Biden Prepares for First Presidential Trip, Town Hall on COVID Relief Deal

Currents News Staff

President Biden’s agenda is taking center stage this morning in a Washington no longer consumed by his predecessor’s impeachment trial.

Looking to drum up support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, today, Biden is taking his message directly to the public with his first official trip as president to Wisconsin where he’ll make the case for his relief package during a CNN town hall.

On Feb. 17 it’s off to Michigan to a Pfizer vaccine manufacturing plant. Back in Washington, the Biden Administration is still playing catch up on safely reopening more schools and boosting the national vaccine and testing plans.

A group of bipartisan governors sent the president a letter asking for better coordination on distributing vaccines between the federal and state governments, which is an issue Biden noted in a meeting with local leaders at the White House last week.

“What I found when I got here, that what we thought was available in terms of everything from vaccine to vaccinators was not the case,” Biden said. “So I thank them for the work they did in their cities and their states in order to respond to the crisis.”

The president is also still struggling to get Republicans on board with his relief bill.

But with pandemic relief and vaccines on the line, Democrats are growing impatient and ready to move forward without Republican support.

“We are going to rush to get this done, to help deploy more vaccines, to help get kids back into school safely and to provide the other important benefits in this rescue package,” said Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen. “And if Republicans are willing to join us in that effort, we will work with those who want to join us.”

Another major hurdle is a provision to hike the federal minimum wage to $15. It’s a proposal, opposed not only by Senate Republicans, but also two Democrats.

And with enhanced pandemic unemployment benefits scheduled to expire March 14, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says there’s no time to waste.

“Congress has got to move forward vigorously, do what the president of the United States campaigned on and wants to do,” said Sen. Sanders. “That’s what we’ve got to do. Not only to help the American people, but to restore faith that government in fact can respond to the needs of ordinary Americans.”

Pre-K Programs Are ‘Desperately Needed’ and Must Reopen, Says Queens Council Member Robert Holden

Currents News Staff

New York City decided to cancel more than 100 Universal Pre-K programs, including five at Catholic schools in the Brooklyn Diocese. Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Glendale was one of those programs. The cancellation news has upset Council Member Robert Holden, who represents the community of Glendale, Queens.

He wrote letters to both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza expressing his disappointment.

Council Member Holden joined Currents News to discuss what happens now to the Pre-K program.

Yer Man’s Irish Pub in Queens Open Again After 11 Months Without Indoor Dining

By Jessica Easthope

The locks on Yer Man’s Pub are being taken off after nearly a year. Even though it may never be back to what it was like before the pandemic, the weight of the world is off Jimmy O’Reilly’s shoulders.

“It was great. It was fantastic,” said the owner of Yer Man’s Pub, Jimmy, about his first day back on Friday, Feb. 12.

When Jimmy closed his pub in mid-March, from the outside it looked like nothing was going on. Yet on the inside, Jimmy was working – building barriers and partitions by hand, making his bar safe for indoor dining – if and when that day would ever come.

It finally came on Friday, days after an announcement by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“We’ll open 25% indoor dining, New York City, Friday, before Valentine’s Day,” Gov. Cuomo announced on Feb. 8.

Yer Man’s first big weekend was a success. Jimmy says people are still afraid to come out, but the hard work he did while the bar was closed made it so much safer.

“People have come in here and they feel so safe here because of the barriers and the barriers at the bar,” Jimmy said, “and because the employees are protected, people have said to me ‘I feel so safe coming in here.’”

And customers said there’s nothing better than being back.

“It’s nice to see somebody in person versus talking on the phone or having a Zoom conference,” said Kevin Kehoe, a regular customer at Yer Man’s.

“It’s like the kids going back to school, you need to get out, you need to have a good time and be among friends,” said Lois Mungay, another regular customer.

For 11 months Jimmy’s family business survived on take-out orders. But was hemorrhaging money just to keep the lights on. He said it was almost too late.

“I got the first PPP,” Jimmy said. “I just got the second one, thank God, because it was getting down to the wire. Without it, I would be gone next month, this month maybe.”

But it’s not too late – even in their darkest days, Jimmy and his family knew that if they had the chance, they would make a comeback.

