Viral News: With cases of Covid-19 in retreat, the states of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut announced they are lifting almost all their pandemic restrictions starting May 19th, making it possible for people to return to offices, restaurants, nightlife, and cultural events. 

  By the 17^th, New York plans to return its subways to 24-hour service, which was suspended during the depths of the pandemic.

  It can’t be a full return to normal because restaurants and bars would still have to adhere to federal social distancing guidelines. It’s difficult to pitch pickup lines in a bar from six feet away.

  Despite the optimism of the politicians, some public health officials warn that the re-opening may be too much, too soon. New cases are down over the past two weeks, but still, 750 Americans died of Covid yesterday.

  There’s a mix of openings and continued restrictions across the country. In King County, Washington, where Seattle is located, cases are rising. Restaurants there are still limited to 50 percent capacity and the state is considering restoring some restrictions. 

On the Border: The Biden administration is beginning a difficult effort to re-unite migrant children separated from their families at the border under the Trump administration. Four parents from Mexico and Central America who were among thousands of migrants deported without their children under Trump’s  family separation policy will be allowed to join their children in the US this week. 

  The parents from Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, will be the first among thousands separated from their kids allowed to reunite with them in the US since the Biden administration began dismantling the Trump policy of basically stealing children to deter families from trying to enter the country.  The Trump administration originally took about 5,500 children into custody while kicking out their parents. About 1,000 children remain in the US, most old them living with relatives, the government says.

  Also reversing Trump administration policies,  President Biden is raising the number of refugees admitted into the country to 62,500 a year. “This erases the historically low number set by the previous administration of 15,000, which did not reflect America’s values as a nation that welcomes and supports refugees,” Biden said in a statement issued by the White House.

Civil War: The Republican Party is bordering on civil war as it sorts out whether it is the party of Trump or something else — anything else.

  The Trump loyalists are turning on members of their own party who dare to speak against Trump, and one of the most endangered is Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the #3 Republican in the House. Cheney voted to impeach Trump and has pushed back on his claim that he lost the election to massive fraud. She’s already survived one attempt to remove her from leadership.

  Employing his talent for twisting truth into a pretzel, Trump issued a statement yesterday saying, “The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!”

  Of course, the big lie is that it was stolen. Cheney replied with a tweet saying,  “The 2020 presidential election was not stolen.” She said, “Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system.”

  Speaking behind closed doors at an event in Sea island, Georgia, Cheney is reported to have said about the election and the January 6^th insurrection, “We can’t whitewash what happened on January 6 or perpetuate Trump’s big lie. It is a threat to democracy. What he did on January 6 is a line that cannot be crossed.”

The Spin Rack: An overhead subway platform in Mexico City collapsed late last night, killing at least 23 people. As many as 70 were injured. — The Facebook Oversight Board, an independent and international panel, is expected to announce tomorrow whether the unfriendly communicator Donald Trump will be allowed to return to the social network. Trump was blocked from the site after using it to help incite the January 6^th Capitol insurrection. — The Pfizer Covid vaccine is on the brink of being approved for teenagers 12-15 years old.

The Obit Page: Bobby Unser, the movie star handsome race driver who won the Indianapolis 500 three times and set a record for the Pike’s peak hill climb, has died at age 87.

  Unser came from a car racing family. His younger brother Al, and nephew Al Jr., known as Little Al, between them won the 500 a total of nine times over three different decades. Bobby won the Pike’s Peak hill climb 13 times.

  With wins by the Unser family have come great losses. Bobby’s uncle Joe was killed in a practice run on a highway before the 1929 Indy 500. His older brother Jerry Jr., who survived a multicar accident that sent his car hurtling over a wall in the 1958 Indy 500, was killed in a flaming wreck while practicing for the 1959 race.

Society Pages: Bill Gates, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, and his wife Melinda ,who together have become a power in public health and philanthropy, announced that they are divorcing after  27 years of marriage and three children. They are one of the richest couples in the world. 

  And wouldn’t you know, they announced on social media. “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” they said in a statement that was posted on Twitter. They say their joint charitable foundation will go on as before. 

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