Big Time News Blog: 04/14/20

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Hank Steinbrenner, the Yankees Owner Who Kept a Guitar in His Office

By BY JAMES WAGNER from NYT Sports https://ift.tt/2xujIid

What’s an Essential Service in a Pandemic? The Post Office

By BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD from NYT Opinion https://ift.tt/2RCEvag

NHL player Colby Cave's widow says he complained of a headache days before dying

Emily Cave shared a heartbreaking video of their wedding vows and said the Edmonton Oilers player complained of a headache just days before dying of a brain bleed.

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Top US Navy official who resigned under pressure was reportedly angry at an aircraft-carrier crew's emotional send-off of the captain he had fired

The carrier's captain was removed after his letter pleading for Navy leaders to help with a coronavirus outbreak was leaked to the press.

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Former Senate staffer accuses Joe Biden of sexual assault

A former aide to Joe Biden is accusing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of sexually assaulting her during the early 1990s when he was a senator. In two recent interviews with The Associated Press, Tara Reade alleged the assault occurred in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in the spring of 1993. It’s not the first time Reade has made an accusation against the former vice president.

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Florida man charged with murder after wife disappears amid suspicious coronavirus messages

Texts from Gretchen Anthony's cell phone said she had COVID-19 but there's no medical record of it

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Shale Giants Clash Over Oil-Supply Cut to Survive Crude Rout

(Bloomberg) -- One of the biggest Texas shale explorers warned it will halt all drilling if the state imposes OPEC-style production caps, raising the stakes in a debate over a contentious proposal to arrest free-falling oil prices.The stark pronouncement from Diamondback Energy Inc.’s finance chief stunned observers of Tuesday’s virtual hearing by the Texas Railroad Commission, which oversees oil output in the Lone Star state. At issue was whether the state should restrict crude output for the first time in roughly 50 years.The proposal has deeply divided an industry already grappling with a global oversupply, escalating financial losses and the demand-killing Covid-19 outbreak.Diamondback Chief Financial Officer Kaes Van’t Hof said the company already is in the process of shutting down 30% of its drilling and would take it to zero if the state clamps down on production. Such a move would have dire consequences in the form of lost jobs and disrupted families, he said.In the event of quotas, “we’d let all our service providers go through the period of proration,” Van’t Hof said. “That turns that industry, the service industry, on to the same issues that the restaurant industry is facing today where they’re completely shut down with zero revenue and zero employment.”On a practical note, Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick wondered whether the agency even retains the expertise to enforce a statewide output limit. “We don’t even know how to do it any more,” she said.Force MajeureMeanwhile, opponents of quotas insinuated that some drillers are supporting such restrictions for selfish reasons such as voiding contractual obligations.Without naming specific companies or executives, Enterprise Products Partners Co-CEO Jim Teague suggested that advocates of mandatory output cuts may be just asking for a government order that will allow them to negate contracts. Marathon Oil Corp.’s Lee Tillman voiced similar concerns.A state order to curtail oil output would presumably provide drillers with justification to declare force majeure, the so-called “act of God” provision in contracts that relieves a party of liability for events outside their control.Web of ContractsThe hearing began with executives from the biggest pro-quota companies: Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Parsley Energy Inc. Chief executives from both firms urged the commission to cap production or risk deep and long-lasting damage to the industry and economy.“Are they really trying to fix a problem?” Teague asked more than two hours into the marathon hearing. Oil explorers ensnared by the sudden slump in oil prices still must honor contracts with pipeline networks, storage operators and hard-hat contractors that drill and frack their wells.In-State Fields“Anyone who knows Pioneer will write off these comments as meaningless,” Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield said in an email. “Pioneer has the one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry and a robust hedging program.”Parsley supports quotas because they will soften “the blow to the U.S. oil and gas industry, saving oil and gas jobs, supporting our national security, and perpetuating the Texas miracle,” CEO Matt Gallagher said in an email.Marathon’s Tillman warned that Texas caps would be unfair to companies that also drill in other states because it could force them to curtail output at fields that are more profitable than other parts of their portfolio. Pioneer and Parsley are focused almost exclusively on Texas drilling.“When a vocal minority takes a position in favor of artificial market manipulation, that is so far removed from the consensus of a vast majority of operators, one can only surmise that their motives and objectives are primarily company-specific, as opposed to broadly industry-supported,” Tillman said during the hearing.Pioneer’s Sheffield told the three-person commission that mandatory cuts are needed to prevent large swathes of U.S. shale from going under. They could also be used as leverage to squeeze additional curbs from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the Group of 20 nations.Free MarketTillman and a bevy of anti-quota executive argued that such market intervention would create a dangerous precedent that would undermine the entire industry.“The best solution to our current crisis is to get the world healthy and back to work while not abandoning the free market principles that have created U.S. energy independence,” Tillman said.Sheffield has been the leading voice advocating for state-imposed cuts, even as the biggest players in the sector -- Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. -- staunchly oppose the proposal. Still, the fact that the idea is even on the table in a state that prides itself on self reliance and unhindered trade is a measure of the swift and startling plunge in oil prices.At current prices, 80% of the U.S. shale industry will go bankrupt, Sheffield estimated. Oil-storage capacity across the country will be full in a matter of weeks, and that will create a backup effect that will force drillers to shut wells, he said.OPEC+The OPEC+ agreement this past weekend to cut 9.7 million barrels of daily output won’t make a notable impact on prices given the stark impact the Covid-19 contagion is having on energy demand, Sheffield argued.Texas should start with a 20% cut, which would amount to more than 1 million barrels a day, he said. Parsley’s Gallagher agreed.“If we slam into a train wreck at full speed at a peak rate that we can predict, then it’s going to be much worse,” Gallagher said.(Updates with Pioneer CEO’s comments in 12th paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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N. Korea fires suspected missiles day before key anniversary

