National News - Page 166

CDC Nears Approval of Pfizer Covid Vaccine for Kids 5–11

By Jen Christensen, Millions of child-size doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine are being shipped from the company’s facilities to distribution centers across the country — ready to go out to pharmacies and pediatricians’ offices, the Biden administration said Monday. They’re just waiting for the OK from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose independent advisers will vote Tuesday on whether to recommend Covid-19 vaccines for 5- to 11-year-olds. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the independent group of experts who advise the CDC, meet to take this second-to-last regulatory step before the final decision goes to CDC Director Dr.

White Man Wins $10M Lawsuit Over Diversity-Based Firing

By Rebekah Riess, A White man has been awarded a $10 million payout in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed against his former employer, which he said fired him and replaced him with a White woman and a Black woman as part of a push for diversity, according to court documents. Plaintiff David Duvall was hired as senior vice president of marketing and communications by Novant Health Inc., a North Carolina-based not-for-profit health system with 15 medical centers and more than 1,800 physicians, on August 5, 2013, according to the complaint. He was fired “without prior warning” on July 30, 2018, and

Families Reach $1.25M Settlement Over Kobe Crash Photos

By Stella Chan, Two families whose loved ones were killed when a helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and others crashed on a California hillside have reached a tentative settlement over allegedly leaked photos of the scene. Lawyers representing Los Angeles County have offered $1.25 million each to the Altobelli and Mauser families. John Altobelli, 46, his wife Keri, 46, and their daughter, Alyssa, 14, were aboard the helicopter on January 26, 2020, along with Christina Mauser, 38. Their families filed separate federal lawsuits claiming a violation of their rights to control the death images of their loved ones after photos of

Supreme Court Revisits Texas Abortion Law Amid Division

By Ariane de Vogue, A sharply divided Supreme Court will gather Monday to once again consider a Texas law that bars abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy, reigniting a debate concerning the most restrictive law in the country. Oral arguments come two months to the day after a 5-4 court allowed the law to go into effect, halting most abortions in the country’s second largest state, and flooding clinics in nearby states with patients from Texas. Amidst a nationwide firestorm, the Supreme Court agreed to fast-track two appeals brought by a coalition of abortion providers and the Biden administration, signaling that the justices

$88M Settlement for Charleston Church Shooting Families

By Christina Carrega and Holly Yan, The families of nine people fatally shot in 2015 at a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, have reached an $88 million settlement with the Justice Department in their lawsuit over the shooter’s weapon purchase, according to agency officials and a news release Thursday. The settlements range from $6 million to $7.5 million per claimant for those killed at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and $5 million per claimant for survivors, the Justice Department said. The widow of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney thanked supporters and those involved in reaching the settlement. “Even though Clementa is

Low Juror Turnout Delays Ahmaud Arbery Trial Selection

By Martin Savidge, Mallika Kallingal, Angela Barajas and Eric Fiegel, It’s been nearly two weeks since jury selection began in the trial of the three men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery, and of the thousand people summoned for jury duty, less than half have turned up. Of the first batch of 600 people summoned when jury selection began on October 18, only 283 actually came, according to Ron Adams, the Clerk of Superior Court for Glynn County. Another 400 were summoned on Monday, but only about half that number appeared in person. No official reason has been given for the

Sara Minkara Named US Special Adviser on Disability Rights

By Kate Sullivan, President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the appointment of Sara Minkara as the US special adviser on international disability rights, filling a role that was created by former President Barack Obama and left vacant during the Trump administration. “One-seventh of our world’s population — 1 billion people — are people with disabilities. And if we are not thinking about that community when we’re talking about foreign policy and policy in general, that means we’re really ignoring 1/7th of our world population,” Minkara told CNN in an interview. Minkara will be positioned at the State Department and will be tasked

Texas GOP Inquiry Targets School Books on Race, Gender

By Nicole Chavez, A Texas Republican lawmaker has launched an inquiry to identify books at public school libraries and classrooms on the subjects of race or sex that might “make students feel discomfort.” State Rep. Matt Krause, a Republican who is chair of the Texas House Committee on General Investigating, sent a letter on Monday notifying the Texas Education Agency about the investigation and asking a number of school districts to report which books in a list of hundreds of titles are owned by schools and how much money they spent acquiring those titles. The books listed by Krause are

US Covid Cases Drop, Experts Urge Caution This Winter

By Jason Hanna, Rates of Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have sunk significantly in the US since a wave driven by the highly contagious Delta variant peaked in September. But with cases still relatively high, many children still ineligible to be vaccinated, and colder weather coming, it’s not time to feel comfortable about the country’s position, leading health experts have said. “We are now heading in the right direction … but with cases still high, we must remain vigilant heading into the colder, drier winter months,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a White House

Philadelphia Police to Equip Officers with Tasers After Settlement

By Brynn Gingras, In a settlement between Philadelphia and the family of Walter Wallace, the city says it will provide money for stun guns, such as Tasers, for every patrol officer in the Police Department. The city also says officers will be required to wear the less-lethal weapons, and they will be properly trained as part of a larger police reform program costing the city $13.9 million. Wallace was shot and killed by police while holding a knife on October 26, 2020, just months after the police killing of another Black man, George Floyd, which sparked national debate about police procedures

1 … 164 165 166 167 168 … 219
Close

Never Miss A Story

Covering HBCUS
and The African American Community