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Masks required by Walmart

Morning Journal file/Patti Schaeffer

NEW YORK — Walmart will require customers to wear face coverings at all of its namesake and Sam’s Club stores, making it the largest retailer to introduce such a policy that has otherwise proven difficult to enforce without state and federal requirements. The company said Wednesday that the policy will go into effect on Monday to allow time to inform customers. Currently, about 65% of its more than 5,000 stores and clubs are located in areas where there is already some form of government mandate on face coverings. Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart joins a growing but still small list of retailers to require masks at all of its stores, filling the role of states and the federal government that have failed to issue such mandates on an issue that has been highly politicized by President Donald Trump and many of his ardent supporters. Given Walmart’s clout as the largest retailer in the U.S., its decision is expected to push others to issue similar mandates. Last week, Starbucks announced that customers who visit its company-owned cafe locations in the U.S. will be required to wear face coverings. The policies at Starbucks and Best Buy went into effect Wednesday. Only a handful of major retailers, including teen clothing chain American Eagle Outfitters and Apple, has a mask mandate for customers for all of its stores. Costco Wholesale Club was one of the first major retailers to require face coverings for customers at all of its stores. The policy went into effect in early May. The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, said in a statement that it hopes Walmart’s move will be a “tipping point in this public health debate.”

Postal boss pushes cost-cutting

WASHINGTON — Mail deliveries could be delayed by a day or more under cost-cutting efforts being imposed by the new postmaster general. The plan eliminates overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers and says employees must adopt a “different mindset” to ensure the Postal Service’s survival during the coronavirus pandemic. Late trips will no longer be authorized. If postal distribution centers are running late, “they will keep the mail for the next day,” Postal Service leaders say in a document obtained by The Associated Press. “One aspect of these changes that may be difficult for employees is that — temporarily — we may see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor or docks,” another document says. The changes come a month after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy took over the sprawling mail service. In a memo titled “PMG Expectations and Plan,” the agency said the changes are aimed at “making the USPS fundamentally solvent which we are not at this time.” The memo cites deep revenue losses from a decade-long decline in mail deliveries that has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and says an overdue “operational pivot” is needed to ensure the agency’s health and stability. Postal Service officials, bracing for steep losses from the nationwide shutdown caused by the virus, have warned they will run out of money by the end of September without help from Congress. The service reported a $4.5 billion loss for the quarter ending in March, before the full effects of the shutdown sank in. Single-piece, first-class mail volume fell 15 to 20% week to week in April and May, agency leaders told Congress. Losses will increase by more than $22 billion over the next 18 months, they said.

Viacom cuts ties with Cannon

LOS ANGELES — Nick Cannon’s “hateful speech” and anti-Semitic theories led ViacomCBS to cut ties with the TV host and producer, the media giant said. The company’s move was in response to remarks made by Cannon on a podcast in which he and Richard “Professor Griff” Griffith, the former Public Enemy member, discussed racial bias. The podcast was recorded in May 2019 and released on June 30. Cannon produced “Wild ‘n Out,” a comedy improv series for VH1, a ViacomCBS-owned cable channel. He’s been a regular part of TV shows unconnected to the company, including as the former host of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” and host of Fox’s “The Masked Singer.” He wrote in a lengthy Facebook post Wednesday that he was “deeply saddened” by his firing and accused the company of using his remarks to try to silence “an outspoken black man. In Cannon’s hour-plus podcast, he and Griffin contend that Black people are the true Hebrews and that Jews have usurped their identity. Cannon then segues into a discussion of skin color — “And I’m going to say this carefully,” he begins — to allege that people who lack sufficient melanin are “a little less.” Those without dark skin have a “deficiency” that historically forced them to act out of fear and commit acts of violence to survive, he said. “They had to be savages,” Cannon said, adding that he was referring to “Jewish people, white people, Europeans,” among others. ViacomCBS’ action came as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the basketball great and writer, condemned several sports and entertainment celebrities for anti-Semitic tweets and posts and what he called a “shocking lack of indignation” in response.

