NUCU_logo_new.pngPretty amazing how a mere national disaster puts state news in the shade. Helene was like that, revving up to Cat4 in the superwarm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and delivering a haymaker up and down the Florida peninsula’s West Coast and into the Panhandle before going on to flood much of the Southeast up to… Virginia!. Florida has a state-backed home insurance plan; how much pressure will this latest disaster put on it, and the insurance industry as a whole?  See below for some early estimates on the total cost of one of climate change’s biggest recent tantrums. As we see below, POLITICO Playbook reported Monday a.m. that President Biden said he "may have to" call Congress back into session to pass emergency disaster funds. Yes, there is other news – also about climate. Maryland finally got around to protecting workers against our ever more superheated summers – now that summer is officially in the rear-view mirror. It’s all News You Can Use.

 

IN MARYLAND

(Just in Time for Cooler Weather) Long-Awaited Heat Protection Standards Go into Effect: Long-awaited heat protection regulations for Maryland workers have been finalized and will go into effect today – two days after the official end of a deadly “heat season” that took the lives of dozens of Marylanders this summer. With just days left in the annual Heat-Related Illness Surveillance Report monitoring period – the so-called heat season – the Maryland Health Department had recorded 25 deaths and just under 1,200 emergency room visits due to heat-related illnesses this year. Maryland Matters.

They were first issued, as proposed standards, last July. They originated from state legislation passed in 2020, but were never implemented during the administration of Gov. Larry Hogan. They will take effect two months after the death of Ron Silver II, a Baltimore sanitation worker who collapsed on a woman’s doorstep, begging for water. Baltimore Brew.

The new regulations require all workers to have access to water, shade and rest breaks when temperatures exceed 80 degrees — Maryland joins just a handful of other states that have standards protecting workers from extreme heat. WYPR-FM.

 

Judge To Hear Group Seeking To Reverse UMCP Gaza Vigil: A federal judge today is scheduled to hear arguments over a request by a University of Maryland student organization to prevent the university from canceling an Oct. 7 campus vigil that would commemorate the lives lost in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the past year.  Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.

 

Loss of Potomac River Water Access Would Disrupt Area, Cost Billions  Drought, pollution or other environmental disaster could make river water unusable for 5 million consumers in region.

A new report forecasts the steep economic impact losing even temporary access to water from the Potomac River would have on the Washington, DC, region. That limited access could be caused by a severe drought, natural disasters or an environmental catastrophe that could pollute the water. A coalition of environmental and business interests is seeking more resources to protect the river. Bay Journal

 

THE OTHER 49

Hundreds Of Kansas City Tenants Will Strike To Demand Repairs, Rent Caps.

Tenants voted to withhold rent on October 1 in a rent strike that could catch fire nationwide.

Fed up with paying escalating rents in buildings whose conditions they say range from dirty to dangerous, tenants at two Kansas City-area apartment complexes have voted to launch a rent strike on October 1 — a coordinated action that could soon spread to other cities, as a new national tenants union flexes its muscles. Unlike employers, most landlords have no legal obligation to bargain with tenants unions. And while many states permit tenants to legally withhold rent in some circumstances, they lack a formal right to strike. That presents both a challenge and a chance to experiment, according to Tara Raghuveer, director of the national Tenant Union Federation, which launched in August and is supporting the Kansas City tenants. In These Times

 

Fossil Fuel Industry Helps Spread Anti-Protest Laws Across The US

Fossil fuel lobbyists coordinated with [state and federal] lawmakers behind the scenes and across state lines to push and shape laws that are escalating a crackdown on peaceful protests against oil and gas expansion, a new Guardian investigation reveals. Records show that lobbyists working for major North American oil and gas companies were key architects of anti-protest laws that increase penalties and could lead to non-violent environmental and climate activists being imprisoned up to 10 years. The Guardian [UK]

 

At least 200: The number of roads that remain closed in North Carolina, after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene on Thursday and Friday. Parts of Interstate 40 and Interstate 26 remain closed, the state Department of Transportation said. (Asheville Citizen-Times) via Pluribus

 

NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

 

Helene’s Impact Estimates Grow As hard-hit cities and towns dig out, the damage wreaked by the storm appears to be exceeding initial estimates. Moody’s Analytics projected property damage between $15 billion and $26 billion, while AccuWeather offered a total damage estimate of as much as $110 billion. Semafor

 

US Disaster Relief Funding Running Dry as Helene Roars Through

Congress opted not to replenish the FEMA disaster fund before it left town this week. It’s not the first time lawmakers have left the emergency management agency short of cash. Even before Hurricane Helene pummeled Florida’s Gulf Coast and much of the Southeast this week, the federal government’s ability to help with long-term disaster recovery efforts was already in trouble. And Congress left town this week without fixing the problem. Route Fifty

 

And When the Hurricane Comes Knocking, Who Ya Gonna Call?

