As the great reopening debate continues, some state and local officials are not seeing eye to eye on when stay-at-home orders and business closures should end.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is one such local official who is speaking out against Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's plan to reopen businesses such as gyms, nail salons, barbershops, and bowling alleys this Friday, April 24.
"It doesn't make sense to me," Bottoms told Cheddar. "There's nothing essential about a bowling alley or a movie theater."
Bottoms, a Democrat, said that she had previously worked closely with the Republican governor.
"Governor Kemp and I have had a very good working relationship over the past couple of years, and we communicate regularly, but I was surprised along with a number of mayors," she said.
The mayor said Kemp did not consult her in the development of the plan or provide details on which businesses would be allowed to reopen. She also expressed disappointment that the governor did not provide flexibility to local governments to alter the plan based on local needs.
"We recognize that the economy is a huge consideration for people. My mother owned a small business, a hair salon, for many years. This would have been devastating to her. But I do know we need to be able to live to fight another day."
Bottoms said that Georgia is still seeing an uptick in cases, despite a steady flattening of the curve, and that the plan is coming prematurely.
"To the extent that we've had any success in our state, it's because we've been very aggressive in Atlanta and in surrounding metro cities to close down businesses and encourage people to stay home," she said.
Florida lawmakers have introduced a controversial bill restricting some discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms with young students. Supporters say the move empowers parents to have more of a say in what their children learn. Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
Congress this week passed a bill that would end forced arbitration for workplace sexual assault and harassment, one of the most significant changes to employment law in years. Cheddar News speaks with Marjorie Mesidor, Sexual Harassment Attorney, who explains that arbitrators are often retired judges or attorneys who "tends to have a more conservative view both to law and rewards."
As the situation with Russia has grown more precarious, the White House urged Americans remaining in Ukraine to leave immediately. The Biden administration that it sees continuing signs of escalation but did not have specific information detailing a timetable for a potential invasion. Kristine Berzina, senior fellow and head of the geopolitics team at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, joined Cheddar News to provide her analysis. "There's talk of an impending phone call between President Putin, President Biden," Berzina said. "That is certainly a good sign to indicate that there would be significant cost."
Terrell Starr, host of 'Black Diplomats' podcast and senior nonresident fellow at the Eurasia Center for Atlantic Council, joins Cheddar News from Kyiv, Ukraine to discuss the mounting tension there.
The White House laid out plans for a $5 billion investment into a national network of charging stations to ease EV driving anxiety. Bruce Brimacombe, CEO of EV infrastructure GOe3 joined Cheddar News to discuss how much needs to be done for drivers to get over the fear of running out of energy. "People need to be able to do what they're doing now," he said. "But that is the way that if you're going to buy an electric car, you got to feel like you're not changing your world." Brimacombe noted that building out the infrastructure between cities was GOe3's own focus.
U.S. automakers are saying that the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, a crucial border crossing between the U.S. and Canada, is affecting their production lines. Michelle Krebs of Cox Automotive warns that the disruption "couldn't come at a worst time," amid chip and labor shortages in Detroit.
AND DETROIT-BASED AUTO MAKERS SAY THEY ARE SHUTTING DOWN PLANTS OR SCALING BACK PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF PARTS SHORTAGES.
Plans to add affordable housing to a development in Yellow Springs, Ohio, were squashed after comedian Dave Chappelle and other community members spoke out against the project. Chappelle threatened to pull the plug on his local comedy club and restaurant projects if the development had been approved.
David Tafuri, Former Obama Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor & Former State Department Official, joined Cheddar News to break down the latest geopolitical stories from Beijing, amid China's human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims and yet another Russian doping scandal.
Dr. Jennifer Haythe of Columbia University's Irving Medical Center, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the latest with the pandemic, as the debate over child safety rages amid low vaccination rates and states easing school mask mandates.
