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Why are Americans shooting strangers and neighbors? · Apple News Today

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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Monday, May 1st. I'm Shumita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show: Why some states are rolling back child labor laws. How scientists are fighting mosquitoes, with more mosquitoes. Plus, one of the biggest nights in the fashion world holds its breath, for a cat.
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  But first. A manhunt is underway in Texas after five people were shot and killed by a man armed with an assault-style rifle on Friday night. Investigators say he killed his neighbors after they asked him to stop shooting the rifle in his yard because the sound was disturbing a baby. Authorities say after the neighbors complained, he reloaded his weapon, went into their house, and killed them. The victims include an 8-year-old boy. Two of the adult victims were shot as they laid over several small children to protect them from gunfire. Those three children survived without getting shot. These killings happened in Cleveland, Texas, which is northeast of Houston. Hundreds of law enforcement officers are part of the hunt for the suspect, which includes drones and searchers on horseback. James Smith is the Special Agent in Charge at the FBI's Houston office. He's urging anyone with leads to come forward.
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  James Smith: We're asking everyone for your help so we can bring this suspect, or this monster, I will call him, to justice.
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  There's now an $80,000 reward for information that leads to the suspect's capture.
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  There's been a lot of attention lately on shootings, some deadly, where people have shot neighbors, or strangers who approached their property by accident. The teenage boy shot after knocking on the wrong door in Kansas City. The woman killed when she pulled into the wrong driveway in upstate New York. "The Washington Post" looks at data and speaks to experts about why we seem to be hearing more of these stories lately. One factor is the broad availability of guns. A misunderstanding can quickly escalate into gunfire if someone is armed. Also, perhaps, if the person with the gun is afraid. The elderly White man who shot the Black teen in Kansas City told police he was scared. The "Post" looks at a growing gap between people's perception of crime rates, and actual crime rates, especially among Republicans. Polling shows that Republicans are far more likely to say that crime is rising in their neighborhood than Democrats. But crime reports are down sharply from the 1990s. Homicide and theft did rise during the pandemic, though still not to 90s levels. And reports of violence last year were lower than the five-year average. There's also the factor of self-defense laws, which we've talked about before on the show. The "Post" analysis finds that states with so-called "stand your ground" laws had 55% more homicides-by-firearm. As one criminologist puts it, a mix of fear, paranoia, and misunderstanding of self-defense laws, could make some people way too quick to pull the trigger.
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  A conservative advocacy group is pushing Republican state lawmakers to loosen child labor laws and it's working.
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  The Foundation for Government Accountability, the FGA, has gotten several legislatures to roll back rules on when and where teenagers can work. Several states are now allowing younger children to work more hours, including in places with dangerous conditions.
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  [START THE WASHINGTON POST ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Jacob Bogage: Immediately our question was, "After all this time, why is child labor coming back? Why relax child labor laws?"
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  That's "Washington Post" business reporter Jacob Bogage. The answer to that question involves a shortage of workers in certain industries, plus the culture wars over "parental rights" issues. The "Post's" reporting covers all of that, and describes the FGA having a well-established playbook to get these codes changed. It has policy proposals ready to go. And once it finds lawmakers who agree, it gives them the research and lobbying support needed to pass proposals into law. The FGA tells the "Post" that it does support safety protection for teenage workers. Its goal is to make it easier for teens who want to work and have parental approval. Child advocates say easing work rules is the wrong move, at a time when the government is struggling to enforce labor law.
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  Jacob Bogage: The Federal Department of Labor is tremendously under-resourced to be able to investigate child labor abuses. And so you're setting up a situation where not only is federal law conflicting with what states want to implement, but the very laws that states are implementing are going to make it harder for federal officials to do their jobs.
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  Since 2018, the number of minors found working in violation of federal law rose by 70%. Many companies are having trouble finding enough workers. Some may be playing loose with the rules as they turn to younger workers to fill the gap. Bogage explains how making it easier to hire younger teens could harm families.
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  Jacob Bogage: The real victims of child labor in this country are kids who are already in economic distress, whose families rely on them to help pay the bills. A lot of what we're seeing is the children who are exploited come to this country as undocumented and unaccompanied minors, and they are the ones who are being sucked into these jobs to fill this labor shortage.
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  It's getting warmer, and depending on where you live, that'll soon mean mosquitoes. Mosquito bites are an annoyance in some places. But in many parts of the world, they spread deadly disease.
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  A story in "Freethink" looks at an unusual idea to tackle the mosquito problem: more mosquitoes. It sounds weird, but it's been tested and shown to work. In Brazil, a nonprofit called "The World Mosquito Program" plans to build a massive factory, where it'll be able to breed 5 billion buzzing, little bloodsuckers every year. Now the key is that these new mosquitoes will be infected with a harmless bacteria. And this bacteria makes it harder for mosquitoes to carry dangerous viruses. Think of it like a mute button, that switches off mosquitoes' ability to carry things like Zika, yellow fever, and dengue. And as these muted mosquitoes breed, the local population of bugs is expected to become less dangerous to humans over time. The project unfolding in Brazil follows successful trials in Indonesia. There were far fewer dengue fever cases and hospitalizations in areas where the modified mosquitoes were introduced. Researchers warn, this new technique is no silver bullet against mosquito-borne disease. But it could be a useful weapon, alongside other tactics, that helps save lives.
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  Tonight is the Met Gala, one of the fashion world's biggest events. And one of the fun guessing games is who will show up and how they'll interpret the theme.
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  Now, this year's theme honors the late fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld. And the Wall Street Journal reports on how everyone's watching to see if a very famous relative of his will make an appearance on the red carpet: his cat, Choupette Lagerfield. Now, Lagerfeld had no children and was very famous for indulging his cat. Both had signature looks. Just as Karl Lagerfeld was known for his silver ponytail and his dark sunglasses, Choupette Lagerfeld is renowned for her luscious white fur, and piercing blue eyes. Lagerfeld was known for sometimes bringing her as his plus-one to high-fashion events. Now the cat's agent, and, of course, Karl Lagerfeld's cat has an agent, confirms to the Journal that the cat was invited to tonight's event. But he refused to reveal the details, citing confidentiality agreements. If she appears, she'll make history, as the first cat to walk the Met's red carpet.
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  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around. We've got a narrated article coming up next. "Bloomberg Businessweek" visits Yellow Springs, Ohio. A place where one particularly famous resident is having an outsized amount of influence on town life: controversial comedian Dave Chappelle. So sit back, take a listen to that, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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