USA TODAY International Edition
FAILING COMPANIES STILL TOOK AID
US businesses already going under got millions in government PPP loans
Stein Mart Inc. was desperate for shoppers long before COVID- 19 forced closures at its discount department stores, scattered mostly throughout the Southeast.
• In the past several years, the Florida retailer had hemorrhaged tens of millions of dollars while searching for a corporate buyer. Like many struggling businesses, the company in June turned to the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, as a possible savior.
• The $ 10 million loan didn’t last long.
•Within two months, Stein Mart filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing more than $ 500 million in liabilities. The company closed all 280 stores, and 9,000 workers lost their jobs.
Nothing prevented Stein Mart from taking the PPP handout on its way under.
Lenders participating in the Small Business Administration relief program shelled out more than $ 520 billion last year to millions of companies searching for a lifeline to stave off the economic collapse after the pandemic struck. USA TODAY found that like Stein Mart, some were failing long before the pandemic hit.
They came from sinking industries like taxicab services, newspaper printing and mining. Many were already trimming staff, flirting with bankruptcy and planning for possible closure.
While extreme, the situations underscore broader flaws in the rapidly deployed program, including only cursory reviews of applicants’ prepandemic financial state and no requirement that recipients actually save jobs or even stay open. For Stein Mart and others like it that failed anyway, the millions in taxpayer dollars will never be fully repaid – the companies simply do not have the cash.
“While it may not be a good look, it was not strictly forbidden,” said John Pendleton, director of financial markets and community investment for the U. S. Government Accountability Office, which is reviewing the loan program for Congress. “There wasn’t anything that said you had to stay in business indefinitely. That’s why the process of forgiving the loans will be very significant.”
For the loans to be forgiven, borrowers are supposed to maintain the same number of workers or rehire any lost staff. No collateral or personal guarantees were required, though, leaving a loophole for struggling employers to fold and still see the loans forgiven – or default without major consequences.
These already failing businesses joined a broader group of borrowers that took out PPP money and still went on to fire workers, sometimes just days later.
USA TODAY scrutinized more than 50 employers across the county that collected $ 160 million in PPP loans yet filed public WARN notices to lay off more than 13,000 workers. That represents just a small sample of the PPP loan recipients nationwide that faltered. At least 900 companies borrowed more than $ 1.8 billion in PPP loans while laying off or furloughing some 90,000 employees, according to a recent report by the Center for Public Integrity, which shared its data with USA TODAY.
Most were from industries with clear impacts from COVID- 19, including restaurants, hotels, gyms and car dealerships. Data from the recipients of the program that borrowed $ 150,000 or less became public for the first time in December following a monthslong legal fight by media companies.
Milwaukee- based Bars & Recreation Inc., with activity bars that offer painting and ax throwing, received nearly $ 380,000 in PPP funds in April to save 32 positions. Four days later, the company filed a WARN notice that it had already begun trimming 38 jobs. A tiny gas station in Georgia, Meena Corp. took out a modest $ 19,900 PPP loan with a plan to save five employees. It lasted four months, filing a notice to let go of five workers in August.
Inside Trump Tower in New York, the Triomphe Restaurant Corp. took out more than $ 2 million in PPP money but still shuttered, saving no jobs. And the company that operates The MC Hotel in New Jersey received more than $ 1 million in PPP funds in April, reporting that 109 positions would be saved. The hotel filed notices that 64 of its employees would lose their jobs by Sept. 14, after laying off 123 before it received the loan.
Borrowers argue the stimulus has allowed them to prolong the inevitable and keep paying employees, if only for a month or two.
Experts question whether some companies should have known that the taxpayer support would not be enough to keep the lights on. They say the federal government should have done vetting on the fiscal status of borrowers before shelling out millions of dollars.
Another $ 284 billion is set aside for the program in the new coronavirus stimulus package, with some tightening of rules related to applying for loans and seeking forgiveness, including a provision that borrowers must show revenue is down. Nothing addresses businesses already in free fall or those that go on to fail beyond repair.
“The question becomes what happens to the funds: Do they get returned back into the government’s hands or do they add insult to injury?” said attorney Neil Getnick, chairman of Taxpayers Against Fraud, a Washington, D. C.based nonprofit. “One of the first things clear from this data is that it’s not the illegal things that threw this program off- kilter – it’s the misuse and money that went to unintended recipients.”
