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Introduction

County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the chief executive of Harris County, Texas, worried about an undercount in the 2020 census long before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The county, the largest in Texas, has about 4.7 million residents, about 1 million of whom Hidalgo says fall into categories that are considered hard to count: More than 60% are Latino or Black, almost half speak a language other than English at home, a quarter are immigrants, and many are renters. An estimated 61,500 residents werent counted in the 2010 census.

The census will impact their political power over the next decade, controlling how congressional districts are redrawn in 2021 and how many people will represent Texas in Congress. And it will determine what federal funding the county, which includes the city of Houston, will receive for critical public services, from health care to education. An undercount in the 2010 census cost the county $1,161 per person in a single year under just five federal programs, more than $71 million total, according to one estimate.

An undercount doesnt just affect politics and general funding: It impairs local communities ability to effectively respond to public health emergencies, like the current pandemic, by making it harder to track the spread of disease and who is suffering the most.

Harris County and Houston were determined to avoid being undercounted this year. They spent a combined $5.5 million, bringing together community groups, marketing and data specialists, and activists to build the smartest census campaign Harris County had seen, Hidalgo said.

But the Trump administration has repeatedly stood in the way of a complete count. President Donald Trump has pursued policies that make immigrants less likely to respond. The census officials he appointed, for example, decided to conclude operations weeks earlier than they had previously announced, leaving little time to reach the people who are hardest to count despite a pandemic that has made such people even more elusive.

The administration made these decisions against the advice of experts and its own career staff at the U.S. Census Bureau, sabotaging local officials efforts to improve response rates in Harris County and in many other communities across the U.S. that have long borne the costs of being undercounted.

Whats at stake here is a core function of democracy laid out in the Constitution, which directs the federal government to conduct an actual Enumeration every 10 years and to apportion representatives based on the whole number of persons in each State. Administrations controlled by both Democrats and Republicans have historically taken those words to mean that any person living in the U.S., regardless of immigration status, race, how wealthy they are or where they live, should be counted in the census.

But Trump has turned his back on that precedent, pursuing policies that suppress the count among hard-to-count communities including immigrants, people of color, low-income individuals and those in rural areas and effectively disenfranchise them. In addition to cutting counting efforts short, he tried to put a question about citizenship status on the census before the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately prevented him from doing so. And now, hes seeking to exclude immigrants from census population counts that will be used to apportion congressional representatives.

Its a transparent power grab from Trump laid bare in court filings and other documents on behalf of Republicans, who arent favored by most of those hard-to-count groups.

As a result, Harris Countys self-response rate stands at less than 63% as of Oct. 6, a few points below its 2010 rate. Nationally, the U.S. has met its 2010 self-response rate of 66.5%, but there are concerns that the Census Bureau doesnt have enough time to follow up with people who didnt respond.

Its not good for the country and its not good for democracy, Hidalgo said. Participation is what makes our democracy strong. If people are afraid to get counted in something as basic as the census, of course theyre going to be intimidated to make their voices heard more broadly.

Even without the Trump administrations intervention, there were an unusual number of complications that posed a threat to completing the count this year, from a raging pandemic to wildfires and hurricanes that have ripped through the South and the West Coast. But on top of that, Trump has sought to politicize the process more than ever before.

Everything is adding up to one of the most flawed censuses in history, said Rob Santos, vice president and chief methodologist at the Urban Institute and president-elect of the American Statistical Association.

The political power of any one voter is largely determined by the census, which is the basis for how states draw congressional districts and how the 435 seats in the House of Representatives are divided among the states. When new districts are drawn in 2021, it will have a lasting influence on who is likely to win elections, which communities will be represented and, ultimately, which laws will be passed.

It appears that, based on projections from 2019 Census Bureau population estimates, the states with the most to gain are Texas, which could pick up three seats in the U.S. House, and Florida, which could pick up two seats.

But there are more concrete issues at stake. Census population counts are frequently used to create statistical indicators, including poverty thresholds and the consumer price index, which are typically used to determine federal funding levels for 300 programs encompassing health care, food stamps, highways and transportation, education, public housing, unemployment insurance, and public safety, among others.

Funding for certain programs, including the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, doesnt fluctuate drastically with census population counts. But funding for other programs including the Social Services Block Grant, which helps support tailored social services based on community need is predicated entirely on the states share of the national population recorded in the census.

Census population counts could also determine whether certain areas qualify for federal designations that are tied to benefits. They could dictate whether a rural town is designated as medically underserved, meaning that doctors could receive certain incentives for working there or whether an economically distressed community gets classified as an opportunity zone where new investors get preferential tax treatment.

The effects of an undercount can linger for decades. In March, census data dictated how a $150 billion federal COVID-19 relief fund was distributed to localities. Places that had been undercounted in 2010 werent getting all the resources they needed.

An inaccurate count can have further adverse implications for public health, particularly amid a pandemic. It could hinder efforts to plan for the populations health care needs and result in a shortage of available safety net services.

It could also make it harder to track demographic groups along the dimensions of race and ethnicity, income, and education in order to better protect those who experience worse health outcomes. And it could limit researchers ability to study and respond to disease, making it more difficult to predict its spread and estimate its prevalence in the population.

Going forward, funding for health care and public transportation is among Hidalgos biggest concerns in Harris County, where about 22% of the population under 65 is uninsured twice the national rate and it remains difficult to get around without a car due to a lack of investment in transit services.

Losing out on federal funds for Medicaid would be particularly devastating: Texas is one of 12 states that have yet to adopt the Affordable Care Acts Medicaid expansion, a joint state-federal program that has offered health care coverage to individuals with incomes below 138% of the poverty line (about $17,600 for a single adult) since 2016.

Texas Republicans had previously rejected calls to adopt the expansion on the grounds that it would raise health care costs across the state. Those calls have been renewed amid the pandemic, but an undercount in the census, which determines how much federal funding the state receives to administer Medicaid, could make the expansion prohibitively expensive.

Other cities like San Jose, California which also has a history of being undercounted in the census have different funding priorities.

A census undercount would deliver a blow to the citys budget for affordable housing, which is sorely needed in an area with such a high cost of living: A couple making as much as $140,000 per year is in need of affordable housing. And in the middle of a pandemic and economic crisis that has left many people jobless and homeless, the affordable housing shortage has only become more dire.

