Photo: Science Photo Library RF
1 The Writer’s Guild of America Is Now On Strike
The Writer’s Guild of America announced that as of 12:01 a.m. this morning, it’s on strike. In a message sent to members last night, the WGA said that “the studios’ responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing.” The strike comes after the guild failed to reach an agreement on a new film and scripted TV contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. In a public statement, the WGA said the strike was authorized by a unanimous vote of the WGA Negotiating Committee, the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America West, and the Council of the Writers Guild of America East. The vote comes after six weeks of negotiation. The guild said that picketing will begin this afternoon in places like Netflix’s Hollywood offices, CBS TV City, Disney, Universal, and the Peacock NewFront on Fifth Avenue in New York City, with the first pickets going up at 4 p.m. Eastern Time today. It's the first writer’s strike since 2007, a walkout that lasted for 100 days. The guild is asking for an overhaul in the formulas used to calculate compensation and residuals, greater protections for its members’ over-scale payments, and more. What does this mean? Late night shows are affected first and then "Saturday Night Live." If the writing wasn't finished for Saturday's show with host Pete Davidson, then it should be interesting to see what they do.
2 Huge Dust Storm In Illinois Causes Massive Pileup On Highway
A massive pile-up involving up to 80 vehicles happened yesterday on Interstate 55 south of Springfield, Illinois leaving at least six people dead and over 30 people taken to the hospital with injuries. A dust storm blew up from freshly-plowed fields next to the interstate, leading to very low visibility. CBS Chicago is reporting that the dust storm was caused by a combination of meteorological conditions and land cultivation. In a press conference yesterday, Illinois State Police Major Ryan Starrick said that the pile-up involved 20 commercial vehicles and from 40 to 60 passenger cars. Maj. Starrick also said that two of the tractor-trailers involved in the crash caught fire. Officials said that dust storms like this have happened before, but they hadn’t seen conditions like the ones that caused yesterday’s crash.
3 Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Says U.S. Could Default On Debt As Soon As June 1st
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letter to leaders in the House and Senate yesterday to tell them the U.S. could default on its debt as early as June 1st if legislators don’t raise or suspend the debt ceiling. It wasn’t just Yellen sounding the alarm, as the Congressional Budget Office reported yesterday that it saw a greater risk of the U.S. running out of money in early June because of less-than-expected tax receipts this filing season. CBO Director Phillip L. Swagel said that because of that and the IRS having processed already received returns, “Treasury’s extraordinary measures will be exhausted sooner than we previously projected.” While House Republicans passed a debt ceiling measure last week, there’s little chance of it passing in the Senate. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy repeated his stance yesterday that Republicans wouldn’t raise the debt limit without spending cuts, while President Joe Biden called on Congress to take action and not fall victim to “hostage-taking from some of the MAGA Republicans in Congress.” Biden invited the four Congressional leaders to meet with him at the White House on May 9th. The U.S. has never defaulted on its debts, which currently stand at $31.4 trillion.