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<title>12 June, 2023</title>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>The Constructive and Destructive Power of Social Norms in the Presence of Authoritative Influence</strong> -
<div>
A randomized survey experiment (N=2,868) was conducted at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine the effects of information provision on individuals’ cooperation with social distancing measures. Employing a 2 × 2 factorial design, the study examined the influence of social comparison and a powerful messenger. Using an online sample of approximately 3,000 Japanese respondents, it was found that participants demonstrated greater cooperation with social distancing measures when they perceived that they had spent a relatively <em>long</em> time outside the home compared with prevailing social norms in the previous week. Conversely, individuals who spent a relatively <em>short</em> time outside the home, exhibited the opposite effect. However, these results were observed solely in conjunction with the influence of a powerful messenger. The study also explored heterogeneous responses based on personality traits. In conclusion, the results highlight the challenges of changing behavior through informational interventions, emphasizing the role of both the characteristics of the sender and recipient of the information.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/rsbmz/" target="_blank">The Constructive and Destructive Power of Social Norms in the Presence of Authoritative Influence</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Predictors of wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Key roles for gratitude and tragic optimism in a UK-based cohort.</strong> -
<div>
Here we examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on wellbeing among UK-based respondents (N = 133). We explore the extent to which variables across wellbeing domains (physical activity, gratitude, tragic optimism, social support, and nature connection) contribute to wellbeing according to our previously proposed GENIAL model. Wellbeing was significantly reduced compared to both retrospective pre-lockdown measures (d=0.55) and a Scottish sample from 2018 (d=0.39). The regression model, containing wellbeing-related variables along with age, sex, and subjective socioeconomic status, accounted for up to 50% of the variance in wellbeing. While all predictor variables were significantly associated with wellbeing in zero-order correlations, only gratitude and tragic optimism contributed significantly to the regression model. These findings provide the first evidence for the contribution of these positive psychological factors to wellbeing during the COVID-19 lockdown. Implications for wellbeing at a time of great suffering and existential positive psychology (PP2.0) are discussed.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/z2pxg/" target="_blank">Predictors of wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: Key roles for gratitude and tragic optimism in a UK-based cohort.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Combined effects of P25 TiO2 nanoparticles and disposable face mask leachate on microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus: Analysing the effects of heavy metals</strong> -
<div>
Disposable surgical masks have been extensively employed as protective medical equipment due to the widespread breakout and transmission of the COVID-19 virus across the globe. These masks were made up of plastic polymer materials that would emit microplastics after entering the environment. Therefore, their careless disposal might lead to new and bigger microplastic contamination. The impacts of plastics that seep into waterways and their subsequent interactions with aquatic life are yet largely unexplored. In this study, we determined the quantity and kind of microplastics that were discharged from disposable surgical face masks. Furthermore, we also quantified heavy metals leached from the face masks (HML). In contrast, the increasing usage of nTiO2 in consumer items has led to its ubiquitous presence in freshwater systems. Four different concentrations of nTiO2, 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 mg L-1 were mixed with face mask leachates (FML) to perform the mixture toxicity test on freshwater algae, Scenedesmus obliquus. Reduced cell viability and photosynthetic activity were noticed in the treatment groups containing nTiO2 and FML. This was accompanied by increased oxidative stress and antioxidant activities. Furthermore, the heavy metals leached from the face masks were also tested for toxicity. In addition to that, changes in the cellular morphology were also studied with the help of FE-SEM and FTIR analysis. Our study reveals that leachates from disposable surgical face masks along with nTiO2 possess a serious threat to the environment.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.08.544143v1" target="_blank">Combined effects of P25 TiO2 nanoparticles and disposable face mask leachate on microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus: Analysing the effects of heavy metals</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>«The Future Begins in 2020»: Narratives and Speculative Imaginaries in the Latin American (Sci-Fi) Audio Drama Podcasts Caso 63 (2020) and Número Oculto (2022)</strong> -
<div>
After international recognition from critics, the release of three seasons, and several adaptations to other languages, the fiction podcast Caso 63 (Chile, 2020) success is unprecedented for the podcasting industry produced in Spanish. Together with Número Oculto (Argentina, 2022), both are current paradigmatic cases for studying the new Latin American (sci-fi) audio drama podcasts. This paper proposes a comparative analysis of the first season of these audio series distributed by Spotify Studios to locate them as representative productions of the narratives and speculative imaginaries related to science fiction, such as post-eschatological futures, time travels, the global dominance of big tech companies, the environmental destruction (ecocide), quantum mysticism, among others. The proposal contextualizes these productions as part of the trends of audio drama produced in Spain in the last decade, the intermedial dialogues with the so-called “new Hispanic apocalyptic” literature, and the recent “awakening of podcasting” in Latin America after the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. Finally, it concludes with a reflection on the platformization of cultural production and the future of (sci-fi) audio drama podcasts in the Hispanic world.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/9v8hr/" target="_blank">«The Future Begins in 2020»: Narratives and Speculative Imaginaries in the Latin American (Sci-Fi) Audio Drama Podcasts Caso 63 (2020) and Número Oculto (2022)</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Impacts of urban stressors on freshwater biofilms</strong> -
<div>
In urban areas, aquatic ecosystems and their communities are exposed to numerous stressors of various natures (chemical and physical), which impacts are often poorly documented. In epidemic context such as the COVID 19 pandemic, the use of biocides such as the dodecylbenzyldimethylammonium chloride (BAC 12) increased, resulting in an expectable increase in their concentrations in urban aquatic ecosystems. This compound is known to be toxic to most aquatic organisms. Besides, artificial light at night (ALAN) is increasing globally, especially in urban areas. ALAN may have a negative impact on photosynthetic cycles of periphytic biofilms, which in turn may result in changes in their metabolic functioning. Moreover, studies suggest that exposure to artificial light could increase the biocidal effect of BAC 12 on biofilms. The present study investigates the individual and combined effects of BAC 12 and/or ALAN on the functioning and structure of photosynthetic biofilms. We exposed biofilms to a nominal concentration of 30 mg.L-1 of BAC 12 and/or ALAN for 10 days. BAC 12 had a negative impact on biofilm functioning by decreasing the amount and the quality of photosynthetic pigments, resulting in a &gt;90% decrease in photosynthetic efficiency after 2 days of exposure. We also noted a strong decrease in glycolipids that resulted in a shift in lipid profiles. We found no significant effect of ALAN on the endpoints assessed and no interaction between the two stress factors.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.11.544504v1" target="_blank">Impacts of urban stressors on freshwater biofilms</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Vaccine effectiveness against mild and severe disease in pregnant mothers and their infants in England.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background Pregnant women are at increased risk of adverse outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection, including venous thromboembolism, admission to critical care and death. Their infants may also suffer from pre-term birth, stillbirth and severe disease. Vaccination may protect both mothers and their infants against severe COVID-19 disease. Methods We used a test-negative, case-control study design to estimate vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease and hospitalisation with the Delta and Omicron variants in pregnant women who gave birth in 2021 in England. We also estimated the protection conferred by prior infection and maternal vaccination against symptomatic disease and hospitalisation with the Delta and Omicron variants in their infants. Findings Vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease (Delta and Omicron) and against hospitalisation (Delta only) was high and similar to that observed in the general population. Maternal vaccination during and post-pregnancy as well as previous infection also provided sustained protection from symptomatic disease and hospitalisation following Delta and Omicron infection in infants up to 8 months of age, with the highest protection being observed when maternal vaccination occurred during later pregnancy. Unlike non-pregnant women, a booster dose provided sustained protection with no evidence of waning up to 15 weeks after vaccination. Interpretation Maternal vaccination prevents mild and severe disease in pregnant women and their infants up to 6-8 months after birth. Our findings support the promotion of both primary and booster vaccination for pregnant women, irrespective of prior infection status, to protect themselves and their infants. Funding. None.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.07.23290978v1" target="_blank">Vaccine effectiveness against mild and severe disease in pregnant mothers and their infants in England.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The Role of Vaccine Status Homophily in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey with Modeling</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: Vaccine homophily describes non-heterogeneous vaccine uptake within contact networks. This study was performed to determine observable patterns of vaccine homophily, associations between vaccine homophily, self-reported vaccination, COVID-19 prevention behaviours, contact network size, and self-reported COVID-19, as well as the impact of vaccine homophily on disease transmission within and between vaccination groups under conditions of high and low vaccine efficacy. Methods: Residents of British Columbia, Canada, aged ≥16 years, were recruited via online advertisements between February and March 2022, and provided information about vaccination status, perceived vaccination status of household and non-household contacts, compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines, and history of COVID-19. A deterministic mathematical model was used to assess transmission dynamics between vaccine status groups under conditions of high and low vaccine efficacy. Results: Vaccine homophily was observed among the 1304 respondents, but was lower among those with fewer doses (p&lt;0.0001). Unvaccinated individuals had larger contact networks (p&lt;0.0001), were more likely to report prior COVID-19 (p&lt;0.0001), and reported lower compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines (p&lt;0.0001). Mathematical modelling showed that vaccine homophily plays a considerable role in epidemic growth under conditions of high and low vaccine efficacy. Further, vaccine homophily contributes to a high force of infection among unvaccinated individuals under conditions of high vaccine efficacy, as well as elevated force of infection from unvaccinated to vaccinated individuals under conditions of low vaccine efficacy. Interpretation: The uneven uptake of COVID-19 vaccines and the nature of the contact network in the population play important roles in shaping COVID-19 transmission dynamics.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.06.23291056v1" target="_blank">The Role of Vaccine Status Homophily in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey with Modeling</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Reliability, validity and dimensionality of the GHQ-12 in South African populations: Structural equation modelling (SEM)</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Introduction Health Care Workers (HCWs) were among the high risk groups for SARS CoV 2 infection and suffer a high burden of poor mental health including depression, anxiety, traumatic stress, avoidance and burnout. The 12 Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ 12) has showed best fit in both a one-factor structure and a multidimensional structure for the screening of common mental disorders and psychiatric well being. The aim was to test for the reliability and validity and ascertain the factor structure of the GHQ 12 in a South African HCW population. Methods Data was collected from 832 public hospital and clinic staff during the COVID 19 pandemic in Gauteng, South Africa. The factor structure of the GHQ 12 in this professional population was examined by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to identify factors, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for construct validity and structural equation modelling (SEM). Results The GHQ 12 median score was higher (25) in women than in men (24), p=0.044. The determinant for the correlation matrix was=0.047, the Barlett test of sphericity was p&lt;0.001, Chi square=2086.9 and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) of sampling adequacy was 0.86. The four factors identified were labelled as Social-Dysfunction (37.8%), Anxiety-Depression (35.4%) Capable (24.9%) and Self-Efficacy (22.7%). The entire sample had a Cronbach alpha of 0.85, with 0.69 for Social-Dysfunction, 0.74 for Anxiety-Depression, 0.64 for Capable and 0.52 for Self-Efficacy in orthogonal (varimax) factor loadings. Conclusions The GHQ 12 tool displayed adequate reliability and validity in measuring psychological distress in a professional group with a four factor model suggesting multidimensionality in this group rather than a unidimensional construct.