We have been somewhat of a poster child for the affordable housing crisis as the largest city in Silicon Valley facing skyrocketing rents for much of the last decade and a large population with constrained income, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said.

The city stands to lose about $2,000 of federal money per year for every person who isnt counted, he said.

The country faces a pandemic that has made the most basic of in-person tasks more complex. Wildfires and hurricanes have displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. All of this has made it more difficult for the Census Bureau to go door to door to ensure an accurate count.

When the pandemic delayed operations in March, the censuss end date was pushed back from August 15 to Oct. 31. But in August, the Census Bureau announced that it would stop soliciting responses by mail, online or in person on Sept. 30. The agency argued this was necessary to meet the Dec. 31 deadline to provide census figures to Congress.

Internal Census Bureau emails and memos released in court filings showed that the administration decided to go forward with its plan despite warnings from career officials who worried that cutting short counting efforts would result in a census that has fatal data quality flaws that are unacceptable for a Constitutionally-mandated national activity. But those warnings fell on deaf ears at the U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau and is headed by Wilbur Ross, one of the longest-serving members of the presidents Cabinet who previously was at the front of the administrations push to put a citizenship question on the census.

The decision to cut the census short was also made despite advice from the Census Scientific Advisory Committee, which unanimously recommended in mid-September that the administration extend the deadline to complete counting efforts due to 2020s natural disasters.

The Census Bureau estimates that about 80,000 uncounted households in California and 17,500 in Oregon were impacted by the wildfires, and that 248,000 uncounted households in Alabama and Florida and 34,000 in Louisiana have been impacted by hurricanes over the past two months.

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The Census Bureau has redirected enumerators to temporary shelters for those displaced by the hurricanes. But on the Pacific Coast, it had already started laying off workers in areas affected by fire evacuations, road closures and smoke-filled air, KQED reported.

Imagine how hard it is to track somebody who is in a position where theyre not at their house, they are who knows where, and trying to complete a census with them, a census worker in California told Vox.

The mans experience demonstrates how fires affect census operations in other ways. Hes in his 60s, and said he has been concerned about going outside to enumerate people while the air quality is so poor due to the wildfires. On Sept. 9, when smoke turned the skies dark orange, he went out with two masks an N95 mask and a cloth mask layered on top of that but when he took them off briefly to drink some water, he started to get a headache.

The following day, he called his supervisor to say that he wouldnt be able to go out due to health concerns. Both during training and on the job, the Census Bureau made clear that his safety as an enumerator comes first, he said. But cases he had been assigned werent completed.

Dilemmas like this are playing out across the country as communities grapple with natural disasters.

I really cant project whether Mother Natures going to let us finish. Were going to do the best we can and see where we end up, the associate director of the census, Al Fontenot, said during the recent advisory committee meeting.

Santos, of the Urban Institute, said that to capture households that failed to self-report, the Census Bureau will have to rely heavily on reports from their neighbors, which are not as accurate. It could also lead to housing units getting categorized as vacant when there are people living there, but the census taker cannot reach them and does not have the opportunity to follow up.

The Census Bureau will also have to rely on administrative records, including Social Security and IRS data. That could be a problem hard-to-count households are precisely the kind of households for which the federal government lacks reliable administrative records. For instance, unauthorized immigrants do not have Social Security numbers and may rely on a cash economy without filing taxes with the IRS (though many of them do file taxes).

Imagine how hard it is to track somebody who is in a position where theyre not at their house, they are who knows where, and trying to complete a census with them.

Everything hinges on the quality of those data, Santos said.

As of Oct. 6, the Census Bureau reported that about 99.7% of households nationwide have been counted. As with any census, the agency is aiming to count 100% of households.

But that rate says little about the accuracy of the bureaus data, how it was collected, whether it has been checked for quality and how this census measures up to previous censuses, said Steven Romalewski, director of the CUNY Mapping Service, which tracks hard-to-count populations in the census. In the final days of September, there were still areas where census workers had yet to complete about 30% of their assigned workload, which includes conducting in-person follow-up visits to households. Those places included broad swaths of New Mexico, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama.

The concern is that the Census Bureau is trying to move as quickly as they can to make sure that, one way or another, all housing units are accounted for not necessarily by enumerating them in person, Romalewski said.

For now, the Census Bureau is still continuing to solicit responses. A federal judge in California has ordered the agency not to wind down its operations yet, as part of a lawsuit challenging the new deadline brought by civil rights groups, local governments and the Navajo Nation, among others. Temporarily blocking the Trump administration from ending counting efforts on Sept. 30, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh extended the deadline until Oct. 31 to give the Census Bureau more time to collect responses online, by mail and by door-knocking in undercounted areas.The Trump administration had asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to immediately suspend Kohs ruling, but the court told the administration that it had to keep counting. Unless the administration seeks expedited review at the Supreme Court, as it has threatened in court filings, it appears the Oct. 31 end date will remain.

The U.S. is on track to become a majority-nonwhite nation sometime in the 2040s, with Latinos accounting for a large portion of that growth. For Republicans who have relied on primarily non-Latino white, rural voters to stay in office, those demographic changes could spell their political doom.

But even before Trump, they had hatched a plan to maintain their grip on power for at least a little while longer: They would exclude noncitizens from the census population counts used to redraw congressional districts. The late Republican political strategist Thomas Hofeller was the mastermind behind the plan, which he believed could keep state legislatures in Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Florida from flipping blue in the near future. It would have the effect of diluting the political power of foreign-born people who have primarily settled in Democrat-run cities relative to more rural, Republican-run areas.

Trump, for his part, has embraced the strategy and taken it even further. Beyond attempting to cut short the process of collecting responses to the census, which will likely hit immigrants and communities of color the hardest, he has also tried to curb immigrant participation in the census.

Trump previously sought to put a question about citizenship status on the 2020 census. Several states, including California and New York, challenged the question in court on the basis that it would depress response rates among immigrant communities, leading to an undercount that would cost their governments critical federal funding. Their lawsuit came before the Supreme Court, which ruled in their favor in June 2019 on the basis that the Trump administration had lied about why it chose to include the question on the census.