Tough times long before COVID- 19
After Stein Mart went public in the 1990s, the company became an empire of discount clothing department stores akin to TJ Maxx and Ross, with ultimately hundreds of locations across 30 states. But even before the pandemic halted in- person shopping, the retailer’s business model was crumbling.
The brand was built on a strong base of loyal followers who would peruse the racks for bargains on name- brand clothing and apparel. Foot traffic at traditional brick- and- mortar stores has been declining for years as online shopping carves into that customer base. In an annual filing in June, the company also cited difficulties stocking merchandise attractive to buyers.
“We face intense competition for customers from department stores, specialty stores, regional and national off- price retail chains and internet and
mail- order retailers,” the company wrote in the filing. “Many of these competitors are larger and have significantly greater financial and marketing resources than we do.”
Stein Mart announced in January it had a merger agreement in hand. Amid COVID- 19, that deal had faltered by April. Without fresh liquidity, the company had no path left to solvency.
In June, Stein Mart took out the maximum $ 10 million for the loan program. Financial records show the federal PPP support paled in comparison to the bailout it needed.
Stein Mart’s total sales in the first quarter ending May 2 dropped nearly 60% on the way to a net loss of $ 65.7 million. That follows a net loss of $ 6.2 million for the fiscal year 2018 and an operating loss of $ 31.2 million in 2017, public earnings show.
“People will always take advantage of a poorly run system, especially the big businesses and the ones who see it as a windfall,” said Ashley Harrington, federal advocacy director and senior counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending. “For the ones who’ve gone bankrupt, that’s certainly something that’s going to have to be dealt with. Those are all things we’re going to have to figure out.”
The Jacksonville Daily Record in Florida reported that some Stein Mart employees believed management knew more about the impending bankruptcy and closures than what they disclosed to workers, who received no severance, extended health benefits or other assistance.
Gardner Davis, a Jacksonville attorney who represents Stein Mart in the bankruptcy, said the PPP money was essential to keep paying employees during the initial months of the pandemic. But he insisted nobody inside the company knew how long the fallout from the virus would last – or how deep the damage would be.
“The PPP loan was an essential lifeline to help them stay afloat,” Davis said. “Stein Mart spent all of the money on paying salaries, which was a significant help. In fact, Stein Mart was able to weather the March and April shutdowns due to COVID- 19. Stein Mart failed because of the second wave in June and July, which swept the South, where most of the stores are located.”
Davis said the loan program was not designed to save companies like Stein Mart from collapse but instead was crafted so that employees would continue earning income – and continue buying groceries and other goods, keeping the economy afloat. He noted that most Stein Mart employees probably lived paycheck to paycheck.
Experts say that as long as retailers borrowed PPP money in good faith, and spent it actually paying salaries, there likely will be no consequences to companies that still ultimately go under.
“If it’s not enough money and they still go out of business, then they go out of business,” said Page Pate, an Atlanta attorney who has represented people accused of PPP fraud and whistleblowers in those cases. “The only problems are when you make false statements or misspend the money. Did you spend the money on the right things?”
Stein Mart will seek forgiveness of the $ 10 million PPP loan on the grounds that it was used for payroll, Davis said. If denied, the debt to the U. S. government will be added to the stack of unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy, to be paid out cents on the dollar.
Retail Ecommerce Ventures, the company that owns Pier 1 Imports, purchased the Stein Mart brand out of bankruptcy in November for just over $ 6 million, with plans to transform it into an online- only store.
Officials anticipated closure
Along the Canada border, where Idaho meets Washington, a rural community of 13,000 has long braced for the closure of its largest private employer.
Ponderay Newsprint Co. employed
nearly 150 workers at annual wages that ranged above $ 80,000. But the paper mill struggled through the decline of newspaper circulation as readers turned to online platforms and demand for paper plummeted. The mill supplied newsprint for publications along the West Coast, in the Midwest, and in parts of Asia and South America, according to a company website, which has been taken down.
In April, Ponderay Newsprint took out a $ 3.5 million PPP loan through AmericanAg Credit. Within two months, the company filed a WARN notice saying it was letting go of all 148 jobs it had projected to save, while permanently closing down its plant in Washington.
