Tuesday Spotlight, ADVISORY

EDITORS:

The following story will move Monday as this week’s Tuesday Spotlight, a feature showcasing the best off-the-news enterprise in the AP report:

VIRUS OUTBREAK-SUPERSPREADER STATEHOUSES

HELENA, Mont. — As states brace for a coronavirus surge following holiday gatherings, other places stand out as potential super-spreaders: the capitols where lawmakers will be making decisions about budgets, policies and their state’s response to the pandemic that has killed more than 344,000 Americans. Lawmakers in numerous Republican-controlled statehouses, from Montana to Pennsylvania, are planning to hold their sessions at least partially in-person without requiring or enforcing mask-wearing. Public health officials say those decisions endanger the safety of other lawmakers, staffers, lobbyists, the public and journalists. Associated Press data indicates more than 230 state lawmakers across the country have contracted COVID-19 and at least six have died. By Amy Beth Hanson. UPCOMING: 1,090 words, photos.

—The AP