Senate allows small public tours to resume in the Capitol
WASHINGTON — The Senate sergeant-at-arms has relaxed its pandemic policy on public tours in the Capitol, saying some guests can once again visit the building.
The new guidance allows small staff-led tours in a limited area on the Senate side. Two tours of up to six guests each will be open to visitors every half-hour between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to a memo circulated to Senate offices and obtained by CQ Roll Call.
The tours are limited to 30 minutes and will be allowed to include only the Crypt, the Rotunda and the Brumidi Corridor. Areas like the Capitol Visitor Center, the Old Senate Chamber and the Old Supreme Court Chamber will remain off-limits.
Staffers must send the names of those invited on tours at least 24 hours in advance. Members of the public seeking a tour would start by submitting a request to their home state senator’s office.
The new policy represents a shift from existing protocol, which allowed Senate staff to meet visitors with official business and escort them to meetings. Sometimes the route meandered through the Rotunda or other more scenic parts of the Capitol, but a formal public tour policy provides a more sanctioned policy for allowing people into the building.
—CQ-Roll Call
NYC's mayor-elect wants police to resume beat cop patrols
NEW YORK — As Mayor-elect Eric Adams prepares to dictate policy for the nation’s largest police department, he has kept a romantic vision at the heart of his plans for the polarizing 35,000-officer-strong force.
Adams, who spent 22 years as a reform-focused police officer before climbing to the mayoralty on a public-safety message, said he believes a crucial step to healing the NYPD’s deep rifts with some communities is to return beat cops to the city’s streets.
“The goal is to rebuild trust,” Adams told the Daily News. “We can show people that these officers are human beings just like them. They have children. They have families. They have spouses. They want to go home safe, and they want you to go home safe.”
He said he intends to target areas where confidence in the cops is low, survey communities about police responses and determine officers’ promotions based on neighborhood feedback.
The effort will not be easy. And it could meet distinct skepticism from activists and policing experts.
In the mid-20th century, officers with steady foot posts were commonplace in New York City. Adams fondly recalls the white officer who walked the working-class neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens, the community of his youth.
“He knew how to keep you out of trouble,” said Adams, a Black Democrat who was once in a youth gang and often recounts a beating he received from cops at 15.
—New York Daily News
Derek Chauvin to change plea in federal civil rights case
MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin plans to change his not-guilty plea on federal charges that he abused his power to violate the civil rights of George Floyd, according to court filings.
Chauvin — along with former officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — are accused of using the "color of the law" to deprive Floyd of his constitutional rights to be "free from the use of unreasonable force" when Chauvin pinned down Floyd with a knee on his neck for more than nine minutes, and the other three did nothing to stop him.
"This offense resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of George Floyd," according to the federal charges,which run separate from the state's cases against the same officers.
All four pleaded not guilty to those charges in September. On Monday, a court filing in the U.S. District Court in Minnesota indicated Chauvin will appear at 9 a.m. Wednesday to enter a new plea.
—Star Tribune
Dr. Oz is officially ending his show to focus on Pa. Senate run
As expected, the long-running “Dr. Oz Show” will end in the wake of host Dr. Mehmet Oz’s announcement late last month that he’s running for U.S. Senate.
The daily hourlong talk show, syndicated across the country by Sony Pictures Television, will end Jan. 14 after 13 seasons, Sony said in a statement Monday.
“The Dr. Oz Show” was pulled from several markets — specifically those that reach Pennsylvania TV households — after the celebrity heart surgeon announced his intention to run for the state’s open Senate seat as a Republican, in hopes of replacing retiring Sen. Pat Toomey.
The move brings Oz’s unrivaled name recognition and wealth to a political race that is expected to be among the nation’s most competitive and could determine control of the Senate in next year’s election, the Associated Press reported.
—Los Angeles Times
