The Star Tribune’s Dee DePass reports: “In an effort to speed up the distribution of desperately needed hospital masks, President Donald Trump issued an order Thursday mandating that 3M sell the Federal Emergency Management Agency as many N95 respirator masks as the agency says it needs. The order to help meet FEMA’s needs comes under the Defense Production Act, which the president invoked a week ago. … CEO Mike Roman said Tuesday that the company was working closely with FEMA and is on track to double global production of N95 masks to 2 billion a year in 12 months.”
But then, as Reuters writes: “President Donald Trump slammed 3M Co in a tweet late on Thursday after earlier announcing he was invoking the Defense Production Act to get the company to produce face masks. ‘We hit 3M hard today after seeing what they were doing with their Masks. “P Act” all the way.’ Big surprise to many in government as to what they were doing — will have a big price to pay!’ Trump said on Twitter. At a White House briefing on the coronavirus pandemic earlier on Thursday, Trump announced he had signed a Defense Production Act order for 3M to produce face masks. ‘Hopefully they’ll be able to do what they are supposed to do,’ he said, without elaborating.”
In Mother Jones, Kevin Drum tries to explain: “President Trump mysteriously invoked the Defense Procurement Act against 3M on Thursday … The White House didn’t explain this, and it’s a little unnerving to see Trump using the DPA in such a gleefully punitive way. It’s supposed to be a technocratic tool for coordinating production, not a way for a president to score political points on Twitter. In any case, this presumably has something to do with how and where 3M is shipping N95 respirator masks. But how much control does 3M have over this?”
In the Star Tribune, Ryan Faircloth writes: “The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is closing all public beaches and pools for the entire summer, canceling summer recreational programs and team sports that do not allow social distancing and shuttering all of its buildings until further notice to prevent the spread of COVID-19. … The board said it based its decisions on data and guidance from Gov. Tim Walz and the Minnesota Department of Health.”
A WCCO-TV story says, “Target announced Thursday the company will increase health measures for its employees. Effective April 4, Target will provide their employees – of which there are over 350,000 – with face masks and gloves to wear while at work. The stores will also meter guest traffic. Though occupancy limits vary by location, if metering is required, there will be a designated waiting area outside the store.”
KSTP-TV reports: “A group of private Minnesota criminal defense attorneys asked the chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court to allow them to have the same remote access to computer court files as prosecutors and judges, but the group’s request was denied. Chuck Ramsay, of Ramsay Law Firm, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the group of defense attorneys is considering a federal lawsuit claiming their defendants’ constitutional rights of due process and fair legal counsel are being violated. ‘It is a huge disadvantage to not have equal, remote computer access to court files,’ said Ramsay. ‘It is not a fair fight and it’s like the government has its thumb on the scale.’”
Says Elizabeth Schulze for CNBC, “Economists called on lawmakers to pass additional economic stimulus measures to fight the pandemic as new data Thursday showed a record spike in Americans filing for unemployment claims. ‘Given the incredible deterioration of the labor market in a matter of weeks, federal policymakers will absolutely need to come back and provide more desperately needed relief, and more support for the recovery once the lockdown is over,’ said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.”
Also for MPR, Jon Collins says, “As the country faces the threat of COVID-19, public health experts and advocates say the gaps in paid sick leave are a glaring weakness — especially where “essential” workers like nursing home aides and grocery store workers are concerned. Until last month, the federal government didn’t have any policy requiring employers to provide workers with sick leave. But in response, the coronavirus, Congress passed legislation that does require employers to provide up to two weeks of paid sick leave in some situations involving the coronavirus. But to qualify, employees need to be ordered to be quarantined by a government or doctor, seek a diagnosis for symptoms, or be caring for someone else with COVID-19, among other conditions.”
For NBC News, a trio of reporters say: “Millions of small businesses are anxiously awaiting their slices of a $350 billion relief program that forms part of the government’s $2 trillion economic support package. However, with just hours to go before launch, it wasn’t until Thursday night that banks received their 31 pages of guidance from Treasury on how to lend the money — and some haven’t even decided whether they can participate on the opening day. In a strongly-worded statement, one of the nation’s biggest lenders said the much-touted relief program for small business owners wasn’t ready for prime time. … ‘It’s utter chaos,’ said James Brower, a partner at Marks Paneth, a New York City-based accounting firm.”
