Per the Detroit News, Michigan on Wednesday added 7,955 new COVID-19 cases and 35 deaths as the state has led the nation in new infections and hospitalizations for two weeks.The latest figures bring the state’s total number of cases to 764,519 and deaths to 16,621 since the virus was first detected in March 2020, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. Last week, the state recorded 45,817 cases and 282 deaths, an increase from March 29 through April 3 when the state recorded 39,637 new cases and 192 deaths. Cases are nearing the records set at the end of November when the state established the weekly record of 50,892 cases. The weekly record of 808 deaths was recorded in mid-December. The state’s 510 cases per 100,000 people leads the nation, surpassing Minnesota at 290 cases per 100,000 people and New Jersey at 282 cases per 100,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some of the politicians and health officials are saying youth sports is a major cause for the recent increase. Since Friday, I have umpired four high school baseball games and ran a youth umpire clinic. All of these events involved teenagers. Although my sample size is small, I know that the kids and coaches I have been with have been very vigilant with wearing their masks on the field and in the dugout. If there is a problem with youth sports it sure isn’t happening on the field during the games. I also don’t understand why youth sports in Michigan are any differernt than other states such as Ohio where youth sports are not a problem. My guess is that no one really knows why Michigan is struggling so bad. Everyone is looking for answers that do not exist.
Governor Whitmer’s key staffers have not done her any favors by going to Florida and Gulf Shores, Alabama for Spring break. The optics of them going after the governor pleaded for Michigan residents to stay home during Spring break is not setting well with her opponents and detractors. The governor is trying to downplay the trips by saying what people do on their personal time does not matter. That may be her public opinion but I promise you in private she is fuming.
The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright after appearing to mistake her handgun for her Taser will be charged with second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday, a prosecutor said. The charges against the officer, Kimberly A. Potter, come a day after she and the police chief both resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department. Lives lost and ruined in the blink of an eye.
At the state level business leaders from some of Michigan’s largest employers on Tuesday urged the state’s Republican-led Legislature to avoid approving any new election laws that would reduce participation or disenfranchise voters. General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Ford CEO Jim Farley and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan CEO Daniel Loepp were among those who spoke out as legislators begin to debate a 39-bill election reform package introduced by state Senate Republicans. On a national level Amazon, BlackRock, Google, Warren Buffett and hundreds of other companies and executives signed on to a new statement released on Wednesday opposing “any discriminatory legislation” that would make it harder for people to vote. It was the biggest show of solidarity so far by the business community as companies around the country try to navigate the partisan uproar over Republican efforts to enact new election rules in almost every state.
Bernie Madoff, 82, died today from a terminal diseases after serving 12 years of a 150 year sentence. In December 2008 Madoff was probably the most despised person in the world as the facts about his world wide ponzie scheme came to light. The pain and suffering he caused with his lies and schemes were astronomical. It was not just rich investors who were burned. It was also non-profits and normal people who innocently invested in his scheme.
Stay safe. Wear your mask properly. Social distance. Wash your hands regularly. Schedule your vaccine.
Quote of the Day: “It was one big lie” What Bernie Madoff confessed to his two sons about his supposedly profitable money-management operation.
Orchid of the Day: All the high school baseball players and coaches I have encourntered in the last few days for being so vigilant about wearing their masks while on the field and in the dugout.
Onion of the Day: Bernie Madoff. because I didn’t give him one in 2008.