US health officials believe 20M Americans have had virus
By ZEKE MILLER and MARILYNN MARCHIONE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials believe as many as 20 million Americans have contracted the coronavirus since COVID-19 first arrived in the country, suggesting millions had the virus and never knew it. That’s nearly 10 times as many infections as the 2.3 million cases that have been confirmed in the U.S. and comes as the Trump administration works to tamp down nationwide concern about the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when about a dozen states are seeing worrisome increases in cases. But 20 million infections would mean that about 6% of the nation’s 331 million people have been infected, leaving a great majority of the population still susceptible to the virus.

The Dixie Chicks officially change their name to The Chicks
By KRISTIN M. HALL AP Entertainment Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Grammy-winning country group The Dixie Chicks have dropped the word Dixie from their name, now going by The Chicks. The group made of Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines and Emily Strayer posted a statement on their website saying they wanted to meet “this moment.” The group also acknowledged that there was an existing band in New Zealand that allowed them “to share their name.” The move follows a decision by country group Lady Antebellum to change to Lady A after acknowledging the word’s association to slavery. That band received criticism with their switch after a Black singer revealed she’d been performing as Lady A for years.

Audit: US sent $1.4B in virus relief payments to dead people
By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — A government watchdog says nearly 1.1 million relief payments totaling some $1.4 billion went to dead people in the government’s coronavirus aid program. More than 130 million so-called economic impact payments were sent to taxpayers as part of the $2.4 trillion coronavirus relief package enacted in March. The Government Accountability Office, Congress’ auditing arm, cited the number of erroneous payments to deceased taxpayers in a report published Thursday on the government programs. The IRS asked in May for the money back from the deceased taxpayers’ survivors. Some legal experts have said the government may not have the legal authority to require that it be returned.

‘Faces of the conquerors’: Trump trip to Rushmore draws fire
By STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s plans to kick off Independence Day with a showy display at Mount Rushmore are drawing sharp criticism from Native Americans who view the monument as a desecration of land violently stolen from them. Several groups led by Native American activists are planning protests for Trump’s July 3 visit, part of his “comeback” campaign for a nation reeling from sickness, unemployment and social unrest. But it comes amid a national reckoning over racism and a reconsideration of the symbolism of monuments around the globe. Many Native American activists say the Rushmore memorial is as reprehensible as the many Confederate monuments being toppled around the nation.

(AP) The NFL has canceled the Hall of Fame game that traditionally opens the preseason and is delaying the 2020 induction ceremonies for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Aug. 6 exhibition game in Canton, Ohio, between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers is the first on-field event the league has canceled during the pandemic. It will be played on Aug. 5, 2021, with the same teams. Enshrinements for 10 men scheduled for Aug. 8 now will occur on Aug. 7, 2021, with the special centennial class that was set to be inducted in mid-September now entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame the next day.

HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced the findings and recommendations of Pennsylvania’s 43^rd Statewide Investigating Grand Jury report on the unconventional oil and gas industry. The Grand Jury’s two-year investigation uncovered systematic failure by government agencies in overseeing the fracking industry and fulfilling their responsibility to protect Pennsylvanians from the inherent risks of industry operations.

In addition to exposing failures on the part of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Health, the Grand Jury made eight recommendations to create a more comprehensive legal framework that would better protect Pennsylvanians from the realities of industry operations.

“This report is about preventing the failures of our past from continuing into our future,” said Attorney General Shapiro in a press conference Thursday. “It’s about the big fights we must take on to protect Pennsylvanians — to ensure that their voices are not drowned out by those with bigger wallets and better connections. There remains a profound gap between our Constitutional mandate for clean air and pure water, and the realities facing Pennsylvanians who live in the shadow of fracking giants and their investors.”

This report follows the findings of the Grand Jury’s previous criminal presentments against two fracking companies — Range Resources and Cabot Oil & Gas — for their repeated and systematic violation of Pennsylvania environmental law. Range has since pleaded no contest to environmental crimes committed in Washington County, Pennsylvania. These cases were referred to the Office of Attorney General by local District Attorneys.

The report details the initial failure of the Department of Environmental Protection to adequately respond to the unconventional oil and gas industry and also points out that missteps continue to this day. These failures harmed Pennsylvanians living in close proximity to this industry. The grand jurors found that, while the Wolf administration has forced through some improvements at the agency, there continues to be room for meaningful change to occur.

The Grand Jury also heard from many Pennsylvania residents who suffered severe health consequences and lived near unconventional drilling sites. Residents testified that their well water was “black sludge,” “cloudy,” and using the contaminated water caused “problems with breathing whenever we were in the shower.” Pennsylvania farmers testified that their livestock, which used the same water source as the families, would sometimes become violently ill, infertile, and die. Other residents spoke of problems with their air, which became so polluted from stray gas or other chemicals used during industry operations that they could not leave windows open or let their children play outside. Parents testified that their children would repeatedly wake up at night with severe nosebleeds caused by increased levels of gas in the air around the fracking sites.

In response to the failures of government oversight and in order to ensure that the regulators have the tools necessary to hold this industry accountable, the Grand Jury’s report details eight recommendations.  These recommendations would better protect Pennsylvanians from the risk posed by fracking operations and confront the culture of inadequate oversight in the unconventional gas industry and government agencies that oversee their activities:

1. Expanding no-drill zones in Pennsylvania from the required 500 feet to 2,500 feet;
2. Requiring fracking companies to publicly disclose all chemicals used in drilling and hydraulic fracturing before they are used on-site;
3. Requiring the regulation of gathering lines, used to transport unconventional gas hundreds of miles;
4. Adding up all sources of air pollution in a given area to accurately assess air quality;
5. Requiring safer transport of the contaminated waste created from fracking sites;
6. Conducting a comprehensive health response to the effects of living near unconventional drilling sites;
7. Limiting the ability of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection employees to be employed in the private sector immediately after leaving the Department;
8. Allowing the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General original criminal jurisdiction over unconventional oil and gas companies.

“Our government has a duty to set, and enforce, ground rules that protect public health and safety. We are the referees, we are here to prevent big corporations and the powerful industries from harming our communities or running over the rights of citizens,” said Attorney General Shapiro. “When it comes to fracking, Pennsylvania failed. Now it’s time to face the facts, and do what we can to protect the people of this commonwealth by encouraging the Department of Environmental Protection to partner with us and by passing the Grand Jurors’ common-sense reforms.”

Justices rule for Trump administration in deportation case
By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration can deport some people seeking asylum without allowing them to make their case to a federal judge. The high court’s 7-2 decision applies to people who fail their initial asylum screenings, making them eligible for quick deportation, or expedited removal. The justices ruled in the case of man who said he fled persecution as a member of Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, but failed to persuade immigration officials that he faced harm if he returned to Sri Lanka. The man was arrested soon after he slipped across the U.S. border from Mexico.