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Cyberpunk 2077 is the most anticipated game of the year; fans are eagerly waiting to play this dystopian game. This game was first scheduled to release in April of this year, but it has pushed back to November of this year.

Cyberpunk 2077 is an upcoming video game on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is a massive dystopian Role Playing Game from CD Projekt. CD Projekt has created The Witcher series too. The buzz around this game is exciting, and the launch is long overdue, but at least its coming, right?

The game was announced in 2012, and a decade minus two years later, we can say its around the corner. Cyberpunk 2077 is releasing on November 19, 2020.

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The gameplay seems like that of Grand Theft Auto 5 to an extent:

Cyberpunk 2077 is played as V,a mercenary whose voice, face, hairstyles, body type, and clothing are customizable. The game is set in Night City, California, which has six regions. On its outskirts, the Badlands can also be explored. V owns an apartment where he can find weapons, or a change of clothes, or even use a computer. The apartment also has a garage.

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V can move on foot or in a vehicle. Pedestrians are vulnerable to vehicular collisions. If V commits a crime, law enforcement may be alerted, depending on the location of the crime. Braindance is a device that allows V to experience other peoples experiences. Throughout the game, V is met with various companions. Consumables, like soft drinks, are used for healing. Minigames include hacking, boxing, auto racing, martial arts, and shooting ranges. Game over messages only appear at the point of death.

Cyberpunk 2077 has drawn influence from the film Blade Runner, manga and anime series Ghost in the Shell, and video games System Shock and Deus Ex.

Cyberpunk 2077 was scheduled to release on April 16, 2020, but then it was pushed back to release on September 17, 2020. Now we have a new date for which is November 19, 2020. We can hope that this time-release date will not be pushed back.

The character and the vehicles being used can be viewed in either first-person or third-person, depending on the players customization.

Yes, Trailer is Out.

According to the officials, and Anime is in the process, and it can air on Netflix in the year 2022. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners will be ten episodes long story. This story will be all about a street kid living in Night City.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Release Date, Gameplay And Everything - Pop Culture Times

Steven Strauss, Opinion columnist Published 8:38 a.m. ET July 30, 2020 | Updated 12:08 p.m. ET July 30, 2020

The coronavirus (COVID-19) is impacting the global economy and raising fears of a recession. What causes a recession and what are the signs? USA TODAY

As America's second quarter GDP takes a record plunge, here are clues to the economy that awaits us on the other side of this COVID-19 nightmare.

More Americans have been killed by the COVID-19 pandemic than in the Korean, Vietnam, Iraqand Afghanistan wars combined, and the carnage hasnt ended. Corporate bankruptcies are increasing, the second quarter Gross Domestic Product just plunged a record 32.9%from the previous quarter,and resumption of normal activities is not on the immediate horizon for most people. So the recession will be with us until we have a vaccine and the pandemic ends likelyanother year. What will the economy look like on the other side of this veritable valley of death?

More industry concentration.Financially strong and well-positioned companies like , Google, Apple andAmazon will benefit during this crisis from organic growth, investment in research, and/or mergers and acquisitions.At the other end of the spectrum, companies with weak balance sheets and/or mediocre business models will fail (J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penneyand Brooks Brothersare among those that have already filed for bankruptcy or liquidation).This isnt just a private sector phenomenon. As many as 20% of U.S. colleges and universitiesmay also disappear in the next few years, via closure or merger.And this pattern will repeat across all areas of the economy.

Existing trends are already accelerating and becoming part of the New Normal. Recentbankruptcies make clear thate-commerce is expanding as physical retail shrinks. Similarly, telemedicine and work-from-home technologies are all experiencing super-charged growth. So isautomation (eliminating workers is the easiest way to make a meatpacking plant COVID-safe, for instance).

A mixed picture for entrepreneurs.This will be the worst of times because we're in a recession, but also potentially the best of timesbecausechange and disruption often equalopportunity.For an entrepreneur with a new business in an area thats shrinking (such asphysical retail, hotels orinternational air travel), this is a horrible time to build a business.On the other hand, entrepreneurs focused on new and emerging trends will do well.

Expect discontinuities in areas includingglobalization, air travel, and leisure and hospitality.As weve learned, companies are global when things go well but in a crisis, manufacturing facilities are national. At one point during the pandemic, China (with about half of all global mask production) limited the export of masks to ensure its own supply needs were met. Other countries took analogous steps.Going forward, look formore nationalism around critical supply chains, and more border controls as countries try to ensure they wont be blindsided by the next potential pandemic. International air travel could take a very long time to return to 2019 levels.

Economics for a post-lockdown world: Invest now to prevent another Great Depression

Cities won't die but they will change.The "decline anddeath of cities"arguments are overstated and often ignore facts, academic research and common sense. As Nobel Prize Winning economists Banerjee and Duflo commented: The fundamental qualities that made an areaattractive in the first place are still there: a river, a central location, a long history, a good education system and the like. Businesses will want to invest, people will want to move back and the more a city is damaged, the faster its recovery will be. Keep in mind New York City's recovery after the Spanish Flu. Its population grew, as did its role as an economic and cultural center.

Closed business on July 21, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.(Photo: Spencer Platt, Getty Images)

Historically, higher density has resulted in higher productivity in cities compared to less dense areas, and thats unlikely to change. Also, cities (in the American context) appear to be healthier places to live.As we are clearly seeing, the pandemic isnt just a health issue for dense urban areas - it also impacts rural and suburban areas.

But we can expect radical changes, including in commuting and therelative costs of real estate. One simple example: When the pandemic ends, many people will want to resume normal office life. But many others will want to continue working from home. Consequently, companies may need less office space, and their remaining space may need to be reconfigured.Physical retail will also likely have a significantly reduced urban footprint, due to the shift to e-commerce.

Racial and socioeconomic inequality will increase.This crisis has disproportionately impacted communities of color (particularly black Americans) and low-income groups, and in the short run, that will be difficult to mitigate.Decades of systemic racism have left black Americans at the bottom of the economic system overrepresented in nine of the ten lowest-paid, high-contact essential services, which elevates their risk of contracting the virus. Thirty-three percent of nursing assistants, 39 percent of orderlies, and 39 percent of psychiatric aides are black.

In addition, minority-owned small businesses are disproportionately concentrated in sectors adversely impacted by the pandemic.Further, black Americans are 50% more likelythan white Americansto have no health insurance. Education disparities will widen.Children who attend private schools, or public schools in affluent areas, are likely to have better educational opportunities during this pandemicthan students in poorer and/or rural areas.The latter will likely lose the equivalent of months of schooling due to closures.

Governments role in our lives will grow. By the end of the pandemic it will be significantly largerand its unlikely to shrink quickly to pre-pandemic size.Ideologically, small government isnt the Democrats policy position. Small government is the Republicans official position, but in reality, GOP political support is heavily concentrated in the states most dependent on federal money.The GOP is also increasingly interested in managing the economyto produce the results it wants for its voters (for instance, President Donald Trumps strong interest in getting China to buy agricultural products from predominantly Republican states).

Leaderless and voiceless: America was the keeper of democracy. We were imperfect but we kept trying, until now.

The increased role of government in the economy will be a lingering bipartisan after-effect of this pandemic.I expect the federal government will run very large budget deficits for the foreseeable future, but the government debt will be manageable.

Inflation will remain under control.Deflation might be the real challenge in some sectors, such as hotel properties, mallsand office space. The economy will likely have a significant amount of unused capacity (at least for the next couple of years), so I expect well see a period of low interest rates and low inflation.

U.S.leadership in the global economy will be greatly reduced.We haven't handled this crisis well compared to our global competitors. Consequently, well emerge on the other side in a weakened position. President Reagan described America as a shining city upon a hill, butthe fiascos of the Trump era will likely mark the end of that aspiration.Seriously, I doubt any country in the world finds our approach tothis pandemic to be inspiring.

None of these predictions is certain, but taken together they are cluesto the economy awaiting uson the other side of this nightmare.

Steven Strauss is a lecturer and visiting professor at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, an economic development specialist and a member of USA TODAYs Board of Contributors.This essay is adapted from his June 22 report, "Some Emerging Hypotheses on the Economic Opportunities and Challenges of the Post-Pandemic World."Follow him on Twitter: @Steven_Strauss

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Our economy is in the COVID valley of death. What will be on the other side, and when? - USA TODAY

With multilateral cooperation under strain, senior UN officials, Nobel laureates and eminent academic experts, gathered virtually on Wednesday for the launch of a new report recommending an adjusted approach to economic development, and a policy dialogue exploring how countries can recover from COVID-19, in ways that lead to real structural transformation.

Parallel threats

Parallel threats linked to health, economic and social crises have crippled countries and left us at a standstill, said Liu Zhenmin, Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), as he presented a new report by the High-level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs.

Titled Recover Better: Economic and Social Challenges and Opportunities, it analyses economic trends critical to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and recovery from COVID-19.

Among its recommendations is a greater focus on the environment, he said, as well as promotion of research and development, investment in infrastructure and education, and improvement in economic equality.

Overcoming the crisis and getting back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals will require a strengthened multilateralism, he said. COVID-19 has laid bare how much leadership, foresight and collaboration among all Governments and stakeholders, matter.

First global poverty rise since 1998

In a video message, UN deputy chief Amina Mohammed, said as many as 100 million people are expected to be pushed back into extreme poverty in 2020 the first rise in global poverty since 1998.

We need all hands on deck if we are to rebuild our economies sustainably and inclusively, she assured. Noting that the report calls for better international tax cooperation and more equitable access to digital technologies, she said the sustainable management of natural resources, and value-added approaches to trading goods, will also be critical.

The 2030 Agenda remains the agreed framework for recovering in ways that accelerate progress on climate change, poverty and gender inequality, and address the fragilities exposed or exacerbated by the pandemic. We must all do more, she said.

Equality, structural reform

During two policy dialogues, 12 experts wrestled with whether the world is currently in a recession and if so, what it will take to recover in ways that can thoroughly reform underlying vulnerabilities.

There is no trade-off between economic efficiency and equality, said Alicia Barcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), who contributed a chapter on the topic.

45 million at risk

During a panel on the theme, Ensuring a sustainable recovery through more inclusive and strengthened multilateralism, she underscored the urgent need for structural change. Between 2000 and 2010, 60 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean moved out of poverty. Now, 45 million risk being pulled back in.

The market is not going to equalize society. We need a new social and political compact altogether, she said, pointing out that Costa Rica, Uruguay and Cuba societies that have high trust in government have fared better during the pandemic than others.

She also called for a progressive tax system, as countries in the region have a 23 per cent tax burden, lower than those in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as well as more regional integration. The post-pandemic world is going to be a world of regions, a world of blocs.

Ricardo Lagos, former President of Chile, suggested the creation of an internationally binding agreement on pandemics, forged under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Europes social contract

Along similar lines, Marcel Fratzscher of research institute DIW Berlin, said that on 21 July, European countries agreed to establish a 750 billion ($850 billion) recovery fund, transferring resources from stronger to weaker countries with the goal of rebuilding Europe.

There is an institutional framework being put into place that could ultimately lead to fiscal union help strengthen capital market union, he said.

Trade Woes

Others drew attention to the significant drop in global trade, which Merit Janow, Dean of Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs, said was occurring in the context of growing nationalism, geopolitical tensions and strain around multilateral institutions all of which underscores the vulnerability of global supply chains.

The first priority should be to keep the global trading system open, she said. Practical, problem-solving approaches will be needed, which countries might undertake regionally or through coalitions of the willing. She pointed out that when the World Trade Organization appellate body disbanded, a cluster of countries agreed on arbitration for some purposes.

Africa needs 4 million teachers

In a second discussion on Assessing the state of the global economy and recovery pathways, Cristina Duarte, the Secretary-Generals Special Adviser on Africa, who is the former Minister of Finance, Planning and Public Administration of Cabo Verde, said that for Africa, recovering better requires a look at why, after 25 years of uninterrupted growth, systems are still lacking.

She said Africa must mobilize itself beyond emergency solutions to understand the nature and quality of economic growth. The continent was not socially inclusive before the pandemic hit, lacking jobs for 60 per cent of its young people.

She said Africa needs 4 million more teachers and a further 1 to 2 million health professionals and importantly to break away from ideas that equate poverty management with development management. Income redistribution, rather than economic growth, must be at the centre of all recovery strategies.

Heizo Takenaka of Toyo University, said Japans experience with COVID-19 revealed the need to carefully consider the governance systems in place during an emergency. We should be very careful about the possibility of asset inflation from here on, considering that monetary authorities are applying a huge amount of money in many countries.

Historical lens

Broadly speaking, Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz said that at a moment when more global cooperation is badly needed, strong forces are fraying the global economy.

While the Trump-kind of protectionism will go by the wayside, he argued, the deeper problem is that supply chains have not been resilient and instead made countries more vulnerable.

He described the disappearance of optimism prevailing after the US-Soviet Cold War era, that countries were converging around liberal democratic models and free-market economies.

Under the turmoil of COVID-19, authoritarianism is now flourishing in some parts of the world, which has led to a split among nations.

Post-COVID-19, the world is going to have a very different architecture, no matter who is in the White House, no matter what is going on around the world, he explained.

Worse than the Great Depression?

He said the global economic downturn will be the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s and in many dimensions, worse than that seismic failure of the global system. We should use the massive amount of Government intervention in countriesto create a new world that is more in accordance with our views of what our societies should be.

Countries that have done well, he said, have high trust in Government, high social solidarity, an understanding of the externalities associated with disease spread, and trust in science.

Forty years of denigrating the role of the State means that in some countries, the State was not able perform a role that was essential, he added.

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Amid fears of worst recession in decades, urgent calls for solidarity, a united economic front - Modern Diplomacy

Introduction and summary

America has entered the fifth month of the coronavirus pandemic. Daily case counts continue to rise, even as the virus spread slows in many other countries around the world. Though the number of cases is rising, much of the national discourse has focused on the economyspecifically, how the government can help spur an economic recovery. In many cases, however, these discussions and debates have not centered the residents of hard-hit rural communities.

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A recent study from the Brookings Institution showed that the wave of new coronavirus cases has shifted from urban cores to more suburban and nonmetropolitan counties. On July 2, nonmetro countiesmany of which are located in the Sun Belt regionexperienced an all-time high of 6,452 cases reported in one day. As of June 15, East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, where 72 percent of the population is African American, and Lee County, Arkansas, where 57 percent of the population is African American, had some of the highest rates of new infections in the nation. Other hard-hit counties are located in the Southwest, where members of the Navajo Nation reside. Several articles sounded the alarm about the serious damage the COVID-19 crisis was likely to inflict upon rural America due to its aging population, lack of health care facilities, and substandard basic public infrastructure, including the lack of running water in some areas, which makes it difficult for residents to maintain sanitary hygiene through handwashing and has led to clustering at laundromats. Such concerns were prescient: The COVID-19 crisis continues to ravage rural America, especially rural communities of color.

The effects of the coronavirus have been particularly damaging to the public sector, with state and local governments having shed a total of 1.5 million jobs since the start of the pandemic. Although the pandemic has had significant impacts on schools, many jobs have also been lost in health and human services, a sector critical to combating the public health crisis. Local governments and agencies are often the only places that provide services such as the post office, where rural residents can pay bills, or libraries, which may be the only place where rural residents can access the internet. The National Association of Counties estimates that counties need at least $150 billion to counteract lost revenue and effectively combat the ongoing pandemic. This is a problem for rural communities, many of which are still struggling to recover from the Great Recession and do not have the tax base that many larger and urban communities have. State and local governments have been hit on both ends of their budgets by the increased costs of fighting the coronavirus and the decreased revenue resulting from lower individual and business incomes and a drop in retail sales.

This report analyzes the dynamics of recent household expenditures and business activity in rural America and offers three key takeaways:

In order to get the United States on the trajectory for economic recovery, policymakers need to ensure that states have adequate testing capacity and contact tracing programs in place in order to bring transmission of the virus down to a controllable level. Policymakers also need to provide substantial relief to state and local governments. Finally, policymakers need to extend unemployment insurance and deliver relief to households in the form of direct checks for as long as this public health crisis lasts.

The analysis detailed in this report shows that without clear, consistent policy anchored in data that reflect the real-life experiences of rural communities, people and businesses will not have enough confidence to return to their jobs and daily activities. The result will be a prolonged, deep recession.

The onset of the COVID-19 outbreak was concentrated in large metropolitan cities such as New York City, New Orleans, Chicago, and Seattle, although the effects of the virus varied even within these communities. Yet early on during the pandemic, research showed that rural America was particularly susceptible to the virus due to an aging population and a lack of health care resources.

