Community Tea

The Biden administration plans to spend more than $1 billion on a new program to offer free coronavirus shots to uninsured Americans after the vaccines move to the commercial market later this year. The program for the uninsured, which will be modeled partly on an existing childhood vaccination program and will cover an estimated 30 million people, will include a first-of-its-kind partnership with pharmacy chains in which the government will pay the administrative costs of giving the doses to patients. Pfizer and Moderna have pledged to offer the shots at no cost to those who lack insurance.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is back at work in the U.S. Capitol on Monday, almost six weeks after a fall at a Washington-area hotel and extended treatment for a concussion. The longtime Kentucky senator, 81, has been recovering at home since he was released from a rehabilitation facility March 25. He fell after attending an event earlier that month, injuring his head and fracturing a rib.

Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, who sought to replace the California governor in a failed 2021 recall effort, announced Thursday he is running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Elder, 70, made the announcement on Fox News. The long-shot candidate joins a Republican field that includes former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswam.

Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler has been named to the board of the Republican State Leadership Committee, a Washington-based group that aims to win control of state legislative chambers across the country. 

Ex-congresswoman finds new job: Former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux will serve as a consultant on special projects for the management team of the Gateway85 Community Improvement District. Bourdeaux’s work will focus on increasing the number of electric-vehicle charging stations in the area and seeking improvements to Jimmy Carter Boulevard. Bourdeaux, a Suwanee Democrat, served one term in Congress before falling to U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath in a 2022 primary.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s second degree murder conviction in the killing of George Floyd. His 221/2- year sentence remains in place. Floyd died May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, used his knee to pin the Black man’s neck to the ground for 9 1/2 minutes. 

The judge in the Fox News defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems said Tuesday that the case was resolved, abruptly ending a long-running dispute over misinformation in the 2020 election just as a highly anticipated trial was about to begin. The settlement included a $787.5 million payment from Fox, according to Justin Nelson, a lawyer for Dominion. “The truth matters. Lies have consequences,” he said. 

Prosecutors said they will dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western film “ Rust,” but cautioned that their investigation is not over and the actor has not been absolved yet. Special prosecutors Kari Morrisey and Jason Lewis announced their decision to dismiss the felony charge after “new facts were revealed that demand further investigation and forensic analysis,” without giving further details. An involuntary manslaughter charge against Hannah Gutierrez Reed, weapons supervisor on the film, remains unchanged. 

Fulton County and Morehouse School of Medicine have agreed to a plan to open a new primary care clinic in East Point less than a mile from the former Atlanta Medical Center South hospital, which closed last year. Commissioners, who have called for an investigation of AMC’s owner, Wellstar Health System, for “redlining” or closing hospitals in majority Black and poor areas, on Wednesday discussed the need to act quickly to address the lack of health care access in south Fulton.

College Park’s current deputy police chief and former city manager have filed a federal lawsuit against the city. In a joint sexual discrimination lawsuit, Deputy Police Chief Sharis McCrary and former City Manager Darnetta Tyus are alleging the city allows a culture of intimidation and bullying of women throughout the city administration and City Council. The women’s attorneys filed the lawsuit on their behalf in the U.S. District Court of Georgia’s Northern District on Tuesday, in which they’re asking for a jury trial, monetary damages and more. 

Colin Kaepernick, the civil rights activist and former NFL quarterback, will pay for an independent autopsy for Lashawn Thompson, who died in the Fulton County Jail last year, according to Thompson’s family’s attorneys. Thompson, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida, was discovered unresponsive in the jail’s psychiatric wing covered in bed bugs, according to a Fulton County Medical Examiner report. His cause of death was undetermined, the report said, noting a “severe bed bug infestation” in the jail.

A new lawsuit filed in federal court last month alleges that Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat is failing to create a safe and sanitary environment at a jail in south Fulton. The lawsuit alleges Labat isn’t giving mentally ill detainees daily time out of their jail cells for the yard, gym and other therapeutic activities. It also claims Labat is not properly documenting which inmates are mentally ill or on suicide watch, among other records, such as tracking if inmates receive out-of-cell offers. 

Many of Twitter’s high-profile users are losing the blue checks that helped verify their identity and distinguish them from impostors on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform. After several false starts, Twitter began making good on its promise Thursday to remove the blue checks from accounts that don’t pay a monthly fee to keep them. Twitter had about 300,000 verified users under the original bluecheck system — many of them journalists, athletes and public figures. The cost of keeping the marks starts at $8 a month.

SpaceX’s giant new rocket exploded minutes after blasting off on its first test flight Thursday and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built on a round-the world trip from the southern tip of Texas, near the Mexican border. The nearly 400- foot Starship carried no people or satellites. 

University System of Georgia officials said Tuesday they’re considering several options, including a tuition hike, to help fill a budget hole after state lawmakers unexpectedly cut its funding for the next fiscal year. The Georgia Board of Regents typically makes tuition decisions at its April meeting but plans to wait until May to consider potential tuition and fee increases for the state’s 26 public colleges.

Congratulations to Olympic gymnast, Simone Biles who got married over the weekend! The 26 year old wed her longtime partner, 27 year old Houston Texans player Jonathan Owens, and revealed the news on social media on Saturday. 

Tiger Woods had fusion surgery on his right ankle Wednesday morning to alleviate arthritis from a broken bone, putting in doubt whether he plays any more majors this year. Woods disclosed the surgery on Twitter and said it was a subtalar fusion procedure to address post traumatic arthritis from when he broke his talus bone in February 2021.

The owner of the iconic CNN Center is reportedly considering transforming at least some of the complex into housing. Florida-based real estate firm CP Group, which acquired the facility in 2021 as part of a joint venture, said about 300 apartments could be incorporated into the building’s multiyear redevelopment plan. In January, CNN announced it will leave its namesake building in stages this year, moving the company’s entire operation to renovated space at the 30-acre Turner Techwood campus in Midtown. 

Netflix’s signature red envelopes have finally reached their end. After 25 years of sending discs of movies and TV shows to people through the mail, Netflix is discontinuing the DVD subscription business that started it all, the company announced in its Tuesday earnings report. 

General Motors is recalling certain Chevrolet Silverado medium-duty trucks for model year 2019 or later, following the discovery of a potential leak in brake fluid that could result in a fire. Potentially 40,428 vehicles could be affected. They include 4500HD, 5500HD, and 6500HD models with model years between 2019 and 2023, according to documents posted by U.S. safety regulators on Saturday. The vehicles may have a brake pressure sensor assembly that allows brake fluid to leak and cause a short circuit. That in turn increases the risk of a fire that could occur when the vehicle is either driving or parked. GM advises owners with potentially affected models to park outdoors and away from structure

Lyft will lay off about 1,200 as it looks to cut costs. Lyft has struggled financially while trying to compete with its rival, Uber. The layoffs are expected this week. 

Have a wonderful week…