First Edition: June 25, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Officials Seek To Shift Resources Away From Policing To Address Black ‘Public Health Crisis’ 
From Boston to San Bernardino, California, communities across the U.S. are declaring racism a public health crisis. Fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic’s disproportionate impact on communities of color, as well as the killing of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police, cities and counties are calling for more funding for health care and other public services, sometimes at the expense of the police budget. (Almendrala, 6/25)

Kaiser Health News: Cities Brace For ‘Collision Course’ Of Heat Waves And COVID-19
Aaron McCullough brought his 3-year-old daughter, Ariana, to a playground in a leafy neighborhood of Rochester, New York, on a day in mid-June when the temperature topped out at 94 degrees. The playground is one of seven spray parks in the city that offer cooling water whenever temperatures exceed 85 degrees. (Dahlberg, 6/25)

Kaiser Health News: As COVID Cases Spike, California Shifts Its Strategy
Coronavirus infections are rising so fast in Fresno County that California public health officials have identified it as one of nearly a dozen counties entering dangerous territory as economies reopen. Cases there have more than doubled over the past month, and county residents are testing positive at nearly twice the rate of Californians as a whole. Outbreaks at nursing homes and Avenal State Prison in nearby Kings County — where more than 900 inmates and workers have been infected — are big contributors. (Hart and Barry-Jester, 6/25)

Kaiser Health News: Fearing The Deadly Combo Of COVID-19 And Cancer
Three Tuesdays each month, Katherine O’Brien straps on her face mask and journeys about half an hour by Metra rail to Northwestern University’s Lurie Cancer Center. What were once packed train cars rolling into Chicago are now eerily empty, as those usually commuting to towering skyscrapers weather the pandemic from home. But for O’Brien, the excursion is mandatory. She’s one of millions of Americans battling cancer and depends on chemotherapy to treat the breast cancer that has spread to her bones and liver. (Norman, 6/25)

Kaiser Health News: Airlines Want Flyers To Feel Safe, But Grab Bag Of COVID Policies Adds Turbulence
Tony Scott boarded an American Airlines flight May 25 from Los Angeles to Dallas. It was a trip he felt he had to take despite concerns about the coronavirus. His son, who lives in Texas, was having health problems. The teen seated next to Scott in business class wasn’t wearing a mask. Scott was surprised because before the flight he received an email from American reminding him masks were required. He flagged down a flight attendant, who gently reminded the teen of the face-covering rule. She still declined to wear the mask, and the flight attendant told Scott that because she was a minor, the teen was exempt from the requirement. (Knight, 6/25)

The New York Times: U.S. Sets Record For Daily New Cases As Virus Surges In South And West
More than two months after the United States recorded its worst day of new infections since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the nation reached another grim milestone on Wednesday as it reported 36,880 new cases. (6/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Cases Are Accelerating Across U.S. 
Covid-19’s spread is picking up steam in a larger swath of the U.S. as cases have increased at a faster rate nationwide for nearly two weeks, an acceleration that isn’t attributable solely to increased testing, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows. Thirty-three states, from Oklahoma to South Carolina and Washington, had a seven-day average of new cases on Tuesday that was higher than their average during the past two weeks, according to a Journal analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. That was the situation in 21 states at the start of the month, so the data reflect recent increases in new cases. (Krouse, DeBarros and Abbott, 6/24)

AP: 'Coming Back And Biting Us': US Sees Virus Resurgence
A coronavirus resurgence is wiping out two months of progress in the U.S. and sending infections to dire new levels across the South and West, with hospital administrators and health experts warning Wednesday that politicians and a tired-of-being-cooped-up public are letting a disaster unfold. The U.S. recorded a one-day total of 34,700 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, the highest level since late April, when the number peaked at 36,400, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. (Merchant and Lozano, 6/25)

CNN: US Coronavirus: 'Apocalyptic' Surges Feared In Some Cities
The three most populous states set records for new coronavirus cases daily with fears of "apocalyptic" surges in major Texas cities if the trend continues. Coronavirus has killed at least 121,979 people and infected nearly 2.4 million nationwide, according to Johns Hopkins. Florida and Texas announced Wednesday that they'd recorded more than 5,000 new Covid-19 cases the prior day, a new daily record. California reported more than 7,000 cases, obliterating a record hit a day earlier. (Karimi and Wood, 6/25)

