy are we drinking from a gross firehose regarding–I’ve got 45 Election Rejection stories, and a Mitch ain’t one. Here’s what has happened:

Indictment Season (again). This cycle started out with Trump announcing that he’s a target of the January 6 probe, meaning that he’s a likely candidate for indictment over his actions on January 6–which he followed by announcing he got a second notice about it only yesterday. (As I feel compelled to note every time, this should probably be the thing that disqualifies him from eligibility for President, but this is America so here we are.) Shortly after he made this first announcement, he also picked up new criminal charges on his classified documents case, apparently because he tried to get his people to delete video camera footage. The new indictments bring him to an even 40 criminal charges for that case, for those of you playing the home game. Said case was also scheduled for trial this cycle; the circus is expected to begin on May 20, 2024. In the meantime, Michigan is charging several people involved in Trump’s ‘fake elector’ stunt in the state, and the story also broke that Trump’s PAC has spent $40M just on legal fees since the year began.

After about a million years of fiscal news, the main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front this time is immigration-related. Here’s what I have for you:

Immigration Interventions. The Biden administration sued Texas this week, disgusted with its illegal floating barriers in the Rio Grande, and presumably also with the state-sanctioned homicide stories that were sent to Texas media by a whistleblower this cycle as well. Meanwhile, a federal judge barred the new Biden asylum plan, correctly noting that it is probably illegal to bar refugees with valid claims under international asylum law.

Your New Normal:

Health Mini-Roundup. There were a lot of health odds and ends over this news cycle. The unnatural heat wave from last cycle continued, although temperatures have cooled in my area as I type this. In North Carolina, a twister damaged a Pfizer plant, which will likely exacerbate medical supply shortages for up to sixty-five pharmaceuticals. CMS has finally opted to pause redeterminations in twelve states that keep wrongfully kicking people off of Medicaid. In other government news, Congress voted this cycle to address organ donation failures with new legislation. Finally, the CDC reports that COVID hospitalizations are rising again, in what looks like potentially another late summer wave.

The Bad:

Labor Relation Station. There was a lot of news about organizing this week, and much of it was bad. In Hollywood, NBC Universal gained attention for what appears to be illegally removing tree cover on streets where SAG and WGA workers are picketing, prompting the city of Los Angeles to investigate. Just today, we also learned that the trucking company Yellow is shutting down, laying off 30,000 people. Meanwhile, UPS teetered at the edge of a strike for some of last week, but managed to reach a deal with favorable terms on Tuesday. Broadway avoided a strike through negotiated settlement as well. Finally, after a sixteen-year-old migrant was killed in a poultry plant in Mississippi that isn’t even supposed to employ minors, the country is again paying attention to exploitation of minor migrants and OSHA is investigating the issue.

The Good:

SCOTUS Interruptus. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted this week to create ethics obligations for SCOTUS, since, y’know, they currently don’t have any. Unsurprisingly, Republicans are very against advancing the proposed bill, on the grounds that it would make bribing not a thing. It’s unlikely this bill will go anywhere, but it’s still edifying to see the Senate Judiciary Committee trying to respond to all of this.

So that’s what I have for you, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this dazed snack session and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me good weather for this week’s camping trip!

Year 7, Week 25 and 26 (July 2-15)

July 18, 2023July 18, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Welcome back, folks–thank you for your patience! On a related note, I’m considering moving the NNR to a biweekly schedule, while things are still relatively calm over the summer. Let me know your opinion, if you have one! Okay, that’s all the news about the news. Let’s talk about July so far.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a continuance!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

There’s less news coming in, but we’re still stuck on 45 for the original flavor Election Rejection for now. Here’s what has happened:

Indictment Season? Remember Trump’s aide Walt Nauta, who helped him hide the documents in the Mar-a-Lago case? After postponing his arraignment three times, he finally pled not guilty this week. Meanwhile, in a modern definition of chutzpah, Trump argued this week that his case should be continued indefinitely because he is running for President.