Officials in the rural area have anticipated the mill’s closure for years – a major blow to the local economy. Advertising losses tied to the virus further exacerbated the decline. Officials now fear a rail line that depended on its paper shipments could fold, too.
“It’s devastating, especially when you consider the impact on other businesses,” said Pend Oreille County Commission Chairman Mike Manus. “We have been bracing for it. But the reality is it’s hard to cope no matter what you do to get ready.”
Manus said company representatives warned local officials years ago that shrinking demand for its product left the plant’s future in jeopardy, highlighted when the mill canceled its contract to buy 90 megawatts of power from the area utility.
Ponderay Newsprint filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in late June, citing more than $ 50 million in total liabilities.
John Munding, a trustee in the federal bankruptcy case, said the PPP money was used for operations such as payroll. Ponderay Newsprint, he said, has no revenue left to repay the government loan.
Munding said the company is in the process of liquidating assets, which includes seeking a buyer for the plant. While Munding did not know how exactly much the sale would generate, he said it would not be enough to pay all creditors.
One of the mill’s remaining owners at the time of bankruptcy was Indiana Newspapers, a subsidiary of Gannett, the corporate owner of USA TODAY, which owned 13.5% of the business.
Gannett CEO Mike Reed said that he was not part of the process of obtaining the PPP funds, negotiated between mill management and the lender, but he said the bankruptcy decision was made well after the loan.
“The hope with the loan would ( be) that it would bridge to the other side of the pandemic and Ponderay would survive,” Reed said in an email.
Several other U. S. publishers had stakes in the company, as did a Canadian paper business. Following the PPP loan, two of the largest partners exited the partnership, said Frank O’Toole, president of Gannett Supply Corp.
“The newspaper business has been in distress for years; the risk was always there,” said Todd Behrend, interim mill manager who remains there part time, handling aspects of the closure for the bankruptcy trustee. “When demand for newsprint fell off a cliff in March and April, it was just unsustainable at that point.”
Loans processed in minutes
Attorneys, whistleblower groups and government watchdogs blame a lack of accountability and the rushed rollout of the PPP for many of its problems.
At the onset of the pandemic, the program was inundated with loan requests. More than 680,000 applications were filed on a single day, said Getnick, the whistleblower attorney and chairman of Taxpayers Against Fraud. Many of the loans were processed in a matter of minutes.
Watchdog groups have cited more than $ 4 billion in improper loans, saying 50% of all funding went to 5% of the applicants, with communities of color and microbusinesses left out. An MIT study in July showed that each job saved through PPP cost nearly $ 225,000.
“It started as an urgent program, and we didn’t expect it to reach the scale it has in size,” said Caroline Ciccone, executive director of the watchdog group Accountable. US, during a news conference.
Company executives have made headlines for fraudulently using PPP money to buy luxury items such as watches, yachts and sports cars. But experts say the bulk of fraud and waste in the program is more discreet, like a company exaggerating its employee count or estimated losses from the pandemic.
A USA TODAY analysis when the first batch of PPP data was released in 2020 found that at least 700 vendors scored lucrative federal coronavirus contracts and then also received emergency aid. Together those businesses took out at least $ 618 million in PPP loans through the Small Business Administration.
A PPP loan was designed to cover up to eight weeks of payroll but rules surrounding the program kept evolving. At least 60% had to be spent on salaries, while the rest could go to qualifying operating expenses, like rent or mortgage. Using the money for anything else could constitute fraud.
Changes to the CARES Act allow loans to be forgiven if companies rehired employees by the end of 2020. Businesses that couldn’t are expected to repay the note with modest interest – if they can. Those rules left a loophole for struggling companies: Take the money, fold and leave nothing to repay the debt.
When businesses closed anyway, the question will be how exactly the PPP money was used to delay the inevitable. Regulators expect some of that vetting to occur in the coming weeks and months, as the government determines which loans to forgive.
Cab companies hit hard
Even when already struggling businesses avoided bankruptcy and permanent closure, major downsizing sometimes followed the PPP loan, USA TODAY found. But some still hope the help will tide them over.
For years, cab companies have battled losses after the proliferation of ridehailing services such as Uber and Lyft. Shutdowns in the pandemic further battered the industry.
