Compiled by Mary Lou Masters
Laura Lenz had the story on a ban on offshore drilling in Georgia. President Trump announced the ban for Georgia, South Carolina and Florida on Tuesday. According to the AJC, this expansion will ban new offshore drilling for an additional 10 years. The previous moratorium, or temporary prohibition on drilling, was set to expire in July 2022 and only protected parts of the Gulf of Mexico.
He announced the ban at a campaign rally in Jupiter, Fla. Trump stated “It’s an order that I’m proud to sign. And this protects your beautiful Gulf and your beautiful ocean.”
This decision comes as a surprise, considering President Trump has previously supported the expansion of offshore drilling both in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Gulf of Mexico. Some critics of his previous environmental legislation stated that it was a move to secure more votes heading into the election, according to The Washington Post.
“Just months ago, Donald Trump was planning to allow oil and gas drilling off the coast of Florida,” Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden tweeted. “Now, with 56 days till the election, he conveniently says that he changes his mind.”
Despite these criticisms, the expansion is a welcome surprise for environmental groups.
Alice Keyes of One Hundred Miles, a Georgia environmental group, said “whatever motivated him to make the announcement today, it’s a step in the right direction.”
Laura also had the latest financial updates. In America’s four largest cities, at least half of residents are facing serious financial strain as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an NPR poll released Wednesday. The study polled households in New York City, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles and asked questions about the financial strain on household savings, childcare access and healthcare.
According to the poll, in Houston, 81% of Black households and 77% of Latino households reported serious financial impacts versus the 34% of white households.
The study found similar results in the three other cities, with Black and Latino residents bearing the brunt of the economic impacts by COVID-19.
The poll was published in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Poll Co-Director Robert Blendon says that he expected to find substantial damage, but said “this is much, much, much worse than I expected.”
Despite the $2 trillion dollar stimulus package in March, the NPR poll found that substantial proportions of households’ were behind on monthly payments and had depleted their savings.
To help combat these issues, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a bill on Tuesday that would provide financial relief for millions of unemployed Americans, according to CNN. A vote on this bill is expected on Thursday.
Wood Smith delivered an update about nuclear missile upgrades. The Air Force announced on Tuesday it had awarded a $13.3 Billion contract for engineering and development work on a replacement for the minuteman three nuclear missile, which has been in operation for half a century as a key part of America’s nuclear force.
Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden has not said whether he would support the project if elected in November. The project, known officially as the Ground-Based strategic deterrent, has bipartisan support in Congress.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper hailed the Air Force’s announcement, saying modernization of the nuclear force is a top priority and a key to the nation’s defense.
The new intercontinental ballistic missile is envisioned as just one part of a complete replacement of the nuclear force, including a new fleet of Navy ballistic missile submarines, a new nuclear-capable Air Force bomber, a new air-launched nuclear cruise missile, and a new command and control system. The total bill is expected to approach $1.2 trillion.
Sarah Detwiler delivered the latest on entertainment. On Tuesday evening, Kim Kardashian shocked fans in an Instagram post announcing that her family’s iconic reality tv show will be coming to an end after 14 years on the air. Keeping Up With the Kardashians helped make Kim and her siblings – Klohe, Kourtney, Kylie and Kendall – household names and catapulted their success in the beauty and fashion industry.
Their last season is set to air early next year. E! News said in a statement that it respects “the family’s decision to live their lives without cameras.”
According to the Daily Mail, beloved sitcom Golden Girls is set to be revived with an all-Black cast featuring actresses Regina King and Tracee Ellis Ross. The original sitcom — which ran for seven seasons between 1985 and 1992 — was based on the lives of four white women who lived together in Miami.
The new project is seeking to ‘reimagine’ the situation from a Black perspective. The special will be streamed live and is a partnership between Zoom and Color Of Change — the nation’s largest online racial justice platform.
Mary Lou Masters reported on an incident involving an illegal marijuana farm in California. Monday morning, in Aguanga, Ca., seven people were killed at an illegal marijuana farm.
According to The Associated Press, this area of Southern California consists of rural, low density towns, making illegal grows quite common. This operation in particular, shocked the region, showing just how violent the industry can be.
According to Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, this operation had the markings of organized crime. The property had over 20 people living there with “several makeshift dwellings, a nursery and vehicles used in production.”
Along with a mobile home and a small house, over 1,000 lbs. of marijuana and a couple hundred plants were found; according to The New York Times, these findings are worth nearly $5 million.
Six of the deceased were found dead on the scene in the bedrooms where the shootings occurred, while one later died at the hospital. Although there have been no arrests or suspects thus far, Bianco said the deaths were “an isolated incident,” assuring other Aguanga residents that this was no longer a threat.
Sarah gave listeners some sports announcements. As of yesterday, Sept. 8, University of Georgia students were able to register for football tickets according to a Friday email sent out by the University of Georgia Ticket Office.
The registration window will close for students at noon on Sept. 11. Students are allowed to request a ticket for any and all UGA home games this 2020 season, but are not guaranteed a ticket per each request.
The student ticket price is $10 each with an additional $2 handling fee. In order to qualify for a donated ticket this season, you must apply for at least one ticket during the initial registration process. UGA is set to play their first home game on Oct. 3 against Auburn.
According to an article done by The Red and Black, UGA football has started up their Food2Kids Snack Drive, their second project within the “Dawgs For Pups” initiative. Their main focus is to help struggling students and residents in the Athens-Clarke County who were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senior wide receiver Demetris Robertson said “The food drive is very important for kids who are not fortunate to have daily snacks and who have hunger, and I think us as athletes and the staff at [the UGA Athletic Association] have a duty to help our community become a better place and become united.”
ESPN announced this morning that ACC coaches voted to propose an expanded 2021 NCAA tournament that would include every Division 1 team.
NCAA President Mark Emmert said in an interview on NCAA’s website last month, “Starting with 64 teams is tough. Thirty-two OK, maybe that’s a manageable number. Sixteen certainly manageable. But you’ve got to figure out those logistics.”
The NCAA Division 1 Council is expected to release a decision on the format for winter sports, including men’s and women’s basketball on Sept. 16.
Wood closed out the show with the most recent election coverage. On Tuesday, President Trump told reporters that he would spend “whatever it takes” of his own money to finance his 2020 presidential campaign against Democrat Joe Biden if he had to. The Republican president, who trailed Biden in opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 election, told reporters that his campaign had double or triple what it had in 2016 but he would spend his own money if needed.
The New York Times reported that Trump’s initial financial supremacy over former Vice President Biden earlier this year had evaporated and that the $1.1 billion his campaign and the Republican Party had raised from the beginning of 2019 through July more than $800 million had already been spent.
Trump has asked how much he might have to spend from his own personal fortune. He had to dip into his own money in 2016 to help pay for his campaign.
“Whatever it takes. We have to win. This is the most important election in the history of our country,” Trump said.
The president said the higher campaign expenditures were due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing his campaign to combat what he felt was negative news coverage.