While you were sleeping, we compiled the biggest stories of the day in one place. Each story has a quick and easy summary, so you're prepared for whatever the day brings. Just click on the links if you want to know more!
1. Look up for the Super Pink Moon tonight!
According to NASA, the full moon that peaks tonight will mark the first “supermoon” of 2021 — meaning the moon will look larger and brighter than normal.
Today’s event is also being referred to as the “Super Pink Moon,” but it will have nothing to do with the moon's color. The Pink Moon is the Old Farmer’s Almanac nickname for April’s full moon. According to the Almanac, the “Pink Moon” got its name because it often corresponds with the early springtime blooms of creeping phlox, a flower native to northern and eastern North America.
Learn more about how to spot the Super Pink Moon at the link above.
2. Gavel awaits Florida lawmakers in session’s closing week
Florida lawmakers are expected to gavel their session to a close on Friday — if they can produce a state budget by Tuesday — but return to the state Capitol two weeks later for a special session to consider a new gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe.
While a state budget is the only legislation required of lawmakers, several major bills still await passage: a nationally watched elections bill, proposals focused on Big Tech and a measure that would bring more scrutiny to use of force by law enforcement officers.
The proposal would require law enforcement agencies to launch independent investigations -- conducted by another law enforcement agency -- of any incidents leading to a death. That report would have to be submitted to a state attorney for review.
3. Florida resumes use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine
The Florida Division of Emergency Management says the federally-supported vaccination sites have resumed the use of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Sunday.
The COVID-19 consent and screening form has new language in the immunization screening guidance section to comply with recently issued guidance.
All clinics in Florida will continue administering the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
4. President Biden approaches his first 100 days
As he rounds out his first 100 days in office, President Joe Biden’s focus on reining in the coronavirus during the early months of his administration seems to have paid off: He can check off nearly all his campaign promises centered on the pandemic.
Biden has delivered on a number of his biggest campaign pledges focused on climate change and the economy as well. But some issues have proved to be tougher for the administration — including immigration, where Biden is grappling with how to enact promised reforms in the face of a steep increase in unaccompanied minors seeking to cross the border.
You can find a full list on where Biden stands on some of his key promises at the link above.
5. And the Oscar goes to...
The 93rd Academy Awards was a production reimagined due to the pandemic. There was no host, no audience, nor face masks for nominees attending the ceremony at Los Angeles’ Union Station.
There were many historic wins Sunday night. Two women were nominated for best director for the first time in the show's history. Chloé Zhao was nominated for her work on "Nomadland," and Emerald Fennell was nominated for directing "Promising Young Woman." Zhao took the Oscar Sunday night, making her just the second woman to win best director in the academy's 93 years (following Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker"), and the first woman of color.
You can find the full list of winners at the link above.
Today's Forecast
Cooler start to the workweek:
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On This Day In History
On April 26, 1954, the Salk polio vaccine field trials, involving 1.8 million children, begin at the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia. Children in the United States, Canada and Finland participated in the trials, which used for the first time the now-standard double-blind method, whereby neither the patient nor attending doctor knew if the inoculation was the vaccine or a placebo.
On year later, on April 12, 1955, researchers announced the vaccine was safe and effective and it quickly became a standard part of childhood immunizations in America. In the ensuing decades, polio vaccines would all but wipe out the highly contagious disease in the Western Hemisphere.
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