AP: Virus Cases Surge Among The Young, Endangering Older Adults
Coronavirus cases are climbing rapidly among young adults in a number of states where bars, stores and restaurants have reopened — a disturbing generational shift that not only puts them in greater peril than many realize but poses an even bigger danger to older people who cross their paths. (Johnson and Lush, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Deaths Lag Behind New Spike In Infections, But May Catch Up Soon
With novel coronavirus infections setting a single-day national record Wednesday, health experts are taking little solace from one of the few bright spots in the current resurgence: Deaths are not rising in lockstep with caseloads. But that may be just a matter of time. (Bernstein, Weiner and Achenbach, 6/24)

The New York Times: N.Y., N.J. And Conn. To Begin Coronavirus Travel Quarantine For Hot Spot States 
A few months ago, New York was suffering through the worst ravages of the coronavirus pandemic. Hospitals filled to near capacity. Hundreds of people died each day, reaching a peak in mid-April. The rest of the country recoiled at the sight of a New York license plate. Florida and Rhode Island singled out New York travelers, who researchers now believe helped to seed the spread of the virus in other states. (Goodman, 6/24)

Reuters: U.S. Northeast Governors Order Quarantine Of Visitors From Coronavirus Hot Spot States 
The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut on Wednesday ordered travelers from eight other U.S. states to be quarantined for two weeks on arrival, as COVID-19 infections surged in regions spared the brunt of the initial outbreak. The unprecedented travel restrictions came as Disney announced it would delay the reopening of its theme parks, and Nevada’s governor signed a directive requiring face coverings in casinos and all other public places from Friday. (Allen and Szekely, 6/24)

AP: Heading To These 3 States? Quarantine Might Be In The Cards
New York, Connecticut and New Jersey asked Wednesday for travelers from states with high coronavirus infection rates to go into quarantine for 14 days in a bid to preserve hard-fought gains as caseloads rise elsewhere in the country. “We now have to make sure the rates continue to drop,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday at a briefing in New York City, joined via video by Govs. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Ned Lamont of Connecticut, both fellow Democrats. “We also have to make sure the virus doesn’t come on a plane again.” (Hill, 6/25)

AP: 'Faces Of The Conquerors': Trump Trip To Rushmore Draws Fire
Several groups led by Native American activists are planning protests for Trump’s July 3 visit, part of Trump’s “comeback” campaign for a nation reeling from sickness, unemployment and, recently, social unrest. The event is slated to include fighter jets thundering over the 79-year-old stone monument in South Dakota’s Black Hills and the first fireworks display at the site since 2009. But it comes amid a national reckoning over racism and a reconsideration of the symbolism of monuments around the globe. Many Native Americans activists say the Rushmore memorial is as reprehensible as the many Confederate monuments being toppled around the nation. (Groves, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Trump Is Headlining Fireworks At Mount Rushmore. Experts Worry Two Things Could Spread: Virus And Wildfire. 
President Trump is planning a massive fireworks display at Mount Rushmore on July 3, despite a decade-long ban on pyrotechnics at the iconic spot because of concerns about public health, environmental and safety risks. Trump has wanted to stage fireworks at the national memorial in South Dakota’s Black Hills since 2018, according to two individuals familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. But the idea was scuttled or delayed by a number of his advisers, these individuals said. (Eilperin, Fears and Dawsey, 6/24)

The Washington Post: Dozens Of Secret Service Officers And Agents Told To Self-Quarantine After Trump’s Tulsa Rally 
The Secret Service instructed employees who worked the Tulsa event to stay at home for 14 days when they returned from the weekend trip, according to two people familiar with the agency’s decision. The order came in the wake of the discovery — hours before the president’s Saturday evening rally — that at least six advance staffers who helped organize the trip had tested positive for the virus, including two Secret Service employees. Another two advance staffers tested positive after Trump returned to Washington on Sunday. (Leonnig and Partlow, 6/24)

