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Good morning,

If you’ve already got your sights set on the end of your workday, you’re not alone. Out of office messages are being sent earlier! Data from 75,000 workers at 816 companies, analyzed by workplace analytics firm ActivTrak, shows that sign-off times have been getting earlier throughout the week — especially on Fridays.

• What's the deal? Many companies are still hybrid (some days in the office/some days WFH), with Fridays being WFH days. And, it appears the weekends are getting started for a number of us a tad earlier. 🎉

Food for thought to start out your work week. Have a good one!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

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📌 NYPD OFFICER DEATH SPARKS NEW DEBATE ON BAIL REFORM

Thousands of police officers from New York City and throughout the region honored NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, who was fatally shot in the line of duty a week ago.

The killing by a suspect with nearly two dozen prior arrests is leading to prominent calls to reconsider recent criminal justice reforms. Among the laws being debated: New York’s bail reform which eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanors/nonviolent felonies, and made New York the only state to NOT consider a person's dangerousness when deciding their bail.

KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY
Diller was shot when investigating, with his partner, an illegally parked SUV. Guy Rivera, sitting in the car’s passenger seat, shot Diller below his ballistic vest.

• Rivera, who has 21 prior arrests, including nine felonies, is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder. He spent many years in jail for those crimes, and was on parole until last year.

• The driver, Lindy Jones, is charged with weapons offenses and has 14 prior arrests. He was out on $75,000 bail from an arrest in April 2023.

• Diller’s widow, Stephanie, delivered an emotional eulogy (watch here) calling for more to be done to protect police officers.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, said, "It's the same people over and over again… It's the good guys against the bad guys and we have to recognize that."

THE REFORMS
While it does not appear that Rivera was out on the street due to the new, loosened laws, they are still coming under a microscope. Recent NY bail and discovery reforms went into effect in 2020, and the mayor is pointing to some of those changes as reasons for the same people repeatedly committing violent crimes. A US Department of Justice analysis found 82% people released from state prisons across 24 states were rearrested at least once during the 10 years following release — 43% within one year of release — some of the highest in the world.

• Discovery reform makes prosecutors turn-over discovery — or the evidence in a case — no later than 15 days after arraignment or 30 additional days for voluminous materials.

  • Some prosecutors cannot keep up with the new rules, and Adams says a “large number of cases are being dropped and dismissed.”

• Bail reform sought to reduce the risk of someone being in jail because they could not afford to pay for release — which can have a ripple effect on their lives (like losing jobs and housing) and can overburden the jail system.

  • After some pushback, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul scaled back some of the changes when some crime rates rose.

  • However, there is no evidence that bail reform drove additional increases in crime, the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute, found. They also found that rearrest rates remained at similar levels post-reform.

    • Across the country, regardless of reforms, crime rates rose during COVID and are now dropping in most categories.  

⚓️ VULNERABLE BRIDGES NOT PREPARED TO WITHSTAND EVER-GROWING SHIPS

The clean-up of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge has started following last week’s collapse. Maryland Governor Wes Moore is calling on Congress to pass desperately needed federal funding to start to quickly rebuild the bridge and open the port.

It comes as there are new questions on the state of US bridges and why one of the nation’s biggest bridges — that had satisfactory inspection records — could collapse almost immediately after being hit.

BIG BUSINESS, BIGGER SHIPS
Federal officials say it could cost anywhere from $400 million to $2 billion to rebuild the bridge. The Biden administration already released $60 million for the clean-up efforts and reopening the port. (Congress will need to pass the rest of the money— not a sure thing in the Republican-controlled House pushing back on new spending.)

• The Panama Canal was widened in 2016, allowing ever larger ships to pass through and access East Coast ports from Asia. The Francis Scott Key Bridge was one of about 10 bridges in the US that was capable of allowing super-sized container ships to pass.

  • In the past two decades, ships have grown as a way to cut costs, lower fuel emissions, and transport the most goods on popular routes.

WHICH OTHER BRIDGES ARE AT RISK?
The WSJ looked at eight major bridges in the U.S. that have the clearance of the one in Baltimore. They all have the same vulnerability, where the failure of even a single steel component along the span could cause a collapse. They all appear to lack the sufficient safeguards — like independent barriers (called dolphins) and fenders — to deflect and/or absorb the impact of a large cargo ship.