Over the first two months of the pandemic in the United States, the virus began to reach many rural communities. Some of this spread was due to the presence of prisons in rural counties, as outbreaks within prisons and the churn of incarcerated individuals have been shown to foment transmission of the virus. Outbreaks have also occurred in meatpacking plants, such as the Smithfield pork plant in South Dakota, where plant owners are often able to skirt worker safety laws due to their monopsony status in rural areas. Retirement communities were among the first rural areas to experience relatively higher rates of cases due to tourism. Meanwhile, rural communities of color also started to feel the effects of the pandemic. Many states began lockdowns in March that lasted through early May and began to flatten the curve of the rate of daily infections. Yet critics of lockdowns, who were often armed, pushed states to reopen, even though the virus spread was not under control in many areas and states had not yet met Centers for Disease Control guidance for opening. By late June, the number of cases started to increase again, especially in areas that had rushed to open prematurely.

The data show that this is when the coronavirus quickly spread into rural areas. Figure 1 compares the number of cases in rural communities on April 29, May 29, and June 29 with the number of cases in the Big Cities classificationdefined as areas that do not contain any rural countieson those same dates.

Using a detailed breakdown of rurality, a recent Center for American Progress issue brief outlined what has happened in rural communities since the Great Recession. One takeaway was that while rural communities have continued to struggle since the Great Recession, some have seen modest economic growth. This breakdown of rurality provides a more precise analysis of the labor market dynamics occurring in rural communities. Now, it is possible to provide further precision on what is happening in urban and rural communities using a new classification system: the American Communities Project (ACP). A project from The George Washington University, the ACP created a typology of counties that incorporates demographic and socioeconomic data.

Figure 1 shows that rural communities of colorNative American Lands, Hispanic Centers, and the African American Southhad initial case levels close to that of Big Cities. However, as of July 2020, their numbers have far surpassed those of Big Cities. While other rural communities have not reached those same heights, their levels are also continuing to rise, and the trends across all rural community classifications are not promising.

A similar story emerges when looking at death rates, with the exception that the death rates in Hispanic Centers are much lower than those of the African American South and Native American Lands. (see Figure 2)

As of April 29, death rates for residents in the African American South were comparable to those in Big Cities, but the death rates in the other rural areas were far lower. Over May and June, the death rates in Native American Lands spiked precipitously, surpassing even those in the African American South and those recorded in Big Cities early in the pandemic.

These data show that the public health crisis is still raging and has quickly spread to rural areas that are much worse-positioned to address the health crisis. The pandemic has lasted long enough that even residents in areas with limited news options understand the seriousness of COVID-19; this stands in stark contrast to the mixed messages that were prevalent in late February and early March. The public health crisis is closely linked with economic activity, as research has shown that the public responds to rises in case numbers by decreasing household consumption, thereby limiting business activity. Thus, it is critical to address the pandemic in order to help the economy recover. The next section of this report analyzes trends in economic activity to see how the pandemic has harmed rural economies.

Although the United States is entering the fifth month of the pandemic, it has been two months since the federal government enacted policy to address the various economic impacts of the coronavirus. Various studies have found that the public responded to the health crisis by staying home, even prior to official stay-at-home orders. Moreover, 22 percent of small businesses were inactive in April 2020, and while there was some increase in the number of open businesses in May 2020, it was still behind prepandemic levels. With many businesses closing again in June, this is not likely to change significantly. While shelter-in-place orders did have an effect on the activity of small businesses, household decreases in consumption played a larger factor in the decrease in business activity.

The question is whether the public health crisis has affected economic activity in rural communities specifically. To answer this question, this report analyzes publicly available data from the Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker.

The Opportunity Insights team at Harvard University, run by economist Raj Chetty, have released new work that details economic activity as well as trends in COVID-19 activity since the start of 2020. The team collected real-time activity data from a series of private sources that aggregate credit card transactions. The team then created indices to show the trends in activities. Their analysis showed that expenditures by households in the top income quintile have dropped since the precrisis period and have not recovered since. This has had ripple effects across these affluent neighborhoods, leading to small business decline and employment losses.

The Opportunity Insights team took data on household expenditures from the marketing firm Affinity Solutions, which measures seasonally adjusted household spending from credit card and debit card data. It took data on small businesses from Womply that are aggregated from credit card and debit card data. To account for privacy concerns, the data are anonymized and reported as a seven-day moving average relative to the prepandemic periodthe baseline of January 2020.

This section focuses on economic activity by households and businesses. CAPs analysis monitors household expenditures, the percentage of small businesses that are open, and revenues from small businesses. CAP merged the data from Opportunity Insights with the ACP classification to get a sense of the economic dynamics across different types of rural communities. This analysis examines five of the nine ACP rural classifications, categorizing the communities into three general regions: Southern rural communities, which include the African American South and Evangelical Hubs; Midwestern rural communities, which include Rural Middle America and Working Class Country; and Western rural communities, which includes Graying America.

Figures 3 and 4 look at the African American South and Evangelical Hubs. These communities are characterized by large African American populations, many evangelical adherents, low-income households, and low educational attainment. Figure 3 shows the pattern of household expenditures during the pandemic.

Household expenditures fell in mid-March and plateaued through the early part of April. After mid-April, household expenditures jumped and then began a slow climb through mid-June. The former period coincided with the disbursement of the $1,200 checks on April 15 that were part of the CARES Act. At the end of June, spending had plummeted in both communities, which is likely a result of the spike in coronavirus cases in the Sun Belt states.

Figure 4, which looks at small-business dynamics, reveals an interesting pattern wherein revenues for small businesses recovered in May even as the percentage of merchants open continued to decrease. In June, both revenues and openings reversed the positive trends from May. These communities are in states that were aggressive about reopening their economies, such as Georgia and South Carolina. Analysis of news-watching data also found that these communities had among the highest Fox News viewership, which has been shown to cause an increase in noncompliance with social distancing and other public health recommendations.

As with household expenditures, there was a jump in revenue in mid-April, so it is possible that households spent their $1,200 directly back into the local economy. Additionally, the percentage of merchants open and the revenues for these businesses fell precipitously at the end of June.

In the South, household spending has nearly recovered to the prepandemic level. Expanded unemployment insurance and the direct checks program have likely been instrumental in helping residents in these communities continue their spending. Revenues for small businesses rose through May but started to decline through the beginning of June. There were decreases in the percentage of merchants open throughout this period, but the merchants that were able to stay open saw some gains. The data show that economic activity correlates with the rise in cases as household spending, percentage of businesses open, and revenue for these businesses all plummeted in the last week of June.

Figures 5 and 6 highlight the rural communities located in the Midwest region and parts of the Northeast that are dominated by blue-collar occupations. These communities are characterized by low-to-middle incomes and low-to-average college graduation rates.

Compared with Southern rural counties, the Midwest saw a steeper fall in household expenditures. Working Class Country counties nearly recovered from the end of April to mid-June, while Rural Middle America continues to see negative growth in household expenditures. (see Figure 5) Again, there was a jump in expenditures in mid-April that coincides with the disbursement of the $1,200 checks.

Unlike in Southern rural communities, merchants in the rural Midwest are struggling both to maintain revenues and stay open. (see Figure 6) Small-business revenue nearly recovered to prepandemic levels in late May, but since that point, revenues have continued to fallthough not to the extent of Southern rural communities.

In a CAP issue brief published before the pandemic, the author highlighted Graying America as one of the bright spots for economic growth. This community is characterized by an aging population of retirees primarily in the West, but residents of this group are also located in the Northeast and in Florida. Much of the rise in coronavirus cases was due to tourism, which led to Graying America becoming one of first rural communities to be significantly affected by the pandemic.

In Western communities, a pattern similar to that in other rural communities is evident: These areas were experiencing positive household spending before the pandemic, but then the bottom fell out. (see Figure 7) As in the other regions, expenditures in Western communities rose in mid-April and continued to rise at the beginning of May. Since late May, expenditures have plateaued below the prepandemic level. Revenue grew prepandemic but fell over the course of the crisis, and there was a decrease in the number of merchants open throughout May and June. As was the case in the other regions, the number of merchants open and revenue for small businesses both plummeted at the end of June.

In addition to the $1,200 direct checks to households, the CARES Act provided expanded unemployment insurance. Both measures provided a financial cushion during the initial lockdown in March and April, and data show that this had a positive impact on household expenditures and revenue for small businesses. Yet while the checks were helpful, it was only a one-time disbursement, and as long as this public health crisis runs rampant, further relief is critical. Expanded unemployment insurance has recently been shown to have added more than $800 billion to the economy, but the expansion is set to expire on July 31. According to the Economic Policy Institute, ending this expansion prematurely could cost the economy more than 5 million jobs.

The analysis in this report shows that the U.S. economy is still struggling to handle both the public health crisis and the economic crisis. Data on the coronavirus find that the numbers of cases and deaths in many rural areas are rising swiftly. Many rural areas have worked to prepare their community for outbreaks, but they still need help from the federal government.

The nation is past the point of talking about how to prevent a recession or how to mitigate the outbreak. The question now is how to put the country on a trajectory toward recovery. This section highlights three actions that Congress can take to address the current crisis that will be crucial for rural areas.

Recent spikes in the number of COVID-19 cases in several states throughout the country have paused plans for reopening. Governors in states including Florida, Texas, and Arizona are once again restricting indoor activities in an effort to reverse recent outbreaks. These policymakers were misguided in their attempts to restart the economy while the pandemic was in full swing, failing to understand that the economy can only work at its fullest capacity once the public health crisis is stamped out. This will require continuing to restrict indoor activities through social distancing and business closures and providing resources to health care institutions to properly test and treat people. In order to safely undertake a substantial reopening, states and localities must bring down transmission of the virus to a controllable level, ensure that they have adequate testing capacity to detect and control outbreaks, and put in place programs for contact tracing.

In order to combat the public health crisis amid an economic downturn, state and especially local governments need relief from the federal government to close budget shortfalls, provide resources to hospitals and public health workers, and reverse the negative trends in employment loss. States have had to deal with a severe loss of sales tax revenue from decreases in retail sales and a loss of income tax revenue from unemployment and business closures, which have led to the loss of 1.5 million jobs. This is particularly an issue for rural communities, especially in states that did not expand Medicaid, as many people cannot afford health insurance and hospitals have a harder time staying solvent. Rural areas have been devastated by hospital closures, and even communities that have not seen a surge of COVID-19 patients still are struggling financially. Resources from the CARES Act have helped, but without further funding the mounting financial pressures on residents will continue. Given not only the magnitude of the current crisis but also how much states and localities will continue to struggle into 2021 and 2022, the federal government should allocate $915 billion to state and local governments to cover shortfalls for the next couple of years.

The figures included in the previous section, as well as many studies, show that providing direct payments to households has been beneficial during the pandemic. As long as the public health crisis continues, further relief is needed. In addition to providing funding to state and local governments, the federal government must provide relief to households as nationwide unemployment and underemployment rates continue to pose a concern for many. Expanded unemployment insurance needs to be extended and linked to local economic indicators so that benefits expire only when the economy has fully recovered. Relief should also come in the form of direct payments to households, as the $1,200 checks led to increased revenue for small businesses, especially in Southern rural communities. These payments should be ongoing, not a one-time occurrence, as households face greater burdens due to the public health crisis.

Congress and the administration took necessary action at the start of this pandemic, which prevented the economy from suffering an even worse fate than it already has. Spending activity by households increased in mid-April, which helped businesses maintain revenue. However, over the course of May and June, both the federal government and state governments failed to take the necessary steps to reduce the spread of the virus and ensure long-term economic recovery. As this report has shown, daily case counts continue to rise across various rural communities, leading to decreases in economic activity by households and businesses. A significant concern is that with the recent spike in coronavirus cases, small businesses that weathered the spring storm are not going to be able to survive a second lockdown. Data through the end of June show that households are curbing their spending and fewer businesses are staying open.

It is imperative that Congress not only pass further relief but also that this relief is large in size and scope. It is also critical that relief is tied to economic indicators and does not expire at an arbitrary date. As rural communities work to combat the coronavirus to the best of their ability, policymakers need to step up and meet the moment to help.

Olugbenga Ajilore is a senior economist at the Center for American Progress. His expertise includes regional economic development, macroeconomic policy, and issues in diversity and inclusion. He has been invited to testify in front of Congress. He has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, and has made many media appearances.

This report benefited from discussions and edits from Christian Weller, Jacob Leibenluft, Mara Rudman, Ryan Zamarripa, Michael Madowitz, Emily Gee, and Ryan Collins.

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Congress Must Help Rural America Respond to the Coronavirus - Center For American Progress

Two days ago, Moodys Corporation lowered Lebanons credit rating to Cits lowest ratingindicating complete failure. This happened two days after the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drians visit to Beirut, which turned out to be an additional diplomatic catastrophe for the Lebanese government.

The new credit rating and the Ministers visit, who emphasized that the international community will not help Lebanon if the authorities do not adopt clear economic reforms, mean that a solution to the Lebanese crisis will not be found anytime soon and that the citizens living under multiple catastrophic burdens will be left to their dark fate.

Much is being said about international credit rating agencies and their susceptibility to being employed politically in cross-border conflicts, however, their operations in Lebanon signify an increasing isolation of the country from the environment that it has been a part of since it was established one hundred years ago, i.e. the western economic environment and the climate of financial and commercial exchange that are mostly based on its relations with free markets, despite the pros and cons of the latter and its impact on Lebanon. The political authority did not make any efforts to establish economic alternatives capable of enduring this rapid withdrawal from a system that it has been entirely imbued in and did not prepare the Lebanese to embrace other economic models.

Lowering the credit rating, in this sense, does not only indicate a banking or financial problem but also means that the Lebanese socio-economic system that has been adopted by the ruling class for decades no longer functions and that the larger sections of the Lebanese people have become excluded from it, moving towards lower economic activity where cash and the exchange of goods replace digital transactions through banks. This shift leads to more isolation from the world economy and this will have negative implications on the living conditions of citizens if an alternative economic model is not found.

Isolation and neglect, then, are the headlines of how the Arab and western worlds will deal with the Lebanese catastrophe. As for the East, it is not more than a sick joke that is only matched in its lack of a sense of reality by the tragic irony of the calls for agricultural jihad and planting vegetables on balconies as a way to avoid starvation (and not as a solution to the worsening crisis).

But what about the rescue coming from within, by the Lebanese themselves?

After the demonstrations receded in February as a result of the coronavirus pandemic it appeared that the outcome of the Lebanese youths uprising on October 17 was only symbolic and that the protesters were unable to force the ruling class to make any compromises at the level of political reform, averting the consequences of the economic collapse on the poor and combating rampant corruption. Former Prime Minister Saad Hariris resignation only led to the formation of a government that is at least equally incompetent as his.

Alternative unions were unable to take over the positions that they were trying to reach and drowned in their own internal and personal disputes and the insubstantiality of any revolutionary groups on the streets was made clear, let alone the links that some of them had with forces and entities that were against the uprising. As for their only success, the Beirut Bar Association elections, it turned out to be a quarter of a victory that led to many disappointments. It is likely that the Order of Engineers and Architects, who will be holding their elections soon, will bring another disappointment as a result of the political and sectarian divisions among those who supported the uprising.

Therefore, the collapse is not only limited to the breakdown of the states infrastructure that consists of repressive apparatuses that have not ceased to humiliate the Lebanese and stand with those responsible for the catastrophe, but also the societys incapability to produce the necessary alternatives that are capable of ensuring its survival. In other words, societys failure to save itself by itself through the initiatives and movements that were adopted on October 17, which then reached their natural end. Lebanese activists rediscovered the extent to which sectarianism intersects with regional crises and the impotence of the Lebanese interior, even when rotting and dying of starvation, against the sectarian and class structures that owe their allegiances to foreign forces.

Lebanon has joined the club of failed states at both the economic and institutional levels, and the current authorities are unable to do anything but continue to loot public funds, which is what is happening with both the Bisri Dam and the power plant projects in Selaata. While the Lebanese live in pitch darkness, both literally and metaphorically, the threat of being dragged into a military adventure in the south made things worse, while the world watches our tragedy, reprimanding us at times but mostly yawning out of boredom and indifference at other times.

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Lebanon in the Pitch Dark - Asharq Al-awsat - English

The young girls, many barely teenagers, line up along a short street that passes through a popular bar strip about 500 feet from the St. Peters parish church in Mbare, one of the oldest and most impoverished suburbs of Zimbabwes capital, Harare.

