Kim Bellware

Reporter for breaking news, criminal justice, politics, culture and the death penalty -- and some fun stuff, too. 

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Washington Post •

Michigan governor issues executive order allowing some businesses to reopen at reduced capacity

Whitmer’s restrictions, some of the nation’s most extensive, have prompted lawsuits from Republican opponents and drawn hundreds of demonstrators to the statehouse in Lansing, some of them armed. The state’s daily number of new coronavirus cases has been gradually declining since early April, and many counties in the northern part of the state have had no confirmed deaths since the pandemic started. But state officials have cautioned that Michigan’s rural areas could be quickly overwhelmed by o
Washington Post •

Pelosi criticizes Trump for taking hydroxychloroquine, ‘something that has not been approved by the scientists’

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the World Health Organization for not inviting Taiwan to its assembly this week, suggesting that the body’s secretariat had caved to pressure from China. “At a time when the world continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, we need multilateral institutions to deliver on their stated missions and to serve the interests of all member states, not to play politics while lives are at stake,” Pompeo said in statement released Monday. Taiwan was not inv
Washington Post •

All 50 U.S. states have taken steps toward reopening in time for Memorial Day weekend

The architect and manager of Florida’s coronavirus dashboard, which has been praised by experts including White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx, says she has been removed from her position. Rebekah Jones, who is credited with creating the Florida Department of Health data portal, told CBS12 News she was removed because she refused to censor data and “manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen.” On Tuesday, Jones confirmed to the Tampa Bay Times that sh
Washington Post •

Trump pays tribute at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day as U.S. virus death toll nears 100,000

President Trump on Monday threatened to move the Republican National Convention from North Carolina because the state’s Democratic governor “is still in Shutdown mood” as critical decisions loom ahead of the scheduled event in August. In tweets, Trump pressured Gov. Roy Cooper (D) to “guarantee that by August we will be allowed full attendance in the Arena” in Charlotte. “In other words, we would be spending millions of dollars building the Arena to a very high standard without even knowing if
Washington Post •

Surge in anxiety and depression show coronavirus toll on mental health in America

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) will be one of more than three dozen lawmakers who cast historic votes Wednesday by proxy voting, officially designating different House members to cast colleagues’ votes on their behalf. Most of those lawmakers, expected to be Democrats, are using the new proxy rule because the coronavirus pandemic has made them fearful of traveling from afar to Washington, a pandemic hot spot, or because traveling from their remote home to the Capitol has become very difficult
Washington Post •

Chaotic scene in Minneapolis after second night of protests over death of George Floyd

“[The police] think of us as less than animals, and that’s the way it has always been,” said Claudette White, who is black and has lived in the neighborhood on and off for decades. She raised her kids to be cautious of the police, warning them they wouldn’t be treated the same as white people, and even now, at 69, she continually worries something might happen to them. “I don’t see things getting better, not in my lifetime,” she said. “I think it’s only going to get worse.”
Washington Post •

‘Nothing short of murder’: After officers allegedly suffocate a suspect, condemnation grows

Speaking from the Oval Office on Thursday with Attorney General William P. Barr standing at his side, President Trump — who in 2017 told officers “Please don’t be too nice” to suspects — called the moments before Floyd’s death “a very bad thing.” He said the FBI will “take a very strong look” at the case, but declined to issue an opinion on whether the officers involved should be prosecuted. “I want everybody to be peaceful right now, but people are torn and hurt because they’re tired of seeing
Washington Post •

CNN reporter and crew arrested live on air while covering Minneapolis protest

CNN viewers witnessed police officers surrounding the journalists as Jimenez repeatedly said they would go where ordered. “Wherever you’d want us, we will go," he said. "We were just getting out of your way when you were advancing through the intersection, so just let us know and we got you.” “That is an American television reporter, Omar Jimenez, being led away by police officers,” Berman said. “He clearly identified himself as a reporter, he was respectfully explaining to the state police tha
Washington Post •

Louisville police chief fired after law enforcement kills local restaurant owner

Fischer said multiple investigations are underway into McAtee’s killing, and that he fired the city’s police chief upon learning that the police officers involved in the shooting had not activated their body cameras. “This type of institutional failure will not be tolerated,” Fischer said during a Monday afternoon news conference. Deputy police chief Robert Schroeder would assume duty as interim chief, he added. In a soundless police surveillance video released by the mayor’s office, police of
Washington Post •