Trump had argued that citizenship data would aid the Justice Departments enforcement of the prohibitions against racial discrimination in voting. But that rationale was just a pretext, introduced after the fact to justify the question and meant to obscure the administrations actual reasoning, the justices found.

Had the administration decided to continue pursuing the citizenship question, it would have had to race to support its decision with more valid reasoning in order to print the census forms on time.

Trump ultimately decided against doing so, instead issuing an executive order in July 2019 that instructed the Census Bureau to estimate citizenship data using enhanced state administrative records.

Trump has facilitated the creation of that data, though its not clear how accurate it is. The executive order authorized the Census Bureau to collect more data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and Citizenship and Immigration Services in an attempt to identify the citizenship status of more people. The agency eventually started asking states to voluntarily turn over drivers license records, which typically include citizenship data, to determine the citizenship status of the U.S. population.

In July, Trump revealed how he intended to use that data: He issued a memorandum excluding unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. from census population counts for purposes of redrawing congressional districts in 2021, as legislators in Texas, Arizona, Missouri and Nebraska had already sought.

The White House argued that, by law, the president has the final say over who must be counted in the census. And Trump has said that unauthorized immigrants should not be counted because it would undermine American representative democracy and create perverse incentives for those seeking to come to the U.S.

A federal court nevertheless struck down the memorandum last month, finding that the federal government has a constitutional obligation to count every person, no matter their immigration status, in the census every 10 years.

But the Trump administration appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to expedite the case such that they would hear oral arguments in December and issue a decision before Dec. 31, the federal deadline for sending the population counts to Congress for purposes of redistricting.

If Trumps Supreme Court pick to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Amy Coney Barrett, is confirmed before the end of the year, she could cast a deciding vote in the case.

Even though Trumps attempts to substantively alter the way immigrants are counted in the census have been thwarted by the courts so far, the chilling effect of those policies has been felt in places like Harris County and San Jose, which both have large immigrant communities and have joined the lawsuits challenging Trumps attempts to cut the census short and exclude unauthorized immigrants from the population counts.

Liccardo said that when the city began its census planning two and a half years ago, it prioritized engaging trusted community partners, including local churches and nonprofits. The aim of that was to allay fears about participating in the census among people who might be fearful of interacting with government officials, including immigrant communities from Latin America and Asia. Some 80,000 residents of the city dont have legal status.

Their fear only multiplies when they hear what comes out of the White House Twitter feed, he said. They have consequently become reluctant to engage not only in the census but also in the pursuit of basic services, such as immunizing their children and signing up for food stamps.

Every family has got someone whos worried about getting arrested by la migra, he said.

Hidalgo said that in Harris County, parents are similarly afraid to receive a backpack for their child as part of a government giveaway and to access free testing for COVID-19, potentially threatening their health outcomes.

Theres clearly a distrust of government, she said. Folks are just afraid to receive any kind of service, and that puts the entire community at risk.

Campaigns to get out the count have had to adjust to major hurdles, from the pandemic to unfavorable policies from the Trump administration. Starting in March, they had to largely abandon in-person outreach, the most effective way to reach hard-to-count households, in favor of strategies that allow for social distancing.

Texas Counts, a coalition of groups working to improve response rates in the state where about one in four residents qualifies as hard-to-count partnered with locations offering essential services amid the pandemic, including food banks, so that volunteers can encourage people to fill out the census questionnaire while they are waiting in line. It has also helped host census caravans in which people decorate their cars with advertisements for the census and drive through undercounted areas, honking their horns.

These kinds of canvassing efforts do appear to make a difference. Romalewski, who studied similar neighborhood campaigns in Tucson and Brooklyn, said that response levels in those census tracts did increase. (Though its not clear whether that increase was greater than it would have been otherwise or whether it could be directly attributed to the outreach efforts.)

Harris County pivoted to an almost entirely virtual campaign, which it funded in part with an additional $4 million the county received in funding from the coronavirus stimulus bill passed in March on top of the $5.5 million it had already spent.

Door-knocking morphed into texting and calling. Census workers conducted surveys about the opinions and attitudes of non-responsive populations and developed a digital advertising campaign on Facebook and Instagram. They placed billboards and ads with the aim of targeting communities with a less than 50% response rate.

Still, the response rate only budged a couple of percentage points. Hidalgo isnt expecting to be able to vastly improve response rates leading up to the deadline. Theyre doing their best, but the headwinds theyre facing are just too strong.

You can do everything right and still you will only see a couple percentage-point increase over what you have, she said. But its better than it could have been had we not been working aggressively to make up ground.

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Trump's obstruction of the 2020 census, explained Center for Public Integrity - Center for Public Integrity

Hospitality leaders in the North of England have hit out at the Government after a Cabinet member refused to rule out shutting pubs and restaurants in the region.

The Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said on Thursday that ministers are currently considering what steps we should take as he warned of a fast and serious situation in cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle, where coronavirus cases have risen.

Westminster has found itself under increasing pressure to act after Scotland announced a new wave of restrictions, with hospitality businesses set to close for an indeterminable amount of time at 6pm on Friday.

Dr Adam Kucharski, a scientist advising the Government, warned that there are pretty serious outbreaks in parts of England and medics warned of increasing hospital admissions if stricter measures arent taken to quell the spread.

It has left publicans and restaurateurs in limbo, unsure whether they will be able to pay staff, meet rent obligations, or even prepare for Christmas, one of the industrys busiest and most lucrative periods.

Its just getting ridiculous now, said Stosie Madi, who runs the Parkers Arms in Lancashire.

Nobody understands what the hell any of them [ministers] are on about. We need to know if were going to be able to pay our rent and pay our staff. Were already trying to deal with this senseless curfew.

Blaming us [hospitality] is stupid. Theres no proof were spreading anything weve not had one case reported in the pub. And yet were constantly in limbo. We need something that makes sense its all just complete bollocks. I dont even know if well be open for Christmas.

Sacha Lord, the Night Time Economy Advisor for Greater Manchester, said there had been a lack of communication from London, and said closing businesses in parts of the North would only widen the gap with the South.

He told i: Theres been absolutely no communication whatsoever. Its frustrating. As far as I can see, theyve leaked considerations to the press with no consultation or discussion with who will feel the impact.

As far as we can see, theyre making the North-South divide wider. Ive talked to a lot of operators who are considering shutting completely. Theyve had enough.