It is just after 8 p.m., a day after President Emmerson Mnangagwa introduced a dawn-to-dusk curfew on July 22. That was one among several strict coronavirus lockdown measures that included a limit on religious gatherings to no more than 50 people.

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Now the girls play hide-and-seek with roving police attempting to enforce the new measures. They disappear into narrow passageways between Mbares bars and stores or hide at the back of the buildings as a ramshackle police vanrumblespast. They re-emerge after a few minutes to retake their posts along the street, beckoning again to potential clients who pass by.

St. Peters Martin Nyadewo, S.J., explains that there are more young girls selling their bodies as Zimbabwes economic difficulties continue, in a broad collapse now exacerbated by the pandemic. The city is experiencing a spike in social vices like child prostitution and domestic violence.

We have got a serious problem of child prostitution. And I dont mean organized prostitution, but among the young girls themselves who are increasingly taking to the streets and corners hoping to sell their bodies to be able to feed themselves and their families, Father Nyadewo said.

Many of the girls are the heads of households that are bereft of parents, who are either dead or who have abandoned their children, but the households often include elderly grandparents who cant fend for themselves.

The parish hopes to combat this phenomenon by offering economic alternatives for these young girls and other young people who are struggling to support their families. It is offering loans to begin backyard poultry production or to open mini kitchens that sell food to traders in Mbares informal markets. The parish also provides food assistance to vulnerable families.

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Nigel Johnson, S.J., the development director for Jesuits Zimbabwe, explained that a lot of people in Zimbabwe have lost their income as a result of the Covid-19 and their families do not have money to buy food.

Catholic relief agencies in Zimbabwe, including Catholic Relief Services from the United States and the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development from the United Kingdom, have been redirecting their development efforts toward food relief and programs to help address domestic violence against women and to assist the growing numbers of vulnerable children.

In a pastoral letter released on July 16, Zimbabwes Catholic Bishops Conference warned that livelihoods that were already heavily strained due to the economic situation in the country, the droughts of the last two years, Cyclone Idai and other factors have taken a further knock under the lockdown.

According to the World Food Program, Zimbabwe has the worlds second-highest inflation rate after Venezuelaoverall prices have surged by more than 122 percent since the start of the year and by more than 800 percent since March 2019. By the end of the year, the number of food-insecure people living in urban areas in Zimbabwe alone will have increased from 2.2 million to 3.3 million45 percent of the countrys total urban population.

But even Zimbabweans in rural areas, typically more food self-reliant, face shortages this year because of drought, the coronavirus and economic dislocation. According to W.F.P. forecasts, 5.3 million rural Zimbabweans will be food-insecure by the end of 2020 and between 3 and 3.3 million will face a crisis situation.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network reported at the beginning of July that Zimbabwes food insecurity and socioeconomic difficulties are growing worse as a result of economic volatility and depreciating parallel market exchange rates that are constraining livelihoods and eroding disposable incomes.

The Mnangagwa government attempted to restore the local currency in June 2019, officially ending a decade when the use of the U.S. dollar prevailed, but the Zim dollar has quickly lost value, depreciating by over 80 percent between May and mid-June. Now, volatile macroeconomic conditions are anticipated through January 2021, researchers from the early warning network said.

Use of the Zimbabwean dollar is increasingly being abandoned for transactions from the commonplace to the official in favor of the use of U.S. currency. Local economist John Robertson described this unofficial dollarization of Zimbabwes economy as a vast no-confidence vote for Mr. Mnangagwas economic policies and for a local currency that has been consistently losing value over the past two years, despite repeated efforts to prop it up.

Zimbabwes businesses are now required to use a dual system that prices goods in U.S. dollars as well as in the local currency according to the official exchange rate. But that rate trails the prevailing street exchange rate substantially.

A lot of people are unable to earn U.S. dollars, and that presents a lot of difficulties, said Mr. Robertson. Workers who are paid only in local currency are forced to adapt quickly to its galloping inflation rate. It gets worse when every business or supplier asks to be paid in nothing else but the U.S. dollar, he said.

Millions of Zimbabweans cant get U.S. dollars, and a lot of people in this country dont have steady work, Mr. Robertson said.

In addition to worries over food insecurity and economic difficulties, officials at Catholic Relief Services are concerned about a dramatic increase in domestic violence cases. Rita Billingsley, the agencys country representative for Zimbabwe, said by email that the increase in gender-based violence and violence against children has prompted C.R.S. to partner with child protection agencies and womens shelters in Zimbabwe.

That has led to expanded services and safe spaces to support women and children who have experienced abuse during these challenging times. Musasa Project, an organization that assists victims of gender-based violence, said it recorded as many as 764 cases of gender-based violence during the first week and a half of lockdown, from March 30 to April 9.

Women and children experiencing abuse can call our toll-free numbers or use WhatsApp messages to report abuse, Ms. Billingsley said. We then provide transportation services to remove them from abusive situations. For those households without phones, we offer services through guided home visits by front-line community child care workers, whom we have thoroughly trained in physical distancing and infection prevention and control measures.

The impact of relief grants and food parcels provided by Catholic agencies is also being stretched as recipient households share the food with their extended family, said Ms. Billingsley.

St. Peters has a list of 450 families it is distributing food to, but Father Nyadewo said, there are a lot more people whom we are not able to reach.

The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development has been supplementing food relief programs with income-generating projects and training on climate resilience farming. Cafods Zimbabwe representative, Verity Johnson, said, A number of the womens groups we work with are now making masks to sell in their communities, which helps protect people from Covid as well as securing an income.

There are rising needs in communities for food but also access to water for people to be able to observe the hygiene protocols around Covid-19, such as frequent handwashing.

Zimbabwes health sector, already poorly resourced, is burdened by corruption. Mr. Mnangagwa dismissed the health minister, Obadiah Moyo, after he was arraigned before a Harare court for abuse of office involving irregularities over the awarding of contracts for the supply of Covid-19-related equipment. Health workers are frequently on strike to demand better working conditions and wage increases to cope with Zimbabwes rampaging inflation.

Front-line health workers at the countrys key public health facilities have been testing positive for Covid-19, but more worrying are the great numbers of Zimbabweans who are at greater risk of death or complications if they get infected by coronavirus because of underlying health conditions.

Another critical concern for us was how people with pre-existing conditions could continue to receive the medication and support they need to stay healthy, Ms. Billingsley said. For the people we work with who live with HIV, we have continued to provide intensive support to ensure they are able to access their critical ART and viral load testing, while limiting their Covid-19 risk.

Father Johnson said that Jesuit-run hospitals in Zimbabwe are seeing increased numbers of people seeking medical care. Patients may be avoiding government-run facilities, which for many have become death traps because there is usually no medicine and no medical staff to attend to them there, according to media reports quoting local doctors.

We also have two rural hospitals, thats at St. Pauls Mission in Musami and another in Makonde, and we have managed to supply those two hospitals with [personal protective equipment] and medicines, said Father Johnson. His challenge will be to keep that support going as the nations economic struggles continue.

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Child prostitution in Zimbabwe spikes amid two other crises: Covid-19 and hunger - America Magazine

Our memories of the job market prior to COVID have become rosier: the last decade was a period of fairly low unemployment, even if wage growth was less than stellar.

But that perspective may not be shared by people under 35. For that age group, the past decade has been a period of intense competition for jobs, even before COVID, which will make things worse.

It is likely to have long-term effects, even were it not for the COVID crisis.

Read more: Low-paid, young women: the grim truth about who this recession is hitting hardest

In a new study published this morning, climbing the jobs ladder slower, myself and three colleagues at the Productivity Commission examine labour market scarring after the 2008 global financial crisis.

Scarring is a semi-technical term for what happens when wounds dont properly heal. It was mentioned twice in last weeks economic statement.

Specifically, we asked whether young people entering the labour market during and after the crisis had a more difficult transition to employment than those who entered before, and whether it had long term impacts on their careers.

The Australian Socioeconomic Index is an occupational status scale last updated by researchers at the Australian National University in the late 2000s. It is a method for scoring occupations on a ladder based on educational requirements and average earnings.

Using data from the HILDA Household, Income and Labour Dynamics survey that began in 2001 we find that the average occupational score increased throughout the two decades that followed, but that after 2008 the likelihood that a university graduate would find a high-score job fell back.

Part of the reason is the big expansion in the number of university students and students in vocational education that followed the crisis.

For many graduates that meant more competition to enter their chosenprofession. They moved down the ladder of occupations.

Law graduates increasingly found themselves working as paralegals or in cafs. In turn, young people with vocational degrees were pushed further down.

At the bottom of the ladder, part-time and casual jobs garnered more takers. As a result average wages for workers under 35 fell between 2008 to 2018.

Outcomes varied a great deal. Some young workers found very high-scored jobs, while more were less lucky, obtaining jobs whose scores were well below what they would have expected in earlier years.

Were the lower rungs temporary? Were some of these unlucky young workers able to work their ways back to their desired occupations and pay levels over the years that followed? Not much.

We found that from 2008, if a recent graduate started in a less attractive job, it was harder to climb to a more attractive one than before.

Young peoples prospects and the growth in salaries wereworse than those of young people prior to 2008.

Read more: Yes Ita, younger workers might actually be less resilient. But all workers should be thanked

The finding comes from studying transition probabilities: the probability that a young person can move from a lower quarter of the occupation score distribution to a higher quarter. It suggests that poor initial jobs for graduates have serious long-term consequences.

It pre-dates the COVID-19 recession, but it has heightened relevance for it.

Many young people pushed into unemployment by the recession and are likely to find it harder to get the jobs they could have once expected when jobs come back.

The scarring could last some time.

Some young people might choose to pursue further study in order to return to the job market later when conditions are better, but our report suggests that, even then, the competition for the jobs that follow study will be fierce.

A generation might be set to experience scarring once again from unemployment, from low wages, from jobs that dont fully use their skills, and from dashed hopes.

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It really is different for young people: it's harder to climb the jobs ladder - The Conversation AU

Oakland County voters will see four candidates on their ballot under the race for Oakland County executive.

Oakland County Executive David Coulter and Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner are seeking the Democratic nomination with former state legislator Mike Kowall and Jeffrey Nutt, a Troy-based attorney, seeking the Republican nomination.

The Oakland Press reached out to each candidate with questions pertaining to their candidacy for the county's top elected office. Responses to those questions, as well as background information on the candidates, is detailed below.

The state's primary election is being held on Tuesday, Aug. 4.The county executive position comes with a $205,217 a year salary.

For complete coverage of other Oakland County races including sheriff, prosecutor, clerk/register of deeds, treasurer, and water resources commissioner, visitwww.theoaklandpress.com/news/elections/.

Coulter, 60, the former Democratic mayor of Ferndale, was appointed to the position on Aug. 16 by the Democratic majority county board of commissioners to finish out L. Brooks Patterson's term, which expires Dec. 31, 2020. Patterson, 80, died Aug. 3, 2019 following a months long battle with stage four pancreatic cancer.

Coulter, a Ferndale resident, announced his intentions on running for a full, four-year term in October 2019 at Brass Aluminum Forging in Ferndale, a manufacturing company he helped bring to the city.

David Coulter

He has a long history with Oakland County including serving as the mayor of Ferndale from 2011 through 2019 and as an Oakland County commissioner from 2002 through 2010.

During his time as mayor, Coulter also worked full-time as director of external relations for the Children's Foundation of Michigan.For 13 years, he was employed by the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company, which is now DTE Energy.

According torecent campaign filings, Coulter has raised around $446,000 and has over $70,000 cash on hand.

OP: What are some of the biggest challenges that face Oakland County and how would you help to remedy/combat those issues? Challenges unique to COVID-19 pandemic?

OP: Recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and preventing a second spike of the virus is our top priority right now. Oakland County has led during the pandemic, announcing health orders to keep residents and employees safe, getting grants to small businesses and community organizations, helping workers laid off during the shutdown, and increasing testing for residents and senior living facilities. I am committed to leading the recovery and continuing to implement our Oakland Together agenda to expand health care, improving economic opportunity, protecting our environment, increasing diversity initiatives and maintaining our strong fiscal practices.

OP: What are the main reasons as to why you want to be elected to a four-year term as Oakland County Executive?

Coulter: Oakland County is in the middle of a dangerous pandemic that we must continue to manage and recover from economically. I want to continue to lead Oakland County as Executive to maintain our science-based approach to suppressing the virus so we do not go backward, support our residents hard hit by the economic downtown, help our small businesses recover and our schools reopen safely. I also want to continue the progressive change that my Administration has started including transforming our county health clinics to provide primary care and mental health services, create a new economic development and workforce strategy that brings opportunity to all of our residents, a new housing strategy that provides rental assistance, and an environmental policy that creates a sustainability office and addresses climate change. I have achieved results while maintaining strong fiscal policies, approving a three-year balanced budget and retaining the countys AAA bond rating.

OP: What are your greatest strengths? How will they help you if elected to a four-year term as Oakland County Executive?

Coulter: These times call for a leader who listens, works well with people, and has the executive experience to make decisions on a wide range of pressing issues. I was a unifying voice after the passing of L. Brooks Patterson and my collaborative leadership style has allowed my team to move quickly to achieve results and pull everyone together during the pandemic. The road ahead calls for a County Executive who is already implementing the plans to address our challenges and seize our opportunities and who has built of foundation of relationships around the county to deliver results.

OP: Why, specifically, should Oakland County voters support you on August 4?

Coulter: It is an honor to serve Oakland county residents and businesses as Oakland County Executive. I ask voters for their support on August 4 based on my record in office and the service we have provided during the pandemic. I took early steps to stabilize small businesses with $14 million in grants and 10,000 re-opening kits with personal protection equipment, safety protocols and social distancing signs. Now, we are creating larger recovery grants focused on areas hard hit by the pandemic. Our health division is working closely with Oakland Schools and is hiring five dozen nurses to help them openly safely. I also set aside county CARES Act dollars for local governments because they have been active partners in our response and hard hit by the costs of the pandemic. I am proud to be the only candidate in the Democratic primary that has endorsements from the majority of county officials I work with every day.

Meisner, 47, has served as county treasurer since 2009. He announced his candidacy for office at Ferndale's Rust Belt Market back in March 2019.

From 2003 through 2009, the Huntington Woods resident served as a state representative in the 27th District. Whilein Lansing, he served as assistant democratic leader and vice-chair of the House Commerce Committee and Ethics, Oversight, and Campaign Finance Committee. He also served as a member of the Tax Policy Committee.

Andy Meisner

In the 1990's, Meisner served as apolicy analyst for U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak, working on gun violence prevention, criminal justice reform, campaign finance reform, and mental health policy.

According to recent campaign filings, Meisner has raised around $1.1 million and has over $184,000 cash on hand.

OP: What are some of the biggest challenges that face Oakland County and how would you help to remedy/combat those issues? Challenges unique to COVID-19 pandemic?

Meisner: The three biggest challenges facing Oakland County are (1) COVID, (2) expanding gender and racial equity, and (3) providing access to healthcare, mental health and prevention wellness services for every county resident, especially the uninsured and under-insured. On COVID, I will lead us out of the crisis by fighting on two fronts: health and the economy. On the health front, I will improve and expand testing, treatment and tracing to ensure that Oakland County's response is based on Governor Whitmer's lead and the guidance of responsible public health agencies. Currently, test results are taking weeks to come back if at all, and this needs improvement. On the economic front, we need to support our small businesses that are trying to get through this tough time, while expanding opportunity for new and aspiring entrepreneurs, especially women and People of Color. We will do this by building small business incubators that provide free space and wi-fi to small businesses, as well as coaching and access to grant and loan programs. We will expand gender and racial equity in Oakland County by bringing my success in hiring and promoting women and People of Color to the entire county, only contracting with companies that pay their female employees the same as men, and bringing about police and criminal justice reform by using the leverage of the Executive office to demand best practices, including zero tolerance for racial discrimination and excessive use of force and investing in prevention and community policing. COVID has shown us the value of our health, and as Executive I will make sure the County is doing all it can to make sure that every uninsured and under-insured person in Oakland County gets access to affordable prescription drugs and high-quality healthcare, mental health and overall wellness services to make all of us healthier and happier. We must achieve these goals while maintaining a balanced budget and fiscal discipline. I will be a leader as Executive who will bring us together as a county and a region to overcome all of our challenges, leading with innovation, progressive values and a constant reminder that our residents deserve equity and opportunity, no matter their ZIP code.