U.S. coronavirus cases surpass 1.8 million as concern over potential spread rises with turmoil

Three out of 4 patients hospitalized in New Orleans’s largest medical system have been black, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings echo a growing body of research documenting the disproportionate impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on the health and economy of African Americans and other minority and marginalized communities in the United States. Researchers found that 77 percent of people hospitalized at Ochsner Health System hospitals i
Washington Post •

Four Indianapolis officers taken off patrol after video shows two of them striking woman with batons during arrest

“I don’t think there’s anyone that should be able to watch that video and not be moved to emotion,” Hogsett said. “Anytime that our officers deploy force against anyone, that moment is a reminder of the work that we have yet to do to bring peace to our city.” Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Randal Taylor said that he has launched an internal investigation into the incident and that he expects to announce results sometime next week. The chief said he didn’t know the identities
Washington Post •

Nation braces for outpouring of protests Saturday as clashes with police largely ebb

Officials in Washington, D.C., are preparing Saturday for the city’s largest protest so far following the death of George Floyd, with tens of thousands of people expected to start gathering in the early morning hours. “We anticipate the largest demonstrations with regards to numbers that we’ve seen in the city to date,” D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said. “And we anticipate that the protesters will continue to be as peaceful as they have been over the past couple of days.” Newsham added that
Washington Post •

14 states and Puerto Rico hit highest seven-day average of new coronavirus infections

The Washington Post is providing some coronavirus coverage free, including: The latest: Live updates in the U.S. Coronavirus maps: Cases and deaths in the U.S. | Cases and deaths worldwide | Which states are reopening and closing again What you need to know: Summertime activities & coronavirus | Your life at home | Personal finance guide | Make your own fabric mask | Follow all of our coronavirus coverage and sign up for our free newsletter. How to help: Your community | Seniors | Restaurant
Washington Post •

Once the coronavirus epicenter in the U.S., New York City begins to reopen

DUBAI — The number of reported novel coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia surged past 100,000 as the desert kingdom reported 3,045 new infections on Sunday, prompting new restrictions on daily life. Saudi Arabia has been the worst-hit country in the Arab world, but until recently the number of new cases had been declining amid strict lockdown policies. The last week, however, has seen dramatic increases in the daily number of cases as restrictions were eased during and after the holy fasting month
Washington Post •

Hospitalizations in at least nine states are on the rise; U.S. nears 2 million cases

Responding to confusion over statements made the previous day, the World Health Organization clarified Tuesday that people infected with the novel coronavirus but not showing symptoms of the disease it causes, covid-19, can and do indeed pass it on to others. But the U.N. health agency said it still does not know how common this form of transmission is. “The majority of transmissions that we know about is people who have symptoms transmit the virus to other people through infectious droplets,”
Washington Post •

Trump announces rallies in states where new infections are surging

Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s top infectious-disease expert, said on Tuesday that the federal government should not force drug companies to set specific prices on vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus. “When you’re dealing with something that has to have some kind of economic return, you have to have some degree of profit,” he said in a taped interview aired at a biotechnology conference, according to Bloomberg News. While some officials have raised concerns about the pricing of vaccin
Washington Post •

U.S. eclipses 2 million coronavirus cases

The first coronavirus case to emerge in the United States was discovered in mid-January in Snohomish County, Wash., days after the 35-year-old patient had returned from visiting family in Wuhan, China, where the virus was first reported. Although states have been able to confirm more new cases as testing capacity has increased from the early months of the outbreak, testing nationwide has remained short of goals set by health experts. And the numbers of where the outbreak is growing serve as a t
Washington Post •

Fueled by protests, school districts across the country cut ties with police

This week, more dominoes fell. The Denver School Board voted unanimously Thursday night to phase police out of its schools. On Wednesday in Seattle, the school board voted to suspend its contract with police for a year. And in Oakland this week, after police there used tear gas to disperse teens demonstrating for police-free schools, the school board passed the “George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the Oakland Schools Police Department.” Nearby, the West Contra Costa Unified School District vote
Washington Post •

Seattle protesters struggle to determine what’s next for ‘autonomous zone’ as Trump lobs threats

The struggle comes as a larger conversation plays out nationally over how communities want to change — and in some cases eliminate — the traditional policing model. Meanwhile, President Trump and his allies are decrying such protests and calls to defund police as a breakdown in lawful society. Trump has lashed out at Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, both Democrats, over the situation in Seattle and implied he would end the demonstrations with military force — something
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