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.06.23290967v1" target="_blank">Reliability, validity and dimensionality of the GHQ-12 in South African populations: Structural equation modelling (SEM)</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Clinical course of COVID-19 patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care hospital in Central India</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background: COVID-19 pandemic also known as Corona virus pandemic, is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV 2). In India, the first case of COVID-19 was reported on 30 January 2020 while in Madhya Pradesh on 20 March 2020 and in Rewa on 27 April 2020. Nearly 95 % of people recovered fromCOVID-19, and nearly three to five percent of cases needed Intensive Care Unit care and most of them needed mechanical ventilation. Materials and Methods: This was a hospital based cross-sectional study, done among 75 clinical or RT-PCR confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection admitted to the ICU of tertiary care unit. Results: In the present study, 63% were male and maximum (35%) belonged to 41-60 years of age. The most common symptom was fever at the time of admission to the hospital. Co-morbidity was reported in 21(28%) of patients. Out of these, majority of patients recorded combination of hypertension and diabetes as the most common comorbidity. Conclusion: Delayed medical intervention, advanced age, and the presence of underlying health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc., are known risk factors for severe illness and can contribute to worse outcomes and increased mortality in COVID-19 patients. Keywords: COVID -19, Covid mortality, comorbidity, ICU Outcome, Pneumonia, Tertiary care
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.07.23290823v1" target="_blank">Clinical course of COVID-19 patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care hospital in Central India</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Differences in Vaccine and SARS-CoV-2 Replication Derived mRNA: Implications for Cell Biology and Future Disease</strong> -
<div>
Codon optimization describes the process used to increase protein production by use of alternative but synonymous codon changes. In SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines codon optimizations can result in differential secondary conformations that inevitably affect a protein’s function with significant consequences to the cell. Importantly, when codon optimization increases the GC content of synthetic mRNAs, there can be an inevitable enrichment of G-quartets which potentially form G-quadruplex structures. The emerging G-quadruplexes are favorable binding sites of RNA binding proteins like helicases that inevitably affect epigenetic reprogramming of the cell by altering transcription, translation and replication. In this study, we performed a RNAfold analysis to investigate alterations in secondary structures of mRNAs in SARS-CoV-2 vaccines due to codon optimization. We show a significant increase in the GC content of mRNAs in vaccines as compared to native SARS-CoV-2 RNA sequences encoding the spike protein. As the GC enrichment leads to more G-quadruplex structure formations, these may contribute to potential pathological processes initiated by SARS-CoV-2 molecular vaccination.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/bcsa6/" target="_blank">Differences in Vaccine and SARS-CoV-2 Replication Derived mRNA: Implications for Cell Biology and Future Disease</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Attitudes towards science during the COVID-19 pandemic: A psychological network approach</strong> -
<div>
A better understanding of the public attitude towards science could be crucial to tackle the spread of mis- and disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. We here contribute to this understanding by conceptualizing and analyzing the attitude toward science as a psychological network. For this analysis, we utilized data from a German probability sample (N = 1,009), the “Science Barometer”, collected during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, our network analysis revealed that especially the perceived value of science for curbing the pandemic is central to the attitude towards science. Beliefs about this value are related to trust in science and trust in scientific information and to positive and negative evaluations of scientific controversy and complexity. Further, valuing common sense over science was related to seeking less scientific information on official websites, suggesting that this belief, in particular, may drive mis- and disinformation and could be a promising target for interventions. Finally, we found no evidence that seeking scientific information on social media had detrimental consequences for the attitude towards science. Implications for health communication and science communication, limitations, and future directions are discussed.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/zrwy9/" target="_blank">Attitudes towards science during the COVID-19 pandemic: A psychological network approach</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>How do Good and Bad News Impact Mood During the Covid-19 Pandemic? The Role of Similarity</strong> -
<div>
How do media reports about the Covid-19 pandemic influence our mood? Building on the social comparison theory, we predicted that reading negative news affecting a similar group would result in an impaired mood. In contrast, reading negative news about a dissimilar group should lead to improved mood. To test this, 150 undergraduate students read positive or negative news about the well-being of a similar or dissimilar group during the pandemic. As predicted, a mood assimilation effect occurred for similar groups, whilst a contrast effect occurred for a dissimilar group. The findings suggest that media reports can have a strong impact on mood. The direction of these effects, however, seems to depend strongly on social comparison processes.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://osf.io/sy2kd/" target="_blank">How do Good and Bad News Impact Mood During the Covid-19 Pandemic? The Role of Similarity</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The Perception of Infection Risks during the Early and Later Outbreak of COVID-19 in Germany: Consequences and Recommendations</strong> -
<div>
In three studies (N = 1,055), we investigated the determinants and consequences of the perception of infection risks during the early and later outbreak of COVID-19 in Germany. Individuals’ perceived COVID-19 infection risk was reasonably in line with experts’ assessment but changed over time. The probability of the rare event of getting severely sick and hospitalized was overestimated. Overestimation increased in the exponential growth phase of the pandemic and later on decreased again, showing an inverse U-shaped pattern. Individuals showed biases in their risk perception concerning overconfidence and the underestimation of exponential growth of infection cases in the early phase of the pandemic. Forecasts were more accurate after the growth curve had flattened. Risk perceptions increased with perceived dread and tended to increase with perceived control over infection, the evaluation of scientific and own knowledge about the pandemic. Approval for the introduction of stricter governmental measures and acceptance of future vaccination measures was mainly influenced by rational utilitarian factors of risk perception (probabilities and utilities of outcomes). These rational influences were mediated by dread, but dread had an additional potentially irrational effect. Adherence to governmental recommendations was mainly driven by dread and positive expected long-term consequences of the measures. To a smaller degree, adherence increased with perceived personal consequences of infection and decreased with negative expected short-term consequences of these measures. Implications for theory development are discussed and recommendations to handle virus outbreaks are derived.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/wdbgc/" target="_blank">The Perception of Infection Risks during the Early and Later Outbreak of COVID-19 in Germany: Consequences and Recommendations</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Prolonged viral shedding from noninfectious individuals confounds wastewater-based epidemiology</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Wastewater surveillance has been widely used to track and estimate SARS-CoV-2 incidence. While both infectious and recovered individuals shed virus into wastewater, epidemiological inferences using wastewater often only consider the viral contribution from the former group. Yet, the persistent shedding in the latter group could confound wastewater-based epidemiological inference, especially during the late stage of an outbreak when the recovered population outnumbers the infectious population. To determine the impact of recovered individuals9 viral shedding on the utility of wastewater surveillance, we develop a quantitative framework that incorporates population-level viral shedding dynamics, measured viral RNA in wastewater, and an epidemic dynamic model. We find that the viral shedding from the recovered population can become higher than the infectious population after the transmission peak, which leads to a decrease in the correlation between wastewater viral RNA and case report data. Furthermore, the inclusion of recovered individuals9 viral shedding into the model predicts earlier transmission dynamics and slower decreasing trends in wastewater viral RNA. The prolonged viral shedding also induces a potential delay in the detection of new variants due to the time needed to generate enough new cases for a significant viral signal in an environment dominated by virus shed by the recovered population. This effect is most prominent toward the end of an outbreak and is greatly affected by both the recovered individuals9 shedding rate and shedding duration. Our results suggest that the inclusion of viral shedding from non-infectious recovered individuals into wastewater surveillance research is important for precision epidemiology.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.08.23291144v1" target="_blank">Prolonged viral shedding from noninfectious individuals confounds wastewater-based epidemiology</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Intragroup differences in COVID-19 vaccine attitudes among Black Americans</strong> -
<div>
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black Americans threatens to further magnify racial inequities in COVID-19 related health outcomes that emerged in the earliest stages of the pandemic. Here we shed new light on attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines by considering intragroup variation. Rather than analyzing Blacks as a homogenous group, we examine the relationship between COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and the extent to which participants are aligned with African American versus White culture (i.e., level of “acculturation”). In a sample of N=997 Black Americans, we find that stronger alignment with African American culture predicts substantially more negative attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, above and beyond variation explained by age, gender, education, and socioeconomic status. This relationship was substantially attenuated when controlling for suspicion of the healthcare system, but not perceptions that healthcare system treats Blacks unfairly, science knowledge, or cognitive reflection. The intragroup differences among Blacks in COVID-19 vaccine perceptions uncovered here provide insights into designing interventions that provide health information that targets the relevant factors for vaccine hesitancy in differing subgroups.