Sam Britt/ News Break
Unvaccinated police officers to be placed on leave, fired
- The disagreement between the City of Philadelphia and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5, the city's police union, was laid to rest after an arbitration panel decided that unvaccinated police officers needed to get vaccinated or an exemption or face termination. The enforcement of the mandate would potentially lead to the firing of a handful of officers. The fight against vaccines by police seemingly went against data that showed COVID-19 was the leading killer of active-duty law enforcement last year.
Police ask for additional funding to combat gun violence
- The Philadelphia Police Department is asking for $23.7 million more dollars next year, citing its ongoing battle against gun violence as the impetus. The additional funds would increase the PPD's budget from $758 million this year to $782 million next year. Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said the police's current clearance rate for non-fatal shootings is 29%, a 10% increase from 2019.
Dr. Stanford appointed by President Biden
- President Joe Biden appointed Dr. Ala Stanford as U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Region 3 office, which covers much of the Mid-Atlantic region. Stanford founded the Black Doctors Consortium in Philadelphia which helped to address racial disparities in healthcare. The consortium also ran COVID-19 testing sites and vaccine centers throughout the first two years of the pandemic.
GOP candidate for governor campaigned at QAnon rally
- State Sen. Doug Mastriano, a Republican frontrunner for Pennsylvania governor, spoke at the "Patriots Arise for God and Country" conference last week in Gettysburg. The conference began with a video making claims about a “great awakening” that will expose “ritual child sacrifice” and a “global satanic blood cult” and went on to describe various other conspiracy theories. On Saturday Mastriano took the stage and spoke about being persecuted for questioning the 2020 election.
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