Almost half a million people work in the night time economy in Greater Manchester. What now? Theyre scared for their jobs and theyre worried they wont be able to pay their rent or put food on the table.

This is the 11th hour. It feels like the final blow.

With numerous ministers claiming fresh lockdowns are the only option in order to curb the spread of Covid-19 in areas where transmission rates of infection have risen, many in hospitality deem the Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the architect of the popular Eat Out to Help Out scheme, as their only hope for greater pragmatism.

In Liverpool, chef Paul Askew, from the Art School restaurant, called on the Chancellor to promise to introduce new financial support packages in the region if it finds itself tightly locked down again.

Another lockdown of hospitality businesses is the last thing we want, having only just got back up and running, he said.

Its been feeling like a gradual dismantling process since curfew and consumer confidence has been knocked.

What we need is Westminster to follow the lead of Liverpool in announcing support packages that match the sanctions were facing.

The uncertainty has not only left hospitality professionals worried, but local people too, who had started to get used to being allowed out to pubs and restaurants again.

Daniel Callaghan, from Newcastle, said: Young people are being blamed for going out when only last month they were encouraged to do so.

The hospitality sector is being thrown under a bus. Shutting everything down again doesnt seem viable. Thousands of people have already lost their jobs.

What are people supposed to do? We cant repeat the same cycle. Therell be nothing left.

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Pubs and restaurants in North of England face '11th hour' with talk of second lockdown closures - iNews

But its a step towards actual policy-driven discussion to tackle the climate crisis.

Austin Price

October 7, 2020

President Donald Trump came out arms flailing during the first presidential debate last Tuesday and thought he landed a punch when former Vice President Joe Biden said he did not support the Green New Deal. You just lost the radical left, Trump quipped.

No matter that Trump has shrugged his shoulders as farms flood and communities burn, his goal is to deflect and drive a wedge in an opposition that has already promised to do something about the climate crisis. The missing detail of Trumps infantile jab, however, was that Biden had never endorsed the Green New Deal (GND) at face value.

Weve known for years that Donald Trump denies the science of climate change, Kate Aronoff, a climate reporter for The New Republic, told Democracy Now! after the debate. And we know that Joe Biden doesnt support the Green New Deal. Neither of those details should be a surprise to voters in the homestretch of this election, Aronoff explained.

Trumps stance on climate change is easily characterized by his relentless push for unchecked development by his buddies in the fossil fuel industry. Biden, meanwhile, has vowed to tackle the climate crisis through a $2 trillion, four-year plan he announced last July a plan that Sam Ricketts, a coauthor of Washington Governor Jay Inslees aggressive climate plan, in The Washington Post, called the single most comprehensive and ambitious climate plan ever advanced by a major presidential nominee. And no, its not the Green New Deal, but like the GND, its a far cry from the current presidents oil-bought denialism.

But its difficult to draw a clean line between the Biden climate plan and the Green New Deal. For one, the Green New Deal isnt a plan but a broad resolution. Its not exactly a x-trillion-dollar scheme aimed at outlawing cows and airplanes like its opponents say. Rather, its a set of goals and principles for a radical shift in climate policy one that would create millions of living-wage green industry jobs, decarbonize the energy sector, and address racial and economic inequalities.

The Green New Deal serves as a framework for the rapid, far reaching, and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society urged by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes October 2018 assessment on limiting global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius. The GND also recognizes the duty of the federal government to avert ecological collapse while building an altogether fairer, more leisurely, and more democratic world, as Noami Klein wrote in the introduction to A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal. The goal is staving off disaster, while also making the world a better place for both human and nonhuman life.

When Biden unveiled his climate plan in a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, last July, it was clear that his plan was not the Green New Deal. But at its core, it sounds similar: It would focus on transitioning to a carbon-free power sector by 2035, building modern infrastructure like high-speed electric rail, addressing climate injustices, diversifying the agricultural sector, and creating millions of jobs. In the debate last week, he vowed to reenter the Paris Climate Agreement and put an end to coal-fired power plants. His plan would also mobilize a Civilian Climate Corps to manage forests, plant trees, repair irrigation systems, improve wildlife habitat, and restore wetlands and coastal ecosystems.

These are the most critical investments we can make for the long term health and vitality of both the US economy and the physical health and safety of the American people, Biden said in July.

The similarities with the Green New Deals framework is no coincidence. Thats because the Biden campaign worked with some of the authors of the Green New Deal to put the Biden climate plan together.

Before Bidens official nomination, the Democratic Party formed the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force on Climate Change, comprised of members like US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sunrise Movement cofounder Varshini Prakash. In other words, Bidens climate plan is a product of discussion, with evidence of influence from the task force, and from the Green New Deal.

One example is the Biden plans timeline. Task force members helped boost it from $1.7 trillion over 10 years to the current $2 trillion over four years. The task force also helped shift the plans focus to include environmental justice. According to the plan, frontline and fenceline communities will receive 40 percent of all clean energy and infrastructure benefits proposed in an attempt to correct historic racial and environmental injustices. The plan also borrows a proposal from Inslees plan to establish an Environmental and Climate Justice Division within the Department of Justice to hold polluters accountable.

Of course, there are major differences between Bidens plan and the Green New Deal, mainly when it comes to scale. For example, Bidens plan to build 1.5 million new sustainable housing units falls far short of the Green New Deals call to provide all people with affordable housing.

Another point of contention is fracking. Natural gas extraction isnt explicitly addressed in the Green New Deal, but many progressive Democrats have called for a fracking ban on both private and public land a stance that Biden has refused to take. This is no surprise. Biden, who was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, has his sights on the Pennsylvania vote. Last year, the natural gas industry employed 32,000 people in Bidens home state.

But according to some Democrats, the differences between Bidens plan and a radical Green New Deal arent as much a cause for division as they are points for future discussion especially on this side of Election Day. Bidens climate plan isnt the Green New Deal, but its a step towards actual policy-driven discussion of the climate crisis.

A Biden administration is not a guarantee of climate success, just as wearing a mask is not a guarantee of avoiding coronavirus, wrote climate journalist Emily Atkin in her newsletter HEATED. But when youre facing a life-threatening illness, you choose a course of treatment not based on whether you know it will work, but based on the likelihood of success versus failure.