OP: What are the main reasons as to why you want to be elected to a four-year term as Oakland County Executive?

Meisner: As State Representative and County Treasurer, I have been an innovator and proven fighter for our pro-Choice, pro-racial justice, pro-environment and pro-labor progressive, Democratic values, writing Michigan's laws on stem cell research to help sick people get better treatments and cures, our drug treatment court law that takes mentally ill and addicted people out of prison and put them into treatment, helping 30,000 families save their home and protecting Oakland County's AAA bond rating. I have the right record of accomplishment, experience, vision and track record of winning elections countywide to represent Democrats as our nominee and to lead Oakland County into the future.

OP: What are your greatest strengths? How will they help you if elected to a four-year term as Oakland County Executive?

Meisner: My greatest strengths include my record of bringing innovation and transformational change to the offices of State Representative and Treasurer, my experience at the federal, state and county levels and my core Democratic values, all which I will bring to the role of Executive, leading us out of the COVID crisis, expanding equity for women and People of Color in Oakland County and fighting for our future.

OP: Why, specifically, should Oakland County voters support you on August 4?

Meisner: I'm asking Democrats voting in the primary election to vote for me because I am the only candidate born and raised in Oakland County and the only candidate with a track record of real results on the job and in previous elections. County voters trust me to be an independent voice and an outspoken leader for our values -- not a finger in the wind politician who tells different stories to different people. I want to help lead Oakland County into a brighter future that offers equity to women and minorities who have been held back, reform of our criminal justice system and greater access to healthcare, mental health and affordable prescription drugs to every resident of Oakland County, no matter their ZIP code.

Kowall, 68, served in the State Senate, including three years as Senate majority floor leader, from 2011 through 2018 representing the 15th District. He also served as a state representative from 1999 through 2002 representing the 44th District.

The White Lake Township resident announced his candidacy in April after scrapping plans to run for Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner. From 2004 through 2010, Kowall served as White Lake Township supervisor. He also served 13 years on the township's planning commission.

Mike Kowall

In 2019, Kowall was hired by then Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson to serve as an economic and legislative liaison with the Oakland County Department of Economic Development. He left that position in October.

According torecent campaign filings, Kowall has raised around $39,000 and has over $15,000 cash on hand.

OP: What are some of the biggest challenges that face Oakland County and how would you help to remedy/combat those issues? Challenges unique to COVID-19 pandemic?

Kowall: All levels of government & school systems will face significant financial challenges as a result of the Pandemic. Any entity reliant on sales or income tax will be more profoundly and immediately impacted. Oakland County will feel the impact through loss of sales tax-related revenue sharing from the state, a much lower increase in taxable property values than forecasted, and the very real possibility that many homeowners and businesses may not be able to pay their property taxes on time. Oakland County will need to do some very serious fiscal planning with a firm, conservative approach for the next 3-4 years. To help spur the economy, continue the initiatives Brooks left us, such as Main Street Oakland & Medical Main Street. Review and revise the highly successful Emerging Sectors program in light of current economic conditions, including disrupters. Continue to help develop talent with Tech 248, Manufacturing Day and MiCareerQuest Southeast & other workforce development programs.

OP: What are the main reasons as to why you want to be elected to a four-year term as Oakland County Executive?

Kowall: I decided to run for County Executive after observing the conduct of the Democrat majority on the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, and their unelected County Executive. They are wasting our hard-earned taxpayer dollars on pet projects, self-promotion, and are exploiting the COVID-19 crisis as a vehicle for their own reelections. As your elected County Executive, I will turn my experience into action for Oakland County. I will fight any proposal that adds additional taxes on Oakland County Citizens for new programs, or ill-conceived Transit Systems. I will maintain our countys AAA bond rating by implementing fiscal responsibility and planning out three-year balanced budgets. I will support economic growth by promoting the emerging technological, IT, and medical sectors that will pay dividends for our residents for years to come. As County Executive I will use my experience to make sure Oakland County receives its equitable share of road funding and lead the effort to modernize our countys infrastructure.

OP: What are your greatest strengths? How will they help you if elected to a four-year term as Oakland County Executive?

Kowall: In short, experience and bi-partisan collaboration. As Township Supervisor, I bucked the Great Recession and grew the economic footprint of White Lake Township. In 2010, when I was elected to the Michigan Senate, I was asked by newly elected Governor Rick Snyder to head up economic development for the state. Additionally, I worked across the aisle with Democratic Senator Rebekah Warren to create the legislation that regulates autonomous vehicles in Michigan, giving our automotive industry new life in the 21st century. Oakland County needs a leader who has a proven track record of working across the aisle to get results. I am the only candidate from either party with the record of bipartisanship and success.

OP: Why, specifically, should Oakland County voters support you on August 4?

Kowall: As a state representative and a state senator, I was a cheerleader for Oakland County and always kept the County uppermost in mind during policy and budgetary decisions. During my tenure in the legislature, I served in many leadership roles and came up with creative solutions for complicated problems. I have successfully taken on many difficult legislative issues, such as the autonomous vehicle bills I spearheaded. I stepped in to help out with controversial scrap metal legislation, bringing all parties together to enact responsible, sensible laws curtailing the problem of metal theft. I currently maintain many relationships within state government that will be beneficial to Oakland County. As White Lake Township Supervisor, I brought $95 million worth of new development to our township during the Great Recession. I worked collaboratively & have developed good relationship with most of Oakland Countys local elected officials and continue to do so, especially when we encounter an issue that unites us. I believe that in order to make Oakland County strong, we need to recognize & consider the input of each city, village and township in our County.

Nutt, a Troy-based attorney, serves as president of Jeffrey G. Nutt and Associates and online dean for One University of the Americas. According to recent campaign filings, Nutt has raised around $18,000 and has over $3,000 cash on hand.

Jeffrey Nutt

OP: What are the main reasons as to why you want to be elected to a four-year term as Oakland County Executive?

Nutt: First and foremost, to stop the systemic pain inflicted daily by the new Democrat County Executives inequitable COVID regulation causing inhumane and unnecessary sharp declines in social determinants of healthand to prevent economic harms from the pattern of my Republican opponent Mike Kowalls seven votes to raise the gas tax. I will not tolerate reckless policies that harm virtually every job creator in the county except gas stations. As a state bar Champion of Justice awardeelike L. Brooks Patterson was a seasoned lawyer when he was first elected County Executive until he passed August 5I have fought the abuse of power and can stand up to career politicians from Lansing to DC where I served high officials in 3 branches of government before returning to Oakland County to live after law school. The use of the language of fear to expand government control to suppress our freedoms and quality of life will end under my administration.

Second, We must defeat the virus making sure all those infected enter care and all the non-infected enter their care while immediately taking steps to also make Oakland County an economic powerhouse again. An economic makeover is needed, and a makeover in national perceptions to restore Oaklands global prominence to attract investment. A simple state law reform described more fully below is vital, with deregulation and attracting new small businesses with high paying technology-driven jobs. Achieving unparalleled county economic milestones will propel Oakland County on a new trajectory of growth for not just better jobs, but great jobsand not just a better economy but the best economy Oakland County has had thus far, applying lessons from what President Trump achievedthe nations best economy everbefore the pandemic. Our success in achieving this priority has real potential to succeed with our success in achieving our other priorities here, including making sure we have the very best health, education/talent, transportation, and finance/government operations and the increased NEW federal transit funds linked to a simple state law reform county-borough based US Metro City entity with no new taxing power.

Third, to promote world-class K-16 education and career tech training with resources and talent from our neighborhoods and beyond. An Oxford Fulbright with a track record of expanding programs as an Executive Director of the only Neighborhood Legal Services program of its kind the in the USA due to its federally-funded permanent housing, education in more than 60 schools, and services to seniors, the abused, and to victims of the HIV virus in 7 counties including Oakland, I oversaw a plan to also help schools and programs control the waste of student time and resources and improve quality.

Fourth, a simple state law reform to draw down $100M+/year in NEW federal transportation funds Oakland County residents already paid in federal tax but which previously has benefitted cities/borough cities in a handful of other states. The NEW transportation funds will improve roads and technology to ease congestion with a new simple state law reform for a new US Metro City county borough entity like London or New York City but with no new taxing power. For the first time, Oakland County will exercise the power with the simple state law reform to choose to ensure an entity exists which retains county independence without a new taxing power legalizing the 1.3M+ county as a new US Metro City US Census-backed statistical area of 1.3M+ with measurable positive growth statistics that permanently overshadow any intermittent negative perceptions of decline near Oakland County. After 60 years of Oakland Countys national reputation being tainted by national media reports of decline or decay outside of the county, Oakland County will take control of its destiny while encouraging other local counties to be better or to form their own borough with their own separate apportioned federal NEW transit funds. I will fight to retain the AAA bond rating and improve financial accountability that declined under the current Democrat who allocated $500,000 to an affiliate of a billion-dollar global conglomeratePlanned Parenthood which should have been allocated to the countys under-insured COVID-19 victims.

OP: What are your greatest strengths? How will they help you if elected to a four-year term as Oakland County Executive?

Nutt: I am not a career politician beholden to special interests but a seasoned attorney, recognized as a state champion, with experience serving officials in high office in 3 government branches and Oakland County area and global businessesand in the words of the State Bar Journalcountless needy people since returning to my native Oakland County after law school. No candidate has more experience in providing both direct service and administering multimillion-dollar federally-funded programs serving as many youth, families, seniors, veterans, HIV virus survivors, abused, disabled, homeless, or unemployed individualsprotecting their rights and providing federally-funded permanent housing, education, Social Security, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-funded, Victims of Crime Act-funded solutions to complex socio-economic problems to lift people out of personal states of emergency. No other candidate has the Fulbright caliber perspective and worldly street smarts to transform Oakland County into a new global hub in the new knowledge economy brining knowledge from a U.S-U.K.Fulbright to Oxford and an ability to fight for IT and education businesses in 30 nations from our Oakland County basecamp to benefit every Oakland County resident and business, welcoming new businesses from around the globe and cultivating new talent from every school around the corner. Furthermore, because of my background, as documented in the attached, no other candidate has a track record of working since 1990 with as many local minorities. My wife happens to be an OB/GYN of Black/Spanish/Asian/Amerindian parentage, so I have a level of rapport with people of all colors that is unique. My CV is also attached as verification providing the specifics of the following summary:

Oxford Fulbright Scholar, State Bar Champion of Justice, Trump Supporter, I own a Troy, MI global legal and management services firm; helped individuals and 50+ local communities and businesses in Oakland County and 30 nations; served Chief Justice Warren Burger, 2 Senate Offices, State Department, and Oakland County court; spoke to 25,000+ youth and adults; National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts National Conference presenter; oversaw 20+ accounting departments, 7+ chief executives, and multimillion-dollar human survival, housing and advocacy programs. I am Fulbright Association Michigan Chapter President; Somerset North HOA City Liaison/elected President 5X. My wife Mayra -- an OB/GYN doctor trained in Panama, Paris, Detroit and Oakland County -- delivered 1,000+ local babies. An Oakland County native, I earned the Chamber Leadership Detroit XIX Certificate, was raised by a single mom, attended Gesu Catholic and Southfield Christian schools, worked assembly line/past UAW member, discovered in college my father was a 2 nd Generation Ford Motor Co. Whiz Kid; I filled a Supreme Court job once held by author Mark Levin and Prof. Clayton Christensen who later coined the term disruptive innovation. Oral Roberts University B.A.; American University J.D.; Goldman Sachs United Jewish Endowment funded scholarly legal studies.

My strengths were cultivated as 1 of 4 Americans then serving in a Judicial Intern position under Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger after work in 2 U.S. Senate Offices and a job writing 9 country environmental profiles for the U.S. State Department U.S. Agency for International Development Environmental Affairs Coordinator at the request of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, and serving in a Farmington Hills court refined my skills in government. I was then selected as 1 of 6 Americans to then earn a U.S. - U.K. Fulbright Scholar Certificate at Oxford University concentrating in the law of the European Union where I would eventually also serve intellectual property IT and education business clientele as the owner of a legal and management services firm in Oakland County. Based on my public interest legal advocacy and executive leadership, I was named a State Bar of Michigan Champion of Justice. I won a national civil test case against drug dealers with Children's Law Center attorneys, was Executive Director with Elder Law Center programs, expanded programs from 5 to 60 schools, and have supervised more than 100+ professional employees/consultants, 7+ chief executives, and am the only U.S. lawyer to have administered 2 legal services-based HUD Continuum of Care permanent housing and support service grants to end homelessness. I led an HIV law program in 7 counties, including Oakland, in the epicenter of the viral epidemic long before the COVID-19 virus and understand how to fight the virus and promote prosperity throughout the community and how to best enhance the social determinants of health. I know how to recruit, retain and train talent having enrolled 300 volunteer lawyers to protect the abused and having trained the Oakland County area child advocacy attorney who wrote the Juvenile Code that was signed into law by President Karzai of Afghanistan. No one will protect the health and welfare of youth, families and seniors and stabilize and grow businesses, as I have done, as County Executive.

OP: Why, specifically, should Oakland County voters support you on August 4?

Nutt: Once in a while, it makes a world of sense to elect a non-career politician as a county executivesuch as me, a person known more as a tough, successful lawyer and community activist, aspiring to emulate a person previously known more as a tough lawyer than a career politician, L. Brooks Patterson, when he became county executiveand aspiring to emulate Abraham Lincoln known more as a tough lawyer rather than a career politician before he ascended to the presidency. Because the people of the county are in dire needand I am a tough lawyer who has no problem being called a tough Nuttthe county is in dire need of confidence in leadership that has been lacking since L. Brooks Patterson died. No other candidate has pre-COVID-19 experience as an Executive Director of a federally funded program to battle a virus, HI/AIDS in 7 counties, including Oakland. No other candidate has the local international experience or expertise to make the county an economic powerhouse in the new knowledge economy from my Oxford Fulbright scholarly study lasting 5 times longer than the current Democrat County Executives Harvard trainingand serving businesses in Oakland County and 30 nations as a 30-year resident and professional in Oakland County. This expertise is vital to bring in new businesses with valid, actual world-class education and health care expertise. The current Democrat County Executive refused to stand up to inequitable, excessive Lansing quarantine regulations causing great untold harm and lives due to the sharply declining social determinants of health (excessive unemployment, transportation problems, barriers to healthcare, housing crisis portended by the pandemic economic fallout that could have been minimized) and my Republican opponent backed a nearly $2B 2015 Proposal 1 increasing taxes with the first $800M going to special interests which was overwhelmingly defeated 80/20 by voters. No other candidate led 100+ professional employees/contractors prior to a county executive post, including administering a federally funded HUD Continuum of Care permanent housing and support services grant to end homelessness for individuals, families, and those fleeing abuse and violence. I care.

OP: What are some of the biggest challenges that face Oakland County and how would you help to remedy/combat those issues? Challenges unique to COVID-19 pandemic?

Nutt: These questions were previously answered.

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Election preview: The race for Oakland County executive - The Oakland Press

My mostly married, mostly professional social circle seems especially well placed to weather the coronavirus storm. Their good fortune is buttressed by data: Married couples entered the pandemic healthier and wealthier than their unmarried peers, which may help explain why counties with more married households have seen fewer infections. Domestic violence is less common among spouses than unmarried partners, and married adults have reported fewer feelings of loneliness than those who are single, divorced, separated, or cohabiting. Married couples also tend to live in single-family homes, which makes any kind of quarantine more bearable.

Read: The pandemics long-lasting effects on weddings

While the pandemic has made things harder for just about everyone, being married seems to have made the new normal more manageable. Yet a declining share of Americans enjoy the perks of wedlock. In 2018, the number of adults getting hitched reached its lowest point in more than a century, and the coronavirus threatens to depress these numbers further. As the poor face disease, unemployment, and eviction, and as the risk of infection keeps many single people from pursuing new relationships, marriage in the United States will probably become an even more unlikely and unequal institution.

Some marriage advocates hope that COVID-19, in the long run, will inspire more people to trade vows as a kind of insurance against uncertainty. I think every family affected by this will recognize the merits of having two parents instead of one, W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia and the director of the National Marriage Project, told me. He predicts that the crisis will lead couples to reassess their priorities and work harder to create stable homes for their children. The whole adult-centered, me-first model of family life died on March 13th. What will emerge is a kind of family-first model of marriage, where kids and kin are paramount.

Talk of fortifying unions and sturdy kinship bonds might sound pragmatic at a time when the government and the economy have failed so many Americans. But pointing to the stability of married couples to highlight the benefits of marriage makes a fundamental mistake of causation. In America today, people arent more privileged because theyre married; theyre married because theyre more privileged.

