Top Eight

Top eight stories for today including fully vaccinated Americans can ditch their masks in most places indoors and outdoors; Missouri’s Republican governor scrapped plans for voter-approved Medicaid expansion due to a lack of funding from state lawmakers; A group of Republican lawmakers called for the formation of a new political party, and more.

Your Thursday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top eight stories for today including fully vaccinated Americans can ditch their masks in most places indoors and outdoors; Missouri’s governor scrapped plans for voter-approved Medicaid expansion due to a lack of funding from state lawmakers; A group of Republican lawmakers called for the formation of a new political party, and more.

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National

1.) If you are fully vaccinated and want to stop wearing your face mask indoors and outside, now you can do so in most situations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

Visitors, some wearing masks to protect against the spread of COVID-19, walk along the River Walk in San Antonio, Wednesday, June 24, 2020, in San Antonio. Cases of COVID-19 have spiked in Texas and the governor of Texas is encouraging people to wear masks in public and stay home if possible. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

2.) Donald Trump may not be president any longer, but the fissures created in the GOP over his single term have prompted a group of Republican lawmakers to call for the formation of a new political party.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., left, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., arrive to speak to reporters outside the White House after a meeting with President Joe Biden, Wednesday, May 12, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

3.) Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid almost $5 million in ransom to a criminal hacker gang that has crippled fuel service on the East Coast for days.

A customer asks a Chevron gas station cashier when they expect gasoline to be delivered, Wednesday, May 12, 2021, in Miami. State and federal officials are scrambling to find alternate routes to deliver gasoline in the Southeast U.S. after a hack of the nation’s largest fuel pipeline led to panic-buying that contributed to more than 1,000 gas stations running out of fuel. The pipeline runs from the Gulf Coast to the New York metropolitan region. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier(AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

4.) Ditching a cost-benefit analysis structure that ignored how Clean Air Act regulation can save lives, the Environmental Protection Agency touted Thursday its intent to “rely on the best available science.”

The Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Kent County, Maryland, has for decades served as a critical habitat to hundreds of migratory fowl thanks to its delicate ecosystem that relies on pollution-free tidal marshes. (Courthouse News photo/Brandi Buchman)

5.) Many Americans say they remain less than eager to get themselves vaccinated against Covid-19 and remain skeptical of the vaccine’s safety – but the right financial incentive may be just the thing to change their mind.

FILE - In this April 10, 2021, file photo, registered nurse Ashleigh Velasco, left, administers the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine to Rosemene Lordeus, right, at a clinic held by Healthcare Network in Immokalee, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

Regional

6.) Missouri Governor Mike Parson on Thursday scrapped plans for voter-approved Medicaid expansion due to a lack of funding from state lawmakers.

Campaign workers deliver boxes of Healthcare for Missouri campaign initiative petition signatures to the Missouri secretary of state's office in Jefferson City, Mo., on May 1, 2020. (David A. Lieb/AP)

7.) California Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced an expansion of the state’s initiative to help hard-hit small businesses weather the financial storm from the Covid-19 pandemic as it seeks to reopen its economy in June.

No longer able to seat customers during the coronavirus pandemic, an Italian restaurant in San Diego advertises takeout, including a two-for-one special on bottles of wine. (Photo by BARBARA LEONARD/Courthouse News Service)

International

8.) Rain has long signaled the end of a drought, but a new analysis of Australia’s worst dry spell in a century reveals many water reservoirs remained low nearly a decade after the rain returned.

Bone-dry fields outside Benambra, Victoria, Australia. (Photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos via Wikipedia)

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