The Hill: Trump Rally Sparks Self Quarantine Of Dozens Of Secret Service Agents 
The Secret Service field office in Tulsa arranged for a testing session at a hospital to determine if area agents and some local officials were infected with COVID-19, the Washington Post reported. "The U.S. Secret Service remains prepared and staffed to fulfill all of the various duties as required. Any implication that the agency is in some way unprepared or incapable of executing our mission would be inaccurate," U.S. Secret Service Director of Communications Catherine Milhoan told The Hill on Wednesday. (Pitofsky, 6/24)

CNN: Dozens Of Secret Service Agents Will Be Quarantined After Trump's Tulsa Rally 
Dozens of Secret Service agents will be quarantined as a precaution following President Donald Trump's rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a law enforcement official told CNN on Wednesday. The mass quarantine has led to the decision that Secret Service agents involved with presidential trips must be tested for coronavirus for the next couple of weeks, according to an email sent to agency personnel. The email sent out Wednesday was confirmed by the law enforcement official. Agents must now be tested 24 to 48 hours before a presidential trip, the email said. The new testing mandate will be in place until July 4. (Acosta and LeBlanc, 6/24)

Politico: Trump Administration Ending Support For Drive-Thru Testing Sites 
The sites, which HHS says are spread across five states, are the remnants of a larger federal testing program established early in the pandemic. Seven sites are in Texas, which is experiencing record numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. (Lim, 6/24)

The Hill: Trump 'Not Withdrawing Support' From COVID-19 Testing Sites, Official Says 
The Trump administration is not abandoning federally funded coronavirus testing sites, the administration's COVID-19 testing czar said Wednesday. Adm. Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, said that even though the government will stop directly funding 13 community-based coronavirus testing sites, the amount of testing will not decrease and the sites should not lose resources. (Weixel, 6/24)

The New York Times: Trump’s False Attacks On Voting By Mail Stir Broad Concern 
President Trump is stepping up his attacks on the integrity of the election system, sowing doubts about the November vote at a time when the pandemic has upended normal balloting and as polls show former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. ahead by large margins. (Haberman, Dorasaniti and Qiu, 6/24)

AP: Mail-In Ballots Thrust Postal Service Into Presidential Race
The U.S. Postal Service’s famous motto — “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers” — is being tested like never before, by challenges that go well beyond the weather. ... Results were delayed this week in Kentucky and New York as both states were overwhelmed by huge increases in mail ballots. (Weissert, 6/25)

AP: Election Results Are Delayed Again. Get Used To It.
Kentucky and New York had primaries Tuesday, but the winners of the closest races probably won’t be known until next week. What’s going on? Get used to it. Slow vote counts and delayed results are a feature of elections during the pandemic and are likely to continue into the general election in November, when many election officials say that, absent a landslide, it won’t be clear who won the presidential election for several days. (Riccardi and Ohlemacher, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Black And Gay Candidates Tap The Energy Of Racial Justice Protests And Push For Equality In Bid For Electoral Breakthroughs 
Young black and gay candidates were heading for electoral breakthroughs this week, turning the public clamor for racial justice and equality into likely primary upsets in New York, Kentucky and Virginia. Those results have revealed a resurgent left, which has pivoted from defeat in the Democratic presidential primary to a focus on down-ballot races. In safe blue seats, and in places where the party has tended to nominate moderates, a coalition of white liberals and nonwhite voters is transferring energy from the past month’s protest movements into challenges of the party’s establishment. (Weigel and Kane, 6/24)

The Washington Post: Delegates Told To Stay Home For Joe Biden’s Nominating Convention In Milwaukee
The decision to shift gears and shrink attendance, abandoning the city’s basketball arena for a nearby convention hall, is intended to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus and establish a clear contrast with President Trump, who wants a large and raucous event with thousands of cheering supporters to celebrate his nomination. “The thing that I believe more than anything is that Donald Trump needs the roar of a crowd to feel he is in charge,” Democratic convention CEO Joe Solmonese said. “And Joe Biden was born to be in charge.” (Scherer, 6/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden To Attend Milwaukee Convention, But Democrats Will Tell Delegates To Stay Home 
The DNC said convention organizers will encourage state delegations to plan to conduct their official business remotely. The committee is developing a process to ensure that delegates can cast their votes on convention matters, including the presidential nomination, without being at the convention in person. The party will also host events in several satellite cities across the nation during the convention. (Thomas and Glazer, 6/24)

