🐤 Relief on the way for millions

Costly Cookouts: Americans everywhere will be gathering for an Independence Day feast this year, but inflation is poised to deliver some serious sticker shock at the supermarket. The average cookout meal for 10 people is hovering around $70 right now, which is roughly 8 percent higher than the same time last year. Individual ingredients can be even more expensive, such as hot dogs. A pack of franks today could cost a whopping 50 percent more than it did in 2019.

Miles from Home: In a social media post on Friday, the wife of NBA forward Miles Bridges posted photos of injuries that she said he inflicted to her neck, face, and arm. The Charlotte Hornets player was arrested on a felony charge two days earlier. As Mychelle Johnson wrote on Instagram: “I’ve allowed someone to destroy my home, abuse me in every way possible and traumatize our kids for life.”

“Cruel and Unusual”: Shortly after disgraced R&B singer R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years behind bars for racketeering and sex trafficking, news broke that he had been placed on suicide watch. His lawyer, however, insisted that he is not suicidal and that the prison is only keeping him in a segregated cell because he is such a high-profile inmate. Attorney Jennifer Bonjean said the prison “is being run like a gulag” and confirmed that Kelly’s legal team had filed a suit against the Brooklyn detention facility.

As struggling Californians deal with record-high gas prices and soaring costs for almost everything else, state leaders have approved nearly $10 billion in new spending that is aimed at directly benefiting individuals and families.

According to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, inflation relief checks will start going out later this year and the amounts will vary based on individual incomes. Millions of residents will receive a check for more than $1,000.

The governor had previously pushed a plan to send stimulus payments to Californians based on car ownership, though that plan attracted some backlash from state lawmakers. He celebrated the latest news in a statement on Thursday.

“In the face of new challenges and uncertainties, we’re providing over $17 billion in relief to help families make ends meet,” Newsom said.

Critics are worried that the sudden influx of cash could exacerbate the rate of inflation. Nevertheless, the program is bound to come as a bit of good news for working-class folks who are cutting expenses to the bone and still finding it difficult to make ends meet.

A family with two adults and two kids with a combined annual income of less than $125,000 stands to receive a payment of $1,050. Checks, debit cards, and direct deposits are expected to start reaching Californians in October.

Days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe V. Wade ruling that established federal abortion rights, President Joe Biden reiterated his dedication to protecting a woman’s right to choose. He met with a group of Democratic governors on Friday to elaborate on his plan.

“I share the public outrage about this extremist court that’s committed to moving America backwards,” he explained, repeating his earlier promise that “this is not over.”

Specifically, Biden addressed his commitment to shield from prosecution any woman who travels to another state to receive an abortion and allow legal access to FDA-approved medical abortion pills.

He noted that such medication “has been available for more than 20 years” and that the executive branch “will act and protect that woman’s right to that medication.”

Of course, any legislative action will be tough, if not impossible, to achieve with an evenly divided Senate. Although recent polling has put Republican candidates in a prime position to reclaim control on Capitol Hill in the upcoming midterm elections, some Democrats believe the abortion issue could shift the advantage to their favor.

For his part, the president opined that a GOP-led Congress would likely vote to ban abortions nationwide.

In one of its final rulings of the most recent session, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a longstanding New York law limiting gun possession in public was unconstitutional.

The Empire State’s legislature responded to that decision by passing a measure that will prohibit firearms in a variety of locations and require a license to carry concealed guns anywhere else outside of the home.

State senators voted 43-20 on Friday to advance the measure and the Assembly approved it later the same day with a margin of 91-51. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul made it clear that she supported the bill.

“I look forward to signing the legislation as soon as it’s finished,” she said ahead of the votes.

Hochul went on to credit the overturned law as a tool that has kept New Yorkers safer over the course of roughly a century, pointing a finger at Supreme Court justices who unraveled that protection with “the stroke of a pen.”

Upon being signed into law, the new measure will also require gun owners across the state to keep their weapons stored securely within any home where a minor also lives.

Although Democratic supporters of the bill are bracing for challenges from the GOP and the judicial branch, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins confirmed that lawmakers took pains to craft solid language that will be tough to attack.

She explained: “We wanted to make sure that our permitting process would be able to stand up to scrutiny, and the technical aspects took a long time.”