“I feel like no matter what it is going to bounce back, I do feel like the minute people come back in, it’s like right back being at home again,” said Sinead O’Reilly, a waitress and bartender at Yer Man’s, and one of Jimmy’s three daughters. “Like clockwork, everyone jumps back into the same rhythm.”

Jimmy says if he can help it, Yer Man’s will always be a place to come for good food, good drinks and a good time. He says his faith and his bar are two things that won’t fade away.

Catholic News Headlines for Monday, 2/15/21

New York restaurants are open for business – indoors.

Governor Cuomo responds to the nursing home controversy, saying all the deaths were fully and accurately reported.

With the impeachment trial over, lawmakers push for a 9/11 style probe into the capitol Hill attack, as President Biden pushes for a stimulus deal.

Pope Francis Praises Colombia For Initiative Granting Venezuelan Migrants Legal Status

Currents News Staff

“Dear brothers and sisters, good morning. The square is so beautiful with the sun! How beautiful!” said the Holy Father.

His greeting was heartfelt. This was the second time in 2021 that Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with pilgrims. The weather was better than the first time. The pontiff has felt the lack of contact between him and pilgrims throughout the pandemic.

From a window of the apostolic palace, he praised the president of Colombia’s initiative to help immigrants. Iván Duque proposed a statute to provide 10 years of protection so undocumented immigrants from Venezuela can obtain legal status. There are an estimated 1.7 million undocumented immigrants from Venezuela in Colombia.

“This is not being done by a very rich, super developed country,” said Pope Francis. “No. It is being done by a country with many problems: of development, of poverty, of peace. Nearly 70 years of guerrilla war. But with this problem, they have had the courage to look at those migrants and make this statute. Thank you, Colombia. Thank you.”

The pontiff also said a few words about St. Valentine’s Day, which was being celebrated worldwide.

“And I cannot fail today, on St. Valentine’s Day, to extend a thought and greeting to couples, to those who are in love,” he said. “I accompany you with my prayer, and I bless you.”

Before concluding, the Holy Father reminded the faithful that Lent begins this Wednesday. He suggested taking advantage of this time to foster faith and hope during the current crisis.

At Rome’s Colosseum, Display Showcases Riches of Pompeii Within its Walls

Currents News Staff

The Colosseum’s wide walkways now include a remnant of Pompeii, the city with which Rome strengthened its ties in the fourth century AD, during its expansion.

“This display covers four centuries of history, from the end of the fourth century BC to 79 AD,” said Alfonsina Russo, Colosseum Director. “The volcanic eruption that destroyed Pompeii also guaranteed that its memory would live on in history. Thanks to the frescoes and other cultural artifacts from Pompeii that survived, we were able to partly reconstruct what this part of Rome would have looked like.”

Pompeii was a city of commerce. That’s why the exhibition includes a recreation of the inside of a merchant ship.

“These are original amphoras,” said Maurizio Di Puolo. “They carried wine in those days. They’re not replicas. They would place straw between them to soften the impacts. The ship could carry 600 amphoras, each able to hold 20 liters of wine or oil. It was an extremely valuable load.”

“The merchants from Pompeii were very active in the Mediterranean,” said Alfonsina. “In some way they represented Rome. They were also Rome’s merchants.”

The exhibition includes statues of Roman gods and important people from Pompeii who made a fortune thanks to commerce… but not only. Part of Pompeii’s wealth came from gifts from people like Lucio Mummio, who completed the conquest of Ancient Greece. He conquered cities like Corinth, where St. Paul would later preach, just a few years before Pompeii’s disappearance.

Catholic News Headlines for Friday, 2/12/21

Governor Cuomo under fire – new allegations that the state knowingly withheld information.

The impeachment trial of former President Trump continues.

A spotlight on some of the Brooklyn Diocese’s schools, celebrating Catholic Schools Week.

Cuomo’s Top Aide Admits Nursing Home Numbers Cover-Up in Leaked Audio

By Emily Drooby and Erin DeGregorio

WINDSOR TERRACE — Governor Andrew Cuomo’s secretary, Melissa DeRosa, admitted the Cuomo administration withheld the state’s nursing home death toll out of fear that the numbers would “be used against us” by the Department of Justice in an investigation, according to an audio recording obtained by the New York Post.