Nationwide, more than 600,000 calls are made to 911 a day. Of those hundreds of thousands of calls, the vast majority are answered and responded to in a timely manner. It’s rare for first responders to be sent to the wrong place, but it can happen. And some are worried it could happen more as dispatchers in 911 call centers battle with outdated technology that is prone to outages, as well as low staffing and maps that may not be up to date with the newest streets, buildings or other landmarks. Again, Route Fifty

 

Republican Lawmakers Threaten Tax-exempt Status of Pro-Palestinian Organizations

Last week House Speaker Mike Johnson attacked several pro-Palestine organizations leading in the solidarity against the war in Gaza, noting action taken by the House Ways and Means Committee, which has called on the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of eight organizations. According to Smith, these organizations have “organized and subsidized illegal activity on college campuses and beyond and have potentially provided support to terrorist organizations overseas.” People’s Dispatch

 

The US is bracing for the largest supply chain disruption since the pandemic, with thousands of dockworkers at East and Gulf Coast ports poised to strike. The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance are unlikely to make a deal before their contract expires at the end of Monday. A prolonged strike would likely drive up prices and lead to shortages of goods like chocolate, alcohol, and bananas, and potentially cars, per CNN. It would also add a new wrinkle in the presidential contest, which has been dominated by concerns about the economy and inflation. Business groups have urged the federal government to intervene, but President Biden told reporters Sunday that he wouldn’t do so. Semafor

 

William Lucy, Stalwart Voice for Labor and Civil Rights, Dies At 90 He marched with striking sanitation workers in Memphis and helped devise a potent slogan: “I Am a Man.” Later he served as the No. 2 official at the public employee union AFSCME. WaPo

 

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Monday Newsblast from People’s Action’s Megan E, director of federal affairs: Congress does the minimum, goes home…

 

Last week Congress passed a continuing resolution extending current funding of the government through December 20th and then went on recess until after the election. NOTE POLITICO Playbook reported Monday a.m. that President Biden said he "may have to" call Congress back into session to pass emergency disaster funds.


Senator Sanders introduced legislation to block the sale of offensive weapons to Israel due to Netanyahu’s flagrant violation of humanitarian and U.S. law by his killing of civilians, including the bombing and starvation of children. Senators Welch (D-VT) and Merkley (D-OR) joined Senator Sanders in introducing most of the resolutions. The list is available in Sanders’ press release here. 

 

WHAT'S HAPPENING: NEW RESOURCES

Last Wednesday, the Care Over Cost campaign hosted a teach-in Stop Corporate Greed in Medicare: Protecting & Improving Medicare

Here is the recording of the teach-in.
The
Slide Deck is available here.

 

 

ISSUE UPDATE: CLIMATE

Ida survivors slam Gov. Murphy's 'cowardly' veto of New Jersey relief bill | Video | NJ Spotlight News ... Murphy says he’s worried the relief program would be abused

 

Low-income families face high energy burden, prompting calls for more government action ... One in four low-income U.S. households spends more than 15% of their income on energy bills, finds an analysis by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

 

A cool map from UndauntedK12 about all the schools across the country eligible to take advantage of direct pay—energy upgrades from the Inflation Reduction Act..

 

ISSUE UPDATE: HEALTHCARE

Doctors ‘fight like hell’ against a second Trump admin: ‘Elections do matter for your health’

Some see the politicking as a moral obligation, but others see a threat to the doctor-patient relationship.

 

Doctors sued BCBS La for their shady dealings & were awarded $420 million for nonpayment, underpayment and other fraudulent activity 

 

Jennifer Coffey: It's not Medicare and it's no advantage.    AT ONE time I was a fully functioning EMT and held down multiple jobs simultaneously.

 

Rally outside Optum HQ spotlights debate over pharmacy benefits managers

About 50 people gathered in Eden Prairie to allege biggest players in industry are ballooning drug costs while running independent pharmacies out of business, a claim that Optum denies.

 

ISSUE UPDATE: HOUSING

Frustrated about rising insurance premiums? There's an election race for that. Climate impacts put insurance commissioner races in the spotlight As premiums skyrocket, voters are starting to pay attention to one of the most obscure positions on the ballot.

 

A New Permanent Affordable Housing Proposal Recently introduced legislation would help break corporate America’s grip on our housing stock. “Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced new legislation designed to solve our acute affordability crisis. The Homes Act would invest in the construction of new social housing while dedicating resources to rehabilitate the existing stock.”

 

16-minute video on criminalization of the homeless in Los Angeles.  Sonja Verdujo of GroundGameLA is one of the featured people in it. How Authorities in Los Angeles use Sanitation Sweeps to Criminalize Unhoused People. And, a more expansive report that goes with the video: August 14, 2024 “You Have to Move!” The Cruel and Ineffective Criminalization of Unhoused People in Los Angeles. “Policymakers addressing the issue publicly acknowledge the necessity of increased housing to solve houselessness, but their primary response on the ground has been criminalization of those without it.”

 

woody woodruff

About

M.A. and Ph.d. from University of Maryland Merrill College of Journalism, would-be radical, sci-fi fan... retired to a life of keyboard radicalism...