10 things you need to know today: July 14, 2020

1. California governor orders businesses to shut down again

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday ordered another statewide shutdown of a variety of businesses, including bars, indoor dining, movie theaters, and museums, due to a wave of new COVID-19 cases. More heavily populated counties on the state's watchlist also had to shut down hair salons, gyms, indoor malls, and other personal care-related businesses. "This continues to be a deadly disease," Newsom said. California has had an average of 8,664 new cases per day over the past week, up more than 1,500 from the week before, the state's department of public health said Sunday. Also on Monday, both the Los Angeles Unified School District and San Diego Unified School District announced they wouldn't reopen schools when classes resume August 18.

Los Angeles Times ABC7 News

2. Redskins announce decision to retire name, logo

The Washington Redskins on Monday announced that the team would retire its controversial 87-year-old name and logo. The decision came after mounting pressure from corporate sponsors, including FedEx and Nike, and activists who consider the name a slur against Native Americans. In a statement, the team said owner Daniel Snyder and Coach Ron Rivera will work together to "develop a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud, tradition rich franchise." On July 4, Rivera said there were two names he and Snyder both liked, and they planned to discuss the possible replacements with Native American and military organizations. The name Snyder and Rivera prefer reportedly is involved in a trademark battle.

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Washington Redskins The Washington Post

3. Study: 5.4 million Americans lost health insurance in pandemic

A record 5.4 million Americans lost their health insurance between February and May due to job layoffs during the coronavirus crisis, according to an analysis announced Tuesday by the nonpartisan consumer advocacy group Families USA. Before the pandemic, the biggest increase in uninsured workers in a single year was 3.9 million during the 2008-2009 recession. "This is the worst economic downturn since World War II. It dwarfs the Great Recession," said study author Stan Dorn, who directs the group's National Center for Coverage Innovation. "So it's not surprising that we would also see the worst increase in the uninsured." The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation has estimated that, taking family members of the insured into account, a total of 27 million Americans have lost health coverage during the pandemic.

The New York Times

4. Pompeo calls China's disputed territorial claims 'completely unlawful'

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the U.S. is stepping up its opposition to China's disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea, calling them "completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them." The statement appeared to provide a preview of an expected position paper in which the U.S. will officially reject specific Chinese claims for the first time, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The U.S. will technically remain neutral in territorial disputes, but in effect the Trump administration is siding with Southeast Asian countries with claims over areas China wants. The announcement was the latest in a series of signs of escalating U.S.-China tensions, including sanctions against four U.S. officials in response to recent U.S. sanctions announced by the Trump administration.

The Wall Street Journal

5. June federal budget deficit hits $864 billion, smashing record

The U.S. budget deficit grew to a record $864 billion in June, up from just $8 billion in June last year, due to the cost of the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Treasury Department said on Monday. Federal spending reached $1.1 trillion in the month, more than double the figure for a normal month. Tax revenue was essentially flat, partly because the Treasury Department pushed back the filing deadline from April to July. The deficit for the first nine months of the current fiscal year has now ballooned to $2.7 trillion, $2 trillion of which was from shortfalls from April to June. Economists said the spending was necessary. "Big government deficits are the only thing keeping the U.S. economy on life support," said Nathan Tankus, research director at the Modern Money Network.

The Washington Post

6. Supreme Court clears way for 1st federal executions in 17 years

The Supreme Court ruled early Tuesday that the first federal executions in 17 years can proceed. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan had temporarily blocked them on Monday, less than seven hours before Daniel Lewis Lee, a former white supremacist convicted for his part in the 1996 killing of a family of three, was scheduled to die by lethal injection. Chutkan said the process could result in "extreme pain and needless suffering." The Justice Department immediately appealed. A day earlier, an appeals court had cleared the way for the execution to proceed by overturning another delay imposed because the victims' relatives said putting Lee to death during the coronavirus pandemic would force them to risk infection when they traveled to witness the execution. Four federal executions are planned this summer.

Reuters The New York Times

7. Fire suppression system on Navy ship was not functioning before blaze

A fire suppression system on the USS Bonhomme Richard wasn't working when a fire broke out on the Navy ship while it was undergoing maintenance work in San Diego, Navy Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck said Monday. A system that uses Halon gas, a liquefied compressed gas that disrupts the chemical process of a fire, had been turned off during repairs on the amphibious assault ship, so sailors had to fight the blaze with water. The fire broke out in a lower cargo area where cardboard and drywall supplies were stored. It continued to burn through Monday. At least 57 people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. Five remained under observation on Monday.

The Associated Press

8. Judge permanently blocks Georgia abortion ban

A federal judge on Monday struck down Georgia's six-week abortion ban, saying it violated "the constitutional liberty of the woman to have some freedom to terminate her pregnancy." House Bill 481 was passed by the state's General Assembly last spring and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp (R), and would have banned most abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected, which can be as early as six weeks. The Americans Civil Liberties Union of Georgia challenged the law. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones temporarily blocked it in October before declaring it unconstitutional on Monday. "It is in the public interest, and is this court's duty, to ensure constitutional rights are protected," Jones wrote. In response, Kemp said the state will "appeal the court's decision. Georgia values life and we will keep fighting for the rights of the unborn."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution The Guardian

9. Tulsa digs for suspected mass grave from 1921 race massacre

The city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Monday started digging for mass graves believed to hold the remains of some of the victims of a brutal 1921 race massacre that left as many as 300 Black people dead. "I've waited for this day for over two decades to find out the truth of Tulsa's public secrets," said J. Kavin Ross, a photojournalist and teacher who has interviewed survivors of the massacre, and whose great-grandfather's business was destroyed in the massacre. "A lot of people knew about it but wouldn't tell about it." A team of scientists, archaeologists, and forensic anthropologists converged on the site at the city-owned Oaklawn Cemetery to investigate at a spot where ground-penetrating radar last year detected anomalies that could be indications of mass graves.

The Washington Post

10. TV star Naya Rivera's body found in California lake

Investigators found former Glee star Naya Rivera's body in Southern California's Lake Puri early Monday in the area where she disappeared while swimming. "We are confident the body we found is that of Naya Rivera," Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said, adding "there is no indication of foul play or that this was a suicide." Rivera's 4-year-old son, Josey, was found alone in the drifting boat. He told authorities his mother never got back into the boat after they went swimming. The search shifted to a cove identified as the one where Rivera, 33, took a photo she sent to a relative 90 minutes before the boy was found alone in the boat. Authorities said her son was "in good health" and had been reunited with his father, Rivera's ex-husband Ryan Dorsey.

CNN The Mercury News