Climate action will require work no matter whos elected. If Biden wins in November, there will assuredly be a time to critique his administrations position on climate. Time will tell how the Biden plan would be phased out, which promises are kept and which are broken which policies would be tossed around the legislature as hurricanes continue to batter one coast while wildfires spread across the other. There would be time to hold Biden accountable to his promise to ban fossil fuel lobbyists from his cabinet, and there would certainly be time to interrogate Bidens informal advisors from the Obama periods all of the above approach to energy development.

As Naomi Klein wrote, We have a hell of a lot of work to do. But the unanswered question now is what that work will look like come January.

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Biden's Climate Plan Isn't the Green New Deal - Earth Island Journal

Do you smell what The Rock is cooking? Political outlets certainly do, as former WWE Superstar and current Hollywood Superstar Dwayne The Rock Johnson has recently made headlines after releasing a video in which he endorses Joe Biden for President of the United States.

Previously, Johnson has remained mute on the topic of politics, though he did appear at the Republican National Convention on behalf of WWE back in 2000. The times, they are a-changin, however, and, like most of us, the former WWE champion simply cannot stay silent anymore.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris to talk about a number of important issues that were facing as a country, Johnson said in a video uploaded to his social media channels. I thought it was a great, and extremely productive conversation that we had and, as a registered Independent for years now, with centrist ideologies, I do feel that Vice President Biden and Senator Harris are the best choice to lead our country, and I am endorsing them to become President and Vice President of our United States.

Johnson then went on to share a conversation he had with Biden and Harris, and the first question he asked the pair was, What will you do to earn the respect of the American people once youre in the White House?

It was a good question, and a fair question, as our current president lacks respect from many voters- celebrities and non-celebrities alike. Trump, for his part, must be fuming because of his own history with WWE. He has appeared on multiple WWE-produced shows, is known friends with the CEO of WWE, Vince McMahon, and he even brought Vinces wife, Linda McMahon, on as part of his cabinet. Luckily, The Rock is no longer under the thumb of McMahon and is free to make his own decisions and his own choices. The biggest of which is his endorsement of Biden and Harris.

Johnson has, self-admittedly, never publicly endorsed a presidential candidate (as one has to be careful in how they present themselves to the court of public opinion), and that just goes to show how pivotal this election actually is. The Rock is currently the hardest working man in Hollywood, so he earns our admiration. But, more importantly than that, in every interview he has done, every social media post he has offered, he comes across as an intelligent, kind, genuine human being. In short, he is somebody whose endorsement the general public would, and should, highly consider.

No word yet on how Paper and Scissors are voting but, in this case, The Rock trumps them both.

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Long-Time Republican The Rock Endorses Biden-Harris Campaign, Trump Says Hell Await Word From The Paper and The Scissors (Half of Which Beat Rock) -...

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The Toronto window cleaning company behind a swing stage that recently collapsed from a midtown office tower leaving at least one worker dangling some 25 storeys above had multiple complaints about the safety of its fall protection system since 2016.

Toronto Police say the call came in around 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 24 about two men who were finishing their window washing duties of 2180 Yonge St., near Eglinton Ave., when their swing station came loose and fell to the ground.

Luckily, there were no injuries reported.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

According to data from the Ministry of Labour, obtained by the Toronto Sun, there were three complaints, three years in a row, issued against Scarborough-based Solar Window Cleaning for concerns about safety regarding the fall protection system.

The first was on Nov. 29, 2016, at 438 Bay St., where the MOL issued two orders for the company to develop a plan for the safety of workers and a stop work order until that was completed.

The ministry said the work plan was completed and as a result, the stop work order was withdrawn.

The second complaint took place on July 25, 2017, at 375 University Ave., according to MOL documents, where there were concerns workers were on the roof of the property without fall protection.

In that case, no orders were issued by the ministry.

On Jan. 11, 2018, workers at a job site at 2 Queen St. E. also complained of feeling unsafe due to not being protected by a method of fall protection. The ministry did not issue any requirements in that case.

According to the ministry, Solar Window Cleaning was convicted on Feb. 7 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to ensure a piece of equipment wasnt within three metres from an energized outdoor overhead electrical conductor in the range of 750 to 150,000 volts at a Vaughan workplace.

The company had to pay a $45,000 fine plus a victim fine surcharge.

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Toronto company faced years of safety complaints before swing stage collapse - Toronto Sun

If you are too fussy about keeping your home or office windows clean, but dont have time to do the work yourself, dont worry, you can buy a robot to do so. Window cleaning robot is a growing category and there are plenty of options available in the market. But, one name that you can always trust is HOBOT Technology.

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HOBOT Technology is among the top names in the robotic window cleaner market, and its HOBOT-298 is their best robot so far. The HOBOT-298, a 2019 CES Innovation Awards Honoree, is a smart window cleaning robot that can easily clean almost all different kind of glass surfaces.

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What makes this product better than most others is that it uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and comes with a free smartphone-app. The AI ensures that the robot intelligently manages all the functions and maps the surface accurately. Additionally, it also allows the robot to sense the edges irrespective of the frame. Its smartphone app not just works as a remote control, but also sends notifications, such as when the job is done or an alert.

Along with these two, it has all other features that you can expect from a premium window cleaning robot, including ultrasonic sprayer, Bluetooth functionality, massive cleaning area, as well as a compact form factor.

In fact, its unique ultrasonic sprayer is also its standout feature, making it more efficient than others. The HOBOT-298s sprays water or detergent onto the surface it is actively cleaning. This way it gets rid of the dirt. Additionally, the attached microfiber cloth quickly dries the cleaned surface to give you a polished and shiny glass.

It is quick and easy to set it up as well. All you have to do is fill the water tank, fix the microfiber cloth, place it on the surface and switch on the power. Before you switch it on, dont forget to fix the safety cord to a safe place to ensure the robot doesnt get damage, in case, it falls.

The robot also comes with several other safety features to keep it from falling, such as a UPS battery. This battery makes the robot stick to the glass for up to 20 minutes, if the power fails. Also, in case of a power failure, the robot will beep and flash a warning light.

