Out d’Coup | Louisville Pays Breonna Taylor’s Family; Wrecking the CDC; Climate Crisis; Fed Judge Says Wolf’s Orders Unconstitutional; PA Voting Wins; PASSHE Fails; Space Grift; Free Will and Levante

Louisville agrees to pay Breonna’s Taylor’s family $12 million in a historic settlement. The city also announced significant police reforms. According to CNN, “the city agreed to establish a housing credit program as an incentive for officers to live in the areas they serve; use social workers to provide support on certain police runs; and require commanders to review and approve search warrants before seeking judicial approval, among other changes.”

The New York Times broke the news last night that the Trump administration is posting coronavirus testing guidelines on the CDC’s website against and without the knowledge of CDC scientists. The story broke last night as the CDC is expected to post new testing guidelines today that are direct from the Trump administration, not CDC scientists. These are the same guidelines that schools, colleges and universities, and state agencies are using to determine their local policies. 

A new study published in the medical journal Health Affairs finds that at least 42% of school employees are at high risk of developing severe cases of COVID-19.

Hurricane Sally brought devastation and massive flooding to the Gulf Coast this week as the slow-moving storm dumped over 30 inches of rain across the region. Pensacola, Florida saw 30 inches of rain, which is the equivalent of four months of rain in four hours. Sally was a category 2 hurricane. Hurricane Teddy, a nasty category 4 hurricane - the second category 4 hurricane of the season, has intensified in the Atlantic. Currently, Teddy is not expected to hit already ravaged regions in the Gulf, but it is a testament to just how much energy has been put into the climate by our refusal to address the climate crisis. 

Smoke from the West Coast’s historic wildfires reached the East Coast this week leading to an eerie sun reminding that climate change affects us all. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA has a new a Trump appointee to help run the organization into the ground. David Legates, an academic best known as being the fossil-fuel funded climate denier who was forced out of his position in 2011 as Delaware’s state climatologist due to his climate-crisis denialism. Apparently, Legates will be serving as the new deputy assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction, reporting directly to NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs. 

A federal judge rules that Governor Wolf’s shutdown order is unconstitutional. Wolf will file an appeal, but in the meantime, there are real-world impacts. 

Good news on the mail-in ballot front. Late yesterday, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled that voters will be able to submit their ballots through drop off boxes in a blow to the Trump campaign and PA Republicans. The Court also ruled that ballots that arrived up to three days after Election Day could still be counted as long as they were postmarked by Election Day. 

Sorry, Howie. The PA Supreme Court also stated in the same ruling that Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins will not appear on November’s ballot, because the campaign “failed to comply with the Election Code’s strict mandate” for how nomination paperwork should be handled. That’s important because the dispute held up the mailing of ballots to Pennsylvanians who requested a mail-in ballot. 

In a related ruling, the Court also rejected the request from Democrats to allow third-party groups to deliver people’s ballots with their permission. The Court said, “third-party delivery of absentee ballots is not permitted.” 

In yet another plot twist in the so-called redesign of the PA State System of Higher Education, California University, Edinboro University, and Clarion University say they are affiliating in the latest moves at consolidation enabled by new legislation pushed by PASSHE Chancellor Greenstein. Greenstein and University presidents used a lot of words to praise themselves and their decision to join together, but details were thin for what this will mean for students, faculty, and staff. The faculty union said they were “surprised” by the announcement. 

Last week, Jamain Stephens, a 20-year-old defensive tackle on the California University of Pennsylvania’s football team, died from a blood clot in his heart after contracting COVID-19.

Kutztown University now has over 269 students and employees who have tested positive for the coronavirus as of yesterday. That’s a total of 83 cases this week. Today’s figures will be released around 4:00 pm. This week the Kutztown Area School District reported seven cases of coronavirus - the first cases at the schools. Connection?

Meanwhile, the Reading Eagle reports that Kutztown University lost $3.5 million after its reopening schemes flop and about 1,000 students leave campus and get their housing money back. 

The television production company Space Hero LLC, yesterday announced it was planning a global, unscripted reality show called “Space Hero.” “Space Hero” which would send the “the first globally-elected space explorer” to the International Space Station in 2023. According to the head of Space Hero LLC, Marty Pompadur, “Space Hero is the new frontier for the entertainment sector, offering the first-ever truly off-planet experience. We aim to reinvent the reality TV category by creating a multichannel experience that offers the biggest prize ever, to the biggest audience possible.” This either signals the further commercialization of space or a huge, good old fashioned terrestrial grift.

Free Will has got some great stuff canned this week.

Rise Up Singing is a Hazy Pale Ale with Amarillo and Cascade coming in at a sessionable 5.5% ABV

I am most excited about the return of Wild Blueberry Cobbler Mash. I loved this when they first released it last month. The new batch was released yesterday. Wild Blueberry Cobbler Mash is a Sour Ale with blueberry, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, and milk sugar. 7.5% ABV

And since we did a very abbreviated show last week, I didn’t get a chance to plug Free Will’s newest IPA, In the Balance - a Hazy IPA brewed with a base of wheat and flaked oats, hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Citra, and Lemondrop. Notes of lemon squares, pina colada, and cotton candy grapes. 7% ABV⁣

And, I’ve got to say, I’m becoming a little obsessed with West Chester’s Levante Brewing. A couple of weeks ago, I ordered three great beers, Hop Cartell: El Cinco - a Double IPA; Cloudy & C cumbersome Guava IPA; Intergalactic Deals Vanilla Double IPA; and, the delicious Glitter Parts Lemon Meringue IPA. Really great stuff. This week they have me considering yet another shipment. Why: Listen to these:

The latest Glitter Parts, this time with Peach. Glitter Parts (Peach) is a tropically-hopped smoothie laced with fuzzy peach and rich vanilla additions. A base of honey-sweet malt is sprinkled with sticky hops, Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic, and El Dorado, which lend additional fragrances of passion fruit, blended pineapple, and clementine. 7% ABV.

Fruit Fetish - Baker’s Dozen: An apple cider donut infused collaboration with our friends at Highland Orchards. This tart sour ale is amplified with semi-dry apple cider grown and pressed at the orchards and finished with sugar-coated apple cider donuts baked fresh at Highland. 6.2% ABV.

King of the Campfire - S’more Imperial Stout - a thick stout is rich with melting Hershey's chocolate, crunchy graham crackers, and plenty of vanilla marshmallowy goodness. *Contains Lactose*  11.7% ABV.