Editor’s Note: This listicle is part of a weekly series by The Ball State Daily News summarizing five stories from across the United States. All summaries are based on stories published by The Associated Press.
Missteps at the nation’s top public agency, coronavirus becoming the 2020 election’s theme, people being forced to work from home, the struggling coal industry and criminal charges against the nation’s largest utility company make up this week’s five national stories.
In this March 11, 2020, file photo, a technician prepares COVID-19 coronavirus patient samples for testing at a laboratory in New York's Long Island. A series of missteps at the nation's top public health agency caused a critical shortage of reliable laboratory tests for the coronavirus. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Testing blunders crippled US response as coronavirus spread
President Donald Trump assured Americans in early March that the COVID-19 test developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is “perfect” and “anyone who wants a test can get a test.” More than two months after the first U.S. case was confirmed, many people still can’t get tested. In February, as the virus began taking root in the U.S. population, CDC data shows government labs processed 352 COVID-19 tests, averaging only a dozen per day.
Read More: Virus outbreak
In this Feb. 5, 2020, file photo the White House is seen in Washington. The coronavirus pandemic and the nation's crashing economy are scrambling the themes both political parties thought would carry them to victory in this November's elections. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Coronavirus suddenly upends campaign themes for both parties
The coronavirus pandemic and the nation’s crashing economy are scrambling the themes both major political parties thought would carry them to victory in the November elections. President Donald Trump has seized public attention with almost daily briefings about the government’s response to the pandemic. That’s left former Vice President Joe Biden and his party’s congressional candidates searching for ways to break into the news cycle.
Read more: Election 2020
This 2017 file photo shows a person working on a laptop in North Andover, Mass. Many now are working and studying from home to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)
Teams, toddlers and cabinets: The joys of working from home
Measures to contain the virus have brought work life and home into sudden and sharp collision. Untold numbers of Americans are shifting their day jobs from offices to living rooms, spare bedrooms, kitchens and basements. This massive, unplanned social experiment can strain productivity and domestic tranquility as toddlers scurry around untended and business meetings and classes shift to noisy group video chats that resemble a checkerboard of talking heads.
Read More: Pandemics
In a 2014 photo, the Paradise Fossil Plant stands in Drakesboro Ky. (AP Photo/Dylan Lovan, File)
Iconic plant’s end spells doom for struggling coal industry
Despite President Donald Trump’s and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s best efforts to make good on Trump’s campaign promise to save the coal industry, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Paradise Fossil Plant burned its last load of coal last month. The plant’s closure — in a county that once mined more coal than any other in the nation — is emblematic of the industry’s decadeslong decline due to tougher environmental regulations.
Read more: Environment
In this 2018 file photo, sheriff's deputies recover the body of a Camp Fire victim in Paradise, Calif. Pacific Gas & Electric said March 23, 2020, it will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2018 fire in Northern California. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)
PG&E to plead guilty to lethal crimes in 2018 wildfires
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) will plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for death and destruction left behind after its electrical grid ignited a 2018 wildfire that destroyed three Northern California towns and drove the nation’s largest utility into bankruptcy. It marks the second time this decade that the company’s neglect has been deemed criminal with PG&E already serving a five-year criminal probation for falsifying records and other safety violations.
Read More: Wildfires
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Representation for all
By Jayden Vaughn / 2 hours agoThe LGBTQ+ community is finally getting the comprehensive on-screen representation that it deserves.
Bearcat pitching struggles lead to Muncie Central loss at Delta in Delaware County baseball clash
By David Moore / 15 hours agoAt the end of the evening, it was the Eagles who ended their four-game skid as Delta took the victory against the Bearcats 16-1 in five innings. Delta will be on the road for its next contest against Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Shelbyville April 23 at 6 p.m. Muncie Central will travel to Muncie Burris for its next matchup, also April 23 at 6 p.m.
Spring donation drive
By Amelia Winter / 21 hours agoBrand-new spring donation drive to help international students at Ball State University.