For yet another week, the main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front is financial. Here’s what I have for you:

Student Loan Plan Scramble (cont). In the aftermath of SCOTUS striking down Biden’s student loan plan, his administration announced a new additional stopgap on Friday. Similar to his plan which cleaned up Public Service Loan Forgiveness, this plan will clean up mistakes in enrollment for people under the Income Driven Repayment plan, which is supposed to allow forgiveness after 240 qualifying payments. It’s estimated these supports will assist about 800,000 borrowers. It’s a small step, but hopefully it will help some people.

Your New Normal:

Health Mini-Roundup. There was a lot of health news for yet another roundup. Scientists estimate that climate change is responsible for temperatures last week, when we had a new record for consecutive heat and nearly the hottest day in history. In other news, the FDA approved a new Alzheimer’s drug, which is apparently the first to slow cognitive decline in patients. A new study of Long Covid suggests that, uh… it’s not good. (Also, it might cause damage to the vagus nerve.) But in more positive news, the FDA has approved the first over-the-counter instance of birth control in the United States.

The Bad:

Political Determinants of Health. We also saw several updates on the gender-affirming care and reproductive health fronts. In Tennessee, the Sixth Circuit allowed the state’s gender-affirming care ban to go back into effect after it was paused by injunction. Meanwhile, Iowa passed a six-week ban on abortion, but the law was paused by a court order just today. This makes twelve states with effective bans of abortion on their books.

The Good:

SAG Strikes Back. After two months of the Writers’ Guild strike in Hollywood, the Screen Actor’s Guild opted to join the strike on Thursday. The move brings a lot more power to the existing strike in Hollywood, where both groups attempt to protect against AI creating a replacement of their labor (and to preserve living wages in a field where residuals are increasingly meaningless). It’s likely to give a lot more power back to workers now that both groups are striking, and hopefully it will result in better conditions.

So that’s what I have for you, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this bear’s playground jaunt and a more functional government. I’ll be back next week with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me your opinions on a bi-weekly schedule!

Year 7, Week 23 and 24 (June 18–July 1)

July 4, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Folks, thank you for your patience while I navigated Report Season–until I get my hands on that cloning technology, some weeks do be like this. In the meantime, we’ve had a truly impressive run of bad, weird news over the past couple of weeks. Some, like the OceanGate submersible implosion, whatever it is Elon Musk is currently doing with twitter, and the Wagner company abortive uprising in Russia, are juuust outside the current purview of the NNR. Others, like the past week’s constitution-breaking SCOTUS session, will definitely be covered below.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an opinion!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We’re still stuck on 45 for the original flavor Election Rejection this week. Here’s what has happened:

Impeachment and Indictment Season. There was a smattering of news over the past couple of weeks about Trump’s latest criminal charges, which incidentally are likely to begin trial in December. But there was also a lot of developing news about his 2020 election illegalities, such as the fake elector plot, his pressure of state officials to overturn election results, and his administration’s rather pointed inaction in the days leading up to January 6. (He’s also suing E. Jean Carroll for defamation, by the way, and as far as I can tell the entire basis of the suit is that she sued him and won.) Meanwhile, House Republicans have begun a probe to impeach Biden because… vibes, I guess? And they publicly censured former intel committee head Adam Schiff for doing his job, which would probably bother him way more if he weren’t successfully fundraising for re-election from it.

For yet another week, the main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front is financial. Here’s what I have for you:

Student Loan Plan Scramble. As we’ll discuss more below, SCOTUS opted to completely negate Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan on Friday. Needless to say, with loan forbearance ending this fall, that puts a lot of people in a bad place. To his credit, Biden wasted no time in announcing an adapted plan when the decision came down. The new proposal isn’t as comprehensive or supportive, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.

Your New Normal:

Health Horrorshows. Boy howdy, was there a lot going on over the past couple of weeks health-wise. In “I work on this at my day job” news, the Biden administration is horrified by how many people are getting kicked off of Medicaid for things like missing paperwork, so they are politely asking states to Do Better. Meanwhile, June 24 marks one year since the Dobbs decision, which has curtailed abortion access and worsened health outcomes in about half the states in the country. (Needless to say, the decision has remained unpopular a year later, given those outcomes.) Finally, much of the country continues to experience poor air quality and/or extreme heat due to climate change, which is causing health problems for many people as well.