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/r3vem/" target="_blank">Intragroup differences in COVID-19 vaccine attitudes among Black Americans</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Extracorporeal Photopheresis as a Possible Therapeutic Approach to Adults With Severe and Critical COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Procedure: Extracorporeal photopheresis<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Del-Pest Central Hospital - National Institute of Hematology and Infectious Diseases<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Clinical Trial on Booster Immunization of Two COVID-19 Vaccines Constructed From Different Technical Routes</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Prototype and Omicron BA.4/5 Bivalent Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine(Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) For Inhalation;   Biological: Bivalent COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine;   Biological: Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine (Adenovirus Type 5 Vector) For Inhalation<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Zhongnan Hospital;   Institute of Biotechnology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, PLA of China<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Community-engaged Optimization of COVID-19 Rapid Evaluation And TEsting Experiences</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   COVID-19;   COVID-19 Pandemic<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Behavioral: COVID-19 walk-up, on-site testing strategy;   Behavioral: Community Health Worker (CHW) leading testing navigation and general preventive care reminders;   Behavioral: No-cost self-testing kit vending machines<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   University of California, San Diego;   San Ysidro Health Center<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety Study of COVID19 Vaccine on the Market</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Recombinant new coronavirus vaccine (CHO cell)<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biologic Pharmacy Co., Ltd.;   Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention;   Guizhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention;   Hainan Center for Disease Control &amp; Prevention<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm F (Montelukast)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Other: Placebo;   Drug: Montelukast<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Susanna Naggie, MD;   National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS);   Vanderbilt University Medical Center<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm B (Fluvoxamine)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Fluvoxamine;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Susanna Naggie, MD;   National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS);   Vanderbilt University Medical Center<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm D (Ivermectin 600)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Ivermectin;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Susanna Naggie, MD;   National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS);   Vanderbilt University Medical Center<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Study of Repurposed Medications - Arm E (Fluvoxamine 100)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Fluvoxamine;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Susanna Naggie, MD;   National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS);   Vanderbilt University Medical Center<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluation of Home Use COVID-19 Frequent Antigen Testing and Data Reporting</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Respiratory Infection<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Diagnostic Test: SARS CoV-2 antigen tests<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   IDX20 Inc;   National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Mitoquinone/Mitoquinol Mesylate as Oral and Safe Postexposure Prophylaxis for Covid-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   SARS-CoV Infection;   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Mitoquinone/mitoquinol mesylate;   Other: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pycnogenol® in Post-COVID-19 Condition</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Post COVID-19 Condition;   Long COVID<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Pycnogenol®;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of Zurich<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy of Bailing Capsule on Pulmonary Fibrosis After COVID-19</strong> - <b>Conditions</b>:   Pulmonary Fibrosis;   COVID-19 Pneumonia<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Bailing capsule<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluating Emetine for Viral Outbreaks (EVOLVE)</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Emetine Hydrochloride;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Johns Hopkins University;   Nepal Health Research Council;   Bharatpur Hospital Chitwan;   Stony Brook University;   Rutgers University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>To Evaluate the Immunogenicity and Safety of Sequential Booster Immunization of Recombinant Novel Coronavirus Vaccine (CHO Cells) for SARS-CoV-2</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Biological: Recombinant Novel Coronavirus vaccine (CHO Cells)<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biologic Pharmacy Co., Ltd.<br/><b>Completed</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Study to Learn About How Loss of Liver Function Affects the Blood Levels of the Study Medicine Called PF-07817883.</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: PF-07817883<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Pfizer<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Applications of advances in mRNA-based platforms as therapeutics and diagnostics in reproductive technologies</strong> - The recent COVID-19 pandemic led to many drastic changes in not only society, law, economics, but also in science and medicine, marking for the first time when drug regulatory authorities cleared for use mRNA-based vaccines in the fight against this outbreak. However, while indeed representing a novel application of such technology in the context of vaccination medicine, introducing RNA into cells to produce resultant molecules (proteins, antibodies, etc.) is not a novel principle. It has been…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Biotransformation and brain distribution of the anti-COVID-19 drug molnupiravir and herb-drug pharmacokinetic interactions between the herbal extract Scutellaria formula-NRICM101</strong> - The aim of this study was to explore the effects of herbal drug pharmacokinetic interactions on the biotransformation of molnupiravir and its metabolite β-D-N4-hydroxycytidine (NHC) in the blood and brain. To investigate the biotransformation mechanism, a carboxylesterase inhibitor, bis(4-nitrophenyl)phosphate (BNPP), was administered. Not only molnupiravir but also the herbal medicine Scutellaria formula-NRICM101 is potentially affected by coadministration with molnupiravir. However, the…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dicoumarol is an effective post-exposure prophylactic for SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection in human airway epithelium</strong> - Repurposing existing drugs to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection in airway epithelial cells (AECs) is a quick way to find novel treatments for COVID-19. Computational screening has found dicoumarol (DCM), a natural anticoagulant, to be a potential SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor, but its inhibitory effects and possible working mechanisms remain unknown. Using air-liquid interface culture of primary human AECs, we demonstrated that DCM has potent antiviral activity against the infection of multiple Omicron…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Binding properties of selective inhibitors of P323L mutated RdRp of SARS-CoV-2: a combined molecular screening, docking and dynamics simulation study</strong> - Since 2019 the SARS-CoV-2 and its variants caused COVID-19, such incidents brought the world in pandemic situation. This happened due to furious mutations in SARS-CoV-2, in which some variants had high transmissibility and infective, this led the virus emerged as virulent and worsened the COVID-19 situation. Among the variants, P323L is one of the important mutants of RdRp in SARS-CoV-2. To inhibit the erroneous function of this mutated RdRp, we have screened 943 molecules against the P323L…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Identification of Flavonoids from <em>Scutellaria barbata</em> D. Don as Inhibitors of HIV-1 and Cathepsin L Proteases and Their Structure-Activity Relationships</strong> - Scutellaria barbata D. Don (SB, Chinese: Ban Zhi Lian), a well-known medicinal plant used in traditional Chinese medicine, is rich in flavonoids. It possesses antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral activities. In this study, we evaluated the inhibitory activities of SB extracts and its active components against HIV-1 protease (HIV-1 PR) and SARS-CoV2 viral cathepsin L protease (Cat L PR). UPLC/HRMS was used to identify and quantify the major active flavonoids in different SB extracts, and…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Docking-Based Evidence for the Potential of ImmunoDefender: A Novel Formulated Essential Oil Blend Incorporating Synergistic Antiviral Bioactive Compounds as Promising Mpro Inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2</strong> - Essential oils (Eos) have demonstrated antiviral activity, but their toxicity can hinder their use as therapeutic agents. Recently, some essential oil components have been used within safe levels of acceptable daily intake limits without causing toxicity. The “ImmunoDefender,” a novel antiviral compound made from a well-known mixture of essential oils, is considered highly effective in treating SARS-CoV-2 infections. The components and doses were chosen based on existing information about their…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Luteolin Isolated from <em>Juncus acutus</em> L., a Potential Remedy for Human Coronavirus 229E</strong> - The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, addressed the lack of specific antiviral drugs against coronaviruses. In this study, bioguided fractionation performed on both ethyl acetate and aqueous sub-extracts of Juncus acutus stems led to identifying luteolin as a highly active antiviral molecule against human coronavirus HCoV-229E. The apolar sub-extract (CH(2)Cl(2)) containing phenanthrene derivatives did not show antiviral activity against this coronavirus. Infection tests on Huh-7 cells,…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Prostaglandins and Cytokines in Humans: <em>A Mini Review</em></strong> - Inflammation has been described for two millennia, but cellular aspects and the paradigm involving different mediators have been identified in the recent century. Two main groups of molecules, the prostaglandins (PG) and the cytokines, have been discovered and play a major role in inflammatory processes. The activation of prostaglandins PGE2, PGD2 and PGI2 results in prominent symptoms during cardiovascular and rheumatoid diseases. The balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory compounds is…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Free Light Chains <em>κ</em> and <em>λ</em> as New Biomarkers of Selected Diseases</strong> - Diagnostic and prognostic markers are necessary to help in patient diagnosis and the prediction of future clinical events or disease progression. As promising biomarkers of selected diseases, the free light chains (FLCs) κ and λ were considered. Measurements of FLCs are currently used in routine diagnostics of, for example, multiple myeloma, and the usefulness of FLCs as biomarkers of monoclonal gammopathies is well understood. Therefore, this review focuses on the studies concerning FLCs as new…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Eupatin, a Flavonoid, Inhibits Coronavirus 3CL Protease and Replication</strong> - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused more than six million deaths worldwide since 2019. Although vaccines are available, novel variants of coronavirus are expected to appear continuously, and there is a need for a more effective remedy for coronavirus disease. In this report, we isolated eupatin from Inula japonica flowers and showed that it inhibits the coronavirus 3 chymotrypsin-like (3CL) protease as well as viral replication. We showed that eupatin treatment inhibits…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound for the treatment of viral pneumonia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial</strong> - BACKGROUND: Viral pneumonia has always been a problem faced by clinicians because of its insidious onset, strong infectivity, and lack of effective drugs. Patients with advanced age or underlying diseases may experience more severe symptoms and are prone to severe ventilation dysfunction. Reducing pulmonary inflammation and improving clinical symptoms is the focus of current treatment. Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) can mitigate inflammation and inhibit edema formation. We aimed to…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Dihydroisocoumarins of Hydrangea macrophylla var. thunbergia inhibit binding of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to ACE2</strong> - Binding of the spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 to the cognate angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor is the initial step in the viral infection process. In this study, we screened an in-house extract library to identify food materials with inhibitory activity against this binding using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and attempted to ascertain their active constituents. Hydrangea macrophylla var. thunbergia leaves were identified as candidate materials. Its…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Upgrading nirmatrelvir to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Mpro via DeepFrag and free energy calculations</strong> - The first oral drug for the treatment of COVID-19, Paxlovid, has been authorized; however, nirmatrelvir, a major component of the drug, is reported to be associated with some side effects. Moreover, the appearance of many novel variants raises concerns about drug resistance, and designing new potent inhibitors to prevent viral replication is thus urgent. In this context, using a hybrid approach combining machine learning (ML) and free energy simulations, 6 compounds obtained by modifying…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Multiscale Simulations of the Covalent Inhibition of the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease: Four Compounds and Three Reaction Mechanisms</strong> - We report the results of computational modeling of the reactions of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^(Pro)) with four potential covalent inhibitors. Two of them, carmofur and nirmatrelvir, have shown experimentally the ability to inhibit M^(Pro). Two other compounds, X77A and X77C, were designed computationally in this work. They were derived from the structure of X77, a non-covalent inhibitor forming a tight surface complex with M^(Pro). We modified the X77 structure by introducing warheads…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Alpha-1-antitrypsin antagonizes COVID-19: a review of the epidemiology, molecular mechanisms, and clinical evidence</strong> - Alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT), a serine protease inhibitor (serpin), is increasingly recognized to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection and counter many of the pathogenic mechanisms of COVID-19. Herein, we reviewed the epidemiologic evidence, the molecular mechanisms, and the clinical evidence that support this paradigm. As background to our discussion, we first examined the basic mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 infection and contend that despite the availability of vaccines and anti-viral agents, COVID-19 remains…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Trump Is Desperately Trying to Define the Narrative About His Federal Indictment</strong> - Days before he appears in court to face seven criminal charges, the former President is trying to rally his base and elected Republicans behind his false claim that the case is “a hoax.