Talking about where it lacks, like with any other window cleaning robot, HOBOT-298 also works well on larger window panes. It may not as well on smaller glasses, still it does the best a robot can do. Another thing that may prove inconvenient is that you need to manually remove the built-up grime to ensure the smooth functioning of the robot.

Despite these shortcomings, HOBOT-298 is a great product that does its job smartly and efficiently. It not only saves you time and effort, but gives you a shiny glass as well, making it a perfect choice for your home or office.

For more details and to buy it, you can visit HOBOTs online store.

Disclosure: The company was kind enough to provide us with a free unit in return for an honest review of the product.

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Hobot 298 robotic window cleaner: Efficient, smart and best - ValueWalk

Emotional tributes have been paid to a lovable Croydon man, believed to be the UK's oldest window cleaner, who has died.

Walter Cruse, who lived in West Croydon most of his life, was still cleaning windows at the age of 94 - only stopping months before his death.

He was known to go out on jobs all over the borough, no area was off limits for Walter to go and make sure the windows were sparkling clean.

Walter, known as Walt or Wally Cruse, lived with wife Rose and had two sons, Lester and Roy.

He became ill earlier this year and sadly his condition deteriorated throughout the summer and he died on August 7.

Speaking about his dad's remarkable work ethic, his son Lester told MyLondon: "He was still working at 94, and even his customers told him they felt he was too old!

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"He carried on cleaning windows despite his age, and he wouldn't give up.

"He was a hard working man who saw a purpose in what he was doing and just enjoyed working. Apart from the social side of the job, he believed it kept him fit and active, and responsible for him reaching his ripe old age.

"In the end he was told by his customers quite nicely that they felt he should be retiring. But he carried on and was still working within months of passing away.

"I can't imagine any other window cleaner working at his age. We believe he was the oldest in the UK.

"He was his own boss and he had a good work ethic. He was a man of good principles and he taught us well"."

Walt bravely fought in Burma during the Second World War, and his experiences became the subject of many stories, but it was his passion as a window cleaner after the war that had the most impact on his life.

Walt was also proud of his famous shed, which is where he kept his DIY materials and tools.

He didnt throw much away as 'it would always come in handy one day', according to Lester.

When clearing out the shed after repairing a fence, Lester found an old ladder which had broken in half but had been repaired and most probably used.

"We couldnt believe the dangerous condition this ladder was in," he said. "But still he kept it just in case".

Walt refused to get rid of an old black and white TV set many years back, and Rose, keen to get a new colour TV, took the back off and snipped a few wires, thinking that would do the trick.

Instead of ditching the TV Walt called a repair company and Rose's antics were exposed when the repair man said: "Youre having a laugh aren't you!"

Walt never did see the funny side of that, but we did," said Lester.

Lester, 69, who lives in Cornwall, said: "He was a very likeable person and loved to tell stories of various amusing aspects of his life.

"My parents lived simple but enjoyable lives together, with much of it being centred around family. He liked going to the pub and playing darts with friends and quite enjoyed a spot of fishing.

"We were very well looked after as kids. We always had clothes, food and holidays growing up, and we lived close to my mum's family as there were 11 children in her family.

"Walt was really 'one of the boys' and he lived most of his life as part of the Cuff family [Rose's relatives], sharing the good times and the bad."

During the latter part of his life Walt beat bowel cancer and lung cancer, but his condition deteriorated in his final months and he ended up being admitted to hospital.

He sadly died of pneumonia on August 7, although it's believed cancer had returned and had spread to his liver.

"He had a good innings," Lester added.

He was a legend and will be missed very much.

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The lovable Croydon window cleaner who was still working at the age of 94 - My London

Want to give your Halloween decorations a stylish edge? You're in luck. This year, Target is launching an exclusive collaboration with John Derian and Threshold that's all treats, no tricks. Known for his antique decoupage and pretty paper goods, the New York-based designer has a knack for adding a whimsical flair to the most mundane home essentials. In fact, it seems only fitting that his vision is reimagined into some bone-chilling Halloween decorations.

So, what can you expect from Target's latest collaboration? The perfect mix between style and spook. From apothecary-themed candles, to evil eye throw pillows, to moody candelabras, this collection is a considerable upgrade your faux leaf garland and pumpkin-dotted tablecloths.

Target's John Derian and Threshold collaboration officially hits shelves (virtual and physical) on October 10. However, if you want to get a head-start on your shopping, check out our favorite finds below.

For more of the top deals on all things fall decorating, head over to the RH deals hub.

John Derian for Threshold Go to the Light Willow Tree Metal Lantern Black|Currently $35

Behind every hauntedor haunted-lookingis a frightful front door. Light up the night with this versatile lanterns. The black metal construction will give your porch or walkway a moody touch, while the small perforations will let just the right amount of light seep through. Since these lanterns are free of any obvious ghosts, pumpkins, or witches, you can leave them out well after October 31. Talk about a bright idea!View Deal

John Derian for Threshold 30" x 18" Scaredy Cat Handwoven Scram Door Mat|Currently $15

Of course, no front door is complete without a welcome mat that's packed with personality. Instead of settling for a ubiquitous, pumpkin-covered door mat, why not go for this ferocious style? With a cat that's ready to pounce and "scram!" in big letters, this mat will add a cheeky touch to your set up. (Or, it'll be a non-confrontational way to let trick-or-treaters know you're not passing out any candy.)View Deal

John Derian for Threshold 14" x 7" Midnight Snack Melamine Serving Tray|Currently $10

Whether you're passing out appetizers at a small Halloween dinner or looking for a convenient place to store all your favorite sweets, a durable tray is the gift that keeps on giving. This midnight-inspired style from John Derian looks mischievous without being over-the-top. Best of all? It's made of a durable, shatter-resistant melamine, so it'll hold up well for years to come.View Deal

John Derian for Threshold 22" Fauxtanical Friend Faux Willow Potted Plant|Currently $35

As any plant parent can attest, lush foliage can breathe a second life into any space. If you want to give your budding plant collection a spooky spin, add this faux willow plant to the mix. Reimagined in a gothic black, this option will make you feel as if you stepped in a haunted house . (Not to mention it'll create a nice contrast when placed next to your bright leafy greens.) Or, if you're struggling to keep your plants alive this fall, it will act as a temporary, fuss-free fix.View Deal

