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Parks opening in NJ today despite the virus. NY cops won’t tolerate social distancing violations

CBS 2 reports

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By ANNA SANDERS and ROCCO PARASCANDOLA, NY DAILY NEWS

Wear a mask and stay six feet away from other people during the nice weather this weekend — or find yourself with a summons or even in handcuffs, Mayor de Blasio warned Friday.

Forecast highs in the 70s on Saturday and Sunday present a “danger” if cooped-up New York City residents venture outside without masks, crowd public spaces and ignore social distancing measures meant to stop coronavirus, said the mayor.

Many people in McCarren Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on a sunny day in March ignored coronavirus social distancing rules.(Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News)

“The nice weather is very much a threat to us,” de Blasio said on WNYC Friday.

“There’s nothing wrong with going out and getting some exercise and getting back home,” he added. “Go out for a little bit, but don’t go out for too much. Don’t gather, don’t try and do the things we would normally do on a beautiful spring day.”

A thousand cops will spread out in city parks to enforce what de Blasio called a “no tolerance for gatherings” policy.

“We’re going straight to summons,” de Blasio said. He added: “If someone resists the summons, we’re going to arrest.”

Cops on bicycles and horses will be among the officers enforcing the rules, said NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan.

Officers are under orders not to tolerate organized sports, parties, or other gatherings.

“The days of warnings are over,” Monahan said.

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Coronavirus Update for May 1, 2020

By NJ Spotlight

New Jersey reported an additional 2,651 confirmed cases, bringing the total statewide number to 121,190 and continuing a trend downward.

An additional 311 deaths were reported, bringing the total number of fatalities in the state to 7,538.

Hospitalization continued their steady decline, with 5,972 individuals hospitalized as of last night, a 28% drop from the peak on April 14. 1,724 were in intensive/critical care,1,286 required ventilators,571 discharges (excluding deaths) slightly exceeded the 532 new admissions, continuing a close tracking between the two (above chart).

State and federal response
Gov. Phil Murphy said tomorrow’s first relaxation of restrictions on parks and golf courses would be a “big test” for whether to continue other such moves. “Social distancing will be the watch word,” he said.

Murphy said he would announce Monday or Tuesday whether schools would remain closed for the rest of the school year. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced New York schools would stay closed.

In state and county parks, social distancing requirements would remain in place, face masks would be “strongly recommended,” parking would be limited to 50 percent capacity, any gatherings such as picnics or organized games would be prohibited, and any restrooms or playgrounds would remain closed.

On golf courses, tee times would be at least 16 minutes apart, golf carts would be limited to one passenger, additional sanitization would be required of facilities and even flag sticks, and foursomes would be limited to immediate family. The opening of tennis courts would be left to their respective counties and municipalities.

The governor signed an executive order relaxing the in-person requirements for both the solemnization of marriage licenses for couples and attaining working papers for minors. Wedding ceremonies will be allowed to be held using video-conferencing technology, with certain safeguards. Municipalities are still permitted to allow in-person ceremonies, subject to social distancing, but will not be required to do so.For working papers, the requirement that a school district-designated individual give in-person sign off is waived for this emergency.

NJ Department of Corrections, in partnership with Rutgers University Correctional Healthcare and Accurate Diagnostics Lab, announced plans to provide COVID-19 tests to staff, inmates, and residents on-site at each of NJDOC’s facilities and halfway houses. The plan leverages the FDA-approved Rutgers saliva test administered to NJDOC’s staff of approximately 8,000 employees and 18,000 inmates by UCHC. Universal testing is expected to begin by the end of next week and will help the Department inform its operational needs related to the management of the infirm while maintaining the safe operation of facilities. Additionally, in support of staff safety, the NJDOC is obtaining full-service non-congregate housing for its first responders and Rutgers UCHC staff members with exposure to the virus through a program offered by the NJ Office of Emergency Management and FEMA

NJ Department of Human Services Commissioner Carole Johnson today announced $6.3 million in funding to the 21 counties to support home delivered meals and other food for older residents during the pandemic.

In local enforcement actions overnight, NJ State Police reported Newark had issued citations to 69 individuals and closed one business, Point Pleasant had cited a gym for being open, Mansfield cited a nail salon, and Paterson a furniture store

Related coronavirus news stories:
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murply’s news conference (video)
Maps, charts show coronavirus’ impact in N.J. (Friday, May 1) – NJ.com

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Mary Alice Williams steps down as NJTV News anchor

After six years with NJTV News, Mary Alice Williams announces she is stepping down as anchor. Williams spoke with Senior Correspondent Briana Vannozzi about her time at NJTV News and shares some of her fondest memories.