Most Americans of all demographics aspire to be married one day, but even before the pandemic, the prospect for many felt all too remote. Up until the 1970s, American families looked similar across socioeconomic levels. But with the rise of globalization, the decline of unions, and the shift from a manufacturing to a service-based economy, theres been a sharp fall in good jobs for Americans without a college degree. The work available has grown more precarious, with less money and fewer benefits such as health care and paid leave. These changes have helped create a class divide in marriage.

Read the original post:

The Pandemic Is Putting Marriage Even Further Out of Reach - The Atlantic

As August draws near, public school superintendents across North Carolina are grappling with how to begin the 2020-21 year with plans that keep educators, families, and students safe and engaged in rigorous learning while the country continues to fight COVID-19.

But as superintendents and education leaders piece together the complex logistics that remote and hybrid learning plans demand, their associated costs ranging from purchasing expensive protective gear for staff, delivering nutrition to students in need in settings outside of school buildings, and investing in computer devices and internet hot spots to distribute to students who cannot access online learning otherwise are mounting quickly.

And while schools are likely to need significant support and resources in the face of these unforeseen circumstances, school district leaders are staring down another threat that could potentially wreak havoc on their ability to ensure all children are educationally served during this pandemic.

I think the elephant in the room is the ADM [average daily membership] piece, said Greene County Schools Superintendent Patrick Miller. The state provides our budget, or our allotments of money, based on the number of children that they project we will serve each year, and that is rectified between the 20th and 40th days of school.

And if we have a significant drop in students who either dont come back [to school], choose to homeschool, or choose to leave to go to another school of choice, then that significantly affects the budget of the public schools, Miller said.

Greene County Schools, a small rural school district tucked between Wilson and Greenville in eastern North Carolina, serves just under 3,000 students. Miller says just a 10% drop in enrollment equates to an estimated loss of $2.3 million in state funding, which would arise during the middle of the school year. The consequences would be profound, and result in employee layoffs, moving children to different classrooms, and causing even more instability during a time when children are desperately seeking routine and reassurance. Its not a recipe for educational success.

What needs to happen? Miller says a hold harmless provision that would prevent districts from seeing steep drops in funding two months into the school year based on ADM counts is necessary and that is something that only the North Carolina General Assembly can provide.

In North Carolina, local school districts receive the lions share of their funds from state coffers, unlike in many other states where school funding is drawn largely from local taxes.

The amount of funds a district receives from the state for its schools is calculated based on the average daily membership (ADM) a district is projected to have during the school year. On the 20th and 40th days of school, those ADM projections (sometimes referred to as student attendance, butits a bit more complex than that) are reassessed. If ADM figures are lower than what was initially projected, state funds are adjusted by the NC Department of Public Instruction according to certain guidelines.

Typically, student enrollment at public schools across the state fluctuates over time, but rarely do enrollment numbers vary dramatically enough from one year to the next to result in severe budget adjustments just a couple of months into the school year.

But COVID-19 stands to do just that.

A ten to 20% enrollment drop is certainly a concern around the state, says North Carolina State Board of Education Vice Chairman Alan Duncan.

While Gov. Cooper announced earlier this month that school districts could elect to implement a hybrid learning option for students this fall (known as plan B) that would consist of a mix of in-person and remote schooling, more than a third of districts across the state serving roughly half of all of North Carolinas public school students have chosen to begin the school year with all students learning remotely 100% of the time (plan C), citing rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

As families scramble to come up with their own plans that enable their children to learn while allowing parents to continue to work, local education leaders are concerned that despite offering robust virtual learning options, a significant percentage of families will choose to leave public schools altogether this fall, resulting in devastating budget implications for this year and the years ahead.

If you have to lose that number of students, whether you use plans A, B, or C and in particular B, school expenses will still be even greater than a normal school year, Duncan said.

For in-person instruction, the number of students per classroom must be fewer based on social distance guidelines, the cost of protective gear for staff will be significant, and transportation based on social distance guidelines will also cost more and be logistically complex. And there are costs associated with remote learning as well, said Duncan even if there are savings in some areas, there are higher costs in others, such as the procurement and distribution of devices and internet hot spots for those who do not have broadband access and the distribution of child nutrition.

There has been some financial help for schools to mitigate the sudden costs associated with the pandemic. Congress appropriated federal COVID relief funding to states earlier this year with the passage of the CARES Act, and the North Carolina General Assembly has, so far, distributed nearly $400 million of CARES funding to K-12 public schools.

For Greene County, those funds have helped, to some extent.

The state has provided two months worth of PPE (personal protective equipment) for school nurses and those on the front lines of screening students, Miller said. But the school year is 10 months, he said, and initial PPE costs are already very high. $15,000 for three weeks worth of hand sanitizer. $17,000 for an initial mask order. Disposable gowns that are intended for one time use are $4 each. There will be higher personnel costs to screen students, and other needs related to providing students with devices and internet connectivity, school buses, transportation, and substitute teachers.

Miller has access to nearly $1.5 million in federal aid appropriated by the General Assembly so far,according to the NC Department of Public Instruction. Enrollment dips amounting to a $2.3 million budget reduction, however, could quickly wipe out that aid.

Jack Hoke, Executive Director of the North Carolina School Superintendents Association, says the legislature has to act to hold school budgets harmless for 2020-21, agreeing with Millers assessment that enrollment drops are on the horizon.Its very possible we will see anywhere from 15 to 20% loss in students this upcoming year, Hoke said.

The sudden costs associated with mitigating an infectious disease for which there is no vaccine or reliable treatment methods yet, as well as the shock of school budgets taking hits thanks to unexpected enrollment dips is a lot to handle. But that must also be considered in the context of a couple other significant realities first, many school districts across the state still havent recovered from the effects of the Great Recession that took place now more than a decade ago, along with significant tax cuts that decreased revenues available for public education. In FY19, per-pupil spending remained 6.2% below pre-recession levels in districts with the highest levels of school-aged poverty,according to an analysis by the North Carolina Justice Center.

To cope with state-level disinvestment that has eroded budgets over the past decade, local districts have raided their savings, or fund balances, to make up the difference.An analysis by EdNCfound that overall, fund balances across North Carolina are lower than they were before the Great Recession and thats important because these savings enable local districts to make critical decisions around school planning when the General Assembly may be tied up passing a budget, something the state is dealing with now.

Second, North Carolinas courts as well as an independent consultant have found that the state continues to fail its constitutional obligation to ensure every child has access to a sound basic education, and has done so for at least the last 20 years, since the beginning of theLeandrolitigation. A lack of investment in resources and funding for public schools, especially in schools and districts serving North Carolinas most vulnerable populations, is to blame.

OurLeandrochildren who struggle in low socioeconomic conditions have suffered significant academic losses and we must act to mitigate the losses they stand to see even more of this year, said the State Board of Educations Alan Duncan. Remote learning plans demand access to reliable broadband internet, something that many North Carolinians dont have access to thanks to poor infrastructure or prohibitively high costs. Nearly 200,000 households across the state lack access to broadband, according to the NC Department of Information Technology.

The pandemic has laid bare these stark inequities, and rural districts are on track to struggle even more than they currently are. Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, says he believes its the intention of the North Carolina General Assembly to take up the idea of holding school budgets harmless if they experience ADM drops this fall.

Thats the desire, Rep. Horn said. Ten percent [in budget reductions] is a lot of money and no, districts cant handle that kind of reduction.

Its the intent of the General Assembly, I think, to hold budgets harmless. But I cant guarantee that will come to pass my crystal ball doesnt work so well.

The funds for school budgets for 2020-21 have already been appropriated by the General Assembly, so a measure to hold budgets harmless wouldnt require a new appropriation. And, said Horn, there remains additional CARES Act money to be spent along with the hope that Congress will appropriate even more stimulus money this fall.

In the meantime, Rep. Horn acknowledged, theres little that superintendents can do on their own to staunch the potential bleeding of their budgets.

The fact is the state provides the great bulk of funding for public education, Rep. Horn said. So there are few alternative resources available of any great extent to public schools. Certainly the General Assembly doesnt want to be put over a barrel here, and the schools dont want that, either.

Horn noted that before adjourning, the House did pass additional COVID relief measures but the Senate did not take them up. Recently, Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, published a statement urging families to consider using a taxpayer-funded voucher program to leave the public schools and attend private schools, which are more likely at this time to be open to in-person instruction.

Im going to give Senator Berger the benefit of the doubt, Horn said. I will suggest that [with his statement] he is highlighting that there are options for students.

But I will also hope that Senator Berger will continue to support traditional public schools as the basis of the states education plan, Horn added. Traditional public schools, for me, are the backbone of education not only for this state, but for the country.

Editors note: This piece was originally published by the Public School Forum of North Carolina. It has been posted with the authors permission.

Lindsay Wagner is senior writer/researcher at the Public School Forum of North Carolina. She provides research, analysis, and reporting on issues pertaining to education in North Carolina with a particular focus on transparency and accountability.

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Facing potentially steep declines in enrollment and increased costs to safely reopen schools, school superintendents call for the General Assembly to...

Share This Article:Protesters move away from tear gas shot by federal law enforcement officers during a demonstration against police violence and racial inequality in Portlan on Monday. REUTERS/Caitlin OchsBy Catherine Christensen Gwin

In recent weeks, Americans have awakened to the reality of racism and police brutality in the United States. The white public displayed shock, bewilderment and even growing contrition about their ignorance of both the nations past and present social conditions.

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In response, social media accounts lit up with a flurry of didactic memes, videos and vocabulary lists to catch folks up on white privilege, systemic racism and Jim Crow. This statement of solidarity and collective grappling with racism is good; however, the brevity and immediacy of the platform cant quite explain the depth and complexity of race in American history.

These lessons cannot be gleaned from the broader social, economic and political context they require sustained attention, study and engagement. Today, Americans need to take responsibility for knowing this history, especially since our schools have failed in this regard.

To help redress this deficiency, the California Legislature is proposing that ethnic studies be made a graduation requirement for students in the California State University system. Ethnic studies courses focus on historically marginalized groups, dismantle stereotypes, and inspire activism and social consciousness among students who finally see themselves in the national story. While I support this, and believe it benefits both individuals and society as a whole, a broader academic and civic problem remains.

Relegating select histories to separate narratives only reaffirms the story of white America as the standard or real history. Unfortunately, racial oppression is not a side show of American history its at the center. The triumphant accounts of economic growth and mobility are inextricably linked to the horrors of slavery, the fact of Indian genocide, and the exploitation of immigrant workers.

This tendency to sublimate racism goes back to the myth of America is a City on a Hill, the perfect society envisioned by the devout Pilgrims. As it turns out, Plymouth was not the first colony, and it was hardly a beacon to the world. Jamestown, preceded the Pilgrims settlement and can claim credit for the first representative government and the introduction of American slavery (not to mention tobacco, Indian wars and even cannibalism.)

Unfortunately, this American inclination to mythologize undermines our truth-telling and casts the unpalatable and painful chapters to the periphery of the American epic. Just five years ago textbook publisher McGraw-Hill identified African slaves as immigrants and workers in their high school text a subtle and egregious disavowal of the nations market in human chattel bondage. After two hundred years, its time to confront these truths.

Shifting school initiatives are partly responsible for this misleading approach. For years, teachers faced immense pressure under No Child Left Behind Actan educational policy from 2002 to 2015 that emphasized standardized tests and penalized schools failing to demonstrate proficiency. The testing regime encouraged memorization, superficial comprehension, and arguably widened the achievement gap. The system also promoted history instruction as a linear march of progress that collapsed the complexity of the past into a litany of names and dates.

In response to diminished student performance, the creation of the Common Core State Standards established national, and more rigorous benchmarks for critical thinking, reading and writing. And while the Common Core emphasized both analytic skills and the disciplinary practices of historical scholarship, the content of history curriculum remains determined by individual states. As you can imagine, history lessons vary greatly between Alabama, New York and the other forty-eight states.

Despite the regional inflection and emphasis, American history instruction pretty much falters all around in contending with the story of racial oppression. Race plays a minor role in the narrative, showing up at expected times and places primarily the Civil War and the 1960s. It is embodied in villainous figures like Orval Faubus and the Ku Klux Klan. Yet the undercurrent of white supremacy goes unseenin housing policy, in science, and in the Constitution.

To be fair, states like California have revised their instructional standards to account for a broader, multi-racial history that includes experiences of LGBT Americans, the struggles of Latinos, and the long history of Asian exclusion the in the United States. However, the word slavery shows up only once in Louisianas Student Standards for Social Studies.

Despite the importance of history, the discipline ranks conspicuously low in the realm of academic achievement, and STEM continues to receive the disproportionate amount of school funding. One of the casualties of the Great Recession was the defunding of liberal arts programs at many American colleges. In the years since, disregard (and in some cases disdain) for such programs has only increased, while money and incentives for STEM majors continues to rise.

The marketing of science and engineering degrees as means to increase earning potential only exacerbates the decline of college enrollment in the humanities, which has fallen by 14% in recent years. History majors have declined by 33% since 2011. Perhaps that explains why the majority of history teachers do not have a degree in the field. The fact that 34% of history teachers coach an athletic team, only confirms beliefs that the field demands less time, and little disciplinary knowledge or pedagogical expertise.

Today we have an opportunity to rethink the value of history. It is important as an academic subject and a necessity for an informed citizenry and a vital democracy. We can celebrate the heroic and even indulge our sense of exceptionalism, but we must still reckon with the oppression and injustice of the past. In doing that, history cultivates awareness, promotes understanding and expands our vision for change. It is only when we face and contend with the entirety of our national story that we can fulfill the promise of equality and justice celebrated in our history books.

Catherine Christensen Gwin, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of history at Palomar College.

Opinion: To Fight Racism, American Colleges Must Prioritize Teaching History was last modified: July 29th, 2020 by Editor

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Across the country, as the novel coronavirus and resulting economic recession have disrupted nearly every aspect of life, they have

Across the country, as the novel coronavirus and resulting economic recession have disrupted nearly every aspect of life, they have also laid bare both the strengths and the shortcomings of Americas health care system.

Even as providers have treated patients with awe-inspiring dedication, the virus has changed the face of patient care for the foreseeable future (if not for good), strained hospitals to their limits and spotlighted shocking gaps and disparities. COVID-19 ripped the Band-Aid off of the structural inequities that exist within our society, says Dr. Stephen H. Lockhart, chief medical officer of Sutter Health, a health system in Northern California.

Whats become evident are the ways in which the system will and must respond, experts say.

Telemedicine

Most immediately visible to patients, medical care will continue to look and feel different, certainly as long as the pandemic is a threat and perhaps well beyond. One of the most dramatic shifts, to virtual care, has been a rapid acceleration of a trend already underway and promises in many circumstances to be lasting. Helped by temporarily higher reimbursement and relaxed government restrictions, some 42% of Americans reported having used telemedicine during the early months of the pandemic, according to a survey from Updox conducted by The Harris Poll in mid-May.

Sutter Health in California, for example, quickly went from an average of 20 video visits per day pre-pandemic to 7,000; the number of physicians trained and equipped to conduct them rose from 50 to more than 4,700. Such rapid acceptance may speed the use of sophisticated remote monitoring to follow and treat people in their homes. When COVID-19 cases surged this spring in the Northeast, Mount Sinai in New York and Atrius Health in Boston took advantage of their hospital at home programs to free up beds for COVID patients and keep others safe from exposure.

[See: Fear, Courage, Grit: Meet More Than 50 Hospital Heroes in Pictures.]

Reconfiguiring Care

Shorter term, providers are grappling with the need to bring people safely in for delayed and important non-COVID care, such as needed surgeries, vaccinations and cancer screenings. Hospitals have learned a great deal about how to identify COVID patients as quickly as possible though this depends on sufficient testing supplies and quick turnaround times and physically separate them from other patients, says Michelle Hood, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the American Hospital Association.

Philosophically, we start with the statement that we need to be able to care for non-COVID patients no matter what comes at us from a COVID point of view, says Dr. Marc Boom, a physician and president and CEO of Houston Methodist, which saw COVID hospitalizations surge in July. Across the systems hospitals, COVID patients are cohorted in designated areas, including in the ER. To increase capacity, were spreading out appointments on weekends and in the evenings, and doing surgeries on weekends, he says. Elective cases can be canceled system-wide as necessary, he says. More restrictive visitor policies are here for the time being.