John Derian for Threshold 9oz Spirit Apothecary Glass Candle|Currently $10

Fall is practically synonymous with candles, so why not add a spooky scent to your growing collection. With notes of pine and smoked cedar, this option smells like a crisp autumn afternoon. Plus, it comes in a cool, apothecary-style glass that will transport you to a witch's lair.View Deal

John Derian for Threshold 2-Piece Bone Chilling Tea Towel Set|Currently $15

Let's be honest: Spookifying your kitchen is easier said than done. While you can always deck out your countertops with a pumpkin-shaped trivet and lone skeleton arm, it's all too likely your space will look kitschy, not chic. If you want to walk the line between stylish and seasonal, pick up this set of tea towels. The bone-chilling design is undeniably festive, while the high-contrast color palette will keep your kitchen from feeling cheesy.View Deal

John Derian for Treshold 12" x 8" Beady-Eyed Embellished Eye Throw Pillow|Currently $35

We spy with our little eye: A throw pillow you need to add to your home. Decked out with dainty beaded detailing, this cushion add a nice pop of color against your neutral sofa or armchair. And, in true John Derian fashion, this pick but doesn't feel as blatantly Halloween-themed as, say, a pumpkin-shape pillow. Go ahead, leave it on for the rest of the season; it's not like it's possible to have too many throw pillows...View Deal

John Derian for Threshold 4-Piece Itsy Bitsy Bites Spider Web Print Appetizer Plates|Currently $15

A big bag of treats might be the main attraction come Halloween, but that doesn't mean the rest of your courses have to play second fiddle. Give your dinner a festive flair with these spider-themed appetizer plates. Comprised of four plates, each with a different pattern, this set reminds us of the decoupage designs that put Derian on the map. But, at $15, here's your chance to score his covetable creations for less.View Deal

John Derian for Threshold Bare Bones Metal Accent Table|Currently $60

At first glance, this textured side table looks like it was made with bamboo. However, look a little closer and you'll see it's designed to look like faux skeleton bones. A piece of furniture that's simultaneously subtle and spine-tingling? Consider us sold.View Deal

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The best Halloween decorations from John Derian's collaboration with Target - Real Homes

05 October 2020

The cleaning and hygiene industry has been assessing the huge impact of Coronavirus and the lockdown on different sectors, businesses, and operatives.A British Cleaning Councilaudit of members last month shows that organisations and individuals are having to adapt rapidly to the major changes brought by the virus.

A consistent theme throughout is praise for the dedication of the cleaning and hygiene operatives who have been doing vital work protecting the health and wellbeing of others and keeping key industries going since the pandemic began.The Association of Healthcare Cleaning Professionals (ahcp) represents many of the cleaning and hygiene key workers who have been on the frontline fighting the virus.

"After the vital work they have done during the pandemic, cleaning operatives can surely no longer be considered to be low-skilled.

Mr MelvinBCC, CSSA

Delia Cannings, ahcp National Lead for Education and Training, said: Cleaning operatives in the healthcare sector played a key role during the pandemicand have done an incredible job, with many going above and beyond, working longer hours, taking on extra responsibilities and adopting new standards and practices to prevent Covid-19 contamination. Ahcp members played a vital role getting the Nightingale Hospitals set up and staffing them and will continue to operate them in the coming months as we strive to recover and avoid spikes in Coronavirus cases.

Jim Melvin is a director at the Cleaning and Support Services Association (CSSA) and Deputy Chair at the British Cleaning Council (BCC). He echoes praise for cleaning operatives and highlights the uncertainty caused by the virus among cleaning contractors.

Mr Melvin said: Coronavirus has changed the contract cleaning market significantly but it is different for every business.A great many buildings and businesses remain closed and many staff are furloughed. When clients have returned, they are at significantly reduced staff levels, which by definition reduces the service. Clients are changing their requirements on an almost daily basis and members are needing to be agile and flexible enough to reflect that. Our cleaning and hygiene operatives have faced an unbelievably difficult and fearful time responding both bravely and magnificently to all this.

BCC member the Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association (CHSA) represents manufacturers and distributors of cleaning and hygiene products where, like in much of the industry, the impact of Coronavirus has varied from business to business.

Demand for cleaning products for the catering, leisure and hospitality industries has collapsed, leading to employers furloughing workers. A 49 per cent drop in washroom waste illustrates the decline in building occupancy, and consequnelty the available work in maintaining them.Other industries continue to be very busy, for example, manufacturers of hand and hard surface sanitiser along with plastic sack, apron and soft tissue makers. Demand for some products has soared while supply has simultaneously shrunk, forcing many companies to take new measures to carefully manage the exceptional situation.

CHSA Chairman Lorcan Mekitarian said: The cleaning and hygiene supply chain has proved itself to be responsive, flexible and adaptable. We expect the majority of members to perform well in future as the economy recovers, but distributors serving primarily or solely the catering, hospitality, leisure, retail and similarly hard hit sectors may not survive the severe economic shock created by the pandemic.

Lauren Kyle representing the Business Services Association (BSA) added: Our members operate in a wide range of sectors, some of which such as sports and leisure, transport, and retail have seen a downturn. While others such as schools, and hospitals have seen heightened demand for cleaning and disinfection.

In the longer term, FM industry insights suggest that corporate clients will look to review and rationalise property portfolios to adapt to an increase in agile working, with many employees working more from home. This indicates that there could be changes in the delivery of day to day cleaning at client sites in the long term as they review their use of space.

Picture: window cleaners operating on the side of a large multi-storey building.

Window-cleaning and hospitality have both been hard hit. The UK Housekeepers Association (UKHA) represents cleaning operatives and managers in hotels, and their suppliers. Angela Jaquiss of the UKHA said that most hotels had been closed from March and most cleaning staff were on furlough. It could be a slow climb back to some sort of normal, she said.

The Federation of Window Cleaners (FWC) said that 80 per cent of members were furloughed, and 20 per cent were working.FWC Chairman and Safety Officer Andrew Lee, who is also Director at JA Lee Window and General Cleaning, said: In my own business, we had literally hundreds of our customers temporarily cancelling their work. We laid eight out of our ten window cleaners off. Since then, we have introduced a socially distanced domestic service and have also diversified into sanitising and fighting the Coronavirus on client premises, public transport, buildings and offices. It has been a long, hard and frustrating period and whilst I believe things are starting to improve, it is going to be some time and a lot of hard work before we get back to normal or the new normal, as it is called.

