Federal ban on renter evictions during the pandemic is extended
The Biden administration is extending a federal moratorium on evictions of tenants who have fallen behind on rent during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday moved to continue the pandemic-related protection, which had been scheduled to expire Wednesday. The moratorium is now extended through the end of June.
The ban, initially put in place last year, provides protection for renters out of concern that having families lose their homes and move into shelters or share crowded conditions with relatives or friends during the pandemic would further spread the highly contagious virus, which has killed more than 545,000 people in the United States.
To be eligible for the housing protection, renters must earn $198,000 annually or less for couples filing jointly, or $99,000 for single filers; demonstrate that they’ve sought government help to pay the rent; declare that they can’t pay because of COVID-19 hardships; and affirm they are likely to become homeless if evicted.
In February, President Joe Biden extended a ban on housing foreclosures to June 30 to help homeowners struggling during the pandemic.
Housing advocates had generally expected the extension of the tenant eviction moratorium and had been lobbying the Biden administration, saying it was too early in the country’s economic recovery to let the ban lapse.
John Pollock, coordinator of the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel, said that the moratorium “is vital for ensuring there is enough time for Congress’s emergency rental assistance to reach the millions of renters in need who would otherwise be evicted.”
Pollack said current surveys show that 18.4% of all tenants owe back rent. That number also revealed significant racial disparity: The percentage of Black tenants behind on their rent was 32.9%.
Obama family matriarch:
Sarah Obama, the matriarch of former U.S. President Barack Obama’s Kenyan family has died, relatives and officials confirmed Monday. She was at least 99 years old.
Mama Sarah, as the step-grandmother of the former U.S. president was fondly called, promoted education for girls and orphans in her rural Kogelo village. She passed away around 4 a.m. local time while being treated at a hospital in Kenya, according to her daughter Marsat Onyango.
“She died this morning. We are devastated,” Onyango said.
Family spokesman Sheik Musa Ismail said President Barack Obama has sent his condolences to his family.
“My family and I are mourning the loss of our beloved grandmother, Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama, affectionately known to many as “Mama Sarah” but known to us as “Dani” or Granny,” the former president posted on Twitter, with a photo of the young Obama with his grandmother. “We will miss her dearly, but we’ll celebrate with gratitude her long and remarkable life.”
She will be buried Tuesday before midday and the funeral will be held under Islamic rites.
US-Myanmar relations: The Biden administration suspended trade with Myan
mar on Monday following one of the deadliest weekends in the country since the military ousted the civilian leadership and began a killing spree on civilians.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement that the halt on a 2013 trade agreement with the country would remain in place until a democratically elected government is restored.
“The killing of peaceful protesters, students, workers, labor leaders, medics and children has shocked the conscience of the international community,” Tai said in a statement. “These actions are a direct assault on the country’s transition to democracy and the efforts of the Burmese people to achieve a peaceful and prosperous future.”
The suspension is largely a symbolic move to condemn the violence in Myanmar, where more than 100 people were killed Saturday during protests against the Tatmadaw, the
country’s military, according to the United Nations.
Kentucky abortion law: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from Kentucky’s attorney general, who wants to be allowed to defend a restriction on abortion rights that lower courts had struck down.
The underlying issue in the case, to be heard in the fall, is a blocked Kentucky law that abortion rights supporters say would have effectively banned a standard abortion method in the second trimester of pregnancy.
But the issue before the court is whether Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican, can intervene in the case, after rulings from a trial court and appellate panel, as well as Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s decision to drop the case.
The American Civil Liberties Union, representing the abortion clinic that had sued over the law, had urged the
court to stay out of the case.
“This case is only about whether the Attorney General, after having sat on the sidelines of this lawsuit, can jump in at the last minute in an effort to revive an unconstitutional law,” ACLU lawyer Andrew Beck said in a statement.
Georgia voting law: A group of civil rights and advocacy organizations including the Georgia NAACP has filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging Georgia’s new Republican-backed election law, which includes new restrictions on mail voting and gives the state legislature more control over the administration of elections.
The lawsuit, filed Sunday against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and other members of the State Election Board, asks a judge to find that the law violates the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act and to block state officials from enforcing it.
The complaint argues
that Republican “officials have resorted to attempting to suppress the vote of Black voters and other voters of color in order to maintain the tenuous hold that the Republican Party has in Georgia.”
Book under scrutiny: A graphic novel for children from the wildly popular “Captain Underpants” series is being pulled from library and book store shelves after its publisher said it “perpetuates passive racism.”
The book under scrutiny is 2010’s “The Adventures of Ook and Gluk” by Dav Pilkey, who has apologized, saying it “contains harmful racial stereotypes” and is “wrong and harmful to my Asian readers.”
Pilkey in a YouTube statement said he planned to donate his advance and all royalties from the book’s sales to groups dedicated to stopping violence against Asians and to promoting diversity in children’s books and publishing.