New Jersey governor allows schools to reopen for in-person learning
12 August 2020
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced Wednesdayhe will sign an executive order allowing private and public K-12 schools and universities to reopen for in-person learning in September.
The big picture: New York and New Jersey have now authorized school districts to begin reopening. Both states and Connecticut ordered travelers from 31 states to quarantine before crossing their state borders after they were able to manage the pandemic.
Where it stands: Current hospitalizations, new cases and fatalities have continued to decline in both New York and New Jersey, per the COVID Tracking Project.
- Murphy said school districts that cannot safely reopen must create plans to start the school year with all-remote learning.
- There have been over 185,000 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and almost 15,900 deaths in New Jersey, per Johns Hopkins.
Between the lines: As noted by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week, the decision to allow children to return to school is ultimately a personal choice for parents, regardless of the state's position.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.