“He [former President Donald Trump] starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes. He starts going after [New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, starts going after [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, starts going after [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer,” DeRosa reportedly said. “And basically, we froze.”

DeRosa released the following statement on Feb. 12, one day after the recording was leaked:

“I was explaining that when we received the DOJ inquiry, we needed to temporarily set aside the Legislature’s request to deal with the federal request first. We informed the houses of this at the time. We were comprehensive and transparent in our response to the DOJ, and then had to immediately focus our resources on the second wave and vaccine rollout.

“As I said on a call with legislators, we could not fulfill their request as quickly as anyone would have liked. But we are committed to being better partners going forward as we share the same goal of keeping New Yorkers as healthy as possible during the pandemic.”

A handful of local politicians and other state lawmakers have since called for a thorough investigation and prosecution of Cuomo in light of these findings.

On Feb. 15, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay urged the Legislature to cancel its winter break for the week of Feb. 15 and hold a special session to address this matter — including stripping Cuomo‘s emergency COVID-19 powers that had been originally granted on March 3, 2020. He also urged Democrats to sign a petition to issue subpoenas that would pressure the Cuomo administration to testify at a legislative hearing and reveal information regarding the nursing home deaths.

“The circumstances surrounding the governor’s nursing home cover-up and revelations from his staff’s closed door meeting with Democratic legislators is unforeseen and unprecedented,” Barclay said in a statement on Feb. 15. “The Legislature was not originally scheduled to reconvene this week. But we need to face reality, this is hardly the appropriate time for a break.”

New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik also wrote in a statement on Feb. 12: “Governor Cuomo, the Secretary to the Governor, and his senior team must be prosecuted immediately — both by the Attorney General of New York State and the U.S. Department of Justice. This bombshell admission of a coverup and the remarks by the Secretary to the Governor indicating intent to obstruct any federal investigation is a stunning and criminal abuse of power.”

New York State Senators Alessandra Biaggi, Jabari Brisport, Samra Brouk, Jeremy Cooney, Andrew Gounardes, Robert Jackson, John C. Liu, John Mannion, Rachel May, Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, Gustavo Rivera, Julia Salazar, James Sanders, and James Skoufis also called for the repeal of the governor’s emergency powers.

The group issued the following statement on Feb. 12:

“Without exception, the New York State Constitution calls for the Legislature to govern as a co-equal branch of government. While COVID-19 has tested the limits of our people and state — and, early during the pandemic, required the government to restructure decision making to render rapid, necessary public health judgments — it is clear that the expanded emergency powers granted to the governor are no longer appropriate.

“While the executive’s authority to issue directives is due to expire on April 30, we urge the Senate to advance and adopt a repeal as expeditiously as possible.”

The Associated Press also reported on Feb. 11 that 9,056 recovering COVID-19 patients were sent to hundreds of nursing homes during the spring of 2020. According to reports obtained by the AP, this number is more than 40 percent higher than what New York State’s Department of Health (DOH) previously released.

As of Feb. 1, there have been 9,244 confirmed and presumed reported COVID-19 deaths in long-term care facilities, which includes nursing homes and adult care facilities. Of the 9,244 reported deaths, 9,025 have been attributed to those in nursing homes. However, the DOH has only recorded the number of seniors who have passed away in nursing homes — excluding deaths outside those facilities, such as the hospitals they were transferred to.

A Brief History

Cuomo issued an executive order on March 25, 2020, that mandated nursing homes had to admit recovering COVID-19 patients returning from hospitals. The order, which was reversed on May 10, intended to free up hospital beds, as hundreds were dying every day during the height of the pandemic.

In July 2020, the DOH reported that 6,327 recovering patients from hospitals had been allowed to return to nursing homes by the time the directive was reversed — as well as that a majority of the 310 nursing homes that admitted such patients already had one confirmed or suspected case among residents or staff members.

In its July report, the department also said that patients sent to nursing homes posed little danger to residents because they had spent an average of nine days at the hospitals — consistent with federal guidance at the time about how long it took for people to stop being contagious.