AP: Democrats Confirm Plans For Nearly All-Virtual Convention
Democrats will hold an almost entirely virtual presidential nominating convention Aug. 17-20 in Milwaukee using live broadcasts and online streaming, party officials said Wednesday. Joe Biden plans to accept the presidential nomination in person, but it remains to be seen whether there will be a significant in-person audience there to see it. (Barrow, 6/24)

The New York Times: Biden Takes Dominant Lead As Voters Reject Trump On Virus And Race
Joseph R. Biden Jr. has taken a commanding lead over President Trump in the 2020 race, building a wide advantage among women and nonwhite voters and making deep inroads with some traditionally Republican-leaning groups that have shifted away from Mr. Trump following his ineffective response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new national poll of registered voters by The New York Times and Siena College. (Burns, Martin and Stevens, 6/24)

Reuters: Biden To Attack Trump On Healthcare In Election Battleground 
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday will visit the heart of must-win Pennsylvania to highlight healthcare policies that his campaign hopes will sway voters to choose him over President Donald Trump. As part of a slow creep out of his Delaware home amid coronavirus concerns to destinations further afield, Biden, who grew up in the Pennsylvania rust-belt city of Scranton, is headed to the city of Lancaster as part of a trip intended to weaken the Republican president’s standing with swing-state voters. (Hunnicutt, 6/25)

AP: Police Overhaul Dims, But House Democrats Push Ahead On Vote
A policing overhaul may have collapsed in Congress, but House Democrats are returning to Washington for a daylong debate on their sweeping proposal that now serves as a signal to voters after the global outcry over the death of George Floyd and other Black Americans. The House is set to vote Thursday evening on the Justice in Policing Act, perhaps the most ambitious proposed changes to police procedures and accountability in decades. (Mascaro, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Pence Tries To Assure GOP Senators As Coronavirus Cases Spike 
Vice President Pence urged GOP senators on Wednesday to focus on “encouraging signs” despite a recent spike in coronavirus cases in numerous states as various localities move swiftly to reopen their economies, according to several people present. Pence made the remarks in a closed-door lunch with Republican senators on Capitol Hill as lawmakers have begun to express alarm because of rising infection rates in Florida, Arizona, Texas and several other states, some of which are likely to be critical to the outcome of the presidential race in the fall and control of the Senate. On Wednesday, five states hit new highs in coronavirus hospitalizations. (Werner, 6/24)

Politico: Coronavirus Threatens Democracy, Prominent Figures Warn 
The future of liberal democracy is under threat because of the Covid-19 pandemic, as even democratically-elected governments have accumulated emergency powers that restrict human rights, numerous prominent figures argue in an open letter published Thursday. "Parliaments are being sidelined, journalists are being arrested and harassed, minorities are being scapegoated, and the most vulnerable sectors of the population face alarming new dangers as the economic lockdowns ravage the very fabric of societies everywhere," says the letter, commissioned by IDEA, a Stockholm-based think tank. (Gehrke, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Roundup Maker Will Pay $10 Million To Settle Cancer Claims 
The world’s largest seed and agrochemical maker announced the settlement in a news release on Wednesday, saying it will allocate as much as $9.6 billion to resolve current Roundup litigation. The company said the pool will cover roughly 125,000 claims that allege the product leads to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The company said 75 percent of those cases were resolved as part of Wednesday’s agreement. (Denham, 6/24)

Reuters: Bayer Bets On Science In Bid To Prevent Future Roundup Lawsuits: Legal Experts 
The company on Wednesday agreed to pay as much as $10.9 billion to settle about 75% of the 125,000 filed and unfiled claims by Roundup users who say the herbicide caused them to develop a form of blood cancer. But Bayer had to find a separate solution to mitigate the risk of future claims without pulling the product off the shelves. The company decided to make a calculated gamble on the scientific evidence which so far has overwhelmingly supported its claim that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is safe for agricultural use. (Bellon, 6/25)

