National News - Page 167

Supreme Court to Hear Texas Six-Week Abortion Ban Case

By Ariane de Vogue, The Supreme Court received a flood of legal briefs Wednesday concerning Texas’ six-week abortion ban, which has rendered Roe v. Wade a dead letter in the country’s second largest state, in advance of next week’s oral arguments. The filings come after the court agreed last week to fast-track an appeal from a coalition of abortion providers and lawyers for the Biden administration, who argue that the law is in clear violation of a nearly 50-year-old court precedent and represents the most restrictive ban in the nation. The court’s move to expedite the dispute signals that the justices understand it

Virginia Governor Race Heats Up Over Toni Morrison Book Debate

By Dan Merica and Eva McKend, The latest back-and-forth in the race to be Virginia’s next governor is centered on the value of teaching a Toni Morrison novel in commonwealth schools, highlighting Republican Glenn Youngkin‘s attempt to make the culture wars around education the major issue of the race as Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe accuses him of using a “racist dog whistle.” Youngkin released an ad on Monday that features Laura Murphy, a Fairfax County mother and conservative activist, who spearheaded a campaign against “Beloved,” the 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The campaign began after Murphy claimed it gave her son, a high school senior at the time,

Vanessa Bryant Details Trauma Over Crash Photos in Deposition

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By Andy Rose, Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, said she learned about the basketball star’s death when social media notifications began showing up on her phone — hours before she got the official confirmation from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. “I was holding onto my phone, because obviously I was trying to call my husband back, and all these notifications started popping up on my phone, saying ‘RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe,'” Vanessa Bryant said in a deposition on October 12. Bryant, 41, and one of his daughters, Gianna, 13, were among nine people killed when a helicopter crashed into a

FDA Panel Recommends Pfizer Covid Vaccine for Kids 5-11

By Maggie Fox, Vaccine advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration voted 17-0 with one abstention Tuesday to recommend emergency use authorization of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11. Members of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee agreed the benefits of vaccinating younger children appeared to outweigh the risks, but some members appeared troubled about voting to vaccinate a large population of younger children based on studies of a few thousand. “It is reassuring to me that we are giving a lower dose,” said Dr. Paul Offit, who directs the Vaccine Education Center

CDC Updates: Fourth Covid-19 Shot for Immunocompromised

By Jen Christensen, People with certain health conditions that make them moderately or severely immunocompromised may get a fourth mRNA Covid-19 shot, according to updated guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC authorized a third dose for certain immunocompromised people 18 and older in August. It said a third dose, rather than a booster — the CDC makes a distinction between the two — was necessary because the immunocompromised may not have had a complete immune response from the first two doses. A study from Johns Hopkins University this summer showed that vaccinated immunocompromised people were 485 times more likely

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey Opposes Biden’s Covid Vaccine Mandate

By Rebekah Riess, Devon M. Sayers and Shawna Mizelle, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday signed an executive order directing state executive branch agencies to cooperate with the Alabama attorney general’s office as it challenges the Biden administration’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates and, when possible, to not comply with the federal effort. “I am adamantly opposed to federal mandates related to the Covid-19 vaccine and adamantly opposed to state mandates related to the Covid-19 vaccine, plain and simple,” the Republican governor said in a statement. “As long as I am your governor, the state of Alabama will not force anyone to take a Covid-19 vaccine.”

Charlottesville Museum Proposes Melting Lee Statue for Art

By Alisha Ebrahimji, An African American historical museum in Virginia is throwing its hat in the mix to turn what was once a daunting reminder of the country’s Confederate past and in recent years, violence, into a public display of art. The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in Charlottesville has submitted an offer to the City Council for its recently removed Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue. Several cities have made moves to remove contentious Confederate statues after becoming the subject of nationwide debate over the years. And it flared up in Charlottesville specifically after white nationalists marched in 2017 to protest the

Jury Selection in Ahmaud Arbery Murder Trial Faces Challenges

By Angela Barajas, Martin Savidge and Christina Maxouris, Finding jurors to sit in the trial for the three men charged in Ahmaud Arbery’s killing is proving difficult in the Glynn County, Georgia, courtroom where jury selection began this week. Hundreds of people have been summoned, and from the 60 people who have been questioned since last Monday, many said they have already formed strong opinions about the case, know the defendants or are scared to sit. They point to potential consequences specific verdicts may have on the community. One prospective juror said that while she doesn’t know much about the case itself, she has

Parole Denied for Man Convicted in James Jordan’s 1993 Murder

By Rebekah Riess and Amir Vera, One of the men convicted in the murder of James Jordan, father of basketball legend Michael Jordan, was denied parole, according to Greg Thomas, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Daniel Green and his co-defendant, Larry Demery, were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in the July 1993 murder of James Jordan. Green’s parole was denied Friday, Thomas said. Thomas did not go into detail as to why the parole was denied. Green’s parole will be reviewed again in 2024, Thomas said. “Daniel Green hasn’t received justice since

Maine Health Workers Seek Supreme Court Halt to Vaccine Rule

By Ariane de Vogue, A group of unvaccinated Maine health care workers are asking the Supreme Court to block a state rule that mandates certain health care facilities require their employees to be fully vaccinated, arguing that the requirement violates their religious liberty rights. So far, the justices have declined invitations to strike down vaccine mandates at Indiana University and New York City schools, but the Maine dispute could be different. That’s because the workers are making religious claims that could attract some of the justices. The case is reminiscent of religious liberty disputes that arose in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic when

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