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/trump-is-desperately-trying-to-define-the-narrative-about-his-federal-indictment">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Supreme Court’s Surprise Defense of the Voting Rights Act</strong> - The Chief Justice appeared impatient with the maximalist demands that partisans on the right are placing on a Court they seem to feel they own. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-supreme-courts-surprise-defense-of-the-voting-rights-act">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Legal Dynamics of Trump’s Second Indictment</strong> - The case, which concerns the former President’s handling of classified documents, raises complicated questions about intent and national security. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-legal-dynamics-of-trumps-second-indictment">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Most Belligerent Flack on Capitol Hill</strong> - Nick Dyer, the deputy chief of staff to Marjorie Taylor Greene, has built a career as a political aide out of what one observer calls “pure, non-strategic contempt.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-south/the-most-belligerent-flack-on-capitol-hill">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Will the Judge in Trump’s Case Recuse Herself—or Be Forced To?</strong> - Federal law requires a judge to step away from a case in which her impartiality “might reasonably be questioned.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/will-the-judge-in-trumps-case-recuse-herself-or-be-forced-to">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Why Montana kids are suing the state over climate change</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Stacks emitting plumes of smoke set against a pretty sky. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SmA9yknDz7fZUx-9huma7midakM=/208x0:3664x2592/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72362053/GettyImages_524570562.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Stacks from the Colstrip coal-fired power plant east of Billings, Montana. | Corbis via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
A lawsuit in the state of Montana could set a legal precedent on climate action.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="uzMrNG">
Do citizens have a right to a healthy environment? In Montana they do. The state constitution reads, “The state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.” And a group of young people are using that language to sue the state over its energy policies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PfDUef">
In one of the country’s first climate change lawsuits, a group of 16 young people in Montana alleges that the state has violated their constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment.” The plaintiffs are arguing that the state government’s ongoing support of the fossil fuel industry in Montana is disproportionately harming them. Depending on the ruling, this could set an example for similar suits across the country.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KK6VeU">
Montana is a <a href="https://leg.mt.gov/content/publications/Environmental/2004deq_energy_report/coal_text.pdf">major coal exporter and has the largest coal reserves</a> in the United States. The coal industry has also been a boon for the local economy: Jobs in the coal industry pay about <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/the-end-of-coal-is-bringing-a-wrenching-transition">30 percent more than the median income</a> in the state. The outcome of this case could impact coal’s place in the local economy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SPt5v4">
At the same time, preserving the environment makes economic sense for Montana, too. Outdoor recreation is a <a href="https://outdoorindustry.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/OIA_RecEcoState_MT.pdf">$7.1 billion dollar industry</a> there. Camping, hiking, fly fishing, and other outdoor activities draw tourists to the state. Critics of the state’s current energy policy point toward green energy like wind turbines as a possible economic alternative to fossil fuels.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9JW5Sq">
This case could also set a precedent, creating a legal roadmap for similar challenges at a crucial time. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN’s goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will be <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2022/04/04/ipcc-ar6-wgiii-pressrelease/#:~:text=Without%20immediate%20and%20deep%20emissions,(IPCC)%20report%20released%20today.">out of reach</a> unless drastic changes are made in the next two years.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E80fYQ">
One of the plaintiffs, Grace Gibson-Snyder, remembers when she first noticed the impact of climate change in her hometown. It was during one of her summer soccer practices in August, when wildfire smoke blew into the Missoula Valley, where she lives. “The smoke was so dense that the kids on the team with asthma could not play at all,” she said. “And then for the rest of us, it was uncomfortable. It feels like it’s scratching your throat and your lungs.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8R1ZN0">
Gibson-Snyder, who is 19, says she’s frustrated with the way that young people are discussed as the solution to the climate crisis. She’s also frustrated with what she views as government inaction. “I wish lawmakers understood that this is the only way I see a future where I want to be there. And the youth don’t have a choice, we will be there one way or another.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yg7KbH">
The Montana state attorney general’s office has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/first-us-youth-climate-change-trial-kicks-off-montana-2023-06-09/">referred</a> to this case as a publicity stunt exploiting well-intentioned kids, and gave <em>The Weeds</em> the following statement when asked for comment, which reads in part:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="d0untu">
Following the legislative session, there are no existing laws or policies for the district court to rule on. A show trial on laws that do not exist, as the district court seems intent on holding, would be a colossal waste of taxpayer resources. This same lawsuit has been thrown out of federal court and courts in a dozen other states — and it should be dismissed here in Montana as well.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ndSEpJ">
No matter the outcome, the trial in Helena, Montana likely won’t be the end of this legal battle, according to Amanda Eggert, environmental reporter for Montana Free Press. “I think there’s no question that there will be an appeal to the Montana Supreme Court, no matter which way it goes,” she said. “So I think we’re looking at several years before it’s finally decided.”
</p>
<div id="TmEZvm">
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WxfraY">
Below is an excerpt of my conversation with Eggert, edited for length and clarity. You can listen to <em>The Weeds</em> on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/voxs-the-weeds/id1042433083">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1vSUO6Bg4abtjRF7fnGpT1">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/voxs-the-weeds">Stitcher</a>, or wherever you get podcasts.
</p>
<h4 id="2FOegc">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i97T0X">
Can you walk us through the timeline of events regarding this case?
</p>
<h4 id="x0CcqS">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T9u0LB">
So in March of 2020, 16 youth plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in a district court in Montana. Shortly thereafter, the state moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to bring the lawsuit. And the judge in this case, Kathy Seeley, denied the motion to dismiss and essentially set the lawsuit on a path for trial.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x0WxZZ">
But something interesting that happened recently is that our legislature convened in January for a 90-day session, and they passed a couple of bills that have pretty strong implications for the lawsuit.
</p>
<h4 id="dh3XyC">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QIdJas">
How so?
</p>
<h4 id="kL0idx">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Vh83Md">
Well, central to plaintiffs’ claims was the state’s energy policy, and that was a legislatively established piece of law that’s about 30 years old, establishing a broad energy vision for the state. And the legislature actually repealed the entirety of the policy this spring. So shortly after that was passed by the legislature and signed by the governor, the state moved to dismiss the lawsuit arguing that since this piece of law is no longer on the books, the lawsuit has no grounds to proceed.<strong> </strong>And they asked the judge to dismiss the case based on the repeal of that policy. And she did decide to narrow the scope of the case based on the repeal of that policy. But there’s another law at play here too, and that is House Bill 971, and that explicitly prohibits the state from considering greenhouse gas emissions or climate impacts in its environmental review process.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="05M0tT">
So Judge Seeley actually referenced the passage of House Bill 971 in her order that she issued on May 23, 2023, and she said that the courts may be unable to direct the state to consider greenhouse gas impacts, but it can certainly strike down a statute preventing them from doing something like that. And she’s allowed the case to proceed.
</p>
<h4 id="hp2ODK">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MJ6RRN">
Were people surprised that Judge Seeley took this case on in the first place?
</p>
<h4 id="sxHLFS">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k4tHiK">
Yeah, I think it is pretty surprising. It still surprises me to this day. It’ll be the first time that a climate change case of this nature goes to trial. There will be a lot of people watching it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qELkJS">
Judges are often reluctant to rule on constitutional claims such as a quote-unquote “clean and healthful environment” because there’s some subjectivity to that. Oftentimes, they would prefer to rule on statute alone. You know, what legislators pass in the capitol every two years in Montana, because that can be a little bit more fleshed-out, versus a broad, overarching environmental protection for current and future generations. So, I was surprised, and it’s really going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.
</p>
<h4 id="dACHn5">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eMMGp4">
Do we know why the judge denied the state’s motion to dismiss?
</p>
<h4 id="aDOcPg">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cNLK6N">
I think she recognized that the plaintiffs have standing and that standing is a legal concept, essentially establishing that the plaintiffs have demonstrable harms and that there are remedial actions that can be taken to correct those harms.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OoxIsz">
And she also recognized that the state’s energy policies do have a direct bearing on those harms.
</p>
<h4 id="X71ygj">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B0yDSg">
Often, when we talk about climate change, we talk about it on a more global scale, but this seems really individual and really small scale, these young people are saying this is harming me in this particular way.
</p>
<h4 id="rtHJF9">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j85U3c">
I’ve spoken with one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, and I know that they took great care to establish a whole record. Their initial complaint is over 100 pages, which is huge by legal standards.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="udKbIr">
But in that they’re trying to establish very specific individual harms. So there are plaintiffs that talk about being evacuated due to forest fires or plaintiffs who talk about grieving the loss of glaciers in Glacier National Park. There are plaintiffs who talk about concerns related to wildlife.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3lEDOg">
And in addition to establishing those very specific harms, the plaintiffs also went to great lengths to demonstrate that climate change is happening, that climate change is happening in Montana, and that the state has been extremely permissive in its permitting of fossil fuel extraction, which is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Montana.
