NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Border wall: The Trump administration wants to build a 30-foot-high border wall that looks good from the north side and is difficult to climb or cut through, according to a pair of contract notices posted to a government website further detailing President Trump’s promise to build a “big, beautiful wall” at the Mexican border. The notices were made public late Friday by Customs and Border Protection, the Homeland Security Department agency that will oversee the project and eventually patrol and maintain the wall. The proposals are due to the government by March 29.
2 Trump poll: The fact that Donald Trump is undeniably the nation’s 45th president doesn’t sit easily with young Americans, according to a new poll. A majority of young adults — 57 percent — see Trump’s presidency as illegitimate, including about threequarters of blacks and large majorities of Latinos and Asians, the GenForward poll found. GenForward is a poll of adults age 18 to 30 conducted by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago with the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A slim majority of young whites in the poll, 53 percent, consider Trump a legitimate president, but even among that group 55 percent disapprove of the job he’s doing, according to the survey.
3 Donation surge: Donations to Meals on Wheels surged to 50 times their daily rate as it anticipated “deep cuts” to a nonprofit that serves 2.4 million Americans, a spokeswoman said after the White House proposed eliminating the Community Development Block Grant program. While the block grants fund only a small portion of Meals on Wheels’ operations nationwide, spokeswoman Jenny Bertolette told CNN that some of the group’s 5,000 local branches rely on the money to bring food to elderly people.
4 Immigrant doctors: Small-town America relies on a steady flow of doctors from around the world to deliver babies, treat heart ailments and address its residents’ medical needs. But a recent, little-publicized decision by the government to alter the timetable for some visa applications is likely to delay the arrival of new foreign doctors, and is causing concern in the places that depend on them. About 25 percent of all physicians practicing or training in the U.S. are foreign, but in some inner cities and most rural areas, that share is significantly higher. There were 211,460 international medical graduates practicing in the U.S. in 2015, according to the latest data available from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates in Philadelphia.
5 Uber-less in New
York: Upstate New York remains the largest area in the continental U.S. without Uber or Lyft. But many in such cities as Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany are seeking to change that distinction by lobbying lawmakers to allow appbased ride-hailing services statewide. Previous efforts have repeatedly foundered, under pressure from the taxi industry and lawmakers who say they want more stringent regulations. Currently, Uber and Lyft are banned outside of the New York City area. Every state except Alaska and New York now has statewide ride-hailing regulations — though the service remains unavailable in many rural areas.