“It’s weird out there...”

Members of the National Guard are being trained to help at a second Ohio prison as coronavirus infections among correctional workers and prisoners continue to spread, the state prisons agency said Friday.

The 50 or so guard members will assist with “mission critical functions” at the Marion Correctional Institution, said JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The State Highway Patrol is also helping guard the prison’s perimeter, Smith said.

The assistance comes as the number of coronavirus cases in Marion County more than doubled in a day to nearly 1,000 on Saturday. Inmate infections are included in the county's total number.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, Marion County had 983 cases of coronavirus as of 2 p.m. Saturday, up from 428 on Friday. The updated total puts Marion County at having the third most cases of any county in the state, trailing only Cuyahoga and Franklin.

https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/local/2020/04/18/ohio-prison-marion-correctional-coronavirus-cases-covid-19-national-guard-called/5159921002/

Street Art by Welindo

Source: Forbes

New Jersey charged an organizer Friday for violating Governor Phil Murphy’s executive order, as small gatherings continue to pop up to protest state stay-at-home orders—following President Trump’s tweets encouraging people to “liberate” three Democratic-led states.

According to a report from the state’s attorney general, “Kim Pagan of Toms River was charged by the New Jersey State Police with violating the emergency orders by organizing a prohibited event today in Trenton in which protesters gathered outside the State House and at other locations”

New Jersey hasn’t been shy about breaking up gathering and charging individuals, but the violation comes amid a smattering of anti-lockdown gatherings in Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Texas, Utah and Washington.

New Jersey has the second-most confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the country with 81,391. On Monday, it was announced that New Jersey and five other Northeastern states would coordinate on when and how to reopen the economy, calling it the “COVID corridor.” The White House released guidelines on Thursday to help governors decide how to reopen parts of their states, but New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked for additional funding and help coordinating to ramp up testing. “If you want states to reopen, we need funding,” Cuomo said Saturday.



Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2020/04/18/new-jersey-charges-organizer-amid-trump-backed-protests-meant-to-liberate-stay-at-home-states/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Gordie/#676f7264696

The White House published a list of executives this week dubbed “Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups” who will be asked to join conference calls with the president on how to reopen the economy. The list includes dozens of Trump donors and several major benefactors to Republican candidates. 

Members of the new task force and their spouses gave a combined $467 million to Republican candidates and conservative groups since the 2016 election cycle, according to contribution data from OpenSecrets. Together they’ve given tens of millions to Trump’s joint fundraising committee and millions more to pro-Trump super PACs. 

Trump’s advisers gave a total of $8.3 million to Democratic candidates and causes since the 2016 cycle compared to $467 million to Republicans. Jon Gray, an executive at Blackstone Group, and his wife Mindy, are among the few Democratic donors. Only 21 names on Trump’s list have not made a political contribution. The list does include some individuals who have clashed with Trump in recent years, such as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

It is unclear how the White House decided on who to include. Some members of the task force didn’t know they would be asked to join until their names were published on the White House website. By organizing the group of industry leaders the way it did, the White House skirted transparency rules, Politico reported.

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/04/trump-advisers-on-economy-gave-to-republican/

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Trump has built up a lot of buzz over the coming stimulus payments, saying he has hidden five golden tickets among the checks heading to Americans this week.

Anyone who gets a golden ticket will win a free tour of Mar-a-Lago. Rumor has it that Trump will be watching them closely to see which of the winners has the qualities he looks for in a manager, with the best candidate getting hired as Mar-a-Lago's onsite McDonald's manager.

"Who will win? Nobody knows!" Trump said gleefully as he carefully signed each of the golden tickets before hiding them among the stimulus checks. "I, Donald Trump, have decided to allow five Americans — just five, mind you, and no more — to visit my resort this year. These lucky five will be shown around personally by me, and they will be allowed to see all the secrets and the magic of my hotel and golf resort -- the best golf, maybe ever. Then, at the end of the tour, as a special present, all of them will be given Season 1 of The Apprentice on DVD!"

"So watch out for the Golden Tickets! Five Golden Tickets have been printed on golden paper, and these five Golden Tickets have been hidden in your stimulus checks. These five may be anywhere — in any mailbox in the country. And the five lucky finders of these five Golden Tickets are the only ones who will be allowed to visit my Mar-a-Lago during the lockdown. Good luck to you all!"

https://babylonbee.com/news/trumps-says-5-golden-tickets-to-be-hidden-among-stimulus-checks?utm_content=buffer96b27&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Unfortunately, he put all five golden tickets in a stimulus envelope addressed to Jim Acosta.

"If the House will not agree to that adjournment, I will exercise my Constitutional authority to adjourn both chambers of Congress. The current practice of leaving town while conducting phony proforma sessions is a dereliction of duty." -DT 4/15/20 WH Daily Briefing

Taneytown (Maryland) Police are reminding residents to wear pants when checking their mailbox.

In a Facebook post, police said "please remember to put pants on before leaving the house to check your mailbox."

Police also stated "You know who you are. This is your final warning."

https://www.tmj4.com/news/coronavirus/police-department-reminds-residents-to-wear-pants-while-checking-mailbox

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged Friday the federal government is considering issuing Americans certificates of immunity from the coronavirus, as the Trump administration works to better identify those who have been infected and restart the U.S. economy in the coming weeks.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/10/fauci-coronavirus-immunity-cards-for-americans-are-being-discussed-178784