Says a Star Tribune story by Natalie Rademacher, “There were two short years this past decade when more people came into Minnesota from other states than left — a trend the state hasn’t seen in decades. But newly released population estimates data shows that reversed in 2019. The state’s population continued to grow, however, thanks to the fact that births outpaced deaths last year. That’s not expected to last much longer, though, and it has already reversed in some parts of the state.”
For the Pioneer Press, John Shipley writes: “A month ago, Jon Kreidler knew little about hand sanitizer, certainly not enough to make it. Now the local distiller finds himself supervising an effort to make thousands of gallons to help Minnesotans cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Kreidler and co-founder Dan Oskey have turned their Tattersall Distilling in northeast Minneapolis completely over to making hand sanitizer, not just supplying much-needed protection for those on the front line of the COVID-19 fight but, he hopes, putting some of his employees back to work. Tattersall’s first big customer might seem like an unlikely one: Hazelden Betty Ford, which has been helping people overcome drug and alcohol addiction in Minnesota for 70 years.”
This from KSTP-TV, “The Edina Crime Prevention Fund is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and charging of the person or people responsible for recent vandalism in the city. According to the city, someone spray-painted a racial slur on a fence along the 6300 block of Rolf Avenue in the morning hours of March 26.”
“As the country faces the threat of COVID-19, public health experts and advocates say the gaps in paid sick leave are a glaring weakness — especially where “essential” workers like nursing home aides and grocery store workers are concerned.”
Interesting how it takes a pandemic to point out that some of our most essential workers are paid the least in this society.
I’m shocked, shocked that Trump’s Treasury can’t competently begin to implement and administer a critical federal program designed to save small businesses during an economic calamity! Who coulda predicted it?
Get Mr Pillow on it ASAP!
Trump is still thinking in terms of his “reality show” when it comes to every thing he says and does! The head clown running his clown train.
The media has reports tht 3M was already rapidly increasing production of the N95 masks, with plans to continue to ramp up.
But what bothered Trump was that 3M was sending masks directly to hospitals and local governments. PreventingTrump, therefore, from choosing which states, which cities, which hospitals would get those masks–he insists on being the Great Provider. As Jared Kushner said said yesterday, those masks “are ours.” Meaning the administration’s, via FEMA.
Also, Trump has now insisted that there be “distributors” in the middle of these transactions: There will not be direct sales by 3M to hospitals, but the Wild West Bidding Wars–the distributors controlling the market as FEMA sends THEM the masks–to benefit Trump’s business friends.
We need to know who at FEMA has created this outrageous system, and who those nefarious “distributors” are. Greedy, heartless, anti-human.
They probably will turn out to be Trump campaign “bundlers”, bagmen and fellow grifters.
Boss Trump’s Tammany Hall.
We now know that much of the products in demand during an epidemic are not being made here in America, and of those that are, supply chains are broken and unreliable.
After Puerto Rico was devastated by first the hurricane and then the response, we now find out that Puerto Rico was manufacturing almost all of the saline IV bags used in the US. This shortage is ALL ON US, for not getting their plant back up and running.
I am ashamed at how we treated them. Maybe there is such a thing as Karma. For sure we need Puerto Rico’s industry more than we thought.
Trump was golfing and rallying back when 3M was starting to ramp up production for international customers who were buying – tgat is how markets work. Now Trump wants all 3M production including from foreign plants reserved for the US. This would wreck 3M trade relations ( which helps our trade deficit) and might eventually bankrupt the company. He is too dense to understand that an active pandemic anywhere in the world puts us all at risk. In this war, every country is on the same side. Trump is fighting it with his re-election as top priority. He isn’t even willing to be a good example and wear a face mask.
“fighting it with his re-election as top priority”
This is the critical insight, which motivates his every action. It’s why he simply cannot be a responsible national leader in time of crisis.