Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Tuesday, February 23, 2021:
COVID-19: MORE VAX COMING
Executives from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are expected to tell lawmakers today that they are ramping up vaccine manufacturing. According to prepared testimony, Pfizer will say it will be able to bump up its capacity from 4 or 5 million to 13 million doses a week by the middle of March. Moderna will say it can double its monthly capacity to 40 million doses by April. Johnson & Johnson will say it can add another 20 million doses to the pile by the end of March, assuming that single-dose shot gets approved (which could happen this weekend). NBC NEWS
STIMULUS STATUS
President Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic recovery package has advanced out of committee in the House, setting it up a full vote later this week. If and when the bill passes the House, it will be sent to the Senate, where some of the bigger provisions -- such as the $15 minimum wage hike -- could get cut. Sen. Maj. Leader Chuck Schumer says he expects the bill to become law before the March 14 deadline when the current emergency unemployment benefits are set to expire. Separately, the administration is making tweaks to the PPP lending program for small businesses, giving companies with fewer than 20 employees two weeks just for themselves to claim loans. USA TODAY
WEED LEGAL IN JERSEY
It is now legal for adults to use marijuana in New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy signed the state’s new cannabis law into effect after Jersey voters overwhelmingly passed a legalization referendum in November. The law decriminalizes small amounts of pot, creates a regulated marketplace for recreational purchases, automatically dismisses pending pot charges, and creates a pathway for vacating past pot convictions. The Garden State is now the 13th in the country to legalize cannabis. Pennsylvania is expected to consider it next. NJ.COM
CHAPO'S WIFE ARRESTED
Federal authorities arrested El Chapo’s wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, at Dulles Airport, charging her with helping the convicted Mexican drug kingpin run his empire. Two years ago, at El Chapo’s trial, evidence was put forth that showed Aispuro was involved in Chapo’s infamous 2015 prison escape and had a hand in other parts of his criminal enterprise. It is rare for the feds to go after the wives of drug lords. NY TIMES
COLLEGE ENROLLMENT
Freshman college enrollment was down 13 percent in 2020, while undergraduate enrollment overall was down 3 percent, according to new federal data. Typically in recessions, college enrollment actually ticks up because of a lack of job prospects. But the pandemic and the switch to virtual classes made many incoming college students reassess their plans. BLOOMBERG
FACEBOOK V. AUSTRALIA
Facebook says it will restore news content for Australian users as it struck a deal with the government over a proposed law that would require platforms to pay for linking to news. Facebook was granted a few concessions that would give it time to strike deals with individual publishers. Facebook had previously decided it would block users and publishers from posting news content rather than pay for it, which immediately led to a flood of misinformation about vaccines and 5G technology filling that void. Other countries are considering a similar law. BBC
WHATSAPP PRIVACY
WhatsApp is detailing what will happen to users who refuse to accept its new privacy policy when it goes into effect on May 15. The messaging app will start to limit functionality after that unless you agree to the new terms and conditions. Those terms are intended to make it easier to use the app as a payment method, and WhatsApp says its end-to-end encryption means your messages will remain private even if other metadata from your account is shared with parent Facebook. GUARDIAN
CALLING IT QUITS
The influential French electronic duo Daft Punk has broken up after 28 years. The group released an enigmatic YouTube video titled Epilogue that was confirmed by a publicist to signify that they were parting ways. Daft Punk won six Grammys and is responsible for some of the most popular dance songs of the last two decades. While the two musicians are not really anonymous, they gained fame for wearing robot helmets when they performed or appeared in public. Here’s the duo with Nile Rodgers, Stevie Wonder and Pharrell at the 2014 Grammys, one of the last times they performed live: WATCH
SPOTTED...
… the Perseverance rover, making its grand entry on Mars. NASA released a trove of footage recorded from the POV of the rover as it plummeted through the Martian atmosphere, including the first sound recordings ever taken on another planet: LISTEN/WATCH
…Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama, hosting a new podcast on Spotify called Renegades: Born in the USA. The first two of six episodes have been released and feature the Boss and the 44th president in intimate conversation about race, fatherhood and life in America: LISTEN
LEFTOVERS: LINCOLN CANCELLATION PAUSED
San Francisco’s school board has tabled a controversial plan to rename 44 public schools, at least until students are back in the classroom. The process to change schools named after historical figures like Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Francis Scott Key -- figures that had at one point been involved in the “subjugation” of others, according to the board -- began back in 2018 but came under fire as board members voted to advance it last month while there was still no plan to bring kids back to campus. SF CHRON
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