Some sectors were looking to the future with more optimism. Ian Andrew, CEO of the British Pest Control Association, said: We think pest control will perform well in the future. Pests dont realise there is a global pandemic, although some have changed their behaviour since the pandemic began.

The National Association of Wheeled Bin Washers (NAWBW) said it had seen workloads increase since March by an estimated 10 percent thanks to more commercial organisations taking up their services. When the Domestic Cleaning Alliance (DCA) surveyed its membership in August, it foundalmost all respondentshad stopped providing all services on the day of the lockdown announcement or had stopped earlier however prospects have improved recently.

Stephen Munton from the DCA said: Our industry sector was significantlyaffected initially, but as business has returned in recent weeks, there has been an overwhelming sense of positivity.Membersare takingextrasteps to reduce the risk of Coronavirus contamination while they are in other peoples home, for example byimplementing social distancing measures, and using additional PPE where appropriate, he said.Other members also expect the way their sector operates to change in future because of the Coronavirus pandemic.The UKHA expects there to be much more cleaning and sanitising in future, to a higher level, in hotels, while some CHSA members are developing facilities in the UK and Europe to avoid a repeat of supply-lines from the Far East being restricted.

Several BCC members also said that Government action or improved regulation would help their sectors adapt to the new normal. Among them was the NAWBW.Marius Coulon, Managing Director of the NAWBW, said: It is time the Government started to regulate our industry and encouraged both the water companies and Environment Agency to police their own rules and guidelines.

Mr Lee, of the FWC, said: The window-cleaning industry needs clear guidelines on internal cleaning within hospitals and nursing home environments. Something else would be a clear statement, perhaps from the Health and Safety Executive that misting, fogging, spraying of disinfectant and sanitising should not be carried out without cleaning.

Mr Melvin, of the BCC and CSSA, said: We believe that there is an opportunity for both Government and the industry to review the lessons learned during the pandemicboth good and badto collectively increase skills training for operatives. After the vital work they have done during the pandemic, cleaning operatives can surely no longer be considered to be low-skilled.

Cleaning Interactive, a world first virtual exhibition for the industryon 6-7 October 2020,will host expert presentations consideringthe post-Covid hygiene environment.

Picture: a cleaner dusting a picture in an office.

Article written by Bailey Sparkes | Published 05 October 2020

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How has the Cleaning Sector Coped with Coronavirus? - ThisWeekinFM

Harold Varner III, who will start Saturdays third round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open three shots off the lead at TPC Summerlin, doesnt believe in superstitious coins and other golf course voodoo.

On the other hand, his head cover has its own Twitter account.

Varner III calls it Gerald, named for a gift he received from college friends at East Carolina. Gerald sort of looks like a second cousin of one of the Cosby kids if you remember the old cartoon series. He sports an Afro, orange and yellow striped T-shirt, blue pants and green sneakers.

Geralds primary job is to keep Varner III grounded on the course. To make him smile, especially when things arent going well.

During last years PGA Championship, the 30-year-old journeyman was tied for second heading into the final round during which he was paired with eventual champion Brooks Koepka and shot 81.

Gerald must have made Varner III smile. The day after blowing up at Bethpage, he was back mowing the lawn at his parents house. How grounded is that?

Varner III still is chasing his first tour victory he followed a first-round 63 with a 68 Friday in his first outing since recently getting married. But neither fact has precluded him and Gerald from making lots of friends, including some in high places.

Last year Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera appeared at a news conference wearing a Gerald Varner T-shirt. Varner III and Tiger Woods, who once stiffed him for an autograph when the former was 13, sometimes play practice rounds together during which Tiger sometimes imparts nuggets of wisdom, such as playing golf on the PGA Tour is like reading a book with the TV on.

Gerald Varner is sort of like Mister Ed, the talking horse from the old TV sitcom. He only speaks when he has something to say.

He would say I should have played better, but hang in there, Varner III said after completing his round as the sun was setting before adding that his sidekick has been enjoying Las Vegas as much as an inanimate object can during a pandemic.

A lot of room service hes been hanging with the other head covers, not doing much.

Its gotta be the shoes

On the day he shot the best round of his career (62), first-round leader Bryson DeChambeau received a care package Thursday that contained a pair of Puma golf shoes hand painted by a Shriners Hospitals patient from Galveston, Texas.

Katharine Koonce, 16, suffered burns over 70 percent of her body while her family sought refuge from Hurricane Ike in 2008.

The special shoes included the Shriners logo on the heels and a mathematical equation by which the big-hitting DeChambeau abides painted on the sides deriving acceleration from velocity the 2018 Shriners champ said as he opened the box with his teenage fan watching via the internet.

Thank you so much, these look amazing, DeChambeau said with a smile more honest than his length off the tee. Im gonna be wearing these all week.

I watched the big man hit his drive on No. 10 Friday en route to a second-round 67. The ball practically exploded, like one of those novelty golf balls.

He was wearing the shoes.

Rickie loses that number

Gallery favorite (at least when there is a gallery) Rickie Fowler hit two balls in the lake on No. 16 and one on 17 (he also sank one on 17 Thursday) on his way to a 74. He failed to make the cut.

Other notables below the 7-under cut line were recent PGA champion Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama, Francesco Molinari, Jason Day and Maverick McNealy.

19th hole

Leftover from Thursdays first round: Bruce Bielenberg, a volunteer on the 15th hole, witnessed three members of the same group making eagle. Hunter Mahan, Rafe Cabrera Bello and Bo Hoag each made a 2 on the short 314-yard par 4. Three eagles by one group on one hole has to be pretty rare, right? Bielenberg wrote in an email. It is. PGA officials said they could never recall it happening on a par 3.

Former UNLV standout Charley Hoffman shot 71 Friday after a first-round 70 and failed to make the cut.

Veteran Stewart Cink, who made five second-round birdies and two eagles and shot 63, on how he celebrated his recent win at the Safeway Open: Went on an eight-day trip out west in a van with my in-laws which is sort of like going to Disney World, but also sort of not.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.

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Harold Varner III lets head cover do talking on Twitter - Las Vegas Review-Journal