Updated on Sunday, May 24
‘The Latest News’ is a weekly thread where we update our readers on events that affect our communities.
Governor Cuomo is allowing gatherings of up to 10 people
On Friday night, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in an executive order that he will allow gatherings of up to 10 people throughout New York state, including New York City, as Labor Day Weekend began. The New York Civil Liberty Union filed a lawsuit against Governor Cuomo after he announced that religious groups of 10 people or less would be allowed to gather for worship, because it gave special privileges to those with religious affiliations. A day later, he extended the executive order to any group of ten people or less gathering for any reason, as long as social distancing was observed.
All charges against Kenneth Walker, Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, have been dropped
All charges against Kenneth Walker, the boyfriend of the woman was killed in her home after police botched a no-knock search of the couple’s house, have been dropped.
In March, police broke into the young couple’s home in Kentucky in connection with a narcotics investigation, even though the actual home they meant to search was miles away. Walker thought that the police were burglars and shot at them. The police fired back several bullets, hitting Taylor eight times and killing her.
Afterwards, Taylor was charged with attempted murder and assault, despite the fact that he was acting in self-defense. On Friday, all charges against him were dropped.
Report finds that senior homes with Black and Latino residents got hit hardest by Covid-19
As Covid-19 continues to disproportionately kill people in senior homes, those with black and Latino residents are suffering most, according to a report by the New York Times. The Times investigation found that 60 percent of all senior homes with a quarter or more Black or Latino residents had at least one case of Covid-19.
Across the country, Black, Indigenous and Latino people are still more likely to die from Covid-19 than any other group. This is primarily because these groups disproportionately make up the essential workforce and suffer from a number of health conditions.
Police arrest suspect for murder of Nina Pop, a transgender woman killed earlier this month
Nina Pop was stabbed to death in Missouri earlier this month and became the 10th transgender person to be murdered this year. Hey body was found in her apartment on May 3rd and no suspect was immediately arrested until yesterday, Joseph Cannon, a 40 year-old male, was arrested in connection to the murder.
Pop’s murder follows an epidemic of trans murders in the United States. Last year, at least 26 trans people were violently killed, a majority of them women of color. Before her death, Pop, who was 28, had been working at fast-food restaurant and was known for her upbeat demeanor, according to the Advocate.
Anyone with information related to the crime can call the Sikeston Department of Public Safety at (573) 471-4711 or Crime Stoppers Hotline at (573) 471-1500.
Early trials for coronavirus vaccine are promising
Moderna, a drug manufacturer, announced on Monday that their vaccine trial against Covid-19 showed promising results. The vaccine was tested on eight healthy people who each received two doses, according to the New York Times. All of them developed antibodies that prevented Covid-19 from replicating in their bodies. Moderna found that low and medium vaccine doses were enough to prevent the virus from replicating, which means that they will probably be able to make more of them.
Now, the vaccine will have to be tested on thousands of people and the success rate replicated. The next phase will be to vaccinate 600 people and the third phase will involve thousands more in July. If successful, the vaccine could become available as soon as later this year or early 2021.
Costa Rica is on the verge of legalizing gay marriage
Costa Rica, long considered among the most progressive nations in Latin America, is set to make a decision on whether or not the country will legalize gay marriage by May 26. After the country’s Supreme Court overturned a ban on same-sex marriage in 2018, it also promised to legalize gay marriage by mid-2020. Recently, nearly half of the country’s legislators have attempted to delay the decision, citing the coronavirus outbreak as a reason for their inability to consider the implications of such a bill.
