Covid leads NY judge to shut down jury trials
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Biden carries Arizona, flipping a longtime Republican stronghold
By Dan Merica, CNN
(CNN) For just the second time in more than seven decades, a Democrat will carry Arizona in a presidential election, a monumental shift for a state that was once a Republican stronghold.
CNN projected on Thursday that President-elect Joe Biden will carry Arizona, defeating President Donald Trump and providing Democrats in Arizona and the universe of allied grassroots organizations in the state with a crowning achievement a decade in the making.
Biden’s win in the state that propelled Republican leaders like Barry Goldwater and John McCain to national prominence could foretell problems for the party going forward. Three key shifts in the state helped Democrats this year: a growing Latino population that leans Democratic, a surge in voters moving to Arizona from more liberal states like California and Illinois, and the way suburban voters have starkly broken with a Republican Party led by someone like Trump.
Arizona, by going blue, is moving closer to its neighbor to the northwest — Nevada, where Democrats have taken control of almost all aspects of government — and away from the state’s traditional rightward bent.
The Democratic victory — declared days after CNN projected Biden’s win in the presidential race — was anchored by Maricopa County, home to Phoenix and nearly 60% of all people in the state. Maricopa is the fastest-growing county in the country, transforming over the last two decades into a sprawling mass of metropolitan hubs, sun-scorched planned communities and bustling strip malls.
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Cuomo announces $11M for e-vehicle charging stations
From NY Governor news release
New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the availability of $11 million to build out the state’s network of fast charging stations to support wider adoption of electric vehicles.
The Direct Current Fast Charger program will be administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to scale up electric vehicle infrastructure in areas of the state where access to fast charging stations is limited, and will also prioritize improving the availability of charging infrastructure in disadvantaged communities. Increased use of clean transportation supports Governor Cuomo’s goal for an 85 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 under the nation-leading Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
“New York continues to serve as a national model for reducing greenhouse emissions. As part of our efforts, we must ensure all New Yorkers, no matter where they live or their economic status, have access to the infrastructure required for using electric vehicles,” Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said. “This investment will build the infrastructure necessary for empowering more consumers to choose clean, electric transportation options, while making electric vehicles an accessible option for all New Yorkers.”
“We are continuing to reimagine New York’s future fueled by clean, renewable energy,” said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. “This settlement with Volkswagen will allow us to further expand electric vehicle fast charging stations across the state. This helps to advance our commitment to reduce carbon emissions and achieve significant savings in fuel cost. We encourage New Yorkers to buy electric vehicles as we establish more charging stations across the state. We want to ensure New York State continues to lead in building back better, cleaner and greener now and in the future.”
As part of the State’s $127.7 million allocation of the federal Volkswagen Settlement funds, the Direct Current Fast Charger program will provide up to 80 percent of the cost to build publicly available charging stations for electric vehicles. Funding will be made available in specific REDC regions through two initial rounds, through which charging station developers will be selected to install at least four DCFC stations per site, at four or more site locations. Only one proposal per developer will be awarded for each eligible REDC region under each round, and if funding remains after these two rounds are complete, the program will continue to a third round.
The program requires that at least 25 percent of the stations be located within half a mile of a disadvantaged community in support of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goal of increasing access to clean energy and sustainable infrastructure to all end-users. In addition, developers installing charging stations in rural areas may be eligible to submit proposals under this program that include two different sites, which would support simultaneous charging for two vehicles at each site.
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This pandemic is once again headed in a very scary direction.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are at an all-time high
 |
| By Caroline Mimbs Nyce , Senior Associate Editor, The Atlantic |
This pandemic never stopped being serious. But the situation just got more so.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are up to an all-time high, and with them, fears that America’s hospitals could be overwhelmed. Unlike in the spring, the hot spots aren’t contained to a region, my colleagues at the COVID Tracking Project write: 17 states are reporting peaks.
That could make it “harder to mobilize surges of frontline workers to areas where health-care systems are at risk of failure.”
| The U.S. records more than 140,000 new coronavirus cases, the latest all-time high as numbers march higher (Washington Post) |
In better news, a vaccine looks more promising than ever. Until then, Americans must once again assume the role assigned to them in March: Taking precautions to alleviate the strain on the country’s health-care system.
- Here’s how to tell if socializing indoors is safe. “Perhaps the most important factor is the level of so-called community transmission: how many new COVID-19 cases are in your immediate area,” Olga Khazan reports.
- There’s a difference between feeling safe and being safe. The pandemic has broken America’s understanding of what to fear, Amanda Mull argued last month.
- Even before the latest surge, experts advised against travel for the holidays. If you do decide to go home, consider taking these seven precautions to mitigate risk.
- Struggling to tell loved ones you won’t be able to celebrate together? We asked one expert for advice on how to have that difficult conversation.
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Wrapping a building in solar panels to maximize energy
By Billy Ludt, Solar Power World
Solar systems are predominantly installed on rooftops in urban settings, where open land is scarce but multi-level buildings are aplenty. Often, the roof space on these structures isn’t large enough to host solar systems that can cover a building’s entire energy footprint, so they’re supplemented with renewable energy credits (RECs) generated by out-of-city solar systems.
Onion Flats, an architecture firm, wanted to buck that trend and maximize PV output without having to subscribe to RECs on its Front Flats apartment building project in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The solution was installing solar panels on the roof, as well as on the majority of the east-, west- and south-facing walls of the building. In total, the solar system generates 176 kW, which is more than the Front Flats needs — and that’s by design.
Like an onion, Front Flats has layers
Philadelphia design-build architecture firm Onion Flats installed a 176-kW solar system with a rooftop canopy and wraps around the east-, west- and south-facing walls of its Front Flats apartment building. Onion Flats
Being in a state and city not known for solar incentives, the Front Flats project is an anomaly, both in appearance and size.
“I wouldn’t call this a solar city,” said Tim McDonald, CEO of Onion Flats. “The renewable energy credits in Pennsylvania suck, but you go across the bridge to New Jersey and it’s a different world. There’s not a real incentive financially to push it. We push it because we think that’s where we need to be.”
From the second story up, the 28-unit apartment building’s windows are slightly obscured by bifacial solar panels protruding from its exterior walls. Those vertical panels on the east, west and south façades meet the horizontal modules held by canopy supports on the roof. Tenants have rooftop access, where shade gardens are planted, and McDonald said the bifacial module shell still allows natural light into the building and offers additional visual privacy.
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