• They are: Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Wash., Lewis and Clark Bridge, Ore.-Wash., St. Johns Bridge, Ore., San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge in Calif., The George Washington Bridge and Verrazzano Bridge in, N.J.-N.Y., and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, Md.

• Current federal law doesn’t require bridges built before the 1990s to have the barriers to stop modern super-sized cargo ships.

BIG SHIPS, OLD BRIDGES
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “What we do know is a bridge like this one, completed in the 1970s, was simply not made to withstand a direct impact on a critical support pier from a vessel that weighs about 200 million pounds.”

• He added that the agency would apply findings from the Key Bridge collapse investigation to future regulations.

🇵🇷 PUERTO RICO’S DENGUE EPIDEMIC

Cases of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease, "have exceeded historical figures" in Puerto Rico, leading officials to declare a public health emergency for at least 90 days.

The US territory joins about 100 countries that are dealing with outbreaks.

THE NUMBERS
Dengue is most common in hot and humid climates. It can cause high fever, severe headache, joint and muscle pain, rash, and, in severe cases, death.

• So far in 2024 in Puerto Rico, there have been 549 cases, including 341 hospitalizations and 29 severe cases. No one has died.

• In Latin America there have been 1,000 deaths and 3.5 million cases this year, the Pan American Health Organization said.

  • That’s three times more cases than last year.

Infectious disease experts are concerned about the spike because transmission of the virus is typically low in the winter. But with climate change and more international travel, public health experts say these surges are going to become more common.

MORE TO KNOW
The CDC is working with Puerto Rican officials to control mosquito breeding sites and urge locals to use mosquito repellents and wire mesh panels at home. About a quarter of people who get infected with dengue develop symptoms and 1 in 20 people infected suffer severe illness.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 April will bring severe storms, snow and flooding as a wide-reaching storm crosses the US (CNN)

📌 White House bashes 'dishonest' Republican criticism of Biden's transgender proclamation on Easter (ABC NEWS)

📌 Half of senior staffers in Congress are so fed up that they may quit (WASHINGTON POST)

📌 New York City Mayor Eric Adams marked Good Friday by receiving a jailhouse baptism from the Rev. Al Sharpton (AP)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Journalist critical of Iranian regime stabbed in London, as authorities open counter-terrorism investigation (BBC)

📌 Pope Francis overcomes health concerns to preside over windy Easter Sunday Mass, renews calls for peace in Gaza & Ukraine (PBS)

📌 King Charles attends Easter church service in most significant public appearance since cancer diagnosis (CNN)

📌 White House sends more weapons to Israel amid criticism from progressives (NBC NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 New $20 minimum wage for fast food workers in California set to start today (NBC NEWS)

📌 KIA recalls over 400,000 Telluride SUVs (CNBC)

📌 Inside Mnuchin's far-fetched plan to rebuild TikTok from scratch (WASHINGTON POST)

📌 Why are older Americans drinking so much? (NY TIMES)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Several NCAA Women’s games played with mismatched 3-point lines (AP NEWS)

📌 Lizzo says ‘I QUIT:’ Say she's tired of being 'dragged by everyone' on the internet (NBC NEWS)

📌 LSU and Iowa prepare for championship rematch in Elite Eight: 'A really great game for women's basketball' (CBS SPORTS)

📌 Men’s Final Four set with NC State shocking win over Duke (NBC NEWS)

📌 ‘Zoey 101’ star Matthew Underwood reveals sexual assault, explains why some Nick actors are ‘staying silent’ after ‘Quiet on Set’ (THE WRAP)

📌 Beyoncé fans confused over five missing tracks on ‘Cowboy Carter’ vinyl, fueling theories about last-minute changes (VARIETY)

Mo News Podcast: A daily conversation about the news that matters.

🗓 ON THIS DAY: APRIL 1

• 1970: President Richard Nixon banned cigarette advertising on radio and television.

• 1976: Apple Computer was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.

• 1977: Fleetwood Mac released their song, ‘Don’t Stop,’ from the Rumours album.

• 1979: Nickelodeon launches.

• 2004: Bye bye Hotmail: Google rolls out Gmail.