In Madison, Wisconsin, Union Cab received nearly $ 690,000 in PPP loans in April to save 180 jobs, government records show. By summer, the company announced it was laying off or furloughing 126 of those workers.
One of the cooperative’s largest customers was the Madison School District. Another was the University of Wisconsin. Trips from both froze up when classes were canceled for remote learning. Nobody was traveling for daytime medical appointments or nighttime entertainment, either. At one point, the taxi service was down to about 10% of normal business.
The company’s business manager, Bill Carter, estimates it lost “a couple million dollars” in revenue in 2020. To make up for it, Union Cab has been running a skeleton crew, he said, and cutting costs wherever possible. Aside from layoffs, the company took vehicles off the road to save on fuel and maintenance.
Carter said the PPP money helped keep the remaining taxis running. Ultimately, that was not enough.
He understands the frustrations of other small business owners who also took out a PPP loan thinking it would be short- term but now have no way of paying it back. He’s counting on a large portion of his being forgiven based on guidance he has received from the SBA.
Union Cab also took out a $ 147,300 SBA Emergency Injury Disaster Loan, another part of the stimulus package, federal records show. Unlike PPP, those 30- year, low- interest loans generally are not forgivable.
“It’s kind of a double- edged sword,” Carter said. “We didn’t have as much business, so we couldn’t have people work their normal schedules. But we also had people who were reluctant to drive because of the COVID situation, and we know we’re transporting ( coronavirus) positive people.”
The company has started bringing passengers to and from coronavirus testing sites and even taking ill patients to quarantine. Drivers began delivering for grocery stores as demand for that service increased.
Carter says many of those laid off are now back working, although with greatly reduced hours.
“For most of the year, our battle has been trying to get our expenses if not lower, at least equal to our revenues,” he said. “We’re getting closer and closer to that.”
ALABAMA Montgomery: The state is getting roughly half as much COVID19 vaccine as it was expecting based on federal plans announced last year, officials said Friday, meaning it would take more than two years to vaccinate all adults without improvement.
ALASKA Juneau: Renters will have to wait before receiving their allotments from up to $ 200 million in federal coronavirus aid. The Alaska Housing Finance Corp. said it is still forming plans to distribute the funds, the Anchorage Daily News reports.
ARIZONA Prescott Valley: A multipurpose arena is the latest large venue in the state to become a COVID- 19 vaccination site. Cottonwood- based Spectrum Healthcare on Monday will open an appointment- only setup inside Findlay Toyota Center.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Gov. Asa Hutchinson noted a decline of nearly 1,000 new daily cases Friday from the same time last week, saying he hopes the trend will soon be reflected in a decrease in deaths.
CALIFORNIA Chula Vista: A federal appeals court has denied South Bay United Pentecostal Church’s request to overturn state coronavirus rules barring worship services indoors. The Sacramento Bee said Friday’s ruling leaves the door open for addressing attendance limits if a county is in a less- restrictive COVID- 19 tier.
COLORADO Denver: The Regional Transportation District in Colorado has halted layoffs for about 250 employees after it received more than $ 200 million in federal coronavirus aid, officials said. It also reversed furloughs and salary cuts planned for its highest- paid management employees, The Denver Post reports.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: An attorney representing families and the CT Freedom Alliance, who are challenging state rules requiring students to wear face masks in school, has asked the state Supreme Court to get involved, the Hartford Courant reports.
DELAWARE Dover: Officials are offering incentives to encourage inmates to get a vaccine when it’s available. The offers include five days of good time credits, a free video visit, and a snack bag or special meal, The Delaware State News reports.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: As thousands of National Guard troops departed the city, a U. S. official said Friday that approximately 150 of 26,000 troops deployed to the capital have tested positive for the coronavirus, WUSA- TV reports.
FLORIDA Tallahassee: Gov. Ron DeSantis had a made- for- TV moment: A 100- year- old World War II veteran getting a vaccine against COVID- 19. “An American hero,” he proclaimed Friday, would be the 1 millionth senior in his state to get the lifesaving shot. The Republican governor later walked back the claim, saying the injection was symbolic of Florida being on track to hit 1 million doses soon.
GEORGIA Savannah: The NAACP has filed suit against state prison officials, blaming a lack of coronavirus testing and insufficient safeguards for an outbreak that infected nearly 1 in 10 inmates at a Coffee County site.