</p>
<h4 id="QhZyqK">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fG3y6b">
What exactly is the state arguing against the plaintiffs?
</p>
<h4 id="g3uVMX">
<strong>Amanda Eggert </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="87FON5">
The state is making all kinds of claims. A lot of them are central to whether or not the plaintiffs have standing. That’s kind of a legal test, establishing that there’s a harm that’s occurring, that there’s some sort of judicial remedy that could correct those harms, and that the actors involved in this situation, the state, are implicated in furthering those harms.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9Lm0HJ">
So much of the state’s claims thus far deal with whether or not climate change is occurring, whether the plaintiffs have experienced the harms that they allege in their filings, and whether there is any legal foundation to change state energy permitting practices.
</p>
<h4 id="4oCA6O">
<strong> Jonquilyn Hill</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="p0JyDh">
Underlying this legal battle is another tension in Montana, between preserving the outdoor economy and the state’s role as an energy exporter. Can you talk about the impact of climate change in Montana? How is the land itself changing and how is it impacting citizens and the state’s economy?
</p>
<h4 id="J6liG0">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AS1E11">
I think one of the clearest assessments we have of climate change impacts in Montana specifically came out in 2017. It’s called the Montana Climate Assessment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hrTEPn">
Our governor at the time, a Democrat, Steve Bullock, asked the state to put together this assessment, and it found that between 1950 and 2015, the state had warmed on an average between two and three degrees. And then it goes into more specific impacts — we don’t have as much snowpack as we used to. And that’s a big deal for our rivers.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JDvlFi">
Montana is a headwater state located along the continental divide. Some of our rivers go all the way down to the Columbia, others go all the way down to the Mississippi. But with the loss of snowpack, we have less snow and therefore water to sustain our rivers into the late summer and fall. That’s a big deal for our outdoor economy. Fly fishing is a great big deal in this state. It’s also a big deal for agriculture, — lots of farmers are dependent on rivers for irrigation of their crops.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jzA1lW">
Loss of snowpack is also a big deal for our ski industry and our outdoor recreation economy generally, which is about $7.1 billion. And then there are other impacts, like more extreme wildfires and a longer wildfire season, which has health impacts because there’s more smoke that everyone is sucking in through much of the summer and fall.
</p>
<h4 id="hoKmBZ">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8reOK8">
Montana has one of the largest outdoor recreation economies in the country. And I think that’s part of what makes Montana an interesting stage for this lawsuit, because it also has the largest coal reserves in the country. Can you talk about those opposite forces of industry?
</p>
<h4 id="CGOcC4">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lmCFeh">
Yeah. And that tension is very top of mind for me, having just come out of the legislative session where lawmakers passed some significant reforms to coal permitting and litigation challenging coal permits.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="evUdTK">
We have a Republican in the governor’s seat. We have a supermajority in the legislature of Republicans and they are a little more old school in terms of their support for what I would call a quote-unquote “traditional industry” such as logging and mining and agriculture. And that definitely is reflected in the laws that are passed at the Capitol.
</p>
<h4 id="3UyMHH">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4y0Cw8">
I want to talk about the potential impact on Montana if the judge rules in the plaintiffs’ favor. What could this potentially change for Montana?
</p>
<h4 id="L1plOT">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CE7v92">
That’s a really good question. And the way it’s been explained to me by one of the attorneys working for the plaintiffs is that it’s kind of like marriage equality, where initially they’re just asking the courts to recognize that the current law is out of accordance with the Constitution.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8JZjva">
And so it would very broadly establish that these harms are occurring, that they are not supposed to be occurring according to Montana’s constitution, and to establish this overarching principle that we’re going to kind of change the way that we do things.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MmD09m">
Generally speaking, that would look like asking the state to bring its energy permitting practices in alignment with the constitution and the protections for a clean and healthful environment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Kw4Ydv">
What that would look like in practice would be established through many iterations of policy, I would think.
</p>
<h4 id="Ha3Km2">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WqYBgp">
Can you talk a bit about the potential jobs and economic impact if these changes are made?
</p>
<h4 id="GKEGny">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7sSkLN">
One of the practices that’s central to plaintiffs’ claims involves coal mining and coal combustion. And coal mining jobs are high-paying jobs relative to the median income in Montana. I think they’re about 30 percent higher than Montana’s median income. In addition to coal mining and power plants, there are communities that are entirely dependent upon coal. They’ve been described as a one-horse town kind of a situation where if you don’t have the power plant and you don’t have the mine, then all of a sudden you have tumbling property values, you don’t have a tax base to support your school at the same level, maybe some of your local retailers go under, that kind of a thing.
</p>
<h4 id="5Ak4w0">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RUyRLJ">
Is it realistic to think that if the plaintiffs win in this case, Montana will make the switch to green energy?
</p>
<h4 id="6TxMUX">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9AApl7">
A lot of people are really curious about that. And I think there are a couple things at play. One is that even clean energy boosters will recognize that there are not as many wind energy jobs as there are for mining coal and burning it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AzdwCr">
And the other thing that they recognize is that they don’t tend to pay as well as the coal jobs. So that’s one component of it. You would potentially be looking at fewer jobs, maybe, though that’s probably debatable, that would pay a little less.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1Jw35O">
The other piece of this conversation that I think is relevant is there’s this kind of cultural divide in Montana regarding fossil fuel jobs and clean energy jobs. So I think it might be a little bit difficult for someone working at a coal-fired power plant or a boilermaker to sign on to maintain wind turbines, for example.
</p>
<h4 id="HuYV1P">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1rt49f">
As this trial starts, what will you be watching for?
</p>
<h4 id="sny0vB">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0hL2Wr">
So the state is making the argument that climate change is not a result of human activity, that it’s representative of natural variability. So I will be very interested to see how it makes those claims. They have an expert who will be testifying to that effect.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="la2qbr">
And I’ll also be interested in getting this both broad and deep look at the permitting process for energy projects. I’m kind of an energy nerd these days, and I’ll really be interested to see how the plaintiffs lay out the specific policies that have favored the fossil fuel industry.
</p>
<h4 id="l3L92h">
<strong>Jonquilyn Hill </strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UR0wjV">
Do we have a sense of the timeline? Do we know about how long this trial will take and when we can expect a ruling from the judge?
</p>
<h4 id="ngG7tP">
<strong>Amanda Eggert</strong>
</h4>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3wmMGA">
The trial is scheduled to take place over a two-week period, so it’ll wrap up by the end of June, and oh, man, I don’t have a crystal ball for when a ruling will come. I have talked to people who think that a ruling will come quickly.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6B5Kfq">
Evidently, one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs is confident that Judge Seeley will rule in the plaintiffs’ favor.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ArApG4">
I think there’s no question that there will be an appeal to the Montana Supreme Court, no matter which way it goes. So I think we’re looking at several years before it’s finally decided.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="awX152">
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BIqUC6">
</p></li>
<li><strong>The little-noticed court decision that changed homelessness in America</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A person walking across a city street toward a row of tents." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_UYIOJnesIuJMxE5EXRRQoI7FYE=/374x0:6347x4480/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72361972/1238737061.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
A person experiencing homelessness walks to their tent in the Skid Row neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on February 24, 2022. | David Swanson/Bloomberg via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Is there a right to sleep outside?
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nTOyrA">
Five years ago, a federal court <a href="https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2018/09/04/15-35845.pdf">issued a crucial ruling</a>. People experiencing homelessness, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/10/16873718/ninth-circuit-court-appeals-liberal-conservative-trump-tweet">Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals</a> said, can’t be punished for sleeping outside on public property if there are no adequate alternatives available.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Y8dKy2">
The 2018 decision in <em>Martin v. Boise</em> did not create the homelessness crisis, which researchers attribute primarily to the lack of affordable housing. The number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness — meaning those sleeping on the streets, in parks, in abandoned buildings or train stations, or anywhere not meant for humans to live — was rising before the decision.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6vMMca">
But as the number of unsheltered homeless people continued to grow over the past half-decade, the <em>Martin </em>decision has become a pivotal factor in shaping how cities respond to the very visible <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/3/8/23618237/homelessness-tent-encampments-housing-affordable">problem of tent encampments</a>, particularly on the West Coast.<strong> </strong>While the case never gained huge name recognition, it undergirds the policy and politics of homelessness in 2023. So much of the fight about how to address<strong> </strong>homelessness today is, at this point, a fight about <em>Martin.</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0IgQLM">
The case dates back to 2009, when Robert Martin and a group of fellow homeless residents in Boise, Idaho, sued, arguing that police citations they received for breaking local camping bans violated their constitutional rights. In 2018, the<strong> </strong>Ninth Circuit agreed that prosecuting people for sleeping or camping on public property when they have no home or shelter to go to violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e4MGTr">
“The government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter,” the court declared.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8Ad734">
States, cities, and counties <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docketfiles/html/public/19-247.html">urged</a> the US Supreme Court to take up the case, arguing the Ninth Circuit had created “a de facto” right to live on sidewalks and in parks that would <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/19-247/113245/20190822142009316_Martin-Boise%20Petition%20TO%20FILE.pdf">“cripple”</a> local leaders’ ability to safely govern their communities. But in 2019, the court declined, baffling some experts, though others suspect it’s because there were no conflicting circuit decisions at the time. Since then, <em>Martin </em>has shaped cities’ response — or lack thereof — to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/3/8/23618237/homelessness-tent-encampments-housing-affordable">the growing challenge of homeless tent encampments</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4VktFy">
While the decision only formally applies in areas under the Ninth Circuit’s jurisdiction, the ruling has reverberated nationally, as local governments consider how to address unsheltered homelessness in ways that could avoid costly constitutional legal battles. There have already <a href="https://homelesslaw.org/martin-v-boise-impact-page/">been dozens of court cases</a> citing <em>Martin, </em>including in the <a href="https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-132/manning-v-caldwell/">Fourth Circuit in Virginia</a>, and federal lower courts in Ohio, Missouri, Florida, Texas, New York, and Hawaii.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QUOa36">
For now, though, <em>Martin’s </em>impact can be seen most clearly out West. Just before Christmas 2022, for example, a district judge cited <em>Martin </em>when she ruled that San Francisco can no longer <a href="https://lccrsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/PI-Order.pdf">enforce encampment sweeps</a> — meaning clear out homeless individuals and their property from an outdoor area — since the city lacks enough shelter beds for those experiencing homelessness to move into. San Francisco <a href="https://sfstandard.com/politics/city-hall/san-francisco-appeals-court-order-banning-homeless-sweeps-citing-impossible-situation/">appealed the decision</a>, arguing it’s “unnecessarily broad and has put the City in an impossible situation.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fMUyJj">
In Phoenix, Arizona, residents and business owners <a href="https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/phoenixs-largest-homeless-encampment-sparks-lawsuit-14213947">filed a lawsuit last summer against the city</a> for allowing a downtown homeless encampment to grow with nearly 1,000 people, but a federal judge — echoing <em>Martin — </em><a href="https://www.acluaz.org/sites/default/files/12.15.2022_ffe_v._phx_injunctive_order.pdf">barred Phoenix</a> in December from conducting sweeps if there are more homeless people than shelter beds available. A <a href="https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/The-Zone-ruling-preliminary-injunction.pdf">competing decision issued in March</a> by a state judge ordered Phoenix officials to clean up the “public nuisance” at the encampment by July 10, arguing the city has “erroneously” applied <em>Martin </em>to date.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3cftKW1XZOYHnDiaz4Z-5NKXnts=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24711865/1257090170.jpg"/> <cite>Caitlin O’Hara/Washington Post via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Desi Hurd, 62, uses her wheelchair in the Phoenix, Arizona, homeless encampment known as “The Zone.”