The Bad:

SCOTUS Scandals and Screeds. Speaking of Dobbs and horrors, this past week’s SCOTUS cases were easily as destructive–so it’s extra fun that they were kicked off by yet another corruption scandal about a sitting justice. (This time, it was Justice Alito, who failed to disclose his fishing trip with a billionaire who had 10 cases before SCOTUS in the recent past.) In addition to the crappy Navajo water rights decision leading into the week, we had several new nadirs of jurisprudence: 1) The effective end of affirmative action for college admissions, which overturns 45 years of precedent; 2) Expansion of Christian religious accommodations for state employees, which overturns 46 years of precedent; 3) Erosion of LGBT equal rights protections based on a case that lacked ripeness and standing, because no one was requesting the services in question and the plaintiff didn’t even offer them; and 4) Negation of Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan based on a case where Missouri didn’t have standing. I am stressing the aberrations in each of these cases because, as Biden has publicly noted, none of this is normal for SCOTUS, and I really want people to understand that the decisions are damaging to the institution itself. These decisions are the legal equivalent of taking a check to the bank that isn’t signed and is made out to a guy named Steve you’ve never met, and the teller going “well I like Steve so here you go” and depositing it in your account anyway. In addition to being bad news for whoever’s checkbook that was, it just doesn’t follow the bank’s rules or make any sense.

The Good:

Recent Judicial Resilience (again). We did have a handful of promising court opinions as well, though of course they do not offset the above. In Tennessee and Kentucky, federal judges paused hormone blocker bans for adolescents; a similar ban for Medicaid recipients was struck down in Florida. There were also a few silver linings and decent decisions out of SCOTUS; they tossed out an unhinged lawsuit that demanded Biden order more deportations and re-affirmed the role of courts in keeping election districts at least somewhat constitutional. Some advocates are also saying that there is room for holistic review within the Students for Fair Admission case, and it has already sparked another lawsuit regarding legacy enrollment that may broaden existing positive change in admission practices.

So that’s what I have for you, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this Papa Roach filk and a more functional government. I’ll be back next week with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Year 7, Week 22 (June 11-17)

June 20, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Today is Juneteenth, and also marks its third year as a federal holiday. While I’m not the most qualified person to speak on the occasion, I urge you to spend some time today watching, reading or listening to the words of people who are.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an arraignment!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We’re still stuck on 45 for the original flavor Election Rejection this week. Here’s what has happened:

45 Reasons to Indict (cont). As foretold by prophecy, Trump did indeed appear and plead not-guilty in federal court on Tuesday. Somehow, this has managed to endear him further to Republicans, which is both striking commentary and frankly terrifying. It will likely be some time before we see further movement on his case; while we wait, he has wasted no time in damaging the judicial system by threatening communism and calling his prosecutor a “thug.” President Biden, meanwhile, is frustrating Democrats by refusing to comment on any of this.

We did get an extension on TPS this week, but the main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front is still financial. Here’s what I have for you:

Same Old Rate Old. The Federal Reserve was in the news this week because they didn’t raise interest rates for the first time in over a year. Nonetheless, they signaled that they probably will raise them next time, likely because prices of some essentials are still climbing, even though inflation is slowing in other ways. So we’ll have to see what happens on that front.

Your New Normal:

Health News Corner. There was a fair amount of health news this week. The American Medical Association finally admitted that the Body Mass Index metric is a bad metric indeed, and should not be used alone to assess patient health. Meanwhile, the White House is hosting a naloxone pricing summit later this week, but drew criticism for not inviting affordability advocates to said summit. In mental health news, the CDC released a report this week saying that Americans are more depressed in places where everything’s bad. Finally, the FDA recommended this week that COVID boosters be updated ahead of the fall to increase resistance to XBB.1.5.

The Bad:

Black Lives Still Matter. The Department of Justice published a lengthy report this week after multiple years of investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department, and the contents were just as horrifying as you might expect. The report found that the department routinely used excessive force for years before the 2020 murder of George Floyd, and ignored documentation practices so that they could continue to dangerously discriminate. The report release roughly coincides with the indictment of Jordan Neely’s killer in New York City, though the exact charges on that likely will not be released until his arraignment on June 28.

