As reports emerge of imminent nominations to fill three spots on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, talk of the “nuclear option” filibuster reform is again radiating from the Senate.The “nuclear option” refers to the Senate Democratic majority’s ability to change the filibuster rule in the Senate with a simple majority vote, which would not require any Republican support — overturning an established rule precedent popular since the 1850s. In the case of the nuclear option, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Democrats have suggested changing the rule to prevent filibusters on presidential nominations, shifting the nature of the minority’s power in Senate advice-and-consent executive oversight. Obama has been comparatively slow in proposing nominations than recent past presidents, citing GOP filibuster obstruction as the reason for the current staffing shortage in the federal judiciary.Putting forward three nominees at once after the approval of Sri Srinivasan to the same court last week “is certain to unleash fierce Republican opposition and could rekindle a broader partisan struggle over Senate rules,” The New York Times reported on Monday. “Let’s be clear. These threats to use the nuclear option because of obstruction are just pretexts for a power grab. This is another example of the majority manufacturing a crisis to justify heavy-handed behavior,” Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor of the Senate last week. Last week’s fight to confirm Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which ended in Reid pushing the vote back to July, set the disgruntled tone for Democrats to arm the filibuster football over held nominees.Fueling the likely heated July debate will be the residual fallout from a series of Obama recess appointments deemed unconstitutional earlier this year, all of which were pending Senate confirmation. The president gave the ...
Balaji srinivasan
Chelsea Neighbors Declare Victory In Fight To Preserve Manhattan’s Last Underground Railroad Stop
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — On a quiet block of West 29th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, one of the townhouses is not like the others. Its face is beige stucco, not brick. Its windows are sealed with blue boards. Scaffolding looms over the sidewalk. And this house rises higher by a single, not-quite-finished, story. But hold that thought — because to truly understand why it’s not like the others, you have to go back to the days of the Civil War, WCBS 880’s Alex Silverman reports. “The Gibbons family provided shelter for slaves that were running away for their lives,” said Fern Luskin, who teaches art and architecture at LaGuardia Community College and lives just down the block from Manhattan’s last remaining link to the Underground Railroad. “The slaves were with them at their dining room table.” On a quiet block of West 29th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, one of the townhouses is not like the others. (Credit: WCBS Newsradio 880/Alex Silverman) In the summer of 1863, New Yorkers rose up against the government’s attempt to enforce the draft laws. The mob descended onto 29th Street, then known as Lamartine Place, with torches. They knew abolitionists lived there. Abigail Hopper Gibbons and her family managed to get up to the roof and across the adjoining buildings to safety. “Their escape, over those rooftops, is precisely why this half of the block was landmarked,” Luskin said. So, back to that roof. About a decade ago, Luskin noticed the fifth story rising, obscuring the escape route. She and neighbor Julie Finch formed a group called Friends of the Hopper Gibbons House, and began to fight. Permits were revoked. Court rulings came down agains the developer, Tony Mamounas. Finally, this week, the Landmarks Preservation Commission ruled that the roof is integral to the house’s story, and denied Mamounas’s revised construction plan. “The relationship of these buildings ...
COVID: San Mateo Event Center Shifts From Testing To Vaccinations
SAN MATEO (CBS SF) – The San Mateo County Event Center has shifted from being used for COVID-19 testing to vaccination, as the county’s vaccine rollout continues via several clinics this week and next. While last Friday was the last day of COVID-19 testing at the Event Center, multiple free testing sites are still offered throughout the county. A full testing schedule is available at https://www.smcgov.org/testing. As of Tuesday, 67,292 San Mateo County residents have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to county data. That’s 10% of the 642,340 individuals 16 years and older who will eventually be eligible for the vaccine. Right now, vaccination is underway for health care workers and long-term care residents (Phase 1A of the state’s vaccine tiers) and for groups 65 or 75 years and older (Phase 1B). During a COVID-19 media briefing on Wednesday, County Manager Mike Callagy said that the county will continue to be a safety net for people who are uninsured and cannot get vaccinated through health care providers. While the county hopes to increase vaccination efforts, they are limited by the short supply. “We could go seven days a week at multiple sites. We’re prepared to do that once the doses get here, but that is not the case right now for sure,” Callagy said. This week, San Mateo County Health’s vaccine allocation will be used at the Event Center to vaccinate eligible individuals age 65 and older, such as those covered by the Health Plan of San Mateo. The Event Center clinic will take place Wednesday through Friday and has capacity to vaccinate 2,000 people per day. From Feb. 8 to 11, and again Feb. 13 and 14, the clinic will provide second doses for about 14,000 individuals who would have received the first dose in January. Larger health care providers like Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health/Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) have begun vaccination for individuals 65 or 75 years and ...