Mayo Clinic has made videos to show people how things will change when they come back on campus, says Amy Williams, executive dean of practice and a nephrologist at Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo. Changes include COVID screening on entering the building, universal masking and socially distanced waiting rooms.

People considering a routine visit should ask about safety practices and separation of possible COVID patients, advises Dr. Jacqueline W. Fincher, a general internal medicine specialist and partner at Center for Primary Care-McDuffie in Thomson, Georgia, and president of the American College of Physicians.

Health Inequities

One long-time system failure the pandemic has brought into sharp relief: the adverse health impacts of racial and socioeconomic inequities, previously well-documented in heart disease, diabetes, cancer and infant and maternal health. It turns out COVID is no exception.

According to a July New York Times analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African-American and Latino people in the U.S. have been three times as likely as white people to become infected with the virus. And they are almost twice as likely to die from COVID-19, the paper found.

Changing these realities requires taking aim at the social determinants of health such factors as economic and housing stability, education quality, and access to health care, healthful food and safe places to get exercise. Numerous health systems and payors across the country, from Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealth Group to ProMedica, Nationwide Childrens Hospital and Montefiore Health System, were already investing in such areas pre-pandemic as part of their efforts to improve population health and keep people out of the hospital.

Both food insecurity and housing instability are clearly linked to preventable health conditions that can result in emergency room visits and inpatient admissions, observes Alexandra Schweitzer, senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard Kennedy School. Such needs are becoming dramatically more widespread and dire because of the pandemic, she notes, at the same time that its increasingly necessary to limit avoidable hospital use.

What may give such efforts added impetus going forward is the wave of acknowledgment this spring that so many of those disparities are fueled by racism, and a recommitment by many groups to fight racism itself.

In June, the board of trustees of the American Medical Association said the group recognizes that racism in its systemic, structural, institutional, and interpersonal forms is an urgent threat to public health, the advancement of health equity, and a barrier to excellence in the delivery of medical care. The group vowed to actively work to dismantle racist and discriminatory policies and practices across all of health care.

Close attention to population data patterns and targeted community outreach offer one way to make progress against disparities. In Georgia, Navicent Health had previously identified 15 ZIP codes where outcomes were quite unequal for white and Black patients with chronic heart failure, COPD and diabetes; the system was able to close the gap for COPD within six months by engaging patients early on, getting accurate diagnoses, making sure affected patients got treatment and connecting them to its Healthy Communities program, which works with local partners to help people get needed services. The system noticed promptly, as cases began to surge in the state and as patients have filled beds this summer, that disparities in COVID follow the same pattern.

I said to our team, it would be insurmountable to think about the world, the U.S. or Georgia, but if we focus on the population within the communities we serve, it is very doable, says Ninfa M. Saunders, president and CEO of Navicent Health, where early data showed that more than half of COVID patients were African-American, disproportionate to the demographics of the surrounding population.

Efforts have included presenting up-to-date public health guidance in layperson-friendly terminology, educating ER and urgent care patients about the disease, expanding drive-through testing hours and using a community health partners mobile program to reach out to vulnerable communities.

Sutter Health, which since 2017 has been focused on bringing down the disproportionately high rate of ER visits by African-American adults with asthma, conducted research this spring, published in Health Affairs, which found that Black COVID patients were almost three times as likely as white patients to require hospitalization. Sutter is expanding its testing, outreach and education efforts for the people who are most likely to be adversely affected, Lockhart says.

Preparing for the Next Pandemic

Another area ripe for improvement as hospitals look ahead is how best to prepare for the next surge and the next pandemic. This one has highlighted the downsides of the overall health systems decentralized and often fragmented nature, and the difficulties of managing through a national crisis without centralized leadership and strategic planning when resources like ventilators, beds and staff are a critical issue, and without a well-funded and robust public health infrastructure to coordinate systematic testing and contact tracing. Large integrated health systems have more flexibility to acquire and deploy resources where needed; the 16-hospital Indiana University Health System, for example, was able to use its scale to get medicines and personal protective equipment and to develop in-house testing capabilities, and shifted staff and equipment from Riley Hospital for Children to other sites.

[Read: Pandemic Partnership: How Our Childrens Hospital Pivoted to Help Adults.]

But generally speaking, most institutions and systems arent organized so that they can easily coordinate with each other, says Susan Dentzer, senior policy fellow at Duke Universitys Robert J. Margolis Center for Health Policy. There have been some exceptions, such as in Boston, where hospitals have to a large degree coordinated their responses. New York State implemented a plan for hospitals across the state to share information, supplies, staff and patients almost as if they were one system. Among the findings in a June RAND Corp. report on creating critical care surge capacity was a recommendation that state, regional and federal entities consider developing protocols for quickly sharing resources across regions based on need.

How financially able the health care industry will be to invest in change post-pandemic is an open question. While the industry has often been described as recession-proof, as David Blumenthal, physician and president of the Commonwealth Fund, notes, recession-proof isnt the same as pandemic-proof. The CARES Act provided $175 billion in emergency funding to hospitals and health care providers, but that wont entirely fill the gaps.

According to the American Hospital Association, COVID-related expenses (including the cost of virus-related hospitalizations and of personal protective equipment) plus lost revenue (as elective procedures were halted and then cash-strapped, fearful Americans skipped care) added up to $202.6 billion between the beginning of March and end of June at U.S. hospitals. An additional $120.5 billion in losses was expected in the second half of the year.

Childrens hospitals, which also cut non-urgent procedures to avoid the spread of infection, and in some cases became part of surge capacity for adult patients, collectively were losing $2 billion per month in revenues as of mid-July, says Mark Wietecha, president and CEO of the Childrens Hospital Association.

[Read: Childrens Hospitals Are National Treasures. And They Are in Jeopardy.]

The financial structure of health care isnt likely to change overnight. But the crisis may accelerate the shift to alternatives to the fee-for-service model, says Jose Figueroa, a physician and assistant professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. One possible approach for hospitals is global budgets. As described by the Urban Institute, this model provides a fixed amount of funding for fixed period of time (typically one year) for a specified population, rather than fixed rates for individual services or cases. Its been part of Marylands hospital payment system since 2014 through an agreement with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. In that state, public and private insurers are required to pay the same price for hospital services, with rates specific to the hospital based on its global budget. An article published in NEJM Catalyst in June argued that the recent plunge in the volume of non-COVID care makes the time ripe for hospitals to look to other forms of population-based revenue, such as capitation arrangements that provide a flat amount per patient for a specified period.

Alternative payment models might help the many primary care providers, too, who have been badly hurt by cancellations and deferred care, Fincher says. A study published online in late June by Health Affairs estimated that primary care practices will lose nearly $68,000 in revenue per physician in 2020. Blumenthal thinks that prospective payments with insurers paying a set monthly fee in advance for each patient in a practice, on a risk-adjusted basis might better cushion that sort of blow during the pandemic and beyond.

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By: Explained Desk | New Delhi | Published: July 31, 2020 8:14:19 am Students check their results after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declares the same on July 15, 2020. (Express Photo: Gajendra Yadav)

The National Education Policy lays down a roadmap for the next two decades. But, as Kumkum Roy, professor, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, argues in her opinion piece in The Indian Express, there are many reasons why this policy needs a close scrutiny, a full debate, for what it says and what it doesnt.

She points out that this policy is an ambitious and complex document and it has been adopted during a pandemic and a lockdown, which renders discussion and debate difficult.

For instance, what are its implications for the majority of those covered under the acronym SEDGs (Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Groups) in the text?

Absent in the document, as far as I could see, is any mention of the term caste, apart from a fleeting reference to Scheduled Castes. Also absent is any mention of reservation in academic institutions, whether for students, teachers, or other employees, she writes.

Reservation, necessary but not sufficient, is the bare minimum required in terms of affirmative action in the highly differentiated socio-economic milieu in which we exist. The silence of the document on this issue is troubling, to say the least, she argues.

Equally disturbing, in her view, is the passing reference to educational institutions in tribal areas, designated as ashramshalas and envisaged as part of the Early Childhood Children Education programme.

What, one wonders, will be transacted in these institutions. While there are sections of the document that describe ways in which SEDGs are supposed to gain access to higher education institutions, there is no time-frame that is specified, she writes.

This is particularly crucial as the document visualises increased benign privatisation of education, attempting to distinguish this from commercialisation. In a situation of growing privatisation and the near collapse of public institutions of higher education, how these policies will be implemented is a matter of concern, she states.

In the piece, Roy shares several other examples of provisions that need greater clarity.

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THE death of George Floyd in 2020, tragic as it was, has turned out to be both symbolic and of historic significance. For one, it raises the question about justice, dignity, and the fact that all men and women are born equal, even as it reminds us that those noble ideals, centuries after they have been proclaimed as the inalienable rights of man, still elude the oppressed black race in the US and around the world, as well as some indigenous peoples.

The symbolic significance of George Floyd is not a convenient insert on the pages of history. It has a context, text, and subtext that, for us here in Jamaica, span 500 years of a brutal reminder of slavery and its colonial bedfellow. History records that those rights are never going to be achieved without a struggle.

Just about the time of George Floyd's birth, the overwhelming majority of black Jamaicans did say they too 'could not breathe'. The unemployment level had nearly doubled in the first decade following Jamaica's Independence; the poverty rate had soared; there still existed a social hierarchy of class and race; and there was the uneven distribution of property and a growing sense of marginalisation, ostracism, inferiority, and insecurity among the black masses in their own country. Juxtapose that with an annual average growth rate of over six per cent in that first 10 years after Independence, and a complete mosaic of the country's development model, devoid of the primacy of the human element, unfolds.

So, while the development model provided impressive economic growth, it denied the black masses a just share of the economic fruits of their labour. Where industry increased, the workforce decreased; excess profits were repatriated and the social, economic, cultural and psychological aspects of the development process stood beyond the reach of the vast majority of our people.

Researchers have long postulated that the quality of life index has a far more significant and positive impact on economic growth, whereas the latter has a far less significant lagged effect on the quality of life. A 2005 study in India concluded that the neglect of the social sector resulted in the prevalence of widespread poverty and deprivation; and Drs Omar Davies and Michael Witter, in examining the country's economic status since Independence, contended that the development of the economy cannot be understood outside of the political, social, and cultural development accompanying it.

The development model we pursued after the attainment of Independence followed on a continuum laid out during the colonial years. Professor Claremont Kirton, in his 1992 book Jamaica: Debt and Poverty, reminded us that the country's economic development programme was heavily dependent on foreign capital being attracted to invest in the country by the provision of generous government incentives. He argued that the increased penetration of multinationals in our bauxite, tourism, and financial sectors led to the transfer of surpluses abroad and did little to improve the situation of ordinary working people.

Alexander Bustamante's foray into the heart of the workers' struggle and his subsequent rise to political leadership as Jamaica's first Independence prime minister was to achieve just that improvements in the situation of ordinary working people.

Michael Manley came to power on a promise of the politics of change in 1972. The broad philosophical framework he articulated included:

(i) freeing Jamaicans from the psychology of dependence brought about through slavery and colonialism;

(ii) deepening the democratic tradition to offer the electorate a feeling of power over their own destiny;

(iii) linking the concept of democracy to the principles of justice and equality; and

(iv) taking steps to ensure that local government, education and health are tailored to suit Jamaica's needs.

Although Manley's rise to power occurred during the heightened ideological tensions depicted through the Cold War, he was quick to reject the parlous political thinking of those on the radical left and the extreme right of the ideological spectrum. His central thesis, which was rooted in the anti-imperialist struggle that ushered in Jamaica's Independence movement, was simply about the equitable distribution of the country's wealth.

Capitalism, Manley argued, with its emphasis on notions of liberty and the creation of wealth, proved incapable of distributing wealth on an equitable basis. The experience in the first decade after Independence clearly demonstrated that. He would, of course, be attracted to the notion of liberty, which is everywhere evident in his many exhortations about building a spirit of national cooperation, promoting self-reliance, and mobilising the people around the politics of participation.

The second extreme on the ideological spectrum communism was flatly rejected by Manley, arguing that it has evolved into the idea that the equitable distribution of wealth can only be ensured within the framework of an authoritarian system. Manley's development of a 'third path' would naturally draw on capitalism's notion of liberty, recognising however its limitation in providing equitable distribution of wealth, and communism's notion of the equitable distribution, but totally rejecting authoritarianism as a method.

The development paradox which Jamaica faced in the early post-Independence years would certainly, therefore, be caught in the cross hairs of the Cold War. Manley himself recognised that to build a society founded on equality, social justice, and egalitarianism meant to change the power structure of the society built up through 300 years of slavery and colonialism.

The profundity of the Manley years, linked by a common theme to the George Floyd protests, is best represented by comments from a Confederate supporter who still carries the anger that his foreparents were wrongfully deprived of their sole livelihood of earning an income through the enslavement of blacks. Consequently, the post-Independence development paradox, set in the context of the Cold War, was sure to be mired in ideological conflict real and imagine.

The Manley Government of the 1970s infuriated the colonial lineage with the audacity to think that a small, developing country of predominantly black people could defy the Monroe Doctrine. Its author the fifth president of the United States would betray the spirit and intent of the doctrine by his chastisement, ridiculing and name-calling, like scoundrel and worthless, of an enslaved man named Daniel, simply because he desired freedom and equality under the American Constitution.

What the Michael Manley Government of the 1970s represented was that sense of justice and equality, preceded by Daniel, and succeeded by George Floyd. In acknowledging and understanding Manley and his contribution to Jamaica's development we therefore have to judge him by his deeds. Perhaps to determine whether his deeds were consistent with his ideological postulation of democracy, social justice, egalitarianism, and of wanting the majority of Jamaicans to have pride in themselves and respect for each other.

Let's examine some of his policy initiatives to determine whether the spirit and intent of the Manley doctrine were designed to make Jamaica a place to work, raise families, and do business.

We start with the abolition of the Master and Servant Act to protect the rights of workers; the granting of legal rights to children born out of wedlock; the maternity leave law; the equal pay for men and women Act; free education from which people in positions of power and authority today were the beneficiaries; the Jamaica Movement for the Advancement of Literacy (JAMAL) Foundation; the development of G C Foster College of Physical Education and Sports; the building of 93 infant schools, 67 primary schools, 44 new secondary schools and four community colleges; the establishment of the National Housing Trust (NHT); increased access to land to boost agricultural production; the Employee Share Ownership Programme, and the list goes on.

The truth is, subsequent governments of both the People's National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party would have built on Manley's progress to varying degrees, like the distribution of houses under the NHT, the safeguard and protection of the maternity leave law, and other labour legislations. But that pride, that sense of self that is the touchstone of equality and social justice, is perhaps Manley's most enduring accomplishment. To be sure, it is at the heart of the reparations movement and the quintessence of the George Floyd protests.

The Manley years never achieved the level of economic growth as in the preceding years. There is undoubtedly an explanation for that, and it lies somewhere in the nature of small, open economies which either ignore or underestimate the impact of exogenous factors in the development process: It may be climate change, the oil crisis, the novel coronavirus, or a global economic recession. Manley faced at least two of these, but unlike any other Government before and after, he faced the full onslaught of the Monroe Doctrine because he dared to seek social justice and egalitarianism for the majority of Jamaican people, without fully recognising the deep-seated link to the imperial master plan.

The price for human progress, respect, and social justice may mean we have to suffer with dignity. I too wish it were not the case, but the argument of the Confederate supporter, who opposed the George Floyd protest, rings resoundingly true.

Danny Roberts is a former chairman of the Michael Manley Foundation.

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CALGARY Jul 31, 2020 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of TC Energy Corp earnings conference call or presentation Thursday, July 30, 2020 at 3:00:00pm GMT

* Donald R. Marchand

* Russell K. Girling

TC Energy Corporation - Executive VP & President of U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines

* Tracy A. Robinson

TC Energy Corporation - Executive VP & President of Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines

CIBC Capital Markets, Research Division - Executive Director of Institutional Equity Research

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the TC Energy 2020 Second Quarter Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) The conference is being recorded. (Operator Instructions)

I would now like to turn the conference over to David Moneta, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thanks very much, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to welcome you to TC Energy's 2020 second quarter conference call. With -- joining me today are Russ Girling, President and Chief Executive Officer; Don Marchand, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer; Franois Poirier, Chief Operating Officer and President, Power and Storage and Mexico; Tracy Robinson, President, Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines; Stan Chapman, President, U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines; Paul Miller, President, Liquids Pipelines; Bevin Wirzba, Senior Vice President, Liquids Pipelines; and Glenn Menuz, Vice President and Controller.