The Good:

Recent Judicial Resilience (again). This was another good week for court cases. The Supreme Court again shocked most of us by holding that the Indian Child Welfare Act could continue to do its thing uninterrupted, opting not to mess with a law already in place for nearly fifty years. Meanwhile, in Iowa, the state Supreme Court affirmed a block on their six-week abortion law, which will leave the procedure legal in the state until the 20th week of pregnancy.

So that’s what I have for you this week, and there will be more where that came from. For making it through, you deserve this corvid brushie session and a more functional government. I’ll be back next week with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more opportunities to nap!

Year 7, Week 21 (June 4-10)

June 13, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This is one of those rare weeks where virtually everyone here knows what the NNR is about to say. It’s a nice unifying moment of surreality–we might not always know what is going on, but by God, we all know that Donald Trump is now twice as indicted.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an arraignment!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

This was a heck of a week for original flavor Election Rejection. Here’s what has happened:

45 Reasons to Indict (cont). As one might expect when last week’s news involved a literal tape of Trump announcing that he kept classified documents, Trump was indeed federally indicted on Friday in Florida. His first court appearance is tomorrow, and the man has already wasted no time in letting everybody know he’s definitely still running for President even if he has to rule from a jail cell. Unusually, his unsealed indictment document is available online and is quite a read, if you have the time to peruse it–but if you just want the Cliffs Notes version, it’s thirty-seven counts of That Dude Sure Stole Classified Docs On Purpose. Memewhile, photos of classified documents in the chandelier-encrusted toilet at Mar-A-Lago are already everywhere.

The main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front this week is the debt ceiling dealing. Here’s what I have for you:

Debt Ceiling Dealing (cont). We’re continuing to see fallout from the debt ceiling deal, which appears to be the biggest news in the Biden administration for another week. To be fair to Biden though, the majority of news on this actually comes out of the House, where the GOP has been eating itself for the past week. More specifically, the far-right dregs of the party have been sticking it to McCarthy over anything and everything, which ultimately saw the House dismissing itself early on Wednesday evening. To be fair, this is almost certainly also exacerbated by the overstuffed clown car of 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls, which just keeps gaining occupants and increasing splintering of the party as the weeks go on.

Your New Normal:

LGBTQIA+ Roundup. With one exception we’ll discuss below, this was a bleak week for LGBTQIA+ news. In Louisiana and Missouri, new laws were passed banning access to gender-affirming care for minors. Relatedly, the Southern Poverty Law Center documented Moms for Liberty and other parental hate groups in its annual retrospective, which was released this week. Similarly, the Human Rights Campaign this week declared a national state of emergency for American LGBTQIA+ people for the first time in its 43-year history. The HRC also released a Guidebook for Action that offers information about which places are still safe to travel for LGBTQIA+ people. It also offers guidance for how to move out of dangerous places. Needless to say, though I live in a place that is considered among the safest in the country for my household, it is deeply disheartening to review these materials–and even more disheartening to know how necessary they are for millions of Americans.

The Bad:

Hard to Breathe AQI. Speaking of millions of Americans, pretty much the whole Eastern seaboard suffered low air quality this week, as Canadian wildfires spread high volumes of smoke further south. Air quality was particularly poor in places like Philadelphia and New York City, where geographic location and ambient industry combined to create extreme conditions. (Thankfully, both New York and Philly, along with the rest of the Eastern seaboard, appear to be more-or-less back to normal by the time that I type this.)

The Good:

Recent Judicial Resilience. We have some more interesting court cases this week, even beyond the indictmas discussed above. In true stopped clock fashion, SCOTUS stunned everybody this week by actually deciding Alabama discriminated against Black voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Less bombastically but still interestingly, at least if you’re me, they also held that people can sue nursing homes even when they’re Medicaid funded. Meanwhile, in Florida, a federal judge blocked the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, saying that the state has no rational basis for limiting access to health care and noting that “gender identity is real” in his opinion.

So that’s what I have for you this week, and there will be more where that came from. For making it through, you deserve this master of disguise and a more functional government. I’ll be back next week with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me recipes you like on hot days!