10 things you need to know today: June 15, 2022

Topless protester arrested outside Supreme Court

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1. Nevada GOP primary voters back election deniers
2. House approves protection for Supreme Court justices' families
3. Brazil police arrest 2nd suspect in disappearance of journalist, indigenous expert
4. Southern Baptists to discuss sex-abuse response at national convention
5. Jan. 6 committee postpones hearing
6. Supplier prices surge in latest sign of persistent inflation
7. Russian court extends Brittney Griner's detention again
8. Floodwaters recede as Yellowstone tourists, locals remain stranded
9. FDA advisers say Moderna vaccine safe, effective in kids 6-17
10. All England Club gives Serena Williams wild-card entry to play at Wimbledon

published 15 June 2022

1. Nevada GOP primary voters back election deniers

Nevada Republican primary voters on Tuesday backed candidates who embraced former President Donald Trump's baseless election-fraud claims. Trump-endorsed Las Vegas-area Sheriff Joseph Lombardo won the Republican gubernatorial nomination, moving on to challenge Gov. Steve Sisolak (D). Jim Marchant, a former state lawmaker who made Trump's false election claims a campaign focus, won the primary for Nevada secretary of state, the job with oversight over the swing state's elections. Trump-endorsed Adam Laxalt won the GOP Senate primary and will challenge Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents. South Carolina GOP voters split on two lawmakers who clashed with Trump, ousting Rep. Tom Rice but backing Rep. Nancy Mace over a Trump-backed rival. Republican Mayra Flores won a special election to flip a historically Democratic Texas congressional seat.

The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill extending security to family members of Supreme Court justices, after Democrats dropped a last-minute proposal to expand the measure to cover families of court staff. The bill next goes to President Biden's desk. Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) pushed the measure through the Senate unanimously more than a month ago, after the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion indicated that the court's conservative majority is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. Calls for added protection intensified as demonstrators protested outside justices' homes and a man was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh's house on an attempted murder charge.

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Brazilian police on Tuesday arrested a second suspect in connection with the disappearance of British journalist Don Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in a part of Brazil's Amazon rainforest near the borders with Colombia and Peru. Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, 41, was temporarily detained under suspicion that he was involved in the disappearances along with his brother, primary suspect Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, who was arrested last week in the riverside village where Phillips and Pereira were last seen on June 5. Police have searched Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira's boat and seized ammunition and an oar. Investigators have found a backpack and other articles belonging to the men, but denied a Monday report that two bodies had been found in the area where the men went missing.

More than 8,000 Southern Baptist delegates meeting this week for their national convention in California voted Tuesday to create a database to track sex abusers within the largest U.S. Protestant denomination. The Southern Baptist Convention is struggling to respond to a report by independent investigators that harshly criticized church leaders' handling of sex abuse allegations. The May report described years of efforts to cover up sex abuse by pastors and other officials. Southern Baptist leaders claimed for 15 years that they couldn't create a database of offenders, even though they were secretly keeping just such a list. The sex abuse scandal has increased tensions within a denomination already contending with declining membership and clashes over race, gender, and politics.

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack announced Tuesday that it is postponing a hearing that was to include testimony from former Justice Department officials, including Jeffrey Rosen, who was acting attorney general at the time of the insurrection. The hearing had been scheduled for Wednesday. The panel didn't immediately say what made the delay necessary. Committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said the delay was "no big deal," just a necessary pause to give "our very small video staff" more time to complete the "exhaustive exercise" of preparing video exhibits. The next hearing is set for Thursday.

Prices charged by U.S. suppliers surged in May, rising a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent from the prior month and 10.8 percent compared to last May. The increase in the producer-price index came as rising food and energy prices keep inflation at its highest level in decades, with consumer prices rising 8.6 percent year-on-year in May. Economists are watching the data closely for signs that inflation is peaking as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates and reduces the bond holdings it purchased to boost the recovery from the coronavirus crisis. The Fed is expected to announce an unusually large half- or three-quarter-percentage point increase in short-term interest rates when it concludes a two-day meeting on Wednesday.

A Russian court on Tuesday extended WNBA star Brittney Griner's pre-trial detention for a third time, pushing it to at least July 2, according to Russian state media outlet TASS. Griner has been jailed since February after being arrested at Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow and accused of having vape cartridges with hashish oil in her bag. Griner, who was in Russia to play basketball for the Russian Premier League in the WNBA's off-season, was charged with "large-scale transportation of drugs." If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. Griner's wife, Cherelle Griner, told GMA co-anchor Robin Roberts last month that the WNBA's support has provided the jailed star "comfort."

Floodwaters slowly started receding in the region around Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday. Hundreds of tourists and locals were isolated after the Yellowstone River and tributaries washed out roads in and out of the wilderness area. "We're on an island so to speak," said Gardiner, Montana, campground manager Marshall Haley. Park officials closed Yellowstone indefinitely at the start of the summer tourist season, forcing 10,000 people to leave the park after torrential rains in southern Montana and northern Wyoming made all entrances too dangerous to use. The national park draws millions of visitors each year. Raging floods destroyed several houses along the river. Crews made some rescues by air and boat.

A panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers voted unanimously on Tuesday to recommend authorizing the emergency use of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 6 to 17 — two full doses for kids 12-17, half-doses for those 6-11. The endorsement by the FDA's outside experts put the Moderna shot one step closer to becoming the second vaccine approved for school-aged children, joining the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The same panel will meet Wednesday to consider whether the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines also are safe and effective for children under 5, the only age group in the United States without an approved coronavirus vaccine. Once the FDA signs off, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make the final decision on formal approval.

The All England Club announced Tuesday that Serena Williams has been awarded a wild-card entry that will let her play at Wimbledon. Williams, who has won a professional era–record 23 Grand Slam titles, was not included in the singles entry list released earlier this month, but she was one of a handful of women added to the draw Tuesday. The tennis legend has not competed since an injury forced her to withdraw in the first set of her first match at Wimbledon last year. She will get started in the storied grass-court tournament playing doubles with Ons Jabeur at Eastbourne, England, next week. Main-draw play starts June 27.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.