Ex-CFL player gets 3 months

A former Canadian Football League player was sentenced Wednesday to three months in prison for hiring someone take the SATs in place of his two sons, while a California mother got five weeks behind bars for paying $9,000 to have online classes taken on her son’s behalf. David Sidoo, who played professional football for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions, lowered his head into his hands and cried as U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton chided him for his actions. Sidoo told the judge he’s “deeply ashamed.” “I make no excuses. I broke the law. I pled guilty to a crime and now I must pay for my actions,” Sidoo said. Earlier Wednesday, Karen Littlefair of Newport Beach, California, asked U.S District Judge Allison Burroughs for leniency before being sentenced to more than a month in prison for the online course scam. Littlefair said she was “truly sorry” and called the experience a “nightmare” for her family. “I acted out of love for my son but I ended up hurting my son greatly,” said Littlefair, 57. Sidoo was CEO of mining firm Advantage Lithium Corp. when he was arrested last year. He was also a founding shareholder of an oil and gas company that was sold in 2010 for more than $600 million. The Vancouver businessman paid Rick Singer $200,000 to have someone pose as his sons using a fake ID to secure higher scores on their SATs, prosecutors said. Sidoo also worked with Singer to craft an admission essay for his son with a bogus story about the teen being held at gunpoint by Los Angeles gang members and saved by a rival gang member named “Nugget,” prosecutors said. After Littlefair’s son was put on academic probation by Georgetown University, she hired Singer’s company to take four online classes on his behalf so he could graduate in 2018, prosecutors said. Three of the courses were taken through Georgetown, prosecutors said, while one was taken online at Arizona State University and then transferred to Georgetown. Littlefair demanded a discount on the cheating after the person earned a C in one of the courses, authorities said.

Dismembered body found

NEW YORK — The dismembered body of a 33-year-old tech entrepreneur was found inside his luxury Manhattan condo where an electric saw was left behind, police said Wednesday. The victim, identified as Fahim Saleh, was found at around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday inside his luxury seventh floor apartment on the Lower East Side. There have not been any arrests in connection with Saleh’s death. A relative called police after going to check on Saleh and making the gruesome discovery. Responding officers discovered a clothed torso, bags containing a head and arms and the electric saw in the living room, police said. Investigators also recovered security video showing Saleh exiting an elevator that leads directly into the full-floor, two-bedroom apartment earlier Tuesday afternoon closely followed by someone dressed entirely in black, including a mask,. It also shows a struggle between the two ensuing at the entrance to the apartment. Police believe that the relative may have interrupted the intruder before that person fled out a back exit. Saleh was the chief executive officer of a ride-hailing motorcycle startup called Gokada that began operating in Nigeria in 2018.

Global vaccine sharing plan set

LONDON — More than 70 rich countries have signed up to a global coronavirus vaccine initiative intended to ensure that any effective shots are fairly distributed around the world — but which may also allow them to buy more vaccines to stockpile for their own citizens. In a statement on Wednesday, the vaccines alliance Gavi reported that 75 countries have said they would join its new “Covax facility” along with another 90 low-income countries that hope to receive donated vaccines. The Associated Press reported this week that the Gavi initiative may allow rich countries to reinforce their own coronavirus vaccine supplies while leaving fewer doses available for more vulnerable populations. When Gavi approached donor countries last month, it advertised the plan as an “insurance policy” for rich countries that have already struck deals with drugmakers for experimental COVID-19 vaccines. Gavi told donor governments that when an effective inoculation is found within its pool of COVID-19 candidates, all countries will receive enough to cover 20% of their populations, including rich countries that may have their own stockpiles. It said countries would be encouraged, but not required, to give up any doses they might not need.

Judge halts Indiana execution

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — A judge on Wednesday halted the execution of a man, said to be suffering from dementia, who had been set to die by lethal injection in the federal government’s second execution this week after a 17-year hiatus. Wesley Ira Purkey, convicted of a gruesome 1998 kidnapping and killing, was scheduled for execution Wednesday night at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, where Daniel Lewis Lee was put to death Tuesday after his eleventh-hour legal bids failed. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., imposed two injunctions prohibiting the federal Bureau of Prisons from moving forward with Purkey’s execution. The Justice Department immediately appealed in both cases. A separate temporary stay was already in place from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. The legal wrangling suggested a volley of litigation would continue in the hours ahead of Purkey’s scheduled execution, similar to what happened before the government executed Lee following a ruling from the Supreme Court. One of the injunctions imposed Wednesday halts not only Purkey’s execution, but another scheduled for Friday and one in August.

