The Senate failed to advance a slimmed-down coronavirus relief bill Thursday that senators on both sides had acknowledged was unlikely to muster the votes to pass the chamber. The bill was defeated in a 52-47 vote, and one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted with Democrats in opposing the bill. The estimated $300 billion proposal, dubbed the Delivering Immediate Relief to America’s Families, Schools and Small Businesses Act, included bolstered unemployment benefits, funding for schools and liability protections for businesses and health care facilities. Its failure leaves little chance a stimulus bill will pass Congress before the November election. Meanwhile, universities across the country also continue to contend with COVID-19 challenges. The University of Wyoming on Wednesday extended its fall return for the second time in a week, while the University of Wisconsin-Madison shifted to online education for two weeks . Some significant developments: California reached a bleak milestone, becoming the first state in the nation to reach 750,000 coronavirus cases. Los Angeles County claims a third of those cases, becoming the first county to surpass 250,000 cases. More than 857,000 Americans filed first-time applications for unemployment insurance last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The race for a […]