Washington
N.Y. must ban menthol cigarettes: Washington stalls so Albany must act
A year ago, to her credit, Gov. Hochul tried to have New York ban menthol flavored cigarettes, which cause disproportionate sickness and death in the Black population. But there was a heavy lobbying effort in Albany by the tobacco cartel cloaked under the guise of civil rights that a ban, as some other states have, would somehow harm the African-American community.
The lies worked, as did the argument that there was no need for New York to act because Washington was going to impose a national ban a few months down the road. So Hochul’s ban was set aside.
That promised national ban from the Food and Drug Administration and parent Department of Health and Human Services was expected last fall. But it didn’t happen and now it’s been pushed off again. Don’t expect anything before the November election. And who knows what will happen after that.
On Friday, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra gave a statement that was as pathetically weak as it was short:
“This rule has garnered historic attention and the public comment period has yielded an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement. It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time.”
Compare that to what the same man said two years ago: “The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit. Additionally, the proposed rules represent an important step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities.”
The “immense amount of feedback” Becerra now prattles about is from the tobacco lobbyists and their fronts. The secretary’s phrase of “more conversations” means more delay and more menthol tobacco sales with more sickness and more death. The death cartel keeps cashing in on the lungs and bodies of Black Americans.
The NAACP agrees with the American Cancer Society, which agrees with the American Heart Association, which agrees with the American Lung Association, which agrees with a united public health establishment and hospitals and physicians.
Joe Biden needs the votes of Black Americans this fall and there is plenty of speculation that political considerations were a factor in this public health matter. Yes, menthol cigarette use is largely centered in the Black community, however a ban won’t harm the community, but help it. The most important civil right is the right to live and menthol kills and it kills far more Black people.
How perverse to claim that harming the Black community is a civil right cause.
On Friday, the FDA did do something, however, in finalizing Guidance for Industry (GFI) #120: Veterinary Feed Directive Regulation Questions and Answers about the use of approved animal drugs intended for use in or on the feed of food-producing animals that require veterinary oversight. That’s important, but more important than a known killer preying on the Black community? A menthol ban would reduce the amount of smoking, saving lives.
Now that feds have succumbed to the smokescreen of Tobacco Row, it’s back to the states. The Legislature has more than a full month before they break for the year. Ban menthol tobacco in New York.
SAN ANTONIO – It’s been a long time coming, but it appears that San Antonio may finally get a nonstop flight to the nation’s capital.
The US House on Wednesday approved the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) bill, which will create five new roundtrip flights to Reagan National Airport (DCA). The US Senate approved the bill last week.
Once President Joe Biden signs the bill into law, American Airlines will submit an application to the U.S. Department of Transportation to initiate service from SAT to DCA. The awarding of those five flight slots will be made 60 days after the signing of the bill.
“We have been working for more than a decade to give residents of America’s seventh-largest city the same access to our nation’s leaders as nearly every other major city in the country,” San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “I am grateful for the hard work of Senator Cruz and our entire congressional delegation and look forward to Secretary Buttigieg’s approval of America’s application to initiate nonstop service from Military City USA to DCA.”
A nonstop flight between San Antonio and Reagan National will save the military and its partners more than 500,000 man-hours annually, a news release said. Additionally, San Antonio is home to the largest concentration of intelligence and cybersecurity professionals outside of the national capital region.
Currently, there are no direct flights from SAT to DCA, requiring San Antonio travelers to make connections through other airports or take ground transportation from Dulles International Airport or Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to Washington, D.C., adding both time and costs to their itineraries. San Antonio has repeatedly been blocked in its efforts to get direct flights from DCA, putting it at a competitive disadvantage, a news release said.
American Airlines’ nonstop service would increase competition for Texas consumers by adding a fourth carrier flying from SAT to a third different airport in the DC/Maryland/Virginia region and providing connectivity to numerous other airports in the Northeast United States via American’s hub at DCA. Based on the number of daily passengers currently traveling each way between the two airports, DCA is one of the largest unserved markets from SAT.
“I am thrilled that the City of San Antonio is now positioned to directly access our nation’s capital with a non-stop flight into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport,” said US Sen. Ted Cruz, who worked with the chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to get the bill passed. “By working together, we overcame fierce opposition to my bipartisan provision expanding long-haul flights to Reagan National. “I will be pressing the U.S. Department of Transportation to swiftly approve applications for the five long-haul flights that I successfully included in this year’s FAA reauthorization bill and look forward to being on the first direct San Antonio-Reagan National flight later this year.”
Copyright 2024 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
NEW YORK (WABC) — There are major delays on the George Washington Bridge on Wednesday morning as police are monitoring what is expected to be a heavy protest day.
Port Authority has one lane closed in both directions, leading to delays up to an hour inbound.
This is breaking news. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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Washington
Angels manager Ron Washington criticizes player after his own squeeze bunt decision backfires
ANAHEIM, Calif. — JoJo Romero appeared rattled. The St. Louis Cardinals setup man had walked two batters in a row — one on a pitch-clock violation. He’d been in three-ball counts to every hitter he faced.
There was one out, the bases were loaded and St. Louis was up a run in the eighth inning. That’s when Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington called for Luis Guillorme to execute a squeeze bunt.
The pitch was well outside. Guillorme couldn’t make contact. And Zach Neto, running down the line, was an easy out. The Angels didn’t score again and lost 7-6 on Tuesday.
Washington absolved himself of all blame in the situation and instead placed it at the feet of Guillorme, who has been with the team for less than one week.
“He didn’t do the job,” Washington said of Guillorme. “It wasn’t anything I did wrong. He didn’t do the job.
“I would have rather went to the ninth inning with a 6-6 lead than gone to the ninth inning the way we did.”
Washington also incorrectly said that Romero had been throwing strikes. At the time, Romero had thrown 14 balls in the inning compared to just 12 strikes.
“He was throwing the ball in the strike zone,” Washington said, before elevating his voice at the reporter and hitting his hand against the podium. “Why are you making excuses? He was throwing the ball in the strike zone. (Guillorme) did not get the bunt down. Period.”
The Angels have struggled mightily in Washington’s first season as Angels manager. Tuesday evening’s loss dropped their record to 15-28. They’ve lost all but two series this season and have won consecutive games just twice all year.
Guillorme took the high road in responding to Washington’s comments. He accepted responsibility, even though any bunt would have been nearly impossible to get down, given the pitch’s location.
“I haven’t seen anything,” Guillorme said when asked about what was said. “He made a good pitch. I didn’t get it down. I’ve got to try to put a bat on it. That’s it.”
Washington has been a proponent of small-ball baseball. And with the Angels struggling to score this season, he’s been actively trying to manufacture runs. The decision, he said, was rooted in the lefty-lefty matchup with Guillorme and Romero, who is also a sinker ball pitcher. Washington said he was concerned about a potential double play.
Cardinals catcher Pedro Pagés said he understood why the Angels did it, given Romero’s prowess this season. But was still caught off guard as it happened.
“When I saw the runner coming home, I was like, ‘Why is he running at me?’ So I was like, ‘Alright, let me just tag him and throw the ball to third.’”
(Photo of Ron Washington from April 10: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Images)
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