Top Eight

Top eight CNS stories for today including President Donald Trump signed legislation that pumps billions into long-neglected national parks; Voters in Missouri and Arizona braved the Covid-19 threat to cast ballots in primary elections; The governors of six states announced a deal to buy 3 million coronavirus tests, and more.

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National

1.) President Donald Trump signed legislation Tuesday that pumps billions into long-neglected national parks and props up a decades-old fund with revenue generated from offshore oil and gas drilling.

President Donald Trump signs the H.R. 1957 – "The Great American Outdoors Act," in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

2.) Voters fearing Covid-19 will be reluctant to enter polling places in just 90 days, but experts warned Congress on Tuesday that vote-by-mail systems are underfunded and overburdened with the countdown on to November’s election.

FILE - In this May 27, 2020, file photo, a voter drops off their mail-in ballot prior to the primary election, in Willow Grove, Pa. The civic ritual of casting a ballot has been disrupted by a global pandemic and dramatically animated by social unrest. And If the results of a frustrating, chaotic primary in Georgia are a measure, the notion of democracy itself will also be on the ballot in the November election. Congress is now considering sending $3.6 billion to states to help facilitate safe and fair elections as part of another round of relief funds to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

3.) Supreme Court justices do not face term limits, but experts participating in an online panel Tuesday said the reasons for ending the practice are mounting.

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2018, file photo, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court gather for a formal group portrait to include a new Associate Justice, top row, far right, at the Supreme Court Building in Washington. Seated from left: Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr. Standing behind from left: Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan and Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

4.) A survey released Tuesday shows Americans’ trust of the news media is declining even though they still see the institution as invaluable to democracy, indicating growing skepticism toward what many see as journalists straying from objectivity in the internet age.

The New York Times building is shown on Oct. 21, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

5.) As surging infection rates heighten anxiety over the virus, testing providers have shown trouble meeting testing demands. Finding strength in numbers, however, the governors of six states announced a deal Tuesday to buy 3 million tests.

People line up at a mobile Coronavirus testing site at the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science Wednesday, July 22, 2020, in Los Angeles. California's confirmed coronavirus cases have topped 409,000, surpassing New York for most in the nation. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Regional

6.) Missouri voters, clad in masks and equipped with hand sanitizer, braved the Covid-19 threat Tuesday to cast ballots in the state’s primary election.

Signs are seen at a polling place in Imperial, Mo., on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020. (Courthouse News photo/Joe Harris)

7.) With social distancing and extra cleaning in place to protect against the spread of Covid-19, Arizona voters went to the polls Tuesday in a primary that could help swing the U.S. Senate into the Democrats’ fold.

A polling place in Tucson, Ariz. (Brad Poole/Courthouse News)

8.) New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot resigned Tuesday, but it was unclear whether she was forced out or quit in protest over the way Mayor Bill de Blasio has handled the pandemic.

In this Feb. 26, 2020 file photo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, with Dr. Oxiris Barbot, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, listens to a reporter's question in New York. DeBlasio says he's investigating a report that the city's health commissioner spoke dismissively of the health concerns of police officers during a heated phone call with a top police commander in the early days of the coronavirus crisis. The Mayor said he wants to speak with Barbot and NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan to "understand exactly what happened" during the exchange in late March. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

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