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Nautilus Insurance Company v. Access Medical, LLC

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Certified Question. The panel certified the question of state law to the Nevada Supreme Court asking whether an insurer is entitled reimbursement of costs already expended in defense of its insured where a determination has been made that the insurer owed no duty to defend and there was an agreement requiring reimbursement, but with no reservation of rights.




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Gale v. Chicago Title Insurance Company

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Plaintiff, a Connecticut attorney, sued Defendants, a group of title insurance companies, for violating a Connecticut law that allows only Connecticut attorneys to act as title agents in the state. The original complaint contained class action allegations under the Class Action Fairness Act, but Plaintiff removed all class-action allegations in a subsequent complaint. The district court held that without the class-act allegations, it no longer had jurisdiction and dismissed the complaint.




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ADI Worldlink, LLC v. RSUI Indemnity Company

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Affirmed. All insurance claims were properly denied because while the insured gave timely notice of later claims they failed to give notice of an initial claim within the policy's one year coverage limitation.




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Tatum v. Southern Company Services, Inc.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Affirmed. The district court's dismissal of claims for interference and retaliation in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act in the case of a man reprimanded for swearing, quoting the bible, and generally being abrasive in colleague interactions.




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O'Donnell v. Caine Weiner Company, LLC

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. A lawsuit alleging unequal pay due to gender discrimination and retaliation that lost on all counts at jury trial was affirmed. The jury instructions and verdict forms did not prejudice the case.




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Chaidez v. Ford Motor Company

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. The district court dismissal of a suit for failure to exhaust remedies was vacated because the claims of discrimination had been exhausted before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.




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P. v. The North River Insurance Company

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirming the denial of a bail surety's motion to vacate the forfeiture of a bail bond in a case where a defendant charged with drug trafficking offenses fled the country and was barred from reentry on account of the pending charges because the trial court may not grant a motion to vacate the forfeiture on a ground not asserted and on evidence not presented until after the appearance period has expired.



  • Property Law & Real Estate
  • Civil Procedure
  • Ethics & Professional Responsibility

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Palin v. The New York Times Company

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. Palin appeals the dismissal of her defamation complaint against The New York Times for failure to state a claim. Finding the district court erred in relying on facts outside the proceedings, the case is remanded for further proceedings.




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In Re Irving Tanning Company

(United States First Circuit) - Affirming bankruptcy court and district court rulings that a transaction involving the debt-financed purchase of a family owned leather manufacturer was not a fraudulent conveyance and did not amount to a violation of the fiduciary duties of the company's directors because the factual determinations were not clearly erroneous and supported the court's conclusions.




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DD Hair Lounge, LLC v. State Farm General Insurance Company

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirming the dismissal of a complaint brought by a company formed by a hairdresser who attempted to take advantage of changes in the law relating to whether cancelled companies can pursue litigation rather than litigate in a forthcoming manner, creating a situation where they were technically entitled to proceed but allowing them to do so would be unfair.




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Panoche Energy Center, LLC v. Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

(California Court of Appeal) - In an arbitration action, arising from a dispute between plaintiff electricity producer and defendant utility over which party bears the cost of complying with laws to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, the trial court's vacating of the arbitration award to PG&E is reversed where the question of contact interpretation was ripe for arbitration and plaintiff failed to show sufficient cause for postponing the arbitration process.




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Allco Renewable Energy Ltd. v. Massachusetts Electric Company

(United States First Circuit) - Affirming the dismissal of an action by a private energy company against the utility companies because the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act does not provide a private right of action against utility companies and affirming the denial of a motion for additional relief against various Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities officials because the court did not abuse its discretion in doing so.




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Wilson v. Southern California Edison Company

(California Court of Appeal) - Reversing the judgment and remanding the case of a woman whose home had a distressing electric charge, particularly in the shower, as the result of a power plant next door because the trial court erred in admitting irrelevant evidence relating to stray voltage incidents involving prior owners and tenants and that the admission of that evidence was prejudicial.




