National News - Page 153

Capitol Police Boost Security Ahead of Jan 6 Anniversary

By Geneva Sands and Whitney Wild, Law enforcement and federal authorities in the Washington area are stepping up security efforts in anticipation of the one-year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Tuesday that the department is operating at a “heightened level of vigilance, because we are at a heightened level of threat” in general, but he added that DHS is not aware of any credible threats specifically related to the anniversary or January 6. “The threat of domestic violent extremists is a very great one,” he told reporters. US Capitol Police Chief Tom

Supreme Court Weighs Biden’s OSHA Vaccine Mandate Battle

By Joan Biskupic, The two visions of pandemic America have arrived at the US Supreme Court. To the Biden administration, this is a life-or-death moment. Administration lawyers defending a new workplace vaccination requirement highlight the human toll of the deadly virus, a collapsing health care system and the “grave danger” of Covid-19 transmission among workers. Businesses and states that brought the lawsuits to be heard at the high court on Friday say the Biden administration’s vaccine-or-test regulation for large employers would cause workers to quit and profits to plunge. The challengers stress the cost to the national economy and to individual liberty. The

Chicago Teachers Vote for Remote Learning Amid COVID Surge

By Theresa Waldrop and Omar Jimenez, The Chicago Teachers Union voted to teach virtually rather than in the classroom, triggering a cancellation of classes Wednesday which the school district leadership warned would happen if the union vote passed. CPS, the third-largest school district in the country, resumed in-person learning Monday in conditions union leaders described as unsafe as the Omicron virus variant sent Covid-19 cases soaring around the country. The union held an emergency meeting Tuesday evening to hold the vote by its delegates (elected union leaders for individual schools) on virtual teaching and then poll its 25,000 members electronically. The vote was 73%

FDA Expands Pfizer Booster Eligibility to Ages 12 and Up

By Deidre McPhillips, The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday expanded the emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine boosters to children ages 12 to 15. The agency also shortened the time needed before receiving a booster shot from at least six months after completion of the initial series to at least five months, for everyone 12 and older. “Throughout the pandemic, as the virus that causes Covid-19 has continuously evolved, the need for the FDA to quickly adapt has meant using the best available science to make informed decisions with the health and safety of the American public

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Tests Positive for COVID-19

By Barbara Starr, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has tested positive for Covid-19 and is exhibiting “mild” symptoms, according to a statement from him released by the Defense Department on Sunday. “I have informed my leadership team of my positive test result, as well as the President. My staff has begun contact tracing and testing of all those with whom I have come into contact over the last week,” Austin said. Austin said he last met with President Joe Biden on December 21 and tested negative that morning. He said he was last in the Pentagon on Thursday. “I met briefly

Bill Proposes National Museum for Asian American History

By Harmeet Kaur, It took decades of advocacy and effort, but a national African American museum now stands on the National Mall. After legislation that passed last year, national museums dedicated to Latinos and women are also in the works. Now, one lawmaker wants Asian Americans to have a museum of their own, too. A bill introduced by Democratic Rep. Grace Meng of New York would establish a commission to explore the possibility of a museum that would honor the history, culture and achievements of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The group would be made up of experts in AAPI history and culture, as

Drivers Trapped for Hours on I-95 After Major Snowstorm

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By Kelly McCleary, Joe Sutton and Jason Hanna, Drivers have been stranded for hours on a major interstate in eastern Virgina — some stuck from Monday into Tuesday morning — after a severe winter storm caused massive backups, sending authorities scrambling to clear a path. In some places in the Fredericksburg area, vehicles still were stranded shortly before sunrise Tuesday partly because of disabled trucks, and some travelers have been stuck since Monday morning, the Virginia Department of Transportation said. The stuck vehicles were on portions of I-95 between exit 104 near Carmel Church and exit 152 at Dumfries Road — a roughly 50-mile

Virginia AG Sues Windsor Police for Racial Discrimination

By Jay Croft, More than a year after two policemen pepper-sprayed a Black and Latino US Army officer, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has sued the town of Windsor, alleging its police department has discriminated against African Americans and violated their civil rights. It is the first case brought under a new law that allows the state’s leading law-enforcement officer “to sue to stop systemic violations of Virginians’ rights,” according to a release from Herring’s office. The suit was spurred by an incident in December 2020, when two Windsor Police Department officers pulled over 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario and repeatedly used pepper spray

Child COVID Hospitalizations Surge Amid Omicron Wave

By Travis Caldwell, With tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans at higher risk for severe disease from Covid-19 infections, doctors and health care facilities nationwide are reporting a rising number of young people hospitalized, some of whom are too young to receive vaccine doses. The nation’s largest pediatric hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, is reporting a more than four-fold increase in child hospitalizations from Covid-19 over the last two weeks, spurred by the spread of the Omicron and Delta variants over the holiday season. “We have staggering numbers here from this Omicron surge already,” Dr. Jim Versalovic, pathologist-in-chief at Texas Children’s, said Monday. “We shattered prior

U.S. COVID Cases Hit Record High as Child Hospitalizations Soar

By Christina Maxouris, A day after reporting its highest average daily Covid-19 case number, the US shattered the record Thursday, with an average of 355,990 infections reported every day in the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University. As the latest surge sweeps across the US, pushing cases and hospitalizations to unprecedented levels and altering daily life again, experts warn a turning point could be weeks away. “Given the size of our country — and the diversity of vaccination versus not vaccination — that it likely will be more than a couple of weeks (until Covid-19 cases peak) … probably by the end of January,” Dr. Anthony

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