Midwest
Biden suggests he was vice president during COVID-19 pandemic: 'Barack said to me, go to Detroit'
President Biden appeared to claim he was vice president during the coronavirus pandemic and that former President Barack Obama had dispatched him to Detroit to help with the response.
In comments first reported by the New York Post, Biden addressed an NAACP campaign event in Michigan Sunday night, where he repeatedly railed against his presumptive Republican opponent, former President Trump, while offering an aside about the contagion – which began in 2019 while the latter was in office.
“When I was vice president, things were kind of bad during the pandemic,” Biden said near the beginning of his remarks.
“And, what happened was Barack said to me: ‘Go to Detroit – help fix it.’”
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Going on to reference Detroit Democratic Mayor Mike Duggan, who was seated to Biden’s right, the president continued, “Well, the poor mayor – he’s spent more time with me than he ever thought he’s going to have to.”
Duggan then rose and shook Biden’s hand.
The pandemic, numbered COVID-19 due to global health officials having deemed it an outbreak in 2019, transpired in the latter years of Trump’s term, not Obama’s. Biden succeeded Trump during the denouement of the pandemic.
Elsewhere in the speech, Biden referenced working with civil rights activists in his youth, and quipped that Detroit helped “put food on” his family’s table, as his father, Joseph Biden Sr., was in the automobile business.
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Reserving much of his remarks to criticize Trump, Biden claimed at one juncture that “MAGA Republicans” want to engage in book-banning and other endeavors he described as extremist.
“All that progress is at risk. Trump is trying to make the country forget just how dark things were… when he was president,” Biden said.
“We will never forget him lying about how serious the pandemic was, telling Americans ‘just inject bleach’ – I think that’s what he did. I think that’s why he’s so screwy.”
In another jab, Biden warned against his predecessor potentially nominating more justices to the Supreme Court: “Do you think he’ll put anybody [there] who has a brain?”
“It’s clear when he lost in 2020, and I mean this sincerely: something snapped in Trump. He just can’t accept he lost… That’s why Jan. 6 happened.”
A mid-April Fox News Poll in Michigan found 46% of registered voters there support Biden, while 49% support Trump. Trump gained two percentage points in that survey over a similar one conducted in February. Two years prior, Biden led Trump by eight percentage points in the Great Lakes State.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
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Detroit, MI
Air France flight bound for Detroit diverted to Canada over passenger from Congo, officials say
An Air France flight from Paris to Detroit, Michigan, was forced to divert to Montreal, Canada, on Wednesday due to U.S. flight restrictions linked to the Ebola outbreak after it was determined that one of the passengers was from the Democratic Republic of Congo, federal officials said.
Air France boarded the passenger “in error on a flight to the United States,” a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told CBS News in a statement.
“Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane,” the CBP spokesperson said. “CBP took decisive action and prohibited the flight carrying that traveler from landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and instead, diverted to Montreal, Canada.”
CBP did not say when the person had last been in the Congo or whether they were showing symptoms of the virus. It wasn’t immediately clear if the passenger was a Congolese national or had been traveling there.
When reached about the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration directed CBS News to CBP.
CBS News has also reached out to Air France and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for comment.
According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, Air France Flight 378 from Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport landed at Montreal Trudeau International Airport at 5:15 p.m. ET. The status of the passenger from the Congo was unknown. It was also unclear whether the flight, with the rest of the passengers, would continue on to Detroit.
On Monday, the CDC announced that people without U.S. passports who had traveled to Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the past three weeks would be restricted from entering the country.
Earlier Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of CBP, confirmed that beginning Thursday, it would require all U.S.-bound flights carrying foreign travelers who have been in Congo, Uganda or South Sudan at any point in the previous 21 days to fly into Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
The rule, according to its language, is designed to funnel those travelers to an airport “where the U.S. government is focusing public health resources to implement enhanced public health measures.”
It’s unclear how the DHS rule impacts the CDC’s earlier order.
An Ebola outbreak centered in eastern Congo was confirmed May 15 by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday there were at least 600 suspected Ebola cases so far, including 139 suspected deaths from the virus.
Health officials say the new outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments, according to CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Céline Gounder.
Starting on Tuesday, May 26, a portion of the intersection at South 35th Street and West National Avenue will be closed to northbound drivers, city officials announced at a press conference on Wednesday, May 20.
Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa and Ald. Peter Burgelis announced that the new construction, which will close part of South 35th Street, is being led by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
While a part of the road will be closed, the 35th Street Viaduct will remain open.
The partial closure of the major thoroughfare is among a series of construction projects affecting Milwaukee travelers, including Dominique Alvarado-Gonzalez, who lives on the south side and commutes north each day to take her kids to school near Marquette University’s campus.
