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In first lawsuit against Biden administration, Texas AG challenges deportation freeze
AUSTIN, Texas — Following through on his promise to sue the Biden administration early and often, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday asked a federal judge to block a new policy that pauses most deportations for the next 100 days. The policy, which went into effect Friday, was announced by acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske as part of a comprehensive review of immigration enforcement, particularly amid the challenges posed by COVID-19. The pause, Pekoske said in a Wednesday memo to immigration officials, will let the agency focus resources on its most pressi...
Austin American-Statesman
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Judges greet arguments against Texas abortion law with skepticism
AUSTIN, Texas — Lawyers for Texas and abortion providers appeared before a federal appeals court Thursday to argue the fate of a 2017 state law — struck down by a U.S. judge in Austin — that bans the most common type of second-trimester abortion unless doctors first use an extra procedure to ensure fetal demise. However, on a court where Republican-appointed judges hold a 12-5 advantage, the vast majority of skeptical questions and pushback was reserved for the lawyer representing abortion providers who challenged the law as unconstitutional. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will release ...
Austin American-Statesman
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Philadelphia's retired archbishop says Biden should be denied Communion over his abortion stance
PHILADELPHIA — Former Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput said late last week that President-elect Joe Biden should be banned from receiving Communion because of his support for abortion rights, fueling an ongoing debate among Catholic leaders in the United States over how to relate to the nation’s second Catholic president. Chaput, who led Philadelphia’s diocese from 2011 until this year, said Biden “is not in full communion with the Catholic Church,” and criticized bishops who have spoken out in favor of letting Biden receive Holy Communion. He made the argument in a column headlined “Mr....
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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NBA getting rid of marijuana testing for this season
NEW YORK — When the pandemic hit in March, the NBA stopped testing for drugs completely. The league brought back performance enhancing drug testing at the bubble, but did not test for marijuana. The league and union announced Friday that the drug policy would continue through this season, which starts again in just 18 days. “Due to the unusual circumstances in conjunction with the pandemic, we have agreed with the NBPA to suspend random testing for marijuana for the 2020-21 season and focus our random testing program on performance-enhancing products and drugs of abuse,” the league said in a s...
New York Daily News
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Mayo launches therapy to prevent COVID-19 hospitalizations
MINNEAPOLIS — Jay Clark thought he was suffering from nothing more than sinus and chest congestion. But just to be sure, he took a COVID-19 test.So when the result came back positive, Clark couldn’t believe it. Four days later, the 67-year-old Rochester resident became one of the first COVID-19 patients in Minnesota to receive a new treatment that could prevent those with the virus from being hospitalized.“I notice a little tightness in my chest,” Clark said the night before receiving the infused medication at Mayo Clinic last week. “I’m not short of air, but I don’t think I want to go run a m...
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
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Biden likely to help states increase health care access
President Donald Trump has spent four years trying to undermine the Affordable Care Act. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to bolster the law and give states new tools to expand coverage.Among them: more money and additional guides to help people buy health insurance on the ACA exchanges; support for states that want to allow more people onto Medicaid rather than fewer; and a crackdown on health care plans that don’t offer the minimum benefits required by Obamacare.Unlike the Biden health care idea that has attracted the most attention — the addition of a Medicare-like public option to the...
Stateline.org
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Cynthia M. Allen: Biden policies threaten Catholic teachings. Texas priest was right to call it out
Parishioners of St. Andrews Catholic Church in Fort Worth, Texas, know that the Rev. Jim Gigliotti does not water down Catholic teaching for the sake of his flock’s comfort. He doesn’t mince words when explaining it, either.So it should have surprised exactly no one when he admonished faculty at his parish’s affiliated school for posting messages that extolled the apparent election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on the institution’s Facebook page.“You are not to celebrate the fact that this pro-abortionist is close to being elected president,” he declared during a weekday mass for faculty and ...
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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Detroit archbishop to lead national Catholic group on Joe Biden and abortion
DETROIT — The head of the Catholic Church in Detroit has been chosen to lead a new national group that seeks to guide how Catholics should respond to President-elect Joe Biden and the contentious issue of abortion.Archbishop Allen Vigneron, who leads the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, was named this week the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), on the last day of their annual fall meeting.Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, who named Vigneron, struck a conservative tone in his remarks in emphasizing abortion and by saying Biden supports policies that “atta...
Detroit Free Press
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Mets second baseman Robinson Cano tests positive for steroid, will be suspended 162 games
NEW YORK — Robinson Cano’s legacy was at stake, and he blew it.The Mets second baseman tested positive for stanozolol and will be suspended for the entire 2021 season, Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday.Stanozolol is a steroid and a violation of MLB’s performance-enhancing drug policy. This is the second time in Cano’s career that he’s run afoul of the policy; he was suspended 80 games in 2018 for testing positive for a diuretic. (Diuretics are banned under the PED rules because they can often mask PED use.)The 162-game ban is the automatic length of a suspension for a second positiv...
New York Daily News
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California lawmakers take trip to Hawaii amid COVID surge, travel advisory
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — COVID-19 has squashed most holiday and vacation plans this year amid travel restrictions and quarantine recommendations to slow the spread of the virus.Yet some California lawmakers have traveled to Maui this week for the California Independent Voter Project’s annual policy conference.A San Diego-based group that works to empower “nonpartisan voters and promote nonpartisan election reform through initiatives,” the project’s summit has historically offered a chance for lawmakers, lobbyists and industry representatives to rub elbows over cocktails while discussing policy und...
The Sacramento Bee
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