Boeing urged to take bailout money, pay workers
The seven Democrats in Washington state’s congressional delegation wrote to Boeing CEO David Calhoun on Monday, urging him to take federal bailout money “to safeguard thousands of jobs at Boeing in Washington state and across the country.”
The letter noted that while Boeing had pressed for the nation’s aviation and aerospace sectors to be included in the government rescue program to cushion the economic blow of the coronavirus epidemic, “we are disappointed to read reports that you are now considering forgoing the relief Boeing requested.”
“We are especially troubled by this development given your recently announced decision to indefinitely suspend operations at Puget Sound and Moses Lake area facilities, require employees who are unable to telework to use earned vacation and/or sick leave or to seek unemployment, and implement a vague voluntary layoff program,” the seven wrote.
They also asked Calhoun whether he would “ensure complete support for the Boeing Company workforce by eliminating layoffs, maintaining full compensation and benefits levels and returning hours to appropriate employee levels when medically safe.”
The state’s four Republican U.S. representatives did not sign the letter.
Calhoun has said Boeing may not take any federal bailout money if it comes with strings attached — such as giving the federal government an equity stake in the company — and that financing is also available from private sources. The terms of federal support are to be negotiated by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Top Democrats in Congress have voiced concern about Mnuchin’s negotiating stance as well, suggesting he may demand too much of a stake in airlines and other companies being rescued, in order to make sure that taxpayers are compensated.
— The Seattle Times
Sound Transit halts ‘almost all’ construction projects
In the first major coronavirus disruption for the largest transit expansion in the country, Sound Transit halted work at dozens of construction sites Monday.
The stopped work is “almost all construction” underway as Sound Transit expands light rail to the Eastside, north to Lynnwood and south to Federal Way, the agency said.
But several construction sites will remain active, raising questions about social distancing and other precautions.
Tasks that Sound Transit labels critical will continue, like work on the Interstate 90 floating bridge to extend light rail to the Eastside, which Sound Transit says can only be completed from April through October because of state safety concerns related to wind and waves.
A new train maintenance base in Bellevue is also considered top priority for work to continue, because the agency hopes to accept train deliveries there starting this fall.
Overall, contractors who work on Sound Transit projects have seen 25% to 30% absenteeism among workers, according to a Monday memo to Sound Transit leadership from Ron Lewis, head of Sound Transit’s design, engineering and construction management department.
Some contractors have struggled to implement social distancing “and many have reported high anxiety among the workforce,” Lewis wrote.
Work will continue if it can be done within public health guidelines and meets certain criteria, like work to keep job sites secure or work that, if not done, would create a “significant systemwide delay,” he wrote.
— The Seattle Times
NRA loses court challenge on order to shut gun shops
LOS ANGELES — The National Rifle Association failed to convince a federal judge that the temporary closures of California gun shops prompted by the spread of the coronavirus was unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte in Los Angeles on Monday denied the NRA’s request for a temporary restraining order to prevent L.A. County from treating gun stores as non-essential businesses during the pandemic.
The judge said the city and county of Los Angeles didn’t overstep their authority given the significance of their aim to reduce the spread of the coronavirus and the appropriateness of store closures to achieve that aim.
“Today’s decision recognizes that the public health interest in curbing Coronavirus requires extraordinary measures to be taken to protect our public health and well being,” Kris Brown, president of Brady, a group advocating for gun control, said in a statement.
The county had said the NRA’s legal challenge was already moot because Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva had allowed firearm stores to reopen March 30. The sheriff reversed his decision to treat the stores as non-essential under state and local government orders after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an advisory that guns and ammunition businesses are part of the U.S.’s essential critical infrastructure.
The judge said it was necessary to rule on the NRA’s request because L.A. County might reverse course again.
“Because Sheriff Villanueva’s shift in policy could easily be abandoned or altered in the future, plaintiffs’ Second Amendment claim against the county order has not lost its character as a present, live controversy,” the judge said.
Representatives of the NRA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
— Bloomberg News
Police seek teen who filmed herself ‘infesting’ a Walmart with coronavirus
FORT WORTH, Texas — Carrollton police are searching for an 18-year-old who recorded herself inside a Walmart after she said she tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday.
Carrollton police identified the teenager as Lorraine Maradiaga and said on Twitter they were searching for her. Police said Maradiaga is being charged with making a terrorist threat.