Before the construction began on the south side, Alvarado-Gonzalez said she would take South 16th Street, South 27th Street or South 35th Street to drive up to the north side of the city.
Now, all of those roads connecting the north and south sides have been impacted by repair projects through the Milwaukee Department of Public Works and the state Department of Transportation.
“The roads are all torn up,” Alvarado-Gonzalez said. “It’s like a puzzle getting in there … no matter what time of day you’re traveling, there’s traffic everywhere.”
Elected officials say they received no notice of road closure
At the press conference, Zamarripa said there was no communication between the department and the Common Council to help notify neighbors on the south side.
Burgelis said he learned about the project when a constituent tagged him in a Facebook post about the closure.
“There are instances where I think they have not taken the time to properly educate neighbors, constituents, commuters,” Zamarripa said. “I would like to speak with [the Department of Transportation] leadership … I am very concerned about the latest limiting of access to 35th Street.”
Zamarripa said she will be meeting with Public Works and Milwaukee Water Works to discuss how people should navigate the south side amid the latest closure.
“It’s just become untenable,” Zamarripa said. “I can only imagine how the average Milwaukeean feels when they’re trying to navigate city streets, and they just don’t know what’s going to be accessible and what isn’t.”
Street closures increase on Milwaukee’s South Side
Currently, the 16th Street, 27th Street, and 60th Street Viaducts are all closed, leaving the Sixth and 35th Street Viaducts as the only bridges connecting the near south side of Milwaukee to the rest of the city.
According to Zamarripa, the city’s Public Works department fought to keep the 35th Street Viaduct open, only partially restricting travel, to reduce the impact on residents.
“Closing down one of the two remaining access points I think is a very, very bad idea,” Burgelis said.
In addition to the bridges that are closed for repairs, the National Avenue Reconstruction Project, led by Public Works and the state Department of Transportation, has limited drivers on West National Avenue between South 39th Street and South 27th Street to westbound travel only during its first phase.
A portion of West Lincoln Avenue from South 27th Street to South 31st Street is also closed on the south side.
“These investments are needed, but we have to be able to coordinate them better so our residents aren’t impacted,” Burgelis said.
Closures affect local business on south side
Jose Lozoya, owner of National Liquor Mart and El Caporal Authentic Mexican Grill on South 16th Street and West National Avenue, said his profits decreased a bit when the National Avenue construction began, but he was given years of notice by Public Works to prepare for the impact.
The bridge closures, particularly the 16th Street Viaduct, have hit harder, Lozoya said.
Since the start of construction, Lozoya said his profits have decreased by 50% with the loss of road and foot traffic. He was not given any notice before the 16th Street project began and said he wasn’t asked to give input on the project as he was with the National Avenue Reconstruction. He had to call Zamarripa’s office to learn why the 16th Street Viaduct was closed, he said.
“I think they should have closed one viaduct at a time,” Lozoya said. “It’s affected a lot of us in the area … now we have to regain the business.”
Alyssa Salcedo covers Silver City, Layton Park and Burnham Park for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Contact her at asalcedo@usatodayco.com.
Neighborhood Dispatch reporting is supported by Zilber Family Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Journal Foundation, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.
The JS Community-Funded Journalism Project is made possible through our partnership with Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36-4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association, and EnMotive, LLC, a subsidiary of USA TODAY Co., Inc. USA TODAY Co., Inc. is the parent company of this publication.
Two women have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the death of a decorated U.S. Army veteran.
Amos Ferrier, 38, was responding to an attempted auto theft in south Minneapolis on Friday. Police say Ferrier, who was an Army medic, confronted the suspects as they tried to steal his car. He was either struck by or jumped on the hood of the suspects’ getaway car.
Ferrier was badly hurt and later died after he was thrown from the hood, police say.
So far this year, the Minneapolis Police Department has seen about 2,300 motor vehicle thefts. That’s a 24% increase from this time last year.
“Post-2020, post-George Floyd, all that stuff, the auto thefts went on a huge increase,” said Bryan Hermerding, a lieutenant who supervises the auto theft task force for Hennepin County.
This year, the sheriff’s office officially teamed up with the Edina, Minnetonka and St. Louis Park police departments to crack down on car crimes
“Outside of Minneapolis, we’ve seen a significant decrease in auto thefts in some ofthose suburban cities,” he said.
Through April, the task force has recovered 228 stolen vehicles and arrested 72 people, primarily kids.
“Any time that you can multiply resources and get people working on the same page and working together towards one common goal is huge,” he said.
While Minneapolis isn’t a part of the task force, Hermerding says they do work together and there have been talks of them joining.
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