The New York Times: Roundup Maker To Pay $10 Billion To Settle Cancer Suits 
When Bayer, the giant German chemical and pharmaceutical maker, acquired Monsanto two years ago, the company knew it was also buying the world’s best-known weedkiller. What it didn’t anticipate was a legal firestorm over claims that the herbicide, Roundup, caused cancer. Now Bayer is moving to put those troubles behind it, agreeing to pay more than $10 billion to settle tens of thousands of claims while continuing to sell the product without adding warning labels about its safety. (Cohen, 6/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Bayer To Pay Up To $10.9 Billion To Settle Lawsuits Over Roundup Weedkiller 
Investors have long been waiting for a settlement to bring clarity over how much the litigation will cost Bayer, following its 2018 purchase of U.S. agricultural giant Monsanto Co. The deal brought the company thousands of Roundup-related lawsuits. Three jury-trial losses tanked shares and sparked a revolt among shareholders angry at Bayer’s management for plunging the company into one of the worst crises in its history with the $63 billion Monsanto acquisition. (Bender, Kusisto and Randazzo, 6/24)

AP: Bayer Paying Up To $10.9B To Settle Monsanto Weedkiller Case
Bayer said Wednesday that it will pay up to $10.9 billion to settle litigation over the weedkiller Roundup, which has faced thousands of lawsuits over claims it causes cancer. Bayer said it was also paying up $1.22 billion to settle two additional areas of intense litigation, one involving toxic chemical PCB in water, and one involving dicamba, another weedkiller. (6/24)

The New York Times: Ahmaud Arbery Shooting: Suspects Indicted On Murder Charges
Mr. Arbery, 25, was spotted in the Satilla Shores neighborhood, outside of Brunswick, Ga., while running on a Sunday afternoon. A surveillance camera showed that Mr. Arbery stopped for a few minutes inside a house under construction before resuming his jog. Gregory McMichael later told the authorities he thought Mr. Arbery was a suspect in a series of break-ins in the neighborhood. He and Travis McMichael armed themselves, they told the police, got into a pickup truck, and tried to catch Mr. Arbery. Mr. Bryan, who is known as Roddie, also gave chase in his vehicle, a state investigator said, and used his cellphone to film the killing of Mr. Arbery. (Fausset, 6/24)

The Washington Post: Georgia Grand Jury Indicts Three Men In Killing Of Ahmaud Arbery 
If convicted on the murder charges, the defendants would face a minimum of life in prison and could face a death sentence. “This is another step forward in seeking justice for Ahmaud,” said Joyette M. Holmes, the district attorney in Cobb County, who was specially appointed to handle the case. “We will continue to be intentional in the pursuit of justice for this family and the community at large as the prosecution of this case continues.” (Witte and Brice-Saddler, 6/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Three Men Indicted On Murder Charges In Ahmaud Arbery’s Shooting
“This is another step forward in seeking justice for Ahmaud,” Ms. Holmes said in a statement Wednesday. “We will continue to be intentional in the pursuit of justice for this family and the community at large as the prosecution of this case continues.” Although most courts in Georgia remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the district attorney’s office said it was able to present the case on Wednesday under a judicial order that allowed grand juries that are already impaneled or are recalled from a previous term to assemble. (Siddiqui, 6/24)

Reuters: Three Men Indicted With Murder Of Black Jogger In Georgia 
Three white men arrested last month in the slaying of a Black man who was gunned down as he jogged through a suburban neighborhood in Georgia four months ago were indicted on Wednesday on murder and other charges. Video footage showing the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, 25, in the coastal Georgia town of Brunswick emerged on social media and went viral in May, some 10 weeks after his death, stoking public outrage at the lack of arrests at that time. (McKay, 6/24)

AP: 3 Men Indicted On Murder Charges In Killing Of Ahmaud Arbery
Prosecutor Joyette Holmes announced Wednesday that a grand jury has indicted Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. on charges including malice and felony murder in Arbery’s death. “This is another positive step, another great step for finding justice for Ahmaud, for finding justice for this family and the community beyond,” Holmes said at a news conference outside the Glynn County courthouse in Brunswick that was streamed online by news outlets. (Brumback, 6/25)