“We have no confirmation Maradiaga is actually a threat to public health,” Carrollton police said in a tweet. “We are, however, taking her social media actions very seriously.”
In a series of videos posted on her Snapchat, Maradiaga said she tested positive for COVID-19. One of her videos shows a woman who appears to be a physician telling Maradiaga to stay home.
Another video shows Maradiaga filming herself inside a store. She pans the camera around the aisles and says, “I’m here at Walmart about to infest every (expletive) because if I’m going down, all y’all (expletives) going down.”
Maradiaga said in a separate video, also posted to her Snapchat, that she did not care about staying home.
— Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Kudlow says U.S. economy may re-open in four to eight weeks
President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser said the White House estimates it may be able to urge Americans to re-open the U.S. economy in the next four to eight weeks.
The White House hopes that “in the next four to eight weeks, we will be able to open the economy,” Larry Kudlow told Politico on Tuesday.
Kudlow also told Fox News that the White House has begun planning how the U.S. can re-open its economy once the coronavirus outbreak abates, after indications the epicenter in New York may have reached a plateau.
“The president would like to reopen the economy as soon as he can and we are planning internally,” Kudlow said. He said the virus’s spread is the driving force in determining a time line.
“I am hoping — as I say, praying — that we’re only a few weeks away from a reopening. We’ll see,” he said.
State and municipal leaders elsewhere in the country have warned that they have not yet reached the peak of their outbreaks, leaving uncertain when the country could relax the isolation behaviors that have collapsed the U.S. economy.
Trump didn’t lead on social distancing — the federal government issued recommendations that Americans isolate themselves from one another only after many governors, municipal leaders, businesses and households had already started the practices. So it’s not clear that the country would respond if the president began urging Americans to return to work and re-open their businesses while the virus is still circulating.
— Bloomberg News
731 die of coronavirus in New York state
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said a record 731 New Yorkers died of coronavirus in a 24-hour period and 138,000 have now contracted the virus, even as other signs pointed to the pandemic easing.
After dipping for two days, the tally rose by the highest one-day number since the state started battling the crisis.
“Behind every one of those numbers is an individual, is a family, is a mother, is a father, is a sister, is a brother,” Cuomo said. “So a lot of pain again today for many New Yorkers.”
Even as the death toll jumped, Cuomo said the number of patients admitted to hospitals and intensive care units has eased dramatically. There were 8,157 new positive cases in the state, the lowest figure in a week.
The governor explained that death toll is a “lagging indicator,” meaning that ailing people often die after several days or weeks of care.
He displayed charts showing that fewer New Yorkers are being hospitalized and placed into intensive care from coronavirus.
— New York Daily News
Cuomo praised New Yorkers for abiding by social distancing rules but reminded the state that it has been only 37 days since the first cases turned up in the state.
Even as spring arrives, he urged people to resist the temptation to leave their homes and enjoy the changing season.
“It’s not about me, it’s about we,” he said.
New York continues to account for bit less than half of the national toll, which recently passed the grim 11,000 mark.
The governor renewed his attacks on the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, which he has said short changed the state that has borne the brunt of the pandemic.
“When you read the actual language, it’s even worse,” he said, adding that a fresh stimulus should give much more aid to the states and especially those hit the hardest.
— New York Daily News
Delta cuts flying at hubs, including big reductions in New York
Delta Air Lines is making large cuts in flying at its hubs, including a 60% reduction in flights at its largest hub in Atlanta.
Atlanta-based Delta, like other airlines, has cut the vast majority of its flights in New York, a hot spot for the coronavirus outbreak in the United States and a city where Delta has a domestic hub at LaGuardia Airport and an international hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Delta has cut service at LaGuardia by more than 90% in April and at JFK by more than 80%.
Some states have imposed restrictions on travelers from New York.
And amid international “do not travel advisories,” border closures and restrictions, Delta has made some of its biggest cuts to international flying, suspending dozens of routes to cities across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada.
With the cuts, Delta is operating only about 20 international routes in April, including just a handful from Atlanta —to Amsterdam, Toronto, Mexico City and Cancun, Mexico.
Overall, Delta is cutting flights 80% this month and said it expects its second-quarter revenue to be down 90%.
— The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
