<div class="article__text Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) in Louisville on Monday.
▪ The Associated Press: What we know about victims of the Louisville bank shooting.
▪ The New York Times: Here is a partial list of U.S. mass shootings in 2023.
▪ The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot (either killed or injured), excluding the shooter.
▪ Axios: Gun deaths among children are soaring.
In Florida, LGBTQ advocacy groups and state lawmakers are gearing up for another uphill battle against DeSantis and the Republican Party. The GOP-controlled legislature appears poised to expand a controversial education law that would restrict discussion in public school classrooms of sexual orientation and gender identity (The Hill).
➤ HEALTH & WELLBEING
The White House is launching a $5 billion-plus program to accelerate development of new coronavirus vaccines and treatments for both COVID-19 and new coronaviruses that might emerge in the future. An array of scientists, public health experts and politicians have called for the initiative, warning that existing therapies have steadily lost their effectiveness and new ones are needed. “Project Next Gen” would take a similar approach to partnering with private sector companies to expedite development of vaccines and therapies that “Operation Warp Speed,” the Trump-era program that sped coronavirus vaccines to patients, did in 2020.
“It’s been very clear to us that the market on this is moving very slowly,” Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus coordinator, told The Washington Post. “There’s a lot that government can do, the administration can do, to speed up those tools … for the American people.”
▪ The Hill: Biden signs bill ending national COVID-19 emergency.
▪ CNN: Americans hold mixed views on getting back to “normal” after COVID-19, new polling shows.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social and communication difficulties as well as repetitive behaviors. It’s being diagnosed more frequently in girls as more doctors, teachers and parents have been on the lookout for early signs of the condition over the past decade. Studies have shown that girls with autism are more likely than boys to camouflage their social challenges, and girls are often treated differently by adults, such as being told to smile or being encouraged to participate more in group play (The New York Times).
“There have always been autistic girls,” Catherine Lord, a psychologist and autism researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, told the Times. “I think people didn’t knock themselves out to be aware that girls might be treated slightly differently.”
▪ The Washington Post: Stress linked to 37 percent higher chance of cognitive issues after age 45.
▪ The Washington Post: Research with exotic viruses risks a deadly outbreak, scientists warn.
THE CLOSER
© Associated Press / Craig Ruttle