pandemic
‘Crime rings’ targeting federal unemployment, hurting jobless workers in need
“Sophisticated crime rings” are filing fraudulent claims targeting Ohio’s coronavirus pandemic relief programs and pocketing millions of dollars in benefits, according to the state’s unemployment offices. The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (DJFS) placed temporary holds on 270,000 suspected fraudulent unemployment claims filed under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program in July. The […]
Extra unemployment money from feds set to expire as 430,000 Ohioans continue jobless claims
The Pandemic Unemployment Compensation funding from the federal coronavirus economic recovery package is scheduled to expire July 25, with 429,638 Ohioans filing continued jobless claims last week. Without Congressional authorization to extend the funding, extra $600 weekly payments for the unemployed will come to an end. Ohioans filed 35,422 initial jobless claims last week, according […]
Black Americans, crucial workers in crises, emerge worse off – not better
On June 19, 1865 – 155 years ago – Black Americans celebrating the day of Jubilee, later known as Juneteenth, may have expected a shot at real opportunity. Freedom from slavery should have been freedom to climb up the economic ladder, helped – or at least not hindered – by a nation newly rededicated to […]
The human cost of political retribution as policy during a public health crisis
Much of the presidency of Donald Trump has been marked by his systematic dismantling, or attempted dismantling of the work of President Barack Obama. Trump rose to to right-wing prominence starting in 2011 by repeatedly leveling racist, false accusations that Obama was a Kenyan-born Islamic usurper. The trajectory of this line of attack eventually won […]
Coronavirus control measures aren’t pointless – just slowing down the pandemic could save millions of lives
Anywhere from 20% to 60% of the adults around the world may be infected with the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19. That’s the estimate from leading epidemiological experts on communicable disease dynamics. Even the best-case scenario using those numbers means nearly 40,000,000 adults will be infected in the United States […]