Banksy’s latest scrubbed

LONDON — Even if you are Banksy, tagging is forbidden on London’s Underground. Transport for London, the transportation agency for the greater London area, scrubbed the acclaimed street artist’s latest work on the subject of COVID-19 from one of its trains, erasing a visual warning on the dangers of skipping face coverings. Banksy uploaded a a 59-second video to his Instagram and YouTube pages on Tuesday that showed him spray painting on a Circle Line train. Clad in a white boiler suit, mask, goggles, and an orange jacket with the words “stay safe” on the back, he climbed on the train under the guise of being a maintenance worker. He then stenciled his trademark rats in discreet corners of a train car. One memorable image shows a sickly rat with a runny nose that sneezes and spreads a spray of droplets across a window. Transport for London officials say the works were removed because of a strict anti-graffiti policy. But they are hoping Banksy might be persuaded to tag again. “We’d like to offer Banksy the chance to do a new version of his message for our customers in a suitable location,” the agency said in a statement.

Charged in slaying of 8-year-old

ATLANTA — A teen suspect has been charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in the shooting that killed an 8-year-old Atlanta girl near the site of an earlier police shooting. Police issued warrants a day earlier for 19-year-old Julian Conley in the slaying of Secoriea Turner. Conley’s attorney, Jackie Patterson, said Conley was peacefully protesting and witnessed the shooting but did not open fire himself, though he was armed. “It is no doubt this comes as a shock,” he said. “Why would you want to charge a man who saw a crime but did not participate in a criminal act? Police would have a better chance at winning the lottery than getting a conviction on my client.” News of the charges broke as mourners attended Secoriea’s funeral Wednesday at New Calvary Missionary Baptist Church. A long line of relatives and friends filed past her body as the gospel song “I’ll Fly Away” filled the church. Secoriea was fatally shot on the Fourth of July while riding in an SUV with her mother and another adult near the Wendy’s restaurant where Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, was killed by a white police officer on June 12.

OK governor tests positive

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Wednesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and that he is isolating at home, making him the first U.S. governor to report testing positive. Stitt, 48, said he mostly feels fine, although he started feeling “a little achy” Tuesday and sought a test. He said his wife and children were also tested Tuesday and that none of their results came back positive. Stitt has backed one of the country’s most aggressive reopening plans, resisted any statewide mandate on masks and rarely wears one himself. “We respect people’s rights … to not wear a mask,” Stitt said during Wednesday’s news conference, which was held virtually. “You just open up a big can of worms. “A lot of businesses are requiring it, and that’s fine,” he said. “I’m just hesitant to mandate something that I think is problematic to enforce.” Stitt attended President Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa last month, which health experts have said likely contributed to a surge in coronavirus cases there. Stitt said he’s confident he didn’t contract the virus at the rally.

Virus cases rise in U.S. states

MIAMI — Arizona, Texas and Florida together reported about 25,000 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday as restrictions aimed at combating the spread of the pandemic took hold in the United States and around the world in an unsettling sign reminiscent of the dark days of April. The face-covering mandates, lockdowns, health checks and quarantine orders underscored the reality that the number of infections is continuing to tick upward in parts of the world and that a return to normalcy may be farther off than many leaders had envisioned just weeks ago. Alabama will begin requiring face masks after the state reported a pandemic-high of 40 deaths in a single day. In Texas, which again set a record Wednesday for confirmed new cases with nearly 10,800, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has increasingly emphasized face coverings as the state’s way out of avoiding another lockdown, which he has not ruled out. Among the sternest measures were in New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo added to a list totaling 22 states whose visitors will be required to quarantine for 14 days if they visit the tri-state region. Out-of-state travelers arriving in New York airports from those states face a $2,000 fine and a mandatory quarantine order if they fail to fill out a tracing form.

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