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wRHaTw">
In Portland, Oregon, meanwhile, officials <a href="https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/homeless/portland-city-council-daytime-homeless-camping-ban-passed/283-c3e58769-87f1-4c19-8593-f8b8249ffb7f">have scrambled to revise their local camping ordinance</a> to be a “daytime” camping ban from 8 am to 8 pm instead, in recognition that any total camping ban is likely illegal under <em>Martin.</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WQ0RlQ">
Supporters of a more “get tough” approach to encampments say the social and political costs of allowing tent cities to proliferate <a href="https://www.gibsondunn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Martin-v.-Boise-White-Paper.pdf">are too high</a>, and that <a href="https://www.wsaz.com/2022/08/10/tennessee-tackling-homelessness-camping-certain-areas-could-result-felony-charge/">waiting for cities to build</a> enough new housing before acting is untenable, both morally and politically. Some think officials are getting complacent <a href="https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/homelessness-crime-surge-in-phoenixs-the-zone-goldwater-demands-action/">in relying on <em>Martin</em> as an excuse</a><em> </em>to maintain the status quo.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9m8Yev">
Advocates for those experiencing homelessness say politicians are squandering an important opportunity by fighting for the right to conduct encampment sweeps — which can be <a href="https://nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/NHCHC-encampment-sweeps-issue-brief-12-22.pdf">both cruel and counterproductive</a> to the larger goal of ending homelessness. Instead of looking for legal loopholes to <em>Martin</em> like daytime camping bans and sanctioned encampment sites, advocates say leaders should be investing more in solutions like affordable housing and shelter options that afford people more privacy.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="j9fUnd">
“Our end goal is not to create a right for people to sleep on the streets. That’s the limited remedy we’ve been given under our Constitution,” said Eric Tars, the legal director for the National Homelessness Law Center. “They’re missing the point of <em>Martin</em> if they’re just trying to continue a criminalization approach in a more constitutional way.”
</p>
<h3 id="XDHrMo">
Cities are scrambling to comply with — and find loopholes in — <em>Martin </em>v. <em>Boise</em>
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6O3uZB">
Unsheltered homelessness has risen sharply over the last seven years, and at a faster rate than homelessness overall. Unsheltered homeless people now account <a href="https://www.security.org/resources/homeless-statistics/">for 40 percent</a> of all homeless people in the country, up from <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2015-AHAR-Part-1.pdf">31 percent in 2015</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="l44pql">
Political pressure has mounted to respond to this <a href="https://www.security.org/resources/homeless-statistics/">growing problem</a> of people sleeping in alleys, parks, and train stations. While it’s not clear this would be legal under <em>Martin</em>, a number of cities have turned to the idea of so-called sanctioned encampments, or legalized campsites. These are effectively designated areas where unhoused individuals can live outside, and some come with varying degrees of public services, like bathrooms, power outlets, medical care, and on-site case management.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1furBR">
In Portland, Oregon, lawmakers voted in November to create several large sanctioned campsites for homeless individuals, and ban the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-ted-wheeler-oregon-portland-government-and-politics-144ba78f2c5003aabaaea7be6281f412">more than 700</a> other encampments spread across the city. Austin, Texas, has operated one sanctioned encampment of <a href="https://www.kut.org/austin/2020-11-24/this-austin-nonprofit-wants-to-bring-200-tiny-homes-to-austins-state-sanctioned-homeless-encampment">so-called “tiny homes”</a> since 2019, on a seven-acre plot of asphalt near the airport. Denver, Colorado, is also moving to make its <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2023/03/06/denver-safe-outdoor-spaces-tent-camps-permanent-homelessness/">so-called “managed campsites” from the pandemic</a> a permanent homelessness response tool.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2JPUEe">
The trade-off for legalized campsites, however, is that sleeping outside anywhere else in a city would then be illegal. This helps alleviate leaders’ political problem of having tents pitched all over a city, but activists worry it’s just a way to steer the sight of homelessness out of public view, and criminalize people who refuse to go. Some cities are considering sanctioned encampments with<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/homeless-camping-bans-are-spreading-this-group-shaped-the-bills/">a six-month residency limit</a>, even if there’s no permanent affordable housing option for those experiencing homelessness to go to after that point.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FpNMHg">
Some advocates have taken a firm stance against the idea; they see sanctioned encampments as a means to segregate and criminalize unhoused people and effectively kick the can down the road by not finding them permanent housing.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aDcL6g">
They’re not wrong that sanctioned encampments can require a great deal of money, staff time, and effort. In 2018, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness <a href="https://www.usich.gov/resources/uploads/asset_library/Caution_Sanctioned_Encampments_Safe_Zones_052318.pdf">warned</a> that “creating these environments may make it look and feel like the community is taking action to end homelessness on the surface — but, by themselves, they have little impact on reducing homelessness.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U6ttE2">
For these reasons, some cities — like Houston — have rejected the idea. “We can do better as a society. We shouldn’t tolerate it and say that’s okay,” Marc Eichenbaum, the special assistant to Houston’s mayor on homeless initiatives, told <a href="https://the1a.org/segments/1a-remaking-america-state-sanctioned-homeless-encampments/">NPR</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bU566n">
But other cities with fewer available housing options say sanctioned encampments represent a decent interim solution, and maybe even better for unhoused residents compared to scattered campsites if cities can more effectively target social services to those corralled together.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lx4sQD">
Legalized campsites can also have a lower barrier to entry than many existing shelters, so supporters are framing them as a harm-reduction approach to homelessness. Groups like the National Homelessness Law Center, which used to firmly oppose sanctioned encampments, have recently softened their stance to say they should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
</p>
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“The only time that we would see a role for that approach is if you had an exit plan,” said Tars, who pointed to some models <a href="https://crosscut.com/2017/01/ballard-homeless-camp-a-year-later-bourgie">in Seattle</a> and <a href="https://www.americancityandcounty.com/2021/03/05/gainesville-fla-the-closure-of-dignity-village-and-housing-its-homeless-population/">Gainesville, Florida</a>, that he thought were more positive. “Otherwise you are just creating a permanent shanty town.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rtt5oq">
Meanwhile, Republican-governed states are exploring more punitive models. In at least half a dozen states, lawmakers have pushed sanctioned encampment bills <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/04/08/homeless-camping-bans-are-spreading-this-group-shaped-the-bills">based on templates</a> from the Cicero Institute, an Austin-based conservative think tank. The bills propose to penalize cities that permit tent encampments, to put time limits on sanctioned encampment sites, and to divert funding from permanent supportive housing into things like mandatory drug treatment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ezQTfq">
In 2022, Tennessee became the first state to pass a bill that would make camping on local public land <a href="https://wcyb.com/news/local/public-camping-in-tennessee-becomes-a-felony-homeless-seek-refuge">a felony</a>. Missouri’s version will allow the state’s attorney general <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2022/06/29/new-missouri-law-makes-sleeping-on-state-land-a-crime-for-people-experiencing-homelessness/">to sue local governments</a> that don’t enforce encampment bans. Activists say Cicero’s aggressive opposition to <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23504323/housing-first-homelessness-houston-homes">housing-first</a> will lead invariably to more homeless people in jail.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gsjPIz">
Looming ultimately above all these various sanctioned encampment models is the <em>Martin </em>decision, which says a city-wide camping ban would be unconstitutional if the city lacks sufficient shelter options. Leaders recognize they probably can’t ban camping everywhere under <em>Martin</em>, but they want to see if they can ban it in most<em> </em>places instead. Yet whether any bans could exist if a city lacks enough shelter beds remains an open Eighth Amendment question.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pK1SED">
Tars, of the National Homelessness Law Center, thinks the answer is no. “<em>Martin </em>is very clear when it’s talking about ‘adequate’ [housing] alternatives it’s talking about indoor shelter beds, and legalized encampments are not shelter beds,” he said, pointing to a 2021 federal court decision that found a sanctioned encampment site in Chico, California, was <a href="https://bbklaw.com/resources/court-rules-that-city-erected-structure-at-a-municipal-airport-is-not-shelter">inadequate “shelter” under <em>Martin</em></a><em>. </em>A federal judge described Chico’s encampment as “open space with what amounts to a large umbrella for some shade” that “affords no real cover or protection to anyone.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="e5eS8S">
Tars acknowledged, though, there’s a “legal gray area” in the <em>Martin</em> decision, as one footnote suggests cities could create some “time/manner/place” restrictions for camping.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0BrZhR">
Earlier this year, when a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ordered Phoenix officials <a href="https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/phoenix-starts-clearing-the-zone-without-enough-shelter-space-to-house-people-16206946">to clear its notoriously large downtown encampment</a>, he urged the city to consider “the creation of controlled, outdoor camping spaces on vacant City property” if there were not enough shelter beds to move people into.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SZSiG9">
As in Houston, Phoenix officials have rejected the sanctioned encampment approach to date, saying resources should be invested into housing solutions with air conditioning: Over 80 percent of Maricopa County’s <a href="https://www.maricopa.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5585#:~:text=Maricopa%20County%20identified%20a%20total,at%20the%20time%20of%20death.">425 heat-related deaths in 2022</a> occurred outside. Local officials estimate unsheltered homeless people are at <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/08/30/1119671257/homelessness-aggravating-harm-health-phoenix-heat-medical">“200 to 300 times higher risk”</a> of heat-related deaths than the rest of the population.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hOawlA">
Still, even if Phoenix leaders embraced sanctioned encampments, it’s not clear the idea would hold up under <em>Martin</em>. Resolving some of these questions will realistically require the Supreme Court, but that’s unlikely to happen until there’s competing circuit court decisions to pressure it to take the issue up.