“At least 98 person of nursing home facilities in the state had COVID in their facility before their first admission or readmission, and as we’ve seen across the nation, the major driver of infections appears to be from asymptomatic staff through no fault of their own,” state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker told the AP in a statement.

In the Wake of New Reports

This most recent AP report also comes on the heels of New York State Attorney General Letitia James’s findings, released on Jan. 28, that the DOH undercounted COVID-19 resident deaths associated with 62 nursing homes by an average of 56 percent.

Cuomo deflected and defended himself the following day, saying the office’s findings confirmed what Zucker has stated in the last year and that New York followed federal guidelines issued at the time.

“It’s not about pointing fingers or blame. It’s that this became a political football,” Cuomo said during his press briefing on Jan. 29. “Whether a person died in a hospital or died in a nursing home, the people died.”

During the week of Feb. 8, the DOH also announced a new count of 2,729 “readmissions” of patients sent back from a hospital to the nursing home where they had lived before.

Cuomo traveled to Washington, D.C. on Feb. 12 — along with other mayors and governors from around the country — for a scheduled meeting with President Joe Biden that focused on the federal American Rescue Plan for dealing with the coronavirus.

Cuomo and Arkansas Governor and National Governors Association Vice Chairman Asa Hutchinson issued the following statement after meeting with President Biden and Vice President Harris on Feb. 12:

“Governors from across the country and the political spectrum have said for months that flexible and direct aid to state and local governments is essential for our continued front-line response to the COVID-19 crisis and our national economic recovery. During our Oval Office meeting today with President Biden, Vice President Harris, and a bipartisan group of Governors and mayors from across the country, the President and his team made clear that they recognize and appreciate how critical this targeted relief is for our ability to recover from this pandemic.

“We thank President Biden, Vice President Harris, and their team for a productive meeting and their support, and call on Congress to ensure sufficient state and local aid is included in the final relief package. The finish line of this pandemic is in sight, and this support will give states and territories the resources we need to reach it, while continuing to provide the essential services our constituents rely on.”

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday, 2/11/21

Citi Field only has the doses to vaccinate 200 people a day.

Could the U.S. restrict domestic travel? That’s the big question tonight as a COVID variant surges in Florida.

The Trump trial – it’s the last day of arguments for the acting prosecutors – the defense begins on Friday.

Citi Field Mega Vaccine Site Turns People Away as They Struggle to Get Appointments

By Jessica Easthope

Imagine waiting weeks to get an appointment for a vaccine, taking the train, bus or even walking through the snow to Citi Field in Queens, but then when you get there, you’re turned away. That was the reality for many Feb. 11.

Debbie Graham walks with a cane. She came to Citi Field Thursday morning for her first vaccine. She had given all her information over the phone and made an appointment.

“I thought I would have no problem today getting in to get my shot. They told me that they don’t have anything on record, they don’t have my appointment on record,” she said.

But Debbie got lucky.

“I’m very angry,” she said as a staff member walked over and asked her age. Debbie said she made an appointment and doesn’t know why there’s no record of it.

“Okay how about I take you upstairs, and we’ll figure it out,” he said as Debbie followed him into the stadium.

Not everyone had the same experience. For others, it went smoothly.

“Simple process, you just go in and get a shot,” said Eugenio Perdomo, a TLC driver.

This week, the mega site is only vaccinating 200 people-a-day, which leaves a lot of people out. But New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city had a plan to get people the information they need.

“We’re going to have people out here to help sign people up. If people come here, there will be navigators to help them sign up for a future appointment,” he said.

People at Citi Field said that wasn’t the case.

After trying desperately to make an appointment by calling the city hotline and going online,Carlos Feliz — who is eligible because of his job as a security guard and maintenance worker — came to Citi Field looking for answers. But he didn’t get the one he hoped for.

“It’s so frustrating. I just came here and the guy told me I have to do the same thing, go online or call the same number I’ve called already,” Carlos said.

It was the same answer they gave several others.

In less than two weeks, Citi Field will be able to vaccine up to 5,000 people-a-day. Currents News reached out to the city about how it plans to control the crowds and handle situations like Thursday’s, but the request hasn’t been answered.