HAWAII Honolulu: The state reports its hotel occupancy rates declined by more than half in December from the same time in 2019, although the rates have gradually increased in recent months. Hawaii Tourism Authority data shows 23.9% of rooms were full last month amid the pandemic.
IDAHO Boise: Gov. Brad Little on Friday ripped lawmakers for jeopardizing efforts to fight the coronavirus and called on residents to contact their senators and representatives as they push legislation aiming to strip away some of his authority during a crisis. In an anger- tinged speech on live television, the Republican governor said the GOP- led Legislature is perpetuating false information and trying to score political points.
ILLINOIS Chicago: The Chicago Teachers Union said Sunday that its members voted to defy an order to return to the classroom Monday, before they have been vaccinated against COVID- 19, setting up a showdown with district officials.
INDIANA Indianapolis: The state’s COVID- 19 metrics have reached their lowest levels in more than two months, and Gov. Eric Holcomb said he is considering rolling back restrictions on crowd sizes.
IOWA Des Moines: Gov. Kim Reynolds said Thursday that the state would make COVID- 19 vaccines available Feb. 1 to all Iowans 65 or older, plus those in certain professions, such as school staff, first responders and child care workers.
KANSAS Mission: Online sign- ups for vaccinations are filling up almost as quickly as they are posted, as health officials begin moving beyond immunizing just health care workers and long- term care residents. The state doesn’t yet have nearly enough doses now that about 1 million people are eligible.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Nearly six weeks after vaccinations began, Louisiana on Friday began releasing demographic details on who has received shots, but the data lacks key pieces of information to determine if doses are being distributed equitably, with many providers not identifying recipients’ race.
MAINE Augusta: A group of lawmakers responsible for overseeing the rules of the state’s two legislative chambers is reviewing pandemic protocols in response to complaints about members not wearing effective face masks.
MARYLAND Annapolis: Gov. Larry Hogan has called on all schools in the state to resume in- person learning by March 1, if not sooner.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Nearly 2,000 doses of a COVID- 19 vaccine were spoiled at a Veterans Affairs hospital after a contractor accidentally unplugged a freezer, hospital officials announced Thursday.
MICHIGAN Lansing: State Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon abruptly resigned Friday, just hours after he signed a revised order that will let restaurants and bars resume indoor dining Feb. 1.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: Health officials reported Friday that the state has been allocated 871,650 doses of COVID- 19 vaccine. If all 5.6 million residents were to get two shots, the federally controlled vaccine allocated so far would amount to less than 8% of what’s needed.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The state’s top health official criticized the rollout of vaccines within long- term care facilities Friday. “We gave them too much vaccine too soon,” State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said. The Department of Health is having conversations with CVS and Walgreens about whether some of the doses allocated to them need to be pulled back for use at sites that are moving more quickly, he said.
MISSOURI St. Louis: The state’s health department doesn’t include antigen tests in its count of coronavirus cases, meaning tens of thousands of positive tests have not been included in its tally.
MONTANA Helena: A bill that would protect businesses and health care providers from coronavirus- related lawsuits is advancing quickly through the Legislature, after Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte said the measure was necessary to eventually remove a statewide mask mandate put in place by his Democratic predecessor.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: A mass vaccination event that helped the state record one of its most productive days in its campaign to distribute shots could serve as a model for future events. Health officials in Lincoln said roughly 2,400 health care workers received the vaccine Friday at the Pinnacle Bank Arena.
NEVADA Reno: Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley wants the U. S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a legal battle over the government’s authority to limit the size of religious gatherings amid the COVID- 19 pandemic even after the church won an appeals court ruling that found the state’s restrictions unconstitutional.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: School districts are losing money because the state’s funding formula is based on metrics heavily affected by the pandemic. Sixteen mayors and school board leaders wrote to Gov. Chris Sununu and legislative leaders expressing their concerns about free and reduced- price meal programs.
NEW JERSEY East Rutherford: The state’s newest COVID- 19 vaccination mega- site has opened. Officials on Friday said the site inside the old Meadowlands Racetrack is one of the final six mega- sites to open across New Jersey.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: Vaccination clinics scheduled for hundreds of public school employees in the city and surrounding communities won’t happen after all, prompting criticism from a lawmaker and disappointment from top administrators at two school districts. Health officials say the state is focusing the current round of vaccinations on people 75 and older and those with underlying medical conditions that put them at higher risk.