North Korea fired several suspected cruise missiles towards the sea on Tuesday, the South's military said, in what analysts saw as a demonstration by Pyongyang of the breadth of its arsenal. The "multiple projectiles" fired from Munchon in the east of the country were believed to be "short-range cruise missiles," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The test came a day before Wednesday's parliamentary elections in South Korea, and while the world's attention has been largely focused on the coronavirus pandemic -- which Pyongyang insists it has so far escaped.

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Mitch McConnell tried to gut a CDC program directed at detecting and responding to infectious-disease outbreaks

McConnell and other Republicans have repeatedly tried to gut the CDC's program, but most of it ultimately survived.

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I will vote for Joe Biden in November. And it will kill me

Against all internal resistance, I will vote for creepy Joe Biden, a man who both should be and does not deserve to be president.

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China McDonald's apologises for Guangzhou ban on black people

A ban at a Guangzhou branch of the fast-food chain came amid rumours Africans were spreading coronavirus.

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Obama endorses Biden as the best leader for 'darkest times'

Former President Barack Obama endorsed Joe Biden on Tuesday, giving the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee a boost from the party’s biggest fundraiser and one of its most popular figures. “Joe has the character and the experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a long recovery," Obama said in a 12-minute video in which he argued the coronavirus pandemic reinforced the need for better leadership. The endorsement marked Obama’s return to presidential politics more than three years after leaving the White House.

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Navy secretary sought OK for $243,000 flight to COVID-stricken ship after returning from Guam

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly's urgent request to fly to Guam was OK'd by the Pentagon the day after he returned. The trip cost $243,000.

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Trump retweeted a threat to fire Fauci after he said the US's slow response to COVID-19 has cost lives

It's not clear whether it's more than a vague threat, but Trump has fired several prominent public servants over the past few weeks.

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New York governor says 'worst is over' as virus toll tops 10,000

New York's governor declared Monday that the "worst is over" for its coronavirus outbreak, despite deaths passing 10,000, as several states began devising a plan to reopen their shuttered economies. The governor, a Democrat, said 671 people had died in New York in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths in America's hardest-hit state to 10,056. It was the lowest single-day toll in New York since April 5.

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South Korea reports more recovered coronavirus patients testing positive again

South Korea reported on Monday that at least 116 people initially cleared of the new coronavirus had tested positive again, although officials suggested they would soon look at easing strict recommendations aimed at preventing new outbreaks. At a meeting on disaster management on Monday, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the government would soon be looking to loosen the guidelines, which call for people to stay at home, avoid social gatherings of any type, and only go out for essential reasons.

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US McDonald's workers file $500m sexual harassment lawsuit

"McDonald's strategy in Florida appears to be: deny, ignore, and punish," the complaint says.

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'Joe has all the qualities we need in a president right now': Barack Obama endorses Joe Biden

"I’m so proud to endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States," former President Barack Obama said in a video statement Tuesday.

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American Airlines, United, and other carriers have agreed to bailout terms with the US Treasury that will avoid layoffs until October

The Treasury confirmed that American, Delta, United, Southwest, and JetBlue were among the airlines that had applied for bailout aid.

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