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Quanta Computer Inc. v. Japan Communications Inc.

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirming that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing a suit between Taiwanese and Japanese companies whose contract had nothing at all to do with California, but still named it as the forum for the resolution of disputes, because it was not an abuse of discretion when the court determined that suitable alternative forums exist and California had no interest in the suit.




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Bell Supply Company, LLC v. US

(United States Federal Circuit) - Vacating a decision by the US Court of International Trade affirming a US Department of Commerce determination that certain imported oil country tubular goods (OCTG) fabricated as unfinished OCTG in China and finished in other countries were not subject to anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders covering OCTG imported from China because the Trade Court improperly proscribed the use of the substantial transformation analysis to determine the country of origin.




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Pangang Group Co., LTD v. USDC CA

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Denied a petition for writ of mandamus. Plaintiffs, Chinese government controlled companies, sought a writ to vacate the district court’s order denying their motion to quash service of criminal summonses. The Ninth Circuit reasoned that plaintiffs had actual notice of the summonses and that there was no error on the part of the district court.




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InfoSpan, Inc. v. Emirates NBD Bank PJSC

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Held that there was no basis for personal jurisdiction over a United Arab Emirates bank in a commercial dispute with a technology firm. The firm argued that the bank had waived its personal-jurisdiction defense through its litigation conduct. Disagreeing, the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded with directions to dismiss the case because the bank lacked sufficient minimum contacts with the U.S.




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GATEWAY INC. v. COMPANION PRODS.

(United States Eighth Circuit) - Defendant's product infringed plaintiff-Gateway's black and white cow and spots trademark where the spots have acquired distinctiveness through secondary meaning, is not functional, and is entitled to protection.




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Chanko v. Am. Broadcasting Companies

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In an injury and tort action, brought against defendants ABC News, a hospital, and attending physician for the nonconsensual filming and subsequent broadcast of decedent's treatment and death at the hospital, the Appellative Division's order is modified and affirmed where: 1) the broadcasting of the footage as part of a documentary series about medical trauma was not so extreme and outrageous as to support an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim; but 2) plaintiffs have stated a cause of action against the hospital and treating physician for breach of physician-patient confidentiality.




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Port of Corpus Christi Auth. v. Sherwin Alumina Company

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Affirmed. The bankruptcy court's rejection of a Texas Port Authority's claims of sovereign immunity and fraud in their gambit to invalidate a bankruptcy sale that extinguished an easement they held was affirmed because there was no Eleventh Amendment violation or basis to claim fraud.




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Riddell Inc. v. Ace American Insurance Company

(California Court of Appeal) - In a case involving helmets worn by professional football players the manufacturers of the helmets were being sued by multiple parties, so the manufacturer sued their insurers for indemnity. The insurers wanted to continue in extended discovery and demanded logs of documents withheld during prior discovery, but the court held that a stay of discover is appropriate, while the manufacturer must also provide privilege logs, reversing the trial court's decision as to the stay and affirming its order as to the privilege logs.




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Los Angeles Lakers Inc. v. Federal Insurance Company

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirming the district court dismissal of an action brought under diversity jurisdiction by the LA Lakers against an insurer when it denied coverage and declined to defend them in a lawsuit alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act because the court agreed that the lawsuit was an invasion of privacy suit that was specifically excluded from coverage.




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Russell City Energy Company, LLC v. City of Hayward

(California Court of Appeal) - Reversing an order sustaining a city's demurrer without leave to amend and dismissing a complaint to the extent that the order denied the plaintiff leave to amend in an action relating to an agreement between an energy company and a city whose terms may have violated the California Constitution because a quasi-contractual restitution claim would be permitted even if the Payments Clause at issue is unconstitutional.




