CHICAGO (RNS) — Not long into the coronavirus pandemic, the Rev. Sandra Maria Van Opstal, a pastor at Grace and Peace Church on the West Side of Chicago, began to hear from congregants who lost their jobs and were struggling financially as the city closed nonessential businesses to slow the spread of the virus. Some [...]
On one side are parents saying, let kids be kids. They object to masks and social distancing in classrooms this fall — arguing both could hurt their children's well-being — and want schools to reopen full time. On the other side are parents and teachers who call for safeguards that would have been unimaginable before [...]
As the Trump administration pushes full steam ahead to force schools to resume in-person education, public health experts warn that a one-size-fits-all reopening could drive infection and death rates even higher. They're urging a more cautious approach, which many local governments and school districts are already pursuing. But U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos doubled down [...]
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — President Donald Trump insists that schools reopen this fall. Many parents, educators, doctors and economists want the same thing. But getting children back to school safely could mean keeping high-risk spots like bars and gyms closed. A growing chorus of public health experts is urging federal, state and local officials to [...]
Boston (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has been a rollercoaster for state lotteries across the country, with some getting a boost from the economic downturn and others scrambling to make up for revenue shortfalls. Since March, Texas, Arkansas and Montana and several other states have seen an increase in sales, in part, driven by housebound [...]
Desperate to solve the deadly conundrum of COVID-19, the world is clamoring for fast answers and solutions from a research system not built for haste. The ironic, and perhaps tragic, result: Scientific shortcuts have slowed understanding of the disease and delayed the ability to find out which drugs help, hurt or have no effect at [...]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — For two weeks, Rachel Weeks has stayed home, going without a paycheck while waiting and waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test from a pharmacy near Philadelphia. "I'm just so disappointed. I just don't know how — with the resources and the people we have and the money we have [...]
PHOENIX (AP) — A Latino cook whose co-worker got COVID-19 waited in his truck for a free swab at a rare testing event in a low-income neighborhood in Phoenix. A Hispanic tile installer queued up after two weeks of self-isolation while his father battled the coronavirus in intensive care. He didn't know his dad would [...]
NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) —Ellie Hiigel was expected to arrive Wednesday for training in advance of her first year at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, but her experience won’t be the same as that of new cadets of years past. The school in Connecticut, like other service academies and military training centers, has made major [...]
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — School districts across America are in the midst of making wrenching decisions over how to resume classes in settings radically altered by the coronavirus pandemic, with school buses running below capacity, virtual learning, outdoor classrooms and quarantine protocols for infected children the new norm. The plans for the upcoming school year [...]