NEW YORK New York: A Staten Island bar owner who struck a sheriff ’ s deputy with a car last month, breaking both of his legs, will only face criminal charges alleging he served patrons indoors in defiance of state coronavirus restrictions.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced Friday that it avoided returning to campus 112 undergraduate students who tested positive for the coronavirus through its new mass testing program.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: State health officials said eight more people have died from complications due to COVID- 19, according to data released Saturday.
OHIO Columbus: Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday ordered $ 390 million in across- the- board budget cuts for the rest of the fiscal year, citing the economic impact of the pandemic. He also extended the state’s 10 p. m.to- 5 a. m. curfew until Jan. 30.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City:
Health officials plan to work with retailers and faith leaders in minority communities across the state to ensure equitable access to COVID- 19 vaccines. The Oklahoma State Department of Health plans to unveil vaccine- dispensing sites in minority communities in the coming weeks, Deputy Health Commissioner Keith Reed said Friday.
OREGON Portland: Gov. Kate Brown on Friday defended her decision to reject federal guidelines and prioritize teachers for the COVID- 19 vaccine before the elderly, saying if all of Oregon’s seniors were vaccinated first, teachers would likely not be vaccinated before the school year ends, and many students would not return to in- person learning.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The Republican- controlled Legislature on Friday took another step in the drive to strip future governors of some of their constitutional authority under emergency declarations and give lawmakers more control over the declarations. The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee approved it on a partyline basis, 7- 4.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Advocates for the elderly are calling on the state to prioritize vaccinating a wider group of older residents against COVID- 19. The AARP’s Rhode Island office on Friday demanded that the state’s vaccination plan immediately prioritize doses for residents 50 and older.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: After a slow start and concerns about adequate supplies, efforts to roll out the COVID- 19 vaccine kicked into high gear this past week. On Thursday, Dr. Brannan Traxler, the state’s interim public health director, said it receives from the federal government 60,000 to 64,000 first doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines each week. That same amount would be guaranteed for the second round of vaccines.
SOUTH DAKOTA Spearfish: More than 20% of the state’s children have missed routine vaccinations since the COVID- 19 pandemic swept the country. “We have families that are nervous to take their children into a clinic because of COVID, and so they are skipping multiple well child checks,” said Dr. Rose Oakley, a pediatrician with Monument Health in Spearfish.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Lawmakers on Friday finished tackling education issues that surfaced during the pandemic, as Republicans fumed that some districts still are not back in classrooms but declined to act on their proposal to withhold state funding for staying virtual.
TEXAS Laredo: A raging coronavirus outbreak in the city, now one of the biggest hot spots in the U. S., is leading to hundreds of new cases a day.
UTAH Salt Lake City: Gov. Spencer Cox is ordering COVID- 19 vaccine shots set aside as second doses to be redistributed as first doses to new people if the original patient doesn’t come back for a follow- up appointment within a few weeks.
VERMONT Montpelier: The state will start vaccinating residents 75 and older Wednesday and will begin taking registrations for appointments for that age group Monday, officials said.
VIRGINIA Richmond: The state is lagging others on tracking COVID- 19 vaccinations by race and ethnicity. Virginia is one of only 17 states that were publicly reporting vaccination data by race and ethnicity as of last week, but the state’s COVID- 19 website indicates race and ethnicity data has not been reported for more than half of the roughly 475,000 people who have received at least one dose.
WASHINGTON Seattle: Federal authorities arrested a suburban Seattle man who advertised a supposed COVID- 19 “vaccine” he said he created in his personal lab. Johnny T. Stine, 56, could face up to one year in prison if convicted, KUOW reports.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Republican Gov. Jim Justice was sworn in to a second and final term Friday. He said in a 20- minute speech that
“West Virginia is really on the move” despite challenges wrought by the pandemic and a population that has declined for eight straight years.
WISCONSIN Madison: Republicans who control the Legislature plan to vote Tuesday on a resolution that would end the statewide mask mandate designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
WYOMING Casper: A man who died in December was the state’s first inmate killed by COVID- 19. The cause took time to confirm by autopsy, the Wyoming Department of Corrections announced Friday.