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Federal Insurance Company v. USA

(United States Second Circuit) - Denying the petition for mandamus by an insurer that had paid millions on an Employee Theft Insurance policy when the insured company was found to have engaged in corrupt activities such as obtaining bribes and kickbacks from subcontractors to a government contract it held because, even if they had overcome various procedural obstacles, the company's criminal conduct and, by extension, that of the insurer, precluded them from obtaining restitution from an implicated employee, but vacating and remanding an order dismissing the insurer's petition in the employee's forfeiture proceeding because the district court failed to determine whether the company's unclean hands kept it from an equitable remedy.




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Agility Logistics Services Company KSC v. Mattis

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming the decision by the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals dismissing for lack of jurisdiction because the Contract Disputes Act did not provide jurisdiction in a case involving a contract with the Army to establish and operate supply chain during Iraq's reconstruction and that the Board lacked jurisdiction under its charter and partially dismissing because the decision was not made pursuant under the CDA, so the court lacked jurisdiction to review.




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Trustees of the Suburban Teamsters v. The E Company

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Held that a construction business that ceased operations and cut off its pension contributions was subject to withdrawal liability under ERISA's Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments. Affirmed summary judgment in favor of a labor union pension fund.




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Wilson v. Dynatone Publishing Company

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirming the dismissal of a state law accounting claim and otherwise vacating and remanding the case of a musical group called Sly Slick & Wicked who challenged the collection of royalties during the renewal period of the copyright of their song, entitled Sho' Nuff, which had been sampled by Justin Timberlake and J. Cole because their repudiation of the original terms of the copyright many years earlier did not also constitute a repudiation of the renewal terms, resulting in a time-bar to their claims.




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Chaidez v. Ford Motor Company

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. The district court dismissal of a suit for failure to exhaust remedies was vacated because the claims of discrimination had been exhausted before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.




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PaTRAM Institute To Record Next CD In Saratov, Russia, Accompanied By The Wonderworking Kursk Root Icon Of The Mother Of God

Fresh Off Their GRAMMY Nomination For Their CD, Teach Me Thy Statutes,the PaTRAM Institute Will Record Their Next CD In Saratov, Russia This August.




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Merzbow Joins Forces With Haino And Pandi On Blisteringly Intense Improv 'Become The Discovered, Not The Discoverer' On RareNoiseRecords

Kindred Spirits Met When Japanese Noise Legend Merzbow Got Together In The Studio With Fellow Countryman Keiji Haino And Drummer Balazs Pandi For A New Recording On RareNoiseRecords




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US v. Stepanets

(United States First Circuit) - Reversing and Remanding an order dismissing counts in an indictment charging three defendants involving the dispensing of misbranded drugs in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act because the judge's analysis involved several out-of-place factual assumptions that led to an incorrect finding regarding the sufficiency of an indictment.



  • Drugs & Biotech
  • Criminal Law & Procedure

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The Medecines Company v. Hospira, Inc.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming the district court's finding of noninfringement and remanding to determine whether the on-sale bar applies in a case relating to an anti-coagulant drug because a different production method was distinguished from the patented method and a patent is invalid if the product was offered for sale and ready for patenting prior to the filing of the application.




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Monsanto Company v. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirming the trial court's conclusion that Monsanto and others failed to state a claim in a suit where they averred that Proposition 65's reliance on the International Agency for Research on Cancer's determinations about which chemicals cause cancer improperly granted a foreign entity authority over domestic affairs.




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10x populair: videobellen via Zoom, purpose tijdens pandemie & SEO-teksten

Welke whiteboard-tools kun je online gebruiken, hoe kun je veilig videobellen via Zoom, en wat is de beste bedrijfsstrategie tijdens de coronacrisis? Dit – en meer – zijn de best gelezen artikelen op Frankwatching in de maand april. 1. Zoom & privacy: zo kun je veilig videobellen [how to] Zoom stond de afgelopen weken vol […]




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Atlantic Screen Music Marks 10th Year Anniversary By Acquiring Redfive Creative, A Noted, UK-Based Music Supervision & Sync Company

ASM Completes Its 150th Film Score And Retains Jonathan Firstenberg As North American Rep




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Geffner v. The Coca-Cola Company

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Plaintiff brought class action suit against Defendant, Coca-Cola Company alleging misleading naming and marketing of “Diet Coke”. District court dismissed all claims under Federal Rule 12(b)(6). Appeals court that the adjective “diet” referred to caloric content and carries a relative meaning and not an absolute meaning.




