Week of 08/14: FREECABLE TV’s Top 10 Stories
Week of 08/14: FREECABLE TV’s Top 10 Stories
Inflation Reduction Act Passed
USATODAY - The House has just passed the Inflation Reduction Act along party lines, rounding out a series of recent wins for President Joe Biden. The House voted 220-207, with no Republicans joining Democrats in supporting the act. "We're unified!," Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told USA TODAY. "(Democrats are) all in this together. We are all making life better for the American people."
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Disneyland Now More Expensive Than Ever
NewYorkPost - The Happiest Place on Earth may now also be the priciest. The tab for admission tickets to the Disney World and Disneyland theme parks has reportedly jumped more than 3,871% in the past 50 years, according to figures compiled by a data-tracking firm. And despite the barrage of gripes from customers about price hikes, theme park experts expect the trend to continue. “Get used to it,” President of Cincinnati-based International Theme Park Services Dennis Speigel told the Tampa Bay Times. “Our industry is moving towards the upcharge. Magic Mountain is doing it. Six Flags in California and others are experimenting with it. Within three or four years, you will see every park having a surcharge to get ahead of the line.”
Watch more: https://youtu.be/fA1a0CIWO6k
National Teacher Shortage
Truthout - National Education Association president Becky Pringle this week warned that the U.S. teacher shortage has spiraled into a “five-alarm crisis,” with nearly 300,000 teaching and support positions left unfilled and policymakers taking desperate, and in some cases, questionable, measures to staff classrooms. Pringle later went onto tell ABC News that teachers unions have been warning for years that chronic disinvestment in schools has placed untenable pressure on educators as they face low pay and overcrowded classrooms. “We have a crisis in the number of students who are going into the teaching profession and the number of teachers who are leaving it,” Pringle said. “But, of course, as with everything else, the pandemic just made it worse.”
Watch more: https://youtu.be/k31Y6Ulkbm4
The Inspirational Story Of The Shahas
FOX - Arizona mom Melanie Shaha permanently lost her hair year four years ago after undergoing radiation to treat a reoccurring benign brain tumor. Melanie's son Matt Shaha, 27, well-known for having a full head of strawberry blonde locks, embarked on a two-year journey to give her the ultimate gift: a new head of hair. And sure enough, it was a gift the mother of six could never have fathomed.
Watch more: https://youtu.be/6WJv9W8Hhdo
The 'Unannounced Raid' On Trump's Home
NPR - Former President Donald Trump stated this week that FBI agents had searched his Mar-a-Lago club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla., uninvited. In a statement put out by his political action committee, Trump said Mar-a-Lago was "under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents." The statement added: "After working and cooperating with the relevant government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate."
Watch more: https://youtu.be/OAmzeZfVZ-0
FDA Targeting Distillers Over COVID-Era Sanitizer Production:
FOX - A California distiller is facing FDA backlash for the second time over sanitizer it made during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Calwise Spirits Co. founder Aaron Bergh joined "America's Newsroom" this week to discuss how he has been targeted alongside other distillers across the country. "I just continue to get slapped in the face for it," Bergh told co-host Bill Hemmer. "Back in December 2020, the FDA came through, and they audited my business, as well as dozens of other distilleries throughout the country, and they tried to slap every single distillery throughout the country, regardless of whether we gave it away or made only five gallons of it, with a $14,000 flat fee for making it."
Watch more: https://youtu.be/3VJAHqdzslc
Trump Invokes The Fifth
CBS - Former President Donald Trump said he refused to answer questions from investigators with the New York Attorney General's office this week, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination related to the years-long civil fraud probe into his businesses. In a statement posted to his social network after he arrived for questioning, Trump called New York Attorney General Letitia James' investigation "a vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition" that he claims is politically motivated. "Accordingly, under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution," Trump said.
Watch more: https://youtu.be/wDjAvJA_llw
Opting Out Of Higher Education
NBC - Policymakers are now grappling with what they say has become an “alarming” decline in the number of high school graduates willing to invest the time and money it takes to go to college. Data even shows that there are 4 million fewer students in college now than there were 10 years ago. “With the exception of wartime, the United States has never been through a period of declining educational attainment like this,” said Michael Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University’s Miller College of Business.
Watch more: https://youtu.be/JggwEgBFm3o
3 Charged After Stealing Millions In COVID Relief Funds
CBS - Samuel Jackson, David Sullivan, and Elizabeth Chervinko are now facing possibly decades in prison, after prosecutors say they stole millions in COVID relief funds. According to the State's Attorney's Office, they applied for PPP loans and other federal assistance for their businesses, but lied about their expenses, how many employees they have as well as their payroll costs. The three of them got nearly $3 million in loans and spent that money on real estate and luxury vehicles.
Watch more: https://youtu.be/ZcZSGDDuF0o
CDC's Latest COVID-19 Guidance
NBC5 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just issued changes to its guidelines for COVID isolation and quarantine, changing the recommendations for unvaccinated individuals who were exposed to the virus and offering new advice on how to end isolation and what to do if symptoms return. “We’re in a stronger place today as a nation, with more tools—like vaccination, boosters, and treatments—to protect ourselves, and our communities, from severe illness from COVID-19,” Greta Massetti, PhD, the branch chief of the CDC's Field Epidemiology and Prevention Branch, said in a statement. “We also have a better understanding of how to protect people from being exposed to the virus, like wearing high-quality masks, testing, and improved ventilation. This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives.”
Watch more: https://youtu.be/R6mwat4umMw