Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The latest out of Pittsburgh: “Ten people were injured Friday morning when a snow-covered bridge in Pittsburgh collapsed ahead of President Joe Biden’s scheduled visit to the area to talk about infrastructure. Pittsburgh Public Safety announced at about 7 a.m. that the bridge, in Frick Park, had collapsed.”
* In related news: “President Joe Biden visited the site of a bridge collapse in Pittsburgh on Friday during a trip to the city to promote an infrastructure package that he said would help repair the nation’s infrastructure and prevent similar incidents.”
* Maybe Kim Jong Un is bothered by all the attention Vladimir Putin is getting: “North Korea conducted tests of an upgraded long-range cruise missile and a warhead of a tactical guided missile this week, as leader Kim Jong Un visited a munitions factory producing a ‘major weapon system,’ state media KCNA said on Friday.”
* Vaccine news: “Moderna plans to seek authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its omicron-specific Covid-19 vaccine booster by the summer, the company’s chief medical officer said Thursday — a time frame that means that the targeted vaccine may not be available to the public until the second half of the year.”
* Conservative media news: “Google dealt a major blow to conservative media personality and Fox News Channel host Dan Bongino on Friday, pulling Google ad services from his website Bongino.com. The action follows YouTube’s decision Wednesday to ban Bongino from the video platform, citing its Covid-19 misinformation policy.” * A controversy I’ve been keeping an eye on: “A federal judge has turned down a request to dismiss Medicaid fraud charges filed last year against a Republican state lawmaker from southwest Missouri. In a decision issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Wimes agreed with a December ruling by a federal magistrate that Rep. Patricia Derges’ request for a dismissal was ‘illogical and frivolous,’ as well as ‘disjointed.’” * The latest book-banning effort, this time in Florida: “Polk County Public Schools Regional Assistant Superintendent John Hill and several of his colleagues spent Tuesday morning going to area middle and high schools to gather 16 books out of media centers after County Citizens Defending Freedom, a conservative political group, complained to Superintendent Frederick Heid that the novels, graphic novels, autobiographies, and sex education books contain pornographic material harmful to children.” Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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