AP Exclusive: DOJ rescinds ‘zero tolerance’ immigration rule

The Justice Department rescinded a Trump-era memo that established a “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, which resulted in thousands of family separations. Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued the new memo to federal prosecutors across the nation on Tuesday, saying the department would return to its longstanding previous policy […]

AP sources: Biden to pause oil and gas sales on public lands

President Joe Biden is set to announce a wide-ranging moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on U.S. lands and waters, as his administration moves quickly to reverse Trump administration policies on energy and the environment and address climate change. The drilling moratorium is among several climate-related actions Biden is outlining Wednesday, according to two […]

Auschwitz survivors mark anniversary online amid pandemic

Tova Friedman hid among corpses at Auschwitz amid the chaos of the extermination camp’s final days. Just 6 years old at the time, the Poland-born Friedman was instructed by her mother to lie absolutely still in a bed at a camp hospital, next to the body of a young woman who had just died. As […]

SWFL Publix vaccine slots booked within 45 minutes Wednesday morning

Publix vaccine slots for Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties became available at 6 a.m. Wednesday and filled up by 6:45 a.m. The appointment times will begin Thursday. The process had been adjusted to work like this: The sign-up page displayed a counter ticking down until the next time the page refreshed. A list of Florida […]

Vaccine appointments in parts of US canceled amid confusion over supply

An increasing number of COVID-19 vaccination sites around the U.S. are canceling appointments because of vaccine shortages in a rollout so rife with confusion that even the new CDC director admitted she doesn’t know exactly how many shots are in the pipeline. States were expected to find out their latest weekly allocation of vaccines on […]

Biden administration to boost vaccine supply amid shortages

The Biden administration is boosting purchases of coronavirus vaccines to deliver enough to protect 300 million Americans by the end of the summer, as it surges deliveries to states for the next three weeks following complaints of shortages and inconsistent supplies. President Joe Biden announced the surge in deliveries to states Tuesday afternoon, along with […]

FDOH in Lee, DeSoto book all vaccine appointments for Jan. 28, 29

The Florida Department of Health-Lee and Lee County government announced there is enough vaccine supply to schedule around 2,500 appointments for Friday at the county’s site near Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), according to a Lee County press release. The appointment line opened at 9 a.m. Wednesday and all appointments were filled by 10:35 a.m. […]

Twitter permanently bans My Pillow CEO

Twitter has permanently banned My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell’s account after he continued to perpetuate the baseless claim that Donald Trump won the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Twitter decided to ban Lindell, who founded bedding company My Pillow, due to “repeated violations” of its civic integrity policy, a spokesperson said in a statement. The policy […]

Veteran activists campaign for Biden’s immigration reform

Immigrant rights activists energized by a new Democratic administration and majorities on Capitol Hill are gearing up for a fresh political battle to push through a proposed bill from President Joe Biden that would open a pathway to citizenship for up to 11 million people. The multimillion-dollar #WeAreHome campaign was launched Monday by national groups […]