</p>
<h3 id="v01RGP">
Homelessness policy is at a crossroads
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="owXHZK">
There are court rulings, and then there’s enforcement of those rulings. Homeless advocates say it seems as though too many cities are failing to comply with rulings that bar unconstitutional sweeps.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tCYWP8">
For example, lawyers say little has changed in San Francisco since a federal judge ruled against sweeps six months ago, and that homeless residents continue to be displaced under the guise of street cleaning.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PzWAoP">
“What we’ve seen has been a really aggressive media campaign led by the city to suggest we are pro-open-air drug markets and anti-accessibility for sidewalks,” said Zal Shroff, an attorney with Lawyer’s Committee For Civil Rights representing the homeless plaintiffs.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="svLD25">
“You’re allowed to clear genuine public safety hazards, but when you do that and throw their laptops and cellphones into dumpsters, that’s not a cleaning — that’s a seizure of someone’s belongings without due process,” he added. In late May, Shroff’s team <a href="https://lccrsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Pls-Motion-to-Enforce.pdf">filed a court motion</a>, calling for increased monitoring.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vRkXXR">
Jen Kwart, a spokesperson for San Francisco’s city attorney, told Vox they’re “complying with the preliminary injunction while simultaneously expending hundreds of millions of dollars annually to provide shelter and services to unhoused people.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BbZ7KX">
In Phoenix, while the city is <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/phoenix/2023/05/10/zone-homeless-encampment-sweep-phoenix-court-order">working to clear out</a> its large homeless encampment by July 10, per the Maricopa County Superior Court, the ACLU has been arguing the city’s clearings have violated the rights of unhoused people.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="iU3Kio">
“Even if you’re unsheltered, you have due process rights to your belongings under the Fourth and 14th Amendments,” said Benjamin Rundall, an attorney with ACLU of Arizona. “You can’t violate someone’s constitutional rights in order to vindicate someone’s private property rights.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0UTV3B">
It’s not clear at all where the estimated 700 unhoused people living in the downtown Phoenix encampment are supposed to go. There are <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/phoenix/2023/05/22/phoenix-homeless-shelter-delays-heat-deaths">not enough available shelter beds</a> in the city; the four largest ones <a href="https://www.phoenix.gov/cityclerksite/City%20Council%20Meeting%20Files/4-20-23%20General%20Information%20Packet%20-%20Final.pdf">were at 97 percent capacity as of April</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NIpWrY">
A spokesperson for Phoenix’s Mayor Kate Gallego did not return requests for comment, but <a href="https://www.phoenix.gov/newsroom/homeless-solutions/2731">an April city press release</a> said they were exploring hotel options and expected 800 new shelter beds to come online before the end of 2024.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IJisHO">
Some conservative legal advocates see the Maricopa County Superior Court ruling as offering a blueprint for other cities and states to clear out their tent encampments. “For too long, liberal leaders have used the <em>Martin </em>ruling as an excuse to allow rampant crime and homelessness to take over neighborhoods,” <a href="https://www.ocregister.com/2023/05/21/a-path-forward-for-cleaning-up-californias-cities/">argued</a> Austin Vanderheyden, a liaison at the Goldwater Institute, in the Orange County Register. “But no longer.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3rD2Ii">
“Our lawsuit was never about solving homelessness,” <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/a-legal-strategy-for-tackling-homelessness">wrote Ilan Wurman</a>, who represented the Phoenix business and property owners. “It was about solving the humanitarian crisis that these encampments create.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8n7I80">
Meanwhile, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/23140987/evictions-housing-rent-assistance-erap-tenant">pandemic eviction aid</a> dries up, homeless advocates are bracing for more people to lose their housing in the coming months. Washington, DC, recently reported an <a href="https://dcist.com/story/23/05/05/dc-homelessness-increase-2023-pit-count/">11.6 percent increase in homelessness</a> from 2022. While the nation has been increasing its shelter bed capacity over the last few years, <a href="https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness/">fewer people are choosing to stay in them</a>. Many have decided sleeping outdoors is preferable to the rules and conditions of congregate shelters.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AzpcaU">
Figuring out where cities go next will be shaped in no small part by how leaders and courts land on interpreting <em>Martin.</em>
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1uQuQH">
“It really feels like we’re at a tipping point,” said Tars. “Things could either get much better or much worse.”
</p></li>
<li><strong>How to prepare for the return of student loan payments</strong> -
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<img alt="A hand holds a graduation cap with the opening facing up. Another hand places a gold coin into the hat." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WHkWfhmONHsMi7vJBwH9xoMBKkk=/134x0:2667x1900/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72361933/GettyImages_1190512891.0.jpg"/>
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Getty Images
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Get ready now to resume (or start) paying back your student loans.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NflGs0">
More than three years after student loan repayments were paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic, borrowers will soon receive their first bill since early 2020. With the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2023/2/13/23587751/supreme-court-student-loan-debt-forgiveness-joe-biden-nebraska-department-education-brown">Supreme Court likely to rule against the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan</a> — <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/8/24/23319967/student-loan-payments-debt-forgiveness-biden">which would cancel up to $20,000 in debt</a> — and the <a href="https://www.vox.com/23746006/debt-ceiling-deal-student-loans">debt ceiling bill preventing any future pauses on payments and interest without congressional approval</a>, those with student loan debt will see no further relief. Regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision on loan forgiveness, <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/student-loan-payments-to-resume-7497260">payments will resume later this summer</a>. Be prepared for when they do and to enroll in income-driven plans so you’re not faced with an unruly initial payment.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3CUo8c">
Payments remain paused until 60 days after June 30, 2023. Borrowers should expect payments to resume in early September, <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/federal-student-loan-forbearance-extended-yet-again">though the exact date remains unclear</a>. The US Department of Education will inform <a href="https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/covid-19">borrowers at least 21 days before payments restart</a>. This notice will also include the payment amount and due date.
</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UbxLvR">
Student loan servicers are <a href="https://thehill.com/business/3960715-student-loan-servicers-brace-for-trouble-with-restart-of-payments/">anticipating customer service issues</a> at the onset of resumed payments, so getting your ducks in a row now may help prevent frustration come fall. Advance planning will also help you determine if your loan servicer has changed, get ahead of tax preparation, and, most importantly, set a budget. Not paying your monthly bill on time will affect your credit score, which can <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22736387/how-credit-scores-work-equifax-experian-transunion">impact your ability to purchase a home or a car</a>. According to <a href="https://www.vantagescore.com/major-credit-score-news-new-federal-debt-ceiling-law-ending-student-loan-forbearance-to-impact-credit-scores/">recent research</a> from VantageScore, a credit score model development company, 34 to 76 percent of borrowers may miss their next required federal student loan payment, resulting in a decline in their credit score. Those resuming payments will only see a 1 to 8 point increase in their credit score, while those unlikely to pay could see their credit scores decrease between 49 and 82 points, within a month of resumed repayments.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ANxi5R">
“Always make a plan today that is based upon what you know today,” says Scott Buchanan, the executive director of the <a href="https://slsa.net/">Student Loan Servicing Alliance</a>, a nonprofit that focuses on student loan servicing issues. “Not hypotheticals that might happen, what the government may or may not do in the future. If that changes in the future, and there’s new information that comes along, you can adjust your plan.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pyRBiq">
Whether you just graduated and haven’t begun paying back your loans or will soon resume repayment, here’s what you should keep in mind to prepare.
</p>
<h3 id="Rsmbyq">
How do I pay back my student loans?
