Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Friday, February 26, 2021:
COVID-19: STAY VIGILANT
There’s been a number of promising developments on the pandemic lately, but it’s not over yet. Hospitalizations and deaths are still coming down, though there’s a worrying signal in the data: cases have stopped declining after going down steadily for weeks. The vaccination rate also had a bad week due to the reverberations from all the storms. But the fact that the number of new cases have stopped going down -- not just in the U.S. but globally -- suggests that the virus is shape-shifting in the form of these new more contagious strains. NY TIMES
SYRIA AIR STRIKE
The U.S. carried out airstrikes in Syria against an Iran-backed militia that the Pentagon says was responsible for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed a coalition contractor and wounded several Americans. It was the first military action taken by the Biden administration. According to the Pentagon, the strike was limited in scope and meant to “de-escalate” the “overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq.” AP
STIMULUS: MIN WAGE OUT
The $15 minimum wage hike will not be in the final stimulus package after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that it can’t be part of the budget reconciliation process. Instead, Sen. Bernie Sanders is floating the idea of a last-minute clause that would raise taxes on profitable companies that pay workers less than $15 an hour. Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans are closing ranks against the bill ahead of its passage in the House, which could come today. The stimulus is widely popular -- about 7 in 10 Americans support it, including many Republicans -- and GOP lawmakers face some political risk in opposing it. Even without the minimum wage, Republican lawmakers say the bill is too big, too expensive, and full of giveaways for liberal constituencies that are unrelated to the pandemic. CNN
MINUTES FROM DISASTER
ERCOT, the big Texas utility, says the state power grid was 4 minutes and 37 seconds away from a complete collapse last week that would have caused a months-long blackout. The head of ERCOT told Texas lawmakers that the actions they took that left millions in the dark for days was better than the alternative: a catastrophic grid failure that would still be going on. President Biden is headed to Texas today to survey the damage from those storms. CHRON
RENT COMES DUE
The rent’s going back up. According to a nationwide analysis by Apartment List, rent prices just had their biggest month-to-month jump since the summer of 2019. The rental market in the cities hit hardest by the pandemic -- San Francisco, NYC, Seattle, Boston -- appears to have bottomed out and there are signs of a rebound ahead of the typically busy spring moving season. That means if you’re looking for a new place in a big city, act fast. MPA
PAYING FOR TWEETS
Twitter is making one of the most substantial changes to its service in years. The social platform will allow users to charge their followers for access to extra content, like bonus tweets and newsletters, similar to the direct-payment model popularized by Patreon. There’s also a new feature called Communities -- basically a riff on Facebook Groups -- in which users can create and join groups around specific topics. THE VERGE
GYMNASTICS COACH SUICIDE
Former U.S. Gymnastics coach John Geddert died by suicide hours after he was charged with 24 felonies, including human trafficking, racketeering and sexual assault, related to his work with young gymnasts. Geddert -- an associate of disgraced doctor Larry Nassar -- led the U.S. women’s team in their gold-medal run at the 2012 Olympics. NBC NEWS
GAGA DOGNAPPING
Lady Gaga is offering a $500,000 reward for the return of her two French bulldogs, Gustav and Koji, after they were stolen in an armed robbery that left her dog walker critically injured. The victim, Ryan Fischer, was shot four times when he tried to fight the assailants off. One of Gaga’s three dogs, Miss Asia, managed to escape. Purebred Frenchies can fetch thousands of dollars on the black market. No arrests have been made. TMZ
FRASIER'S BACK
Kelsey Grammar is reprising his role as the psychiatrist Frasier Crane in a Frasier reboot for Paramount+. ViacomCBS confirmed the rumors after it unveiled details of its upcoming streaming platform, of which Frasier will be a flagship series. Paramount+ will replace CBS All Access when it launches next week. The platform is also going to be the exclusive home to some big-screen movies, like Mission: Impossible 7 and A Quiet Place II, 45 days after they premiere. CNET
LEFTOVERS: REGRETS, I'VE HAD A FEW
If you’ve ever gotten a tattoo you came to regret, you’ve got nothing on Leah Holland. The 25-year-old Kentuckian won a TikTok challenge for “dumbest tattoo” for her ink, which reads: courageously & radically refuse to wear a mask. Holland said she liked the message of self-affirmation and got the ill-timed tat last March, two days before Kentucky recorded its first COVID case: SEE IT
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