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Essex Insurance Company v. Blue Moon Lofts Condominium Association

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. The subject of a legal judgment sought to pursue the doctrine of estoppel to compel their insurer to pay out on the judgment against them from a decade before the policy's active date. They suffered no prejudice from the insurer's action and their case was dismissed.




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Emmis Communications Corporation v. Illinois National Insurance Company

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Reversed and remanded. The district court's entry of summary judgment for a company on a claim of breach of contract against an insurer was overturned because of the court's interpretation of the clause "as reported" to mean a report had been made, rather than referencing events that had already occurred at the time of the drafting.




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Nautilus Insurance Company v. Access Medical, LLC

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Certified Question. The panel certified the question of state law to the Nevada Supreme Court asking whether an insurer is entitled reimbursement of costs already expended in defense of its insured where a determination has been made that the insurer owed no duty to defend and there was an agreement requiring reimbursement, but with no reservation of rights.




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ADI Worldlink, LLC v. RSUI Indemnity Company

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Affirmed. All insurance claims were properly denied because while the insured gave timely notice of later claims they failed to give notice of an initial claim within the policy's one year coverage limitation.




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Can California’s Air Remain Clean Post Pandemic? Yes, If The State Amps Up Its Climate Goals, Studies Say.

By Ezra David Romero

Air quality across California has visibly improved with fewer drivers on the road because of stay-at-home orders. But when the orders are lifted pollution will likely return to pre-pandemic levels.

Some scientists say we don’t have to go back to having such poor air quality in the state, but they recognize it will take a total mindset change for Californians. The number of miles driven in the state has dropped by around 75% since stay-at-home orders went into place and has resulted in a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, said UC Davis Road Ecology Center director Fraser Shilling.

“We're learning new things about our driving behavior … can we both mitigate the harm from COVID-19 and also mitigate the harm that we cause by burning fuel and causing climate change?” Sterling questioned after analyzing data from Streelight.com. 

Nationally he reports there was a reduction of around 74 billion miles traveled in the U.S. from early March to mid-April. That resulted in a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 4% nationally for 2020 and by 13% from transportation in about eight weeks. 

If this continues, Shilling says, the reduction of miles traveled could drastically impact our climate goals for the better, including putting the nation on track to meet its annual greenhouse gas reduction goals under the Paris Climate Accord.

He says it’s an interesting position for the federal government to be in where the lack of driving allows the U.S. to meet the goals of the “Paris Climate Accord, and on the other hand, inadvertently exceed the goals ... It's a cool green lining.”

California has a 2050 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from 1990 levels. Shilling says if traffic remained at stay-at-home levels for a year, the drop in miles traveled would allow the state to meet half of its climate target by 2050.  

The rest of the reductions would come from all sectors of the economy including transitions to bioenergy, offshore wind power, and increased energy storage. A 2019 study highlighted by Stanford University from the group Energy Futures Initiative says meeting the 2050 goals will be “extremely challenging.”

“It's painful to drive less and have less economic activity,” Shilling said. “But when we drive less, and when we work at home, we can start to meet these climate change goals. They're not so far out of the way, out of bounds that we can't achieve them.”

But Shilling says there are negative aspects, depending on how you look at it, including potentially $370 million less state fuel tax revenue.

“The upside for drivers — like I filled my tank a month and a half ago — is we're not spending as much on fuel,” Shilling said. “The less fuel that's sold, the less fuel tax revenue … that money is not available for transportation projects.”

Could California keep its cleaner air?

Researchers at UCLA are taking this idea further. A study came out this week saying that California has all the policies and technology to stop all human-caused emissions by 2050. 

