Universities sound alarm as coronavirus cases emerge just days into classes

As millions of Americans plan to vote by mail this fall, many are asking: How can I ensure that my ballot is not rejected?

The risk is real, especially among voters who have not voted by mail in the past.

A recent Washington Post analysis found that more than 534,000 mail ballots were rejected during primaries across 23 states this year, disenfranchising voters and offering a preview of what could happen in November, when voter turnout is likely to rise dramatically. Studies have found that experience casting mail ballots tends to correlate with lower rates of rejection, and that younger voters and voters of color are more likely in some cases to see their mail ballots invalidated.

Before it developed into a trademark program throughout Kansas, Paxton’s Blessing Box started with a $38 trip to Dollar Tree in Wichita.

That’s how much money Maggie Ballard and her son, Paxton Burns, needed to fill a crimson box in front of their house with prepackaged food products in October 2016. A sign on the front of the box read: “Take a blessing when you need one. Leave a blessing when you can.”

So many people donated food to the box that Ballard and Burns didn’t spend another dollar.

Those crimson boxes have become popular in Kansas with 75 locations, allowing those in need to grab food whenever they want while others replenish the boxes with donations. The boxes have become crucial during the coronavirus pandemic, with the unemployment rate skyrocketing and children not receiving meals at school.

City and state leaders expressed fears Tuesday that the Trump administration may cease reimbursing some of their purchases of masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment, a move they said could tear new holes in their budgets while threatening public health.

The trouble stems from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which typically provides funds for disaster relief and has played a central role in the coronavirus pandemic. In a series of calls throughout August, FEMA signaled it may soon seek to rethink the criteria by which it doles out those dollars, troubling local governments, which say they are desperate for easy-to-access federal cash as the contagion continues to spread.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged educators to consider holding classes outdoors as a way to alleviate concerns around bringing students back to school buildings next month as the colossal school system scrambles to get ready for a Sept. 10 start.

The city announced Monday that it was setting up a program to make it easier for the city’s principals to apply for permits to close streets and reserve park space should they want to move their students outdoors.

“Kids have always loved learning outdoors and being outdoors,” de Blasio (D) said in a news briefing Tuesday. “It’s also great in terms of health and safety.”

When the coronavirus pandemic emerged earlier in the year, the nation did what it often does in moments of crisis: It embraced its president. Donald Trump’s approval rating rose about three percentage points from the middle to the end of March, according to FiveThirtyEight’s average of polls — a modest improvement, but an improvement.

Then, as the pandemic ground on and it became clear that the United States hadn’t effectively contained the virus, his approval rating decreased. As his approval rating fell, so did his position in 2020 polling: Former vice president Joe Biden’s lead grew from about five percentage points to eight or nine points by early August. There was an obvious link between how the country viewed the federal government’s response to the pandemic and Trump’s political fortunes. So, for his political team, narrowing that gap necessarily meant changing the public’s view of how he had approached the crisis.

Faced with a pandemic that has killed more than 175,000 Americans, President Trump used glitzy video and misleading testimonials to spin a tale of heroism and resolve far removed from the grim reality of a country in the throes of an uncontrolled public health crisis.

At the Republican National Convention on Monday, Trump was hailed as a bold and lifesaving leader who “was right” on the coronavirus while Democrats, doctors and pundits were wrong from the beginning. One campaign-style video that aired during the convention hailed Trump as the “one leader” who stood up to the virus while quoting Democratic figures who downplayed the severity of the virus in its early stages.

More than 500 cases at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Nearly 160 at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Dozens at the University of Southern California.

Colleges and universities that brought students back to campus are expressing alarm about coronavirus infections emerging with classes barely started and raising the possibility that everyone could be sent home.

“The rise we’ve seen in recent days is unacceptable, and if unchecked, threatens our ability to complete the rest of the semester on campus,” University of Alabama President Stuart Bell said at a news conference Monday, five days after classes resumed, as the mayor of Tuscaloosa temporarily closed bars and warned that the local health system could become overwhelmed.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said Tuesday that she was “not going to be bullied” into reopening still-closed businesses across the state, such as gyms, bowling alleys and movie theaters, before it’s safe to do so.

Speaking at an afternoon news conference, the Democratic governor said the state was faring better than many others because of aggressive early action to contain the coronavirus. But, she said, “we know that all of that success is precarious” and the numbers could quickly change direction. For that reason, it’s important to continue monitoring the seven-day averages, she added.