3 minute read
the Pandemic
from Issue 6 - May 2020
DARSHINI VIJAYAKUMAR writer
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Despite the coronavirus pandemic taking over many news platforms and stories, there are still numerous news events changing lives across the world, albeit in the shadows.
PG&E
PG&E has agreed to plead guilty on 84 counts of involuntary man
slaughter and one count of felony for illegally causing a fire in the
legal aftermath of the Camp Fire in California. The fire was sparked by PG&E equipment and burned through three cities, destroying 150,000 acres of homes and stores in its wake. PG&E was set to appear in court in March, but could not convene due to the coronavirus, so the court date has been pushed back until further notice.
US Senators
Four US senators are being accused of insider trad
ing of massive stock holdings that are worth millions of dollars. Republican Senators Richard Burr, James Inhofe, Kelly Loeffler, and Democratic Senator Dianne
Feinstein all sold their stocks after learning the news of the economic damages that the coronavirus can do in the Senate. This violates the Stop Trading on Congres
sional Knowledge Act, which was passed in 2012, pre
venting congressional employees from conducting in
sider trading based on the information learned through
their jobs. The senators traded millions of dollars worth of stock to avoid the potential losses that the coronavirus pandemic would cause on the stock market.
US Census Bureau
Data has been showwn that US population growth is on the decline. The population growth of the United States is the lowest it has been since 1919 and can further be threatened by this pandemic. The University of New Hampshire reported that there was a record high in United States deaths last year, standing at 2,835,000, and the fewest births since 1986, standing at 3,792,000. In nearly 46 countries the number of deaths was far greater than the number of births in the past year. The coronavirus could have a major impact on population growth, much like the Spanish Flu did back in 1919, when the US population dropped by 60,000.
Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders drops out of the presiden
tial race. After a strong performance in the first couple of states during the February
elections but an ultimate loss to Joe Biden in a landslide victory in South Carolina, Bernie Sanders has now deemed it time to end his presidential run. The Vermont senator announced his decision in a live stream call with his campaign staff and told them that this was a decision he did not
take very lightly. With Sanders dropping the race, the road is paved for Joe Biden to pursue the ultimate Democratic nomination and face incumbent President Donald Trump in the upcoming fall elections.
Pittsburg Synanogue Shooter
The shooter has the death penalty on the table. Robert Bowers, the gunman in last year’s Tree of Life shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, has been charged with the death penalty. The federal judge
in charge of the case refuses to have the death penalty taken off the bid, but the defendant’s lawyers are calling it unconstitutional, claiming that it violates the Fifth Amendment, due process, and the Eighth Amendment, which relates to bans on cruel and unusual punishment. With Bowers having pleaded not guilty for his charges of killing 11 people, his lawyers are aiming to negotiate a life sentence.