“We think there is a room for California to achieve that goal ahead of the game,” said Yifang Zhu, one of the authors of the peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature Sustainability

The authors call for increased energy efficiency across all sectors and reducing emissions from energy creation as the core ways to reach the sped up goal. That would mean a “systematic change” in how Californians consume energy and “more stringent” policies.

“We're talking about 85% electrification rate in the residential and commercial sectors, which we’re not even close to [today],” Zhu said. 

Achieving carbon neutrality is part of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s mission to limit the rise in global temperature to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels by 2100. 

Zhu says, “nothing in our model in the roadmap is something unrealistic” even at a half a century ahead of the global goal. Doing so would mean fast tracking the state’s existing goals and their models show that by 2050 the savings from curbing emissions will exceed the cost by around $109 billion.

“We need to do more than what we're doing today,” Zhu said. “I want to highlight the cost is actually only 50% compared to the monetary benefits and also want to communicate the urgency for California agencies for stakeholders and policymakers to really act.”

Zhu says, even though the study started before the pandemic began, there’s a lesson to be learned from the COVID-19 crisis. 

“It is cheaper and safer to prevent people from catching and spreading this Coronavirus, then to treat huge numbers of severe cases,” Zhu said. “Similarly [with] climate change it is much better to cut down greenhouse gas emissions to prevent global temperature rise than to figure out how to deal with the potential future catastrophic consequences.”

The authors also note the state’s most disadvantage would benefit. According to the study, the state’s top 25% most polluted census tracts would get 35% of the health benefits of improved air quality. It could also, the study says, have a health effect of 14,000 fewer deaths from air pollution related illnesses every year, it could reduce asthma attacks in 1 million children and decrease cardiovascular hospital admissions by 4,500.

“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our state will not only slow down global climate change, but more importantly, will improve the air quality and protect people’s health in our local community,” said co-author Bin Zhao, a former UCLA researcher who is now an earth scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. 




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Geffner v. The Coca-Cola Company

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Plaintiff brought class action suit against Defendant, Coca-Cola Company alleging misleading naming and marketing of “Diet Coke”. District court dismissed all claims under Federal Rule 12(b)(6). Appeals court that the adjective “diet” referred to caloric content and carries a relative meaning and not an absolute meaning.




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New Spanish Pop Single "Mirame Ft Amilcar" By Bekim!

Producer Bekim! Releasing Masterpiece Single With Amilcar Singing




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Versatile Haitian American Singer/Songwriter Natalie Jean Releases Spanish Holiday Single

Natalie Jean Is Excited To Announce Her Collaboration With Songwriters Bruno Vallelunga And Latin Grammy Nominee Danilo Gossain, Titled “Nostalgia De Navidad”.




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Timid Joins Japan's Drynage Orchestra For "Forbidden Fruit"

American And Japanese Artists Connect Through Hip Hop




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Timid Collabs With Osaka Japan's Tomie On H.U.G.S.

Tomie's Mission With This Release Is To Display International And Intercultural Unity Through Music And Positive Progress.




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COVID-19 Weekend Updates / Truckee, Chico Mayor Coronavirus Check-In / Photography During Pandemic

The latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic from weekend across the region. We check in with the mayors of Truckee and Chico on how their cities are managing, and a local photographer offers a window into the lives of her neighbors.




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Rep. Tom McClintock / School Timelines, Sliding Reading Skill Levels / Baking Bread During The Pandemic

Republican California Rep. Tom McClintock on Congress’ coronavirus relief efforts. We check in with a pair of superintendents on prospective timelines for opening their schools, and finding comfort in baking during the pandemic.




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Dead & Company To Stream New Orleans Show For One More Saturday Night

Dead & Company will be taking fans back to their 2018 show in New Orleans for this week's installment




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Citing pandemic, Denver judge puts U.S. Senate candidate on ballot despite failing to meet signature requirement

A Denver judge ordered that U.S. Senate candidate Michelle Ferrigno Warren must be placed on the June 30 primary ballot, despite falling well short of the Colorado Secretary of State's usual signature requirement.