Honoring Breonna Taylor, stimulus checks, Grammys, March Madness: 5 things to know this weekend
Events have been planned to mark the anniversary of Breonna Taylor's death
Saturday marks the first anniversary of the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, a Black 26-year-old from Louisville, Kentucky, who was an emergency medical technician studying to become a nurse. Taylor was shot multiple times in her home by Louisville Metro Police officers serving a no-knock warrant as part of a narcotics investigation into a man Taylor previously dated. No drugs were found in her home, and the case fueled nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism. The city agreed to pay Taylor's family $12 million and reform police practices last fall, but no officers have been charged in Taylor's death. Numerous events have been scheduled this week in Louisville in Taylor's honor and that includes a "Justice for Breonna Taylor" rally, memorial and march set for Saturday afternoon in Jefferson Square Park. Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, and other family members will lead the rally.
- #SayHerName: Black women like Breonna Taylor die every day at the hands of police. It’s time we said their names.
- Breonna Taylor has been gone a year: Why we need to talk more about the racial trauma of Black death.
- Looking at the changes: Are Louisville's sweeping police reforms enough to prevent another Breonna Taylor case?
IRS begins sending first round of $1,400 COVID-19 relief payments
The third round of stimulus checks will start hitting bank accounts for eligible Americans as soon as this weekend, the IRS said in a statement late Friday. In fact, the payments have already arrived for some people just one day after President Joe Biden signed the landmark $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill into law. The IRS announcement confirms what the Biden administration said Thursday, that people would start seeing direct deposit of the checks as soon as this weekend. The third round of Economic Impact Payments will be based on a taxpayer's latest processed tax return from either 2020 or 2019. If the IRS received and processed a taxpayer's 2020 return, the agency will make the calculation based on that return instead. The payments would amount to $1,400 for a single person or $2,800 for a married couple filing jointly, plus an additional $1,400 for each dependent child.
- Upcoming benefit: New health insurance subsidies in Biden's COVID-19 stimulus bill will be available April 1
- 'Today, the heartbreak starts to heal': Restaurants, bars decimated by pandemic getting billions from the stimulus bill
- Big boost: From child care to school reopenings, $1.9T COVID relief package gives a financial lift to America's struggling families
- Fact check: Stimulus bill doesn't include bonuses for members of House
Grammys will be different this year
Sunday's Grammy Awards will be like none we’ve ever seen before. The hybrid show airs live at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT on CBS. The show will swap out the Staples Center stage for outdoor sets at the Los Angeles Convention Center, as well as remotely from other places. We'll see newcomers to the Grammys stage, including BTS and Silk Sonic, and welcome back artists like Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. We could watch Beyoncé become the most-winning artist in Grammy history: With 24 trophies already, she needs eight wins to beat conductor Georg Solti's record of 31.
- Biggest snubs: Artists who, surprisingly, aren't up for consideration this year
- Major statement: The Weeknd will 'no longer allow' label to submit his music to the Grammys after snub
- The 12 greatest Grammys performances ever: They include Eric Clapton, Amy Winehouse and Beyoncé
March Madness is back
After being canceled last year by the coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA men's basketball tournament and March Madness are back in 2021. It starts with Selection Sunday, when the field of 68 teams will be announced. Our "bracketology" analysts currently are projecting the four No. 1 seeds to be Gonzaga, Baylor, Michigan and Illinois. The last automatic bids will be secured during conference tournaments throughout the weekend ahead of the big reveal Sunday (CBS, 6 p.m. ET). Make sure you're ready for all the action. Create your bracket pool, invite your friends and get ready for the highly anticipated return of March Madness.
- Get started: We will have playable men's and women's brackets this year
- NCAA Tournament bubble watch: Winners and losers as conference championship week marches forward
- No. 2 Bears lose: Cade Cunningham leads way as No. 14 Oklahoma State knocks Baylor out of Big 12 tournament
Daylight saving time returns
Love it or hate it, the annual March ritual of turning the clocks ahead is coming at 2 a.m. Sunday. That means it's also time for another semi-annual ritual: Debate over the pros and cons of springing forward (in March) or falling back (in November). Fifteen states have already passed legislation to make daylight saving time year-round. "Time activist" Scott Yates of Denver, who has been pushing to "end the barbarism of changing the clock twice a year," said: "With all that's going wrong in the world, let’s at least make the clocks work."
- Fact check: Viral posts make false claims about Friday the 13th, next full moon
- Staying Apart, Together: I'm looking forward to losing an hour of sleep... kind of