Russ and Don will begin today with some opening comments on our financial results and certain other company developments. A copy of the slide presentation that will accompany their remarks is available on our website. It can be found in the Investors section under the heading Events And Presentations. Following their prepared remarks, we will take questions from the investment community. If you are a member of the media, please contact Jaimie Harding following this call and she'd be happy to address your questions.

(Operator Instructions) Also, we ask that you focus your questions on our industry, our corporate strategy, recent developments and key elements of our financial performance. If you have detailed questions relating to some of our smaller operations or your detailed financial models, Hunter and I would be pleased to discuss them with you following the call.

Before Russ begins, I'd like to remind you that our remarks today will include forward-looking statements that are subject to important risks and uncertainties. For more information on these risks and uncertainties, please see the reports filed by TC Energy with Canadian Securities Regulators and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

And finally, during this presentation, we'll refer to measures such as comparable earnings, comparable earnings per share, comparable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization or comparable EBITDA and comparable funds generated from operations. These and certain other comparable measures are considered to be non-GAAP measures. As a result, they may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other entities. They are used to provide you with additional information on TC Energy's operating performance, liquidity and its ability to generate funds to finance its operations.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Russ.

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Russell K. Girling, TC Energy Corporation - President, CEO & Director [3]

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Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us today. Clearly, we live in unprecedented times with COVID-19 having had a significant impact on people around the world. When the World Health Organization declared it global pandemic in early March, our business continuity plans were put in place across our whole organization, allowing us to continue to effectively operate our assets and execute on all of our capital programs.

All of the services we provide were deemed essential or critical in Canada, the United States and Mexico, given the important role our infrastructure plays in delivering energy to people across this continent. This essential designation included both our daily operations and our construction projects. We take that responsibility extremely seriously, and I'm proud to say that we have continued to deliver the energy that millions of people rely on every day and continue to advance all of our construction projects that are vital to powering industries and institutions for many decades yet to come.

As we've always done over the past few months, we've continued to conduct our business in a safe and reliable manner, while maintaining our workforce, employing thousands of construction workers, fulfilling our obligations to suppliers and supporting the communities in which we are working. This would not have been possible without the dedication of all of our employees, and I want to acknowledge and thank them and their families for their ongoing efforts to ensure the energy that is vital to the daily lives of so many continues to be delivered seamlessly across North America. I can tell you that your efforts continue to make a big difference.

Turning now to our second quarter financial results and other recent developments across our 3 core businesses. Despite the challenges brought by COVID-19, our operations have largely been unimpacted, with a few exceptions, flows and utilization levels remain in line with historic and seasonal norms, underscoring the critical nature of our energy infrastructure assets. With approximately 95% of the comparable EBITDA in our company coming from regulated or long-term contracted assets, we continue to be largely insulated from the short-term volatility associated with volume throughput and commodity prices.

As a result, as highlighted in our second quarter report, our $100 billion portfolio of high-quality, long life energy infrastructure assets continue to produce solid results. We continue to realize the growth expected from our industry-leading capital expansion program. And today, we are advancing $37 billion of secured capital projects. In addition, we continue to advance $11 billion of projects under development, including the refurbishment of another 5 reactors at Bruce Power as part of their long-term life extension program.

Over the last 6 months, we took significant steps to fund our 2020 capital expenditure program and maintain our strong financial position despite the challenging capital market conditions that we're experiencing. More specifically, we enhanced our liquidity by more than $11 billion through the issuance of long-term debt in both Canada and the United States at very attractive rates, the establishment of an incremental committed credit facility and various portfolio management activities, including the sale of 3 Ontario natural gas-fired power plants and the 65% interest in the Coastal GasLink project. When combined with our predictable and growing cash flow from operations, we believe that we're well positioned to fund our capital program and meet all of our other obligations.

Looking forward, we expect our solid operating and financial performance to continue. And as a result, our outlook for the full year 2020 is essentially unchanged, with comparable earnings per share still anticipated to be similar to the record results we produced in 2019. While we're extremely proud of our financial performance and the significant returns that we've generated for our shareholders, we know that our ongoing success depends on our ability to balance profitability with safety and environment and social responsibility. We have a 65-year track record of safe and reliable operations, but we recognize that we can always do better. As a result, we remain focused on continuous improvement as well as long-term fundamentals to ensure our business remains sustainable and resilient in an ever-evolving energy landscape.

With that as an overview, I'll expand on some of the recent developments, beginning with a brief review of our second quarter financial results. Don will provide more detail on our results and liquidity in just a few moments.

So excluding certain specific items, comparable earnings were $863 million or $0.92 per common share for the 3 months ended June 30 compared to $924 million or about $1 per share in 2019. Comparable EBITDA of $2.2 billion -- well, comparable funds generated from operations were about $1.5 billion. For the 6 months ended June 30, our comparable earnings were $2 billion or $2.10 per common share compared to $1.9 billion or 2 -- or $2.07 per share in the same period in 2019.

Comparable EBITDA of $4.7 billion and comparable funds generated from operations of $3.6 billion were similar to the amounts that we reported last year. Each of those amounts reflects the solid performance of our legacy assets as well as contributions from $3 billion of new long-term contracted and rate-regulated assets placed into service in the first half of 2020. This was partially offset by lower contributions from our liquids marketing business due to lower margins as well as lower equity income from Bruce Power due to the Unit 6 MCR program that we commenced at the beginning of the year and the sale of certain assets that will help fund our secured capital program for many years to come.

Next, I'll make a few comments on our 3 core businesses. First, in our Natural Gas Pipelines business, customer demand for our services remains extremely strong despite the COVID-19 impacts on the broader North American economy. Evidence of this can be seen in the volumes transported across our systems with the NGTL field system receipts averaging about 12.3 billion cubic feet a day, the Canadian Mainline Western receipts averaging 3.1 billion cubic feet a day, our broader U.S. pipeline network moving about 25 billion cubic feet a day, and our Mexican pipelines moving approximately 1.6 billion cubic feet a day for the first 6 months of this year.

Each of those amounts are similar to or greater to the volumes we moved over the same period last year. At the same time, we continue to advance approximately $22 billion of capital projects associated with our natural gas business. That program includes significant expansions of our NGTL system, capacity additions on our U.S. network, the Villa de Reyes and Tula projects in Mexico and our Coastal GasLink pipeline project in British Columbia, which will play a very important role in delivering clean Canadian natural gas to Asian markets that will displace coal.

During the second quarter, the NGTL system held a capacity optimization open season to assist customers in optimizing their transportation service needs and align system expansions with customer growth requirements. The open season confirmed that all of our proposed system expansion projects will continue to be required to meet aggregate system demand, although the in-service dates for some of those facilities has moved. As a result, a certain amount of the capital spending plan for 2020 and 2021 will be made in 2022 to 2024. The net impact of these deferrals, together with some expected increasing costs on the 2021 expansion program will see us invest a total of about $9.9 billion, up from $9.4 billion on the '21 program. These changes have been reflected in the secured capital projects table in our quarterly report.

Turning to our U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines business, where our expansion plans now include an incremental investment of approximately USD 400 million to replace, upgrade and modernize certain facilities on the highly utilized section of the ANR pipeline system. The program, which is known as the Elwood Power/ANR Horsepower Replacement Project will reduce emissions along the system and is another good example of an in-corridor expansion to meet growing demand utilizing our existing facilities and our existing right of ways.

Also in the U.S. Pipelines business. In the coming days, our Columbia Gas transmission system intends to file a section 4 rate case with FERC, requesting an increase in its maximum transportation rates effective February 1, 2021. It's Colombia's first rate case filing in over 20 years and will seek to recover currently incurred operating costs as well as a fair return on and of our historical and future capital investments in this expansive system that provides our customers with reliable access to low-cost natural gas. At the same time, we will continue to pursue a collaborative process to find a mutually beneficial outcome with the Columbia Gas transmission customers through settlement negotiations.

Finally, in Natural Gas Pipelines, construction activities continue on the 2.1 billion cubic feet a day Coastal GasLink project that will connect abundant Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin natural gas reserves to the LNG Canada plant to export from Kitimat, British Columbia. Field activity continues to increase along the route following the spring thaw. As we ramp up construction, our focus will remain on the health and safety of our employees, our contractors and the communities through strict adherence to our COVID-19 protocols.

Ongoing work includes the construction of roads, bridges, worker accommodations and grading. Pipe delivery also continues with more than 50% of the required pipes supplied to site and the mainline mechanical construction activities planned for the balance of the summer. In May, as you know, we completed the sale of a 65% interest in the Coastal GasLink project and entered into a secured long-term project financing credit facility to fund the majority of the construction cost. This resulted in combined net proceeds of approximately $2.1 billion. Looking forward, we'll continue to work with the 21st nations that have executed agreements with the Coastal GasLink project to provide them with an opportunity to invest in the project with an option to acquire a 10% interest on similar terms and conditions.

Turning now to our Liquids business, which also generated solid results during the first half of 2020 despite the extraordinary volatility in global crude oil markets. While the volatility has had an impact on our market link and liquids marketing businesses, Keystone continued to produce solid results as it serves important markets in the U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast and is underpinned by long-term take-or-pay contracts with very strong counterparties.

We are very pleased with yesterday's decision by President Trump to sign a new presidential permit for the base Keystone system. The new permit will allow us to respond to market demand and fully utilize the Keystone pipeline system to safely deliver additional crude oil from Canada to refining centers in the U.S. Midwest and the Gulf Coast. This new presidential permit will allow us to utilize -- or to realize the benefits from the 50,000 barrel a day open season conducted in June 2019 and we anticipate starting to increase the flows in 2021. The additional crude oil that will be delivered by the Keystone pipeline will increase the secure and reliable source of Canadian oil to meet growing demand from refineries and markets in the United States.

Also in the Liquids business, we continued to advance construction on Keystone XL during the second quarter while managing the various legal and regulatory matters. In Canada, construction activities at our pump stations and along more than 100 kilometers of the mainline right of way have continued to advance. In the U.S., we are making progress on a revised 2020 construction plan, which is focused in areas where all of our permits and approvals are in place and includes facilities and preconstruction activities. At the same time, we continue to seek authorizations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the necessary permits and approvals to reconvene U.S. pipeline -- Mainline pipeline construction in 2021.

Keystone XL continues to be a very important project for both Canada and the United States. It will create thousands of high-paying union jobs and advanced energy security in both nations in an environmentally sustainable and responsible way. The project will require an additional investment of approximately $8 billion, and it is underpinned by new 20-year take-or-pay contracts that are expected to generate approximately USD 1.3 billion of incremental EBITDA on an annual basis once the pipeline is placed into service in 2023.

To advance the project, we have partnered with the government of Alberta, who will invest approximately USD 1.1 billion of equity into the project and fully guarantee a USD 4.2 billion project-level credit facility. Once the project is completed and placed into service, we expect to acquire the government of Alberta's equity investment and refinance the credit facility. Moving forward, we will continue to carefully manage various legal and regulatory matters as we construct this pipeline, which will have the capacity to move approximately 830,000 barrels a day of responsibly produced energy from Canadian oil sands to the continent's largest refining market, which is in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Turning now to our Power and Storage business, where Bruce Power continued to produce solid results through the first 6 months of this year. Also, after years of preparation, in January, Bruce Power commenced the work on the Unit 6 major component replacement, or MCR project as we call it, when they took it off-line here in January. We expect to invest approximately $2.4 billion in that program as well as ongoing asset management program through 2023 when the Unit 6 refurbishment is targeted for completion and to come back online. Unfortunately, because of COVID-19, in late March, Bruce Power declared a force majeure under its contract with the independent electric system operator. This force majeure covered unit 6 MCR as well as certain asset management work.

That said, I'm pleased to report that in early May, work on the Unit 6 MCR resumed with additional prevention measures in place for worker safety related to COVID-19. Progress is being made on critical path activities as Bruce works to isolate Unit 6 from the remaining units in preparation for the removal of the fuel channels in late third quarter. The impact of force majeure continues to be evaluated and will ultimately depend on the extent and duration of this global pandemic. Operations and plant outage activities on all other units continued as expected in the second quarter.

Finally, in Power in late April, we did complete the sale of 3 natural gas-fired power plants in Ontario, the Napanee plant, Halton Hills and our 50% interest in the Portlands Energy Center. Net proceeds from that disposition netted approximately $2.8 billion that we used to fund our industry-leading capital program.

So in summary, today, we are advancing $37 billion of secured growth projects that are largely expected to enter service between now and 2023. We have invested approximately $11 billion into this program to date, with approximately $5 billion of those projects expected to be completed by the end of 2020. Notably, all of these projects are underpinned by cost of service regulation or long-term contracts, giving us visibility to the earnings and cash flow they will generate as they enter service.

Based on the strength of our financial performance and the promising outlook for the future, earlier this year, TC Energy's Board of Directors increased the quarterly dividend to $0.81 per common share, which is equivalent to $3.24 per share on an annual basis. This represents an 8% increase over the amount declared in 2019 and is the 20th consecutive year that our Board has raised the dividend.

Over that same time frame, we have maintained consistently strong coverage ratios with our dividend on average representing a payout of approximately 80% of comparable earnings and 40% of comparable funds generated from operations, leaving us with significantly internally generated cash flow to reinvest in our core businesses. Based on the continued strong performance of our base businesses and the organic growth we expect to realize as we advance our $37 billion secured capital program, we expect to continue to grow our dividend at an average annual rate of 8% to 10% through 2021, and 5% to 7% thereafter.

So in summary, I'll leave you with the following key points. Today, we are a leading North American energy infrastructure company with a very strong track record of delivering long-term shareholder value. Our assets provide essential service to the functioning of North American society and the economy and the demand for our services remains strong.

We have 5 significant platforms for growth: Canadian, U.S., Mexican and Natural Gas Pipelines, Liquids Pipelines and our Power and Storage business. As we advance our $37 billion secured capital program, we expect to build on our long track record of growing earnings, cash flow and dividends per share. We also have $11 billion of projects in advanced stages of development and expect numerous other in-corridor organic growth opportunities like the $400 million Elwood Power and ANR Horsepower Replacement Project that we announced today to emanate from our extensive critical asset footprint.

Looking forward, we will remain disciplined, continuing to our focus on safety, sustainability, working according to our values and responding quickly to market signals and signposts to ensure we remain industry-leading and resilient as we grow shareholder value.

I'll now turn the call over to Don who will provide you more details on our second quarter results and our financial position. Don, over to you.

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Donald R. Marchand, TC Energy Corporation - Executive VP of Strategy & Corporate Development and CFO [4]

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Thanks, Russ, and good morning, everyone. As outlined in our results issued earlier today, net income attributable to common shares was $1.3 billion or $1.36 per share in the second quarter of 2020 compared to $1.1 billion or $1.21 per share for the same period in 2019. For the 6 months ended June 30, 2020, net income attributable to common shares was $2.4 billion or $2.59 per share compared to net income of $2.1 billion or $2.30 per share in 2019. Second quarter results included a $408 million after-tax gain on the sale of a 65% interest in Coastal GasLink, along with an incremental $80 million after-tax loss on the disposition of the Ontario natural gas-fired power plants.

Second quarter 2019 also included certain specific items as outlined on the slide and discussed further in our second quarter 2020 report to shareholders. These specific items as well as unrealized gains and losses from changes in risk management activities are excluded from comparable earnings. Comparable earnings for the second quarter were $863 million or $0.92 per common share compared to $924 million or $1 per common share in 2019. For the 6 months ended June 30, 2020, comparable earnings were $2 billion or $2.10 per share compared to $1.9 billion or $2.07 per share in 2019.

Turning to our business segment results on Slide 15. In the second quarter, comparable EBITDA from our 5 operating segments was $2.2 billion, a $125 million decrease compared to 2019. Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines' comparable EBITDA of $621 million was $93 million higher than second quarter 2019, primarily on account of increased rate base earnings as well as flow-through depreciation and financial charges on the NGTL system from additional facilities placed in service. NGTL system net income increased $21 million compared to the same period in 2019 as a result of a higher average investment base from continued system expansions, and reflects an ROE of 10.1% on 40% deemed common equity, while net income for the Canadian Mainline decreased $3 million, largely due to lower incentive earnings.

U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines' comparable EBITDA of USD 595 million, or CAD 824 million in the second quarter, fell by USD 46 million or CAD 33 million compared to 2019, mainly due to the sale of certain Columbia midstream assets in August 2019, as well as increased operating costs on Columbia gas.

Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines' comparable EBITDA of USD 130 million or CAD 181 million rose USD 23 million or CAD 40 million versus second quarter 2019, primarily due to Sur de Texas equity income resulting from the commencement of transportation services in September 2019, and lower interest expense attributable to the weakening of the Mexican peso.

Liquids Pipelines' comparable EBITDA declined by $150 million to $432 million in the second quarter driven by lower uncontracted volumes on Keystone, decreased margins from liquids marketing activities and the sale of an 85% equity interest in Northern Courier in July 2019.

Power and Storage comparable EBITDA in the second quarter fell by $84 million year-over-year, primarily due to the planned removal from service of Bruce Power Unit 6 in January for its MCR program, along with lower Canadian power earnings, largely as a result of the sales of our Ontario natural gas-fired power plants in April 2020 and

Coolidge in May 2019 as well as an outage at our Mackay River cogeneration facility in 2020.

For all our businesses with U.S. dollar-denominated income, including U.S. Natural Gas Pipelines, Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines and parts of Liquids Pipelines, EBITDA was translated into Canadian dollars using an average exchange rate of $1.39 in second quarter 2020 compared to $1.34 for the same period in 2019. As a reminder, our U.S. dollar-denominated revenue streams are in part naturally hedged by interest on U.S. dollar-denominated debt. We then actively manage the residual exposure on a rolling 2-year forward basis with realized gains and losses on this program reflected in comparable interest income and other.

Now turning to the other income statement items on Slide 16. Depreciation and amortization of $635 million increased $14 million versus second quarter 2019 largely due to new projects placed in service in Canadian Natural Gas Pipelines, which is fully recoverable in tolls on a flow-through basis.

Interest expense of $561 million in the quarter was $27 million lower year-over-year primarily due to higher capitalized interest related to Keystone XL and Coastal GasLink up to its date of partial sale in May, subsequent to which CGL is now accounted for under the equity method versus previous full consolidation. The increase at Keystone XL is a result of additional capital expenditures, along with the inclusion of previously impaired capital costs in the basis for calculating capitalized interest following our decision to proceed with construction of the project. This is partially offset by new long-term debt issuances net of maturities.

AFUDC decreased $18 million compared to the same period in 2019, largely due to NGTL system expansion projects placed in service as well as the suspension of recording AFUDC on Tula effective January 2020.

Comparable interest income and other was $7 million in the second quarter and consistent with 2019.

Income tax expense included in comparable earnings was $125 million in the second quarter 2020 compared to $199 million for the same period last year. The $74 million decrease was mainly due to lower pretax earnings and a lower Alberta income tax rate. Excluding Canadian rate-regulated pipelines where income taxes are a flow-through item and are, therefore, quite variable, along with equity AFUDC income in the U.S. and Mexico Natural Gas Pipelines, we expect our 2020 full year effective tax rate on comparable income to be in the mid- to high teens.

Comparable net income attributable to noncontrolling interest of $63 million in the quarter increased by $6 million relative to the same period last year primarily due to higher earnings at TC Pipelines LP.

And finally, preferred share dividends of $40 million were in line with second quarter 2019.

Now turning to Slide 17. During the second quarter, comparable funds generated from operations totaled $1.5 billion, and we invested approximately $2.2 billion in our capital program, which, as noted, reflects equity accounting for our remaining 35% investment in Coastal GasLink post the closing of this partial equity sale.

While capital market conditions in 2020 have seen periods of extreme stress and volatility, during the second quarter, we took significant actions that meaningfully enhanced our liquidity and financial position. In April, we issued $2 billion in medium-term notes and USD 1.25 billion of senior unsecured notes in the Canadian and U.S. debt capital markets, respectively, on compelling terms.

In addition, we arranged USD 2 billion of incremental committed credit facilities and closed the sale of our Ontario natural gas-fired power plants for net proceeds of approximately $2.8 billion. In May, we completed the sale of a 65% equity interest in Coastal GasLink as well as the initial draw on a newly-established secured long-term project credit facility, resulting in combined proceeds of approximately $2.1 billion.

Finalizing these arrangements on Coastal GasLink, along with secured government of Alberta support for Keystone XL in the form of a USD 1.1 billion equity contribution and USD 4.2 billion loan guarantee means that a substantial portion of the funding required to advance these 2 large initiatives is now in place.

Now turning to Slide 18. This graphic illustrates our forecasted sources and uses of funds in 2020. The left column details total funding requirements of approximately $17.5 billion, comprised of long-term debt maturities and redemptions of $3.9 billion, dividend and noncontrolling interest distributions of approximately $3.3 billion and capital expenditures of approximately $10.3 billion, reflecting 100% of Coastal GasLink costs up to the date of its partial sale and only equity contributions to the project thereafter.

Funding sources are shown in the second column and include forecast internally generated cash flow of approximately $7 billion. Proceeds from the disposition of our Ontario natural gas-fired power plants, sale of a 65% interest in Coastal GasLink and associated project-level financing at CGL, which together generated approximately $4.9 billion. The government of Alberta's equity investment in Keystone XL of USD 1.1 billion, and $4.1 billion comprised of long-term debt that was issued in April, along with movements in balances of cash held in commercial paper outstanding.

Taken together, we are effectively fully funded for 2020 and along with more than $13 billion of committed credit facilities in place and well, supported commercial paper programs in both Canada and the U.S., positioned to assuredly navigate any prolonged period of disruption should that occur.

Now turning to Slide 19. In closing, our solid financial and operational results in what has been a rather momentous first half of 2020, highlight our long-standing diversified low-risk business strategy, the criticality of our essential energy infrastructure as well as the contribution of new high-quality assets from our ongoing capital program.

Our overall financial position remains robust. Today, we are advancing a $37 billion suite of secured projects through resilient internally generated cash flow and an array of attractive funding options.

Our portfolio of critical energy infrastructure projects is poised to generate high-quality long life earnings and cash flow for our shareholders, underpinned by strong fundamentals, solid counterparties and premium service offerings. We're offering numerous distinct platforms for future attractive and executable in-corridor organic investment. That is expected to support annual dividend growth of 8% to 10% in 2021 and 5% to 7% thereafter.

Finally, we will continue to maintain our historic financial strength and flexibility at all points of the economic cycle.

That's the end of my prepared remarks. I'll now turn the call back over to David for the Q&A.

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David Moneta, TC Energy Corporation - VP of IR & Financial Communications [5]

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Thanks, Don. Just a reminder before I turn it over to the conference coordinator for questions. (Operator Instructions) With that, I'll turn it back to the conference coordinator.

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Questions and Answers

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Operator [1]

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(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Jeremy Tonet of JPMorgan.

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Jeremy Bryan Tonet, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Senior Analyst [2]

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Just wanted to start off with KXL and wanted to see, I guess, to hit the 2023 in service, as you envision it now, how do you see the kind of legal hurdles or legal challenges going at this point? Just trying to get a feeling for how much contingency is built in there. And what milestones we should be looking for, try to get a better feeling for how that will progress. And I guess, what type of outcomes there would have you guys kind of step away from the project on the legal challenge side?

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Bevin Mark Wirzba, TC Energy Corporation - SVP of Liquids Pipelines [3]

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Thanks, Jeremy. This is Bevin. With respect to the legal challenges, there are 2 lawsuits, the first of which challenging the presidential permits, and the balance challenging our ability to advance construction in certain areas that have wet lands. Our schedule and plans can accommodate -- we're still targeting our 2023 in-service date at this point, and we anticipate resolving these issues through the balance of this year and into next.

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Edited Transcript of TRP.TO earnings conference call or presentation 30-Jul-20 3:00pm GMT - Yahoo Finance

The DCEU's Cyborg has figured out what comic fans know: that Batman could beat Wolverine with a deviously clever (and obvious) strategy.

DC'sCyborg knows the perfect way to beatWolverine. On the face of it, Wolverine should be the most dangerous man on the planet. As a mutant, he has a phenomenal healing factor that has allowed him to survive being burned down to his bones, or cut in half by a portal. The Weapon X Project then enhanced himby bonding his bones withadamantium, an almost indestructible metal, and his claws can slice through almost anything.

Wolverine has gone up against gods and monsters, rogue mutants and powerful cosmic entities. In the popular and much-acclaimedEnemy of the Stateevent, Wolverine was brainwashed and turned into an assassin for the Hand, and every Marvel hero in the world trembled in fear. At one point, Wolverine broke into the Baxter Building in an attempt to assassinate the Fantastic Four, and even with Reed Richards' genius the FF barely survived.

Related:Wolverine's Claws Can Never Cut ONE Marvel Superhero

Hilariously, in today's Justice Con interview, Ray Fisher - aka the DCEU's Cyborg - revealed he knows the perfect way to stop Wolverine. As Fisher notes, he grew up with comics, but he always had a preference for DC. He joked that he was one of those 11-year-olds who consistently argued Batman could find a way to beat anybody. He tossed out a few examples to prove the point, and his idea for stopping Wolverine is simple but absolutely perfect; just get a magnet, he suggested. Just get a giant magnet. After all, adamantium is magnetic, as Magneto has demonstrated on occasion.

Amusingly, Fisher is right; get a big enough magnet, and you could conceivably keep Wolverine captive. The problem, however, is that you'd need to make the magnet big enough to have the effect, and it can actually be pretty expensive to produce a magnet of that size. Of course, cost would be no object for the billionaire Bruce Wayne, so if anybody could pull this off, it's Batman.

Another option would be to make a magnet more powerful, most likely using electrical coils to generate a stronger magnetic field. That approach has actually been tried a few times in the comics, but it has one major flaw; those coils make perfect targets for Wolverine's claws, allowing him to cut through them. His escape isn't easy and it's hardly painless, but all it ultimately accomplishes is leaving Wolverine in a very bad mood. And that's the risk with attempting to capture Wolverine; in theory the magnet idea works, but if you fail, you wind up in serious trouble.

More:X-Men: Wolverine & Jean Grey Are OFFICIALLY Together

Supergirl Killed DC's Unkillable Hero With ONE Punch

Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant's staff writers, and he's frankly amused that his childhood is back - and this time it's cool. Tom's focus tends to be on the various superhero franchises, as well as Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Star Trek; he's also an avid comic book reader. Over the years, Tom has built a strong relationship with aspects of the various fan communities, and is a Moderator on some of Facebook's largest MCU and X-Men groups. Previously, he's written entertainment news and articles for Movie Pilot.A graduate of Edge Hill University in the United Kingdom, Tom is still strongly connected with his alma mater; in fact, in his spare time he's a voluntary chaplain there. He's heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will quickly learn that he's interested in British politics as well.

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DC's Cyborg Knows The Easiest Way To Beat Wolverine | Screen Rant - Screen Rant

More DC Multiverse figures have been announced from McFarlane Toys. We recently got a reveal of a new wave featuring a Build-A-Figure of Batman The Merciless. That wave seems to be all for the DC Comics storyline Dark Nights Metal. This time more figures are not only expanding the Batman roster but the DC Universe roster. Even though these are all just teasers, all of the characters are expected to release in Fall 2020. First up is Batman and Deathstroke from the hit video game Batman: Arkham Knight. Deathstroke is a worthy addition to any DC figure line and is packed with death and badass all around. McFarlane Toys then announced two 2-Pack figure sets with the first featuring the Flash and Red Death. This will mark the first Flash to be released in the series, and Red Death is a must have for the Dark Nights Metal line. Red Hood and Nightwing will be the second McFarlane Toys pack. Both figures are packed with there retrospective red elements and that Red Hood is captivating.

The last reveal McFarlane Toys did was four more figures with some surprising additions. First up is two figures from DC Rebirth with the Flash and the Joker making an appearance. The Joker is a different sculpt from the Arkham Asylum version and will be a great figure fro this series. Azreal in Batman Armor from Batman: Curse of the White Knight will also be coming. Which will be a must-have for fans of the comic or just batsuits. Last but not least is the most interesting of the lot with Teen Titans Cyborg. This animated Cyborg is just what the series needed, and it shows that they are expanding the DC multiverse in the right ways. I hope this means we can expect a return of the other Teen Titans members in the future. Pre-orders are not live yet, but collectors can find other McFarlane Toys figures here.

"We're releasing 2 multipacks! Coming out this fall is Nightwing vs. Red Hood and Batman Earth -52 vs. The Flash. Keep your eyes open another wave is coming out Fall 2020. Look out for Cyborg from the Teen Titans animated series, The Flash and The Joker based on the DC Rebirth comic books, and Azrael in Batman Armor figure based on the hit comic book series, BATMAN: CURSE OF THE WHITE KNIGHT

He has been the Collectibles Editor since late 2019. Funko Funatic, Historian, Air Force Veteran, and dedicated collector of many things.

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McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse - Flashpoint, Red Hood, Teen Titans - Bleeding Cool News

I need to stress that Im talking about the anime film here. Anime. Not the 2017 live-action remake that admittedly had an amazing art direction, but the crunchy center of pure meh within it. Sorry Scar-Jo. Anyway, Mamoru Oshiis adaptation of the cult classic Msamune Shirow manga is the stuff of legend. Dealing with all manner of heady themes that flew over my head so hard at the time that it achieved enough terminal velocity to escape the gravitational pull of the planet, the film still holds up brilliantly after 25 years.

Its been knocking around in various formats since it was first released (Theatrical, on a VHS recorded from the SyFy channel with Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend after it I hope my mom never watched that tape), but for the first time therell be a 4K cut of the film. Which you cant see below, because the new trailer caps out at 1080p. It still looks bloody marvelous though.

If youve been living in an Amish Paradise for the last two decades and a half, Ghost in the Shell should be on your viewing catch-up list. Set in the far far future of 2029, the film deals with cyber-terrorism as a mysterious hacker known only as the Puppet Master begins to infect individuals with a virus that bends them to his will. For nefarious reasons, of course.

Hot on the trail of the Pupper Master is cyborg Major Matoko Kusanagi, whos busy having her own crisis of conscience as she deals with the fact that shes more machine than human, a titular ghost in a shell. The UHD blu-ray release will include audio commentary from Ghost in the Shells English-language scriptwriter Mary Claypool, animation producer and writer Eric Calderon, Batous English voice actor Richard Epcar and animation historian Charles Solomon.

Two new featurettes celebrating Ghost in the Shells pop culture impact and its cyberpunk design, and audio remasters for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos cap the project. Which just so happens to have cover art that makes good use of Martin Ansins spectacular art that Mondo commissioned. Itll be jacking into your blu-ray player on September 8.

Last Updated: July 31, 2020

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Ghost in the Shell is finally getting a 4K upgrade - Critical Hit

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AfterShock Comics Exclusive Preview: THE MAN WHO F#%&ED UP TIME #5 - Monkeys Fighting Robots

Nelson Cruz, Minnesota Twins. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

Nelson Cruz just made the virtual fan experience at big league ballparks look even dumber.

The 40-year-old designated hitter of the Minnesota Twins may have gotten off to a hot start this season, but hes quickly realizing Cleveland Indians pitcher Shane Bieber doesnt pitch for the Chicago White Sox. After being the greatest old dude player in baseball over the weekend, Cruz was perplexed by Bieber on the mound for the Tribe. The Biebs struck out 13 Twins. Oh, Baby!

While Cruz was one of two Twins hitter who didnt go down swinging or looking on Thursday night, his legend continues to grow by the nanosecond. Either hes been dead the whole time like Bruce Willis or the virtual fans in the stands at Target Field are ghosts, too. How on earth can you possibly explain what happened here? A glitch? I think not. Are we living in a simulation?

Cruz might still be living the dream of playing baseball professionally firmly into his fifth decade on earth, but those virtual fans have families, allegedly. They were so committed to the game, they were so stoic, it was just so heartbreaking to see this unforgivable thing happen to them. Sadly, the virtual fans were exposed as a bunch of 2-D men and women, living in a 3-D world.

So is Cruz from the fourth dimension as the Master of Time? I mean, yeah, he has to be. How else can be the best hitter on one of the best teams in the American League in the middle of 60-game, coronavirus-shortened MLB season? Every day is becoming weirder than the one before and Cruz is just passing through time, passing through 2-dimensional bodies who wake up and feel nothing.

Until someone shows him this video, Cruz wont realize his newfound superpower. Some people wish to fly, while others wish for invisibility. There are those who covet invincibility, while some want to have a superior intellect. Cruz proves to us all not all heroes wear capes. Some carry bats, wear hats and can walk through imitation human beings. How will he take on a cyborg, though?

If we have to fight robots in the not-so-distant future, Cruz is the man to go to bat for all of us.

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Nelson Cruz didnt even realize he walked through virtual fans (Video) - FanSided