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. Florida's special session to limit COVID-19 vaccine, mask mandates gavels in
The proposed Florida policies would investigate how to withdraw Florida from OSHA, strip the state's health officer of authority to force vaccinations, and exempt the shot status of fired employees from public record requests.
The core legislation, and likely most consequential, is HB 1B.
If approved, public schools won't be able to require student masking or COVID-19 vaccination. The policy would also forbid local governments from enacting vaccine requirements for employees. And while private businesses could, they'd have to adhere to a list of exemptions like opt-outs for regular testing or face sizable fines.
2. Jury to begin deliberations at Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial
Jurors are set to begin deliberating Tuesday at Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial after two weeks of testimony in which they were given starkly different portrayals of his actions the night he shot three men on the streets of Kenosha.
Prosecutors say Rittenhouse was a “wannabe soldier” who provoked a confrontation, while the defense says he feared for his life and acted in self-defense after being ambushed by a “crazy person.”
Rittenhouse, then 17, shot two men to death and wounded a third during a tumultuous night of protests against racial injustice in the summer of 2020.
3. Mar-a-Lago intruder deported to China 2 years after serving prison sentence
Chinese businesswoman Yujing Zhang has been deported back to China more than two years after being sentenced to eight months in prison for trespassing at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club and lying to Secret Service agents.
Zhang was turned over to immigration officials in December 2019 after serving her sentence. But immigration officials had been holding her at the Glades County Detention Center for three times as long as her prison term, mainly because of deportation delays during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zhang, who was convicted in 2019, filed a petition for habeas corpus last year, writing that she wasn't sure when she was going to be released.
4. What happens when the Canes make category 5 mistakes against a rival
Athletic Director Blake James' tenure ended Monday in a move that came two days after the Hurricanes football team lost at Florida State.
It certainly indicates that Miami is considering more changes in athletics, such as the future of football coach Manny Diaz.
Miami made the move about six weeks after school president Julio Frenk released a letter to the university community insisting that he would increase his involvement with athletics.
5. President Biden signs $1T infrastructure deal with bipartisan crowd
President Joe Biden has signed his hard-fought $1 trillion infrastructure deal into law before a bipartisan, celebratory crowd on the White House lawn.
Biden declared that the infusion of cash for roads, bridges, ports and more is going to make life “change for the better” for Americans, but prospects are grim for further bipartisanship ahead of the 2022 midterm elections as Biden pivots back to more difficult negotiations for his broader $1.85 trillion social spending package.
The president hopes to use the infrastructure law to build back his popularity, which has taken a hit amid rising inflation and the inability to fully shake the risks of COVID-19.
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On This Day In History
On November 16, 2001, the British author J.K. Rowling’s star creation—bespectacled boy wizard Harry Potter—makes his big-screen debut in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which opens in movie theaters across the United States.
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