The Washington Post: Army Activates 400 D.C. National Guard Members For Monument Protection 
The Army activated about 400 unarmed members of the Washington, D.C., National Guard to “prevent any defacing or destruction” of monuments, defense officials said Wednesday, as protests over police violence continue alongside efforts to pull down statues in the capital.Interior Secretary David Bernhardt requested the Guardsmen to bolster the National Park Police, said Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Craig Clapper, a D.C. Guard spokesman. The Guardsmen were posted at an armory awaiting directions for when and where they will be used, Clapper said. (Horton, 6/24)

The Washington Post: Nooses, Hangings And Cross Burnings: Imagery Of America’s Dark Racial History Sparks Fear Nationwide 
Some of the ugliest, most resonant symbols of the nation's history of racial violence have returned after more than half a century to galvanize national demonstrations in recent weeks driven by the Black Lives Matter movement. On both coasts, black men have been found hanging from tree branches, suspected suicides that have revived the images of lynchings. Cross burnings are under investigation in at least two Southern states. And nooses have been reported in places as varied as the Sonoma Raceway in California and a construction site in Portland, Ore. (Green, Hawkins and Wilson, 6/24)

AP: Census Shows White Decline, Nonwhite Majority Among Youngest
For the generation of Americans not yet old enough to drive, the demographic future has arrived. For the first time, nonwhites and Hispanics were a majority of people under age 16 in 2019, an expected demographic shift that will grow over the coming decades, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday. (Schneider, 6/25)

The New York Times: NASA Names Headquarters After Its First Black Female Engineer, Mary Jackson 
NASA announced on Wednesday that it would name its Washington, D.C., headquarters after Mary Jackson, the organization’s first black female engineer and a pivotal player in helping U.S. astronauts reach space. Jim Bridenstine, the administrator of NASA, said the agency would continue to honor those whose histories have long been overlooked. (Waller, 6/24)

The Washington Post: NASA To Rename Headquarters For Mary W. Jackson, Agency’s First Female African American Engineer
Mary Jackson began her career in the 1950s in a segregated computing unit at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., that recently drew national attention as the setting for the 2016 movie “Hidden Figures,” based on a book by the same name. ...The news came the same day some in the space industry began to push NASA to change the name of the Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi, named for John C. Stennis, the longtime senator from Mississippi, a segregationist who opposed racial equality and the integration of schools. (Davenport, 6/24)

The Washington Post: U.S. Marshals Told To Prepare To Help Protect Monuments Nationwide As Trump Targets People Who Vandalize Structures During Protests 
U.S. marshals have been told they should prepare to help protect national monuments across the country, according to an email directive viewed by The Washington Post, as President Trump has vowed stern punishment for those who vandalize or destroy such structures as part of police violence protests. In an email, Marshals Service Assistant Director Andrew C. Smith wrote that the agency “has been asked to immediately prepare to provide federal law enforcement support to protect national monuments (throughout the country).” (Barrett and Zapotosky, 6/24)

The Washington Post: Tucson Police Chief Offers To Resign After Releasing Video Of Officers Restraining Hispanic Man Who Later Died 
Chris Magnus, the police chief in Tucson, offered to resign Wednesday after releasing video footage showing police officers restraining Carlos Ingram-Lopez, a young man who died in their custody earlier this year. The footage was made public more than two months after Tucson police officers responded to a call about Ingram-Lopez, a 27-year-old Hispanic man, and wound up restraining him facedown. The three officers resigned last week, before the department’s internal probe had concluded, Magnus said. (Berman, 6/24)

The New York Times: Tucson Police In Turmoil After Death Of Latino Man In Custody
The police chief of Tucson, Ariz., abruptly offered to resign on Wednesday while releasing a video in which a 27-year-old Latino man, Carlos Ingram Lopez, died in police custody two months ago. The video, taken by police officers’ body cameras and not made public until Wednesday, depicts a gruesome episode on April 21. Before his death, Mr. Lopez is seen handcuffed while pleading repeatedly in English and Spanish for water and for his nana, or grandmother. (Romero, 6/24)

AP: Wisconsin Governor Activates National Guard After Violence
Wisconsin’s governor activated the National Guard on Wednesday to protect state properties after a night of violence that included the toppling of two statues outside the state Capitol, one of which commemorated an abolitionist Civil War hero.Protesters also attacked a state senator, threw a Molotov cocktail into a government building and attempted to break into the Capitol Tuesday night, only to be repelled by pepper spray from police stationed inside. (Bauer and Richmond, 6/25)

