In a move to send the country back toward pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday eased indoor mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to safely stop wearing masks inside in most places.
The new guidance helps clear the way for reopening workplaces, schools, and other locations but still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters.
“We have all longed for this moment — when we can get back to some sense of normalcy,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC.
The CDC will also no longer recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks outdoors in crowds. The announcement comes as the CDC and the Biden administration have faced pressure to ease restrictions on fully vaccinated people — people who are two weeks past their last required COVID-19 vaccine dose — in part to highlight the benefits of getting the shot.
The trial of three former Minneapolis police officers charged with aiding and abetting in the death of George Floyd will be pushed back to March 2022, in part to allow the publicity over Derek Chauvin’s conviction to cool off, a judge ruled Thursday.
Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao were scheduled to face trial Aug. 23 on charges they aided and abetted both murder and manslaughter. The officers’ co-defendant, Chauvin, was convicted of murder and manslaughter counts. All four officers also face federal charges that allege they violated Floyd’s civil rights during his May 25 arrest.
Judge Peter Cahill said he moved jury selection in the other officers’ trial to March 8, 2022, so the federal case can go forward first. He also said he felt the need to put some distance between the three officers’ trial and Chauvin’s due to the high-profile nature of the case.
The news that the trial was being pushed back came during a Thursday hearing on pretrial motions. The former officers waived their right to appear and were not in court, but their defense attorneys all agreed to the postponement. The state, via Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, did not support the delay. It wasn’t made clear at Thursday’s motions hearing who originally sought the change.
The University of St. Thomas hosted a Lavender Graduation Ceremony on May 13, which celebrated the accomplishments of LGBTQ undergraduate and graduate students.
The ceremony featured awards, lavender stoles and guest speakers, including St. Thomas President Julie Sullivan.
Director of Student Diversity and Inclusion Services Alex Hernandez-Siegel helped plan the event, which is the first of its kind at St. Thomas.
“We’re making history, first and foremost,” Hernandez-Siegel said. “It’s a great one to have here at St. Thomas because not only is it the first one, but it’s acknowledging and making highly visible the contributions of our graduating students to the community.”
Sarah Gottfredsen can be reached at gott1061@stthomas.edu.