NJ Business Magazine reports

NJTV, New Jersey’s public television network, announced that Mary Alice Williams, anchor of its flagship NJTV News broadcast, has decided to step down from her position effective this month.

Since 2014, Williams has anchored the NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams, along with multiple news specials, from the Governor’s State of the State addresses and election night coverage to the network’s specials like In Your Neighborhood and Facing The Future. Last month, she stepped back from anchoring duties to care for family members in the face of back-to-back health crises.

“The landscape of journalism is changing but its mission stays the same,” said Williams. “In its coverage of the COVID-19 crisis, the NJTV News team has demonstrated its critical role in providing essential information to help New Jersey get a handle on this life-altering pandemic. They’ve done it with courage and compassion and grace under enormous pressure. It has been my privilege to work alongside them. I look forward to watching them soar.”

“Mary Alice Williams is an icon in broadcast journalism, as well as a very proud New Jersey resident,” said Neal Shapiro, president and CEO of NJTV and its operator WNET. “Along with her extensive network news experience, she has had a longstanding relationship with public television. We have been very fortunate to have her as part of the NJTV News family. Her experience and mentorship with our staff has been invaluable. It’s no exaggeration to say that she has helped shape its journalism and raised the bar for excellence within our show.”

When Williams joined NJTV, she brought with her a stellar reputation as an award-winning journalist, anchor and author. One of her many crowning achievements was her role as a primary architect behind the design of the first worldwide television network, CNN, contributing to its award-winning program lineup and serving as a vice president there. But Williams has also spent decades regularly contributing to public television projects. Following the September 11th terror attacks, she wrote and hosted a 3-hour PBS special Reaching Out to Heal. She also hosted a companion program to Bill Moyers’ On Our Own Terms, about death and dying, which aired in Fall 2000 on PBS. Her 90-minute PBS special on alcoholism and addiction, Within Reach, along with her work as a PBS contributing correspondent and anchor on Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, have established Williams as a recognized commentator and reporter on broad issues of ethics.

“Mary Alice will be missed,” added NJTV News Senior Managing Editor Jamie Kraft. “But she is leaving our show with a solid foundation and our team with a long-lasting blueprint of how to be a diligent and objective yet caring journalist and colleague.”

Williams’ successor as the anchor of NJTV News will be announced at a future date. The weeknight newscast will continue at 6pm, 7:30 pm and 11pm on NJTV, with the NJTVNews.org and NJSpotlight.com websites providing latest news and information on issues across the state around the clock.

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Little League World Series canceled for first time

From the New Castle (Pa) News

This year’s Little League World Series and the championship tournaments in six other Little League divisions have been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Little League President Stephen Keener announced the cancellations in a Facebook Live broadcast Thursday afternoon from league headquarters in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, saying it would be “impossible” to hold the events amid ongoing restrictions on large gatherings and travel.

The Little League World Series has been held every August since 1947 and had never been canceled before. Next year was to be the 75th playing of the tournament; that milestone has been pushed back to 2022.

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“Let me tell the folks in all those communities and all the sites where we have regional qualifying tournaments how disappointed we are to have to do this, but it was inevitable,” Keener said. “It would be irresponsible and impossible to bring teams and thousands of people from all over the world into the community of Williamsport as well as those six other communities that have been such great friends and supporters of ours over the years.”

He added that travel restrictions would make it equally impossible to hold qualifying tournaments for international teams and to bring those teams safely to the United States.

Little League has not, however, called off the 2020 regular season. Keener said there was reason for optimism that teams could play this spring and summer, depending on restrictions in states and localities.

The annual major league game in Williamsport, which this year was to feature the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 23, has been canceled, MLB said.

“While the cancellation of the 2020 Little League World Series is extremely disappointing, the health and safety of all of the people involved must be the paramount consideration. We look forward to our return to Williamsport for the 2021 MLB Little League Classic,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.

Little League announced in March that the season was on hold until at least May 11 because of guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention against gatherings of 50 people or more.

After that date, Keener said, districts and leagues should look to states and localities for guidance on when or if the season can resume. He also urged districts to hold all-star tournaments to give kids at least a taste of the competition they’ll be missing missing with World Series qualifying scrapped.

“We will be very amenable to (changing) eligibility requirements and be very flexible to allow as many kids the opportunity to play as possible for whatever can remain of the 2020 Little League season,” he said.