</h3>
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You’ll begin, or continue, paying your loans through your <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/servicers">student loan servicer</a>’s website — the company that handles the billing for the loan. This is most likely the same servicer you were using to pay your loans prior to the shutdown. However, several servicers — <a href="https://www.bankrate.com/loans/student-loans/navient-exit-student-loan-servicing/">Navient, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, Granite State Management and Resources</a>, and <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/great-lakes-student-loans">Great Lakes Higher Education Corp</a>. — ended their contracts with the Education Department or were acquired by another servicer, meaning you will have a different company and online portal for your loans if you previously used those servicers. Whether you’re just starting to pay off your loan or had a switch from an old servicer, you’ll be notified by the servicer. Some borrowers who are being transferred to a new servicer will have to create new online accounts, Buchanan says, and others won’t have to take any action with their new servicer — just pay attention to emails and letters from your servicer and follow instructions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="A2inlW">
To find out your servicer, <a href="https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/sign-in/landing">log in to your Federal Student Aid account and</a> find the “My Loan Servicers” section or call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243. The <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/servicers">current list</a> of student loan servicers includes <a href="https://edfinancial.com/">Edfinancial</a>, <a href="https://www.mohela.com/">Mohela</a>, <a href="https://aidvantage.com/">Aidvantage</a>, <a href="https://www.nelnet.com/">Nelnet</a>, <a href="https://public.osla.org/">OSLA</a>, <a href="https://efpls.ed.gov/">ECSI</a>, and <a href="https://myeddebt.ed.gov/">Default Resolution Group</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZMSfQd">
Once you’ve determined your loan servicer, log in to your account and make sure your contact information is up to date — your email, phone number, and address — especially if you’re anticipating a transfer to a new servicer. Even if you accidentally make a payment through your old servicer, it will automatically be forwarded to your new one, Buchanan says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="atRHCm">
Review your banking information. If you enrolled in auto-debit prior to March 2020, <a href="https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/covid-19">you’ll have to opt in to auto-debit again</a>. Anyone who signed up for auto-pay or continued making payments throughout the shutdown doesn’t have to make any updates to their billing info. Buchanan advises calling your servicer as soon as possible if you have any questions while setting up an account or choosing a payment plan. “Given the budgetary constraints that the federal government and the Department of Education are under and, frankly, the sheer volume of people in this unprecedented return to repayment,” Buchanan says, “if everyone calls us on September 1, we’re going to have a lot of heavy call times and call hold times, and payment and processing could be delayed.”
</p>
<h3 id="Xqql9m">
How much do I owe?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4EsBUj">
Since you accrued no interest since the pause began, the amount you owe should remain the same. (That is, unless you made payments during the pause.) When you log in to your account on your loan servicer’s website, you can see how much you owe and how much you will be expected to repay each month. “Nothing practically has changed in terms of monthly payment amount for borrowers in general,” Buchanan says.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wLjzO6">
The Education Department has an <a href="https://studentaid.gov/loan-simulator/">online loan simulator</a> that helps you calculate your monthly payments and provide options for lowering that amount. You can log in to your Federal Student Aid account and the simulator will show you different breakdowns under various repayment plans based on what you owe. You can compare different plans side by side to see the differences in monthly payments and interest accrued overall.
</p>
<h3 id="tjnkUl">
What if I can’t afford the monthly payment?
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T3GYxz">
Unless you choose otherwise, all borrowers are placed on a <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans/standard">standard repayment plan</a>, which means you pay a fixed amount of at least $50 every month for up to 10 years. There are other payment plans if the standard monthly payment is too high for you. Through your loan servicer, you can opt for a <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans/graduated">graduated repayment plan</a>, which starts with lower payments that increase every two years, or an <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans">extended repayment plan</a> where you can pay off your loan in 25 years if you have more than $30,000 in loans. Keep in mind you’ll end up paying more in the long run with these options.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eksBG3">
You can also choose an <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/plans">income-driven plan</a> where your monthly payments will be 10 to 15 percent of your discretionary income (<a href="https://studentaid.gov/help-center/answers/article/discretionary-income">defined as</a> the difference between your annual income and 150 percent of the poverty guideline for your family size and state of residence). Repayments are recalculated each year based on your income and family size. If, after 20 years, you haven’t paid off the loan for your undergraduate schooling, the outstanding balance will be forgiven. You can apply for an <a href="https://studentaid.gov/idr/">income-driven plan online</a>. If you were already enrolled in an income-driven plan, you’ll still be enrolled in the same plan but <a href="https://studentaid.gov/idr/">you’ll need to recertify your current plan</a> by providing updated information about your income and family size in about six months, Buchanan says. However, if your family size has grown or your income has decreased dramatically, it’s worth recertifying your plan now in order to get a smaller monthly payment.
</p>
<h3 id="ZN6lw2">
Start putting aside money now
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FIuxh7">
Once you’ve determined what your monthly student loan payment will be, start putting that money aside now, before payments resume, Buchanan says. “Pretend that the resumption has already occurred,” he says. If your bill is $200 a month, put that $200 aside mentally or in a savings account and see how this impacts the rest of your monthly budget. Should you struggle to pay your other bills in this hypothetical situation, consider looking into an income-driven plan.
</p>
<h3 id="21RSGx">
Don’t throw away important tax information
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E89zsr">
When you pay $600 or more in student loan interest, your loan servicer will send you an IRS Form 1098-E by the <a href="https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/college-and-education/what-is-form-1098-e-student-loan-interest-statement/L2KV1FPmw">end of January</a>. If you paid over $600 in interest for the 2023 tax year, you’ll get that form in January or February 2024. Save this for your tax preparation purposes.
</p>
<h3 id="qqbOA1">
Be aware of scammers
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TwLjiD">
Any unsolicited call or email promising loan forgiveness or to lower your monthly payment for a fee is a scam. Don’t give money to anyone other than your student loan servicer. If you’re unsure whether a call is coming from your servicer, hang up and call the customer service number included on your bill. Any customer service provided by your loan servicer, whether it’s enrolling you in an income-based plan or answering questions, is available for free.
</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Harbhajan questions India’s spin-friendly pitches; says “cannot give yourself that fake confidence”</strong> - Off-spinner raises questions over highly spin-friendly pitches in India and how it affects India’s preparation for big matches</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>In Frames | World Test Championship 2023</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ODI World Cup: India to play Pakistan on October 15 in Ahmedabad as per draft schedule</strong> - As per the initial draft, the tournament will begin on October 5 with reigning champions England taking on last edition’s runner-up side New Zealand in Ahmedabad</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Playing Test cricket for Australia more important than IPL, says Mitchell Starc</strong> - For the left-arm quick, playing Test cricket for Australia is paramount, a path he hopes many youngsters will follow in future</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>German broadcaster hits back after sexist abuse targets female Champions League commentator</strong> - Neumann became the first woman in Germany to commentate at a major men’s soccer tournament during Euro 2016 and has been subjected to sexist abuse ever since</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bengal panchayat polls | Opposition leaders ‘assaulted’, ‘stopped’ from filing nominations</strong> - The SEC earlier directed all district magistrates and superintendents of police to impose prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CRPC in 1-km radius of all nomination centres</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Use village and ward secretariats to combat child labour, APSCPCR chief tells State government</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Impersonation case: former SFI leader moves anticipatory bail</strong> -</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cyclone Biparjoy: Ensure evacuation of people from vulnerable areas, says PM Modi</strong> - The Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of the Centre as well as the Gujarat government to deal with the impending cyclone Biparjoy</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>PM Modi to chair G-20 final meeting in Delhi on Sept. 9, 10: Kishan</strong> -</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Silvio Berlusconi’s death leaves ‘huge void’, allies say</strong> - The four-time prime minister bounced back from sex scandals and corruption allegations.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Silvio Berlusconi obituary: Italy’s flamboyant bounce-back politician</strong> - A media mogul who went into politics, he survived several corruption allegations.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Silvio Berlusconi: AC Milan pay tribute to ‘unforgettable’ owner, who has died at 86</strong> - AC Milan have paid tribute to “unforgettable” former owner Silvio Berlusconi following his death at the age of 86 on Monday.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Silvio Berlusconi: Four memorable moments from his life</strong> - The former Italian PM, well known for a colourful private life, has died at the age of 86.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine counter-offensive: Kyiv says it has liberated villages in Donetsk region</strong> - The four small villages are the first officially publicised gains in Kyiv’s counter-offensive.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Microsoft announces new $350, 1TB Carbon Black Xbox Series S</strong> - “Carbon Black” edition will launch worldwide on September 1. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1946951">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bethesda’s “Starfield Direct” shows off a massive, galactic-scale space RPG</strong> - A deep dive on “over 1,000 planets” worth of open world exploration. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1946933">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why we’re “interviewing” captive birds to find the best to release into the wild</strong> - Experiments with the endangered Bali myna showed some birds are bolder than others. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1946718">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Here’s a rough estimate of how many people recent SCOTUS rulings might kill</strong> - In addition to deaths, the decisions will lead to significant morbidity. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1946895">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Acer reportedly sent Russia $70M in PC gear after saying it paused business there</strong> - Reuters says Acer used Swiss subsidiary to send Russia “at least” 744 shipments. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1946819">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>r/Jokes supports the protest!</strong> - submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/carmabound"> /u/carmabound </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://i.imgur.com/NVtR1Ho.png">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/147gm2a/rjokes_supports_the_protest/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>When you go to church in the morning you say, “Amen.”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
When you go to church in the afternoon you say, “Pmen.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/vedicsun"> /u/vedicsun </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/146sgvx/when_you_go_to_church_in_the_morning_you_say_amen/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/146sgvx/when_you_go_to_church_in_the_morning_you_say_amen/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Doctors say 3 out of 5 people suffer from chronic diarrhea.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
2 out of 5 are sick fucks and enjoy it..
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Response-Cheap"> /u/Response-Cheap </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/146ezun/doctors_say_3_out_of_5_people_suffer_from_chronic/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/146ezun/doctors_say_3_out_of_5_people_suffer_from_chronic/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>If “tomb” is pronounced “toom”, “womb” is pronounced “woom” then shouldn’t…</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“bomb” be pronounced “BOOM”.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I hope that blew your minds.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/HelpingHandsUs"> /u/HelpingHandsUs </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/145e9b4/if_tomb_is_pronounced_toom_womb_is_pronounced/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/145e9b4/if_tomb_is_pronounced_toom_womb_is_pronounced/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A guy was driving in his car with a blonde.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He told her to stick her head out of the window and check if the indicator light was working.<br/> She stuck her head out and said “ yes, no, yes, no, yes ,no”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Alpha-Studios"> /u/Alpha-Studios </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1465s9f/a_guy_was_driving_in_his_car_with_a_blonde/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1465s9f/a_guy_was_driving_in_his_car_with_a_blonde/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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