“Community TEA” for April 25, 2021

Marking his first 100 days since taking office on January 20, President Joe Biden is headed to Atlanta where he will headline a drive-in rally to highlight his administration’s policies since he was sworn into office. This will be the president’s second trip to Georgia since he became President.

Calling it “an incredible achievement for the nation, ” President Biden announced this week that Americans have received 200 million COVID-19 vaccinations since he took office, which doubles his initial goal of 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days.

Biden will address a joint session of Congress on April 28, delivering his first remarks to both chambers since taking office.

In an effort to involve corporate America in his vaccination campaign, President Biden announced tax credits for certain businesses that allow employees who take time off to get COVID-19 shots.

The government has issued warnings that fake COVID-19 vaccinations from Mexico are being sold on-line as they warn consumers that no legitimate vaccine would ever be sold on the internet. These fake vaccines join the fake COVID N95 masks and fake COVID vaccination shot cards that are flooding the internet.

The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation of the Minneapolis Police Department 24 hours after a jury

convicted former officer Dereck Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. The investigation will determine whether the police department engages in a pattern or practice of policing that violates the Constitution or federal civil rights laws.

The SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavor spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station early Saturday morning, nearly 24 hours after liftoff from Florida. SpaceX’s Commander, Shane Kimbrough, grew up in Atlanta, attended Lovett School and graduated from Georgia Tech.

Earth Day was celebrated this week. People from around the world drove efforts to protect the planet from the humans that occupy it. The first Earth Day was held in 1970 and since then, organizers use each Earth Day to drive a year of energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to creating a new plan of action for our planet.

A dozen governors from around the country sent a letter to President Biden asking him to ban the sale of cars and light trucks that emit greenhouse gases by 2035. The governors of California, New York, North Carolina and nine other states — all but one a Democrat — asked for the change ahead of a White House climate summit Biden held this week.

Honda declared that all of its auto sales will be electric by 2040 and that the company will invest $46 million in research and development over the next six years.

Subaru is recalling nearly 875,000 cars and SUVs in the U.S. because the engines can stall or a rear suspension part can fall off. This covers more than 466,000 Crosstrek SUVs from 2018 and 2019 and Impreza cara from 2017 through 2019.

The Governors of Florida and Alaska have filed a lawsuit against the CDC and the Federal Government for not allowing them to return to cruising. As cruising worldwide is making a restart, the industry in the U. S. remains at a standstill.

The House voted on Thursday, along party lines, to pass a bill that would grant statehood to Washington, D.C. Even with control of both chambers of Congress and the White House, Democrats face obstacles to final passage in the Senate.

By unanimous consent, the Senate confirmed Deanne Criswell to be the next administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Criswell is the first woman to lead FEMA since its creation in 1979.

Study suggests pregnant women can safely get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Mercedes Benz has walk up vaccinations, no appointment necessary for anyone wanting a COVID-19 vaccination.

The City of Smyrna will provide vaccines every Friday from 1 – 4 p.m. at the Smyrna Community Center large gym. To make an appointment, http://vaccines.smyrnaga.gov.

A lawsuit filed by parents over Cobb County School District face mask mandate has been moved to the Federal Court system.

Gov. Brian Kemp appointed the Rev. Abraham Mosley as the Stone Mountain Memorial Association chairman, the first

Black man to hold the role over this controversial monument.

As travel plummeted around the globe in 2020, an airport in China overtook Hartsfield-Jackson International to become the world’s busiest in passenger traffic. For the first time in more than two decades, the Atlanta airport didn’t record the highest passenger count, according to preliminary world airport traffic rankings released by Airports Council International. The

title now belongs to Guangzhou Bai Yun International Airport in China. Between the travel shutdown in the U.S., China staging a quicker recovery than our country, and China being a vast country with a population of nearly 1.4 billion, these factors contributed to the country taking the title from Atlanta, but just like Schwarzenegger in the Terminator, we will be back.

State Farm Insurance is leading the way back to increased prices for auto insurance. Companies had reduced premiums during 2020 due to COVID-19 and less people traveling on the road, but now that people are back in their cars, cost are rising. State Farm raised their premiums by 4% last month, which other insurance providers are expected to soon follow.

Girl Scout cookie sales in 2021 have taken a hit due to COVID-19 restrictions. Millions of dollars of unsold Girl Scout cookies are sitting on a shelf in an Atlanta Warehouse because social distancing impacted the ability for troop members to go door to door or set up tents in community areas to sell their treats. The leadership of the Girl Scouts said the plan was to sell 4 million boxes, but only 2.5 million have been sold. Cookies are available for purchase to anyone who wants to support the Girl Scotts. You can purchase them by the box or by the case at showmethecookies.com.

After a social media campaign to get LeVar Burton, a star of “Reading Rainbow” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” into a guest host slot on “Jeopardy!,” the show announced this week that Burton would indeed step up in the last week of July.

The last full week of April is National Sky Awareness Week. The goal is to get people to go outside, look up, notice sky conditions, variant colors, the clouds and how they’re moving. This is called the practice of nephelococcygia – the art of finding shapes in the clouds…so take a moment to get outside, get some fresh air, and look up.

Have a wonderful and safe week…

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