Along with the Little League World Series, which is held in South Williamsport, the other events canceled were the World Series of Little League Softball in Greenville, North Carolina; Junior League Baseball in Taylor, Michigan; Junior League Softball in Kirkland, Washington; Senior League Baseball in Easley, South Carolina; and Senior League Softball in Sussex County, Delaware.

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U.S. officials crafting retaliatory actions against China over coronavirus as President Trump fumes

The president has in recent days told aides and others that China has to pay for the outbreak and publicly floated demanding billions in compensation

President Trump has both praised China’s response to the coronavirus outbreak and criticized China for not being forthcoming enough about the virus. (Video: JM Rieger/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Jeff Stein, Carol D. Leonnig, Josh Dawsey and Gerry Shih , Washington Post

Senior U.S. officials are beginning to explore proposals for punishing or demanding financial compensation from China for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to four senior administration officials with knowledge of internal planning.

The move could splinter already strained relations between the two superpowers at a perilous moment for the global economy.

Senior officials across multiple government agencies are expected to meet Thursday to begin mapping out a strategy for seeking retaliatory measures against China, two people with knowledge of the meeting said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to disclose the planning. Officials in American intelligence agencies are also involved in the effort.

President Trump has fumed to aides and others in recent days about China, blaming the country for withholding information about the virus, and has discussed enacting dramatic measures that would probably lead to retaliation by Beijing, these people said.

In private, Trump and aides have discussed stripping China of its “sovereign immunity,” aiming to enable the U.S. government or victims to sue China for damages. George Sorial, who formerly served as a top executive at the Trump Organization and is involved in a class-action lawsuit against China, told The Washington Post he and senior White House officials have discussed limiting China’s sovereign immunity. Legal experts say an attempt to limit China’s sovereign immunity would be extremely difficult to accomplish and may require congressional legislation.

Some administration officials have also discussed having the United States cancel part of its debt obligations to China, two people with knowledge of internal conversations said. It was not known if the president has backed this idea. Two senior White House economic officials ruled out the possibility of doing so shortly after this story was published.

Administration officials strongly cautioned that the discussions are preliminary and that little formal work has begun on turning these initial ideas into reality. Other administration officials are warning Trump against the push to punish China, saying the country is sending supplies to help the American response.

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Gov. Murphy Meets Trump As NJ Coronavirus Deaths Hit One-Day High

By Tom Davis, Patch Staff

Gov. Phil Murphy asked President Trump for tens of billions of dollars in assistance on Thursday before announcing, during an afternoon news conference, that New Jersey’s coronavirus death toll hit a single-day high. Trump said the issue of bringing more funding to New Jersey to aid in its recovery is a “tough question.”

Murphy reported that New Jersey had 460 more deaths on Thursday, raising the overall total to 7,228. New Jersey also had more than 2,633 new cases – a number that’s been on a daily decline – as the overall number rose to 118,652.

Earlier, Murphy told Trump that the state will likely need $20 billion to $30 billion to shore up the state as it continues to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, record unemployment and sharply declining revenues.

“We don’t see this as a bailout. We see this as a partnership,” Murphy said.

Related news stories:
State officials hold April 30 coronavirus briefing (NJTV News video)
NJ governor lobbies Trump for states bailout during White House meeting (Politico)

Murphy wants to make sure that tens of thousands of people – including police, firefighters, teachers, EMS and other public employees – can get paid in the middle of the crisis and continue to assist people “in their hour of need.”

Trump’s response was: “That’s a tough question because you’re talking about the states and whether you call it a bailout or a lot of money – a lot of it’s for years, longer than you (Murphy) were there.”

Trump then went on to praise Murphy, saying: “You can’t have a better representative than this man. Plus, he’s an old Goldman Sachs guy.”

“He went through a big operation just before this happened and that’s a helluva thing,” Trump said, referring to Murphy’s cancer operation.

Murphy said the visit with Trump yielded good results, prompting the Trump administration to provide:

550,000 new test kits
750,000 new swabs for testing
358 nursing homes will be receiving a direct shipment of 220,000 masks, 19,000 goggles, 200,000 gowns and 1 million gloves.

“This proves that it is possible to put people over politics,” Murphy said. “It’s no secret that the president and I disagree on some things but that’s not going to stop me from making sure that New Jersey has all the resources it needs.”

EnviroPolitics Blog is working to keep you informed about all aspects of the coronavirus — the status of confirmed cases, disease spread, death toll–and also how Americans are coping. Like this story, for instance. If you like what we are doing, Click to receive free EP Blog updates and please tell your friends about us.

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