AP: Impatience Grows For Cops' Arrests In Breonna Taylor's Death
The outcry has reverberated for weeks online and at demonstrations nationwide: Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor. But three months after plainclothes detectives serving a warrant busted into her Louisville, Kentucky, apartment and shot the 26-year-old black woman to death, only one of the three officers who opened fire has lost his job. No one is facing criminal charges. (Lovan, 6/25)

AP: Detroit Police Challenged Over Face Recognition Flaws, Bias
A Black man who was wrongfully arrested when facial recognition technology mistakenly identified him as a suspected shoplifter wants Detroit police to apologize — and to end their use of the controversial technology. The complaint by Robert Williams is a rare challenge from someone who not only experienced an erroneous face recognition hit, but was able to discover that it was responsible for his subsequent legal troubles. (O'Brien, 6/25)

The New York Times: Amazon Workers Urge Bezos To Match His Words On Race With Actions 
Last week, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, wrote a rare note to all of the company’s employees. His leadership team had been reflecting on the “systemic racism” facing black communities, he said, and he urged employees to take time to learn and reflect on Juneteenth, the holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States.“I’m canceling all my meetings on Friday, and I encourage you to do the same if you can,” he said. But some of Amazon’s employees said there was one big problem with his suggestion: For the vast majority of Amazon’s black workers, canceling a meeting is not an option. (Weise, 6/24)

The New York Times: Talladega Noose Incident Puts Spotlight On NASCAR’s Troubles With Racism 
Darrell Wallace Jr. said he was relieved to hear the F.B.I. say he had not been the target of a hate crime at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, after a noose hanging in his garage stall was found to have been there since at least last fall. ... The national turmoil over race and serial injustice has complicated both Wallace’s reaction and the public’s response to the F.B.I.’s findings. (Macur and Blinder, 6/24)

The New York Times: How To Raise An Anti-Racist Kid 
When kids on the gaming site Roblox were darkening the skin color of their avatars to support Black Lives Matter, 12-year-old Garvey Mortley decided to speak up. She created a video explaining the offensive history of blackface, and offered viewers more appropriate ways they could show support.“Changing your skin tone to a darker skin color in Roblox or any game is essentially painting your face with shoe polish,” she explained in the video. “It’s like you’re putting on blackface.” A better way to show virtual support, she suggested, would be to dress the character in a Black Lives Matter T-shirt. (Parker-Pope, 6/24)

The New York Times: Regeneron Funneled Kickbacks Through A Patient Charity, Federal Lawsuit Claims 
The drugmaker Regeneron funneled tens of millions of dollars to a charity that paid the out-of-pocket costs for patients who took the company’s expensive eye drug, then lied to internal auditors about it, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by federal prosecutors in Massachusetts. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts in Boston, claims that Regeneron violated federal anti-kickback laws by using the patient-assistance fund to encourage doctors to prescribe their drug, Eylea, over a less-expensive competitor. (Thomas, 6/24)

Stat: Federal Prosecutors Allege Regeneron Used A Charity To Pay Kickbacks To Medicare Patients
Federal officials on Wednesday alleged that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) donated tens of millions of dollars to a foundation, but the payments were actually kickbacks to Medicare patients and designed to cover their out-of-pocket costs for a pricey eye medication. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston, the federal government accused Regeneron of using the Chronic Disease Fund to ensure that, in 2013 and 2014, Medicare patients did not have to make a co-payment or deductible for Eylea macular degeneration drug. (Silverman, 6/24)

Stat: Yumanity, Merck Strike Deal On Medicines For Neurodegenerative Disease
Yumanity Therapeutics, a small neuroscience-focused startup co-founded by longtime biotech executive Tony Coles, is pairing up with pharma giant Merck to develop new treatments for two neuro-degenerative diseases, the companies announced Wednesday. Under the agreement, Merck is licensing two Yumanity research programs with the goal of identifying novel treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and frontotemporal lobar dementia, a group of related conditions resulting from the degeneration of brain cells. (Feuerstein, 6/24)