(HIGH POINT, N.C.) — A teenage boy was shot and killed in North Carolina on Tuesday after the alleged shooter thought the victim was “tampering” with his car, police said.
The fatal shooting occurred at approximately 2:15 a.m. local time in High Point, about 17 miles southwest of Greensboro. Officers responded to a report of shots being fired in a residential neighborhood and canvassed the area for several minutes before they found a 15-year-old boy lying beside a home who was suffering from two gunshot wounds to the chest and one gunshot wound to the arm, according to a statement from the High Point Police Department.
Officers attempted to perform life-saving measures on the unnamed victim until medics arrived on scene and transported him to a local hospital, where he later died, police said.
Police said that detectives from the Violent Crimes Unit responded to the scene to investigate the homicide and that three other juveniles related to the incident were subsequently transported to the police department for questioning. However, investigators said they received “no cooperation or detailed account of the events that led to the homicide.”
Detectives ultimately identified a person of interest in the shooting and obtained a search warrant for a residence close to the scene of the crime. Several pieces of evidence were then seized from the location and, as a result of the search, 25-year-old Davonte T. Strickland of High Point, North Carolina, was arrested, according to police.
Detectives believe Strickland shot the boy in “reaction to individuals on his property tampering with a vehicle in the driveway,” police said. He faces charges of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to police.
It was unclear if Strickland had obtained legal representation who could speak on his behalf.
The shooting remains under investigation and anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Crime Stoppers of High Point at 336-889-4000.
“High Point Police detectives are still conducting an active investigation into this incident,” the police department said in the statement Tuesday. “During this investigative process, detectives will continue to conduct interviews of potential witnesses and involved parties, conduct searches of any people, vehicles, or places that may contain evidence of the crime, and collect any other relevant materials that may aid in investigation or prosecution.”
(NEW YORK) — A highly contagious variant of the novel coronavirus that was initially identified in India now accounts for about 58% of all COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Data updated by the CDC on Tuesday evening shows the so-called delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, was estimated to be responsible for 57.6% of newly confirmed cases nationwide from June 20 through July 3. The proportion was estimated at just 31.1% for the two weeks prior.
In late May, the delta variant was estimated to account for approximately 3% of new cases in the U.S, according to CDC data.
After being initially identified in India in October, the delta variant has since been reported in at least 104 countries around the globe and is expected to soon be the dominant coronavirus variant circulating worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. The variant was first detected in the U.S. in March and is now present in all 50 states.
“The delta variant is ripping around the world at a scorching pace, driving a new spike in cases and death,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus said during a COVID-19 press briefing on Monday.
Last week marked the fourth consecutive week that the number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased globally. Deaths are also on the rise again after 10 weeks of decline, according to Tedros, who noted that the WHO has received reports from all regions of the world about hospitals reaching capacity.
“In places with high vaccination coverage, Delta is spreading quickly; especially infecting unprotected and vulnerable people and steadily putting pressure back on health systems,” he said. “In countries with low vaccine coverage, the situation is particularly bad.”
The WHO declared delta a “variant of concern” in May, and the CDC upgraded its classification of the strain in June from “variant of interest” to a “variant of concern.” Both the WHO and the CDC say that variants of concern have shown to be both more infectious and more virulent than other strains.
The delta variant has shown to be particularly dangerous to those who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated against COVID-19, and preliminary data indicates it may increase the risk of hospitalization.
However, current evidence suggests that the full dosage of a COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective in preventing hospitalizations and serious illness. Instances where a fully vaccinated individual becomes infected with COVID-19, known as breakthrough cases, are exceedingly rare. And while early laboratory studies indicated the vaccines seem to produce far fewer virus-fighting antibodies against some of the newer variants, real-world experience tells a different story as researchers across the globe learn that the vaccines still mostly work — even when those antibodies fail to show up in great numbers — thanks to other crucial parts of the body’s immune system.
Still, there is very little known about the mutating virus and it remains unclear exactly how long immunity from the vaccines will last and whether booster shots will be needed to maintain protection.
As delta and other highly transmissible variants spur “catastrophic waves” of COVID-19 infections, the WHO director-general is urging vaccine manufacturers to prioritize supplying doses to poorer countries with low vaccination rates rather than giving booster shots to wealthier nations with relatively high coverage.
“The global gap in vaccine supply is hugely uneven and inequitable,” Tedros said Monday. “Some countries and regions are actually ordering millions of booster doses, before other countries have had supplies to vaccinate their health workers and most vulnerable.”
Since the start of the pandemic, the U.S. has reported more than 33.9 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 607,000 deaths from the disease, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. has recorded the highest death toll, while India has the highest total case count.
More than 184 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including over 159 million — 48.1% of the population — who are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
(WASHINGTON) — After being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Monument reopens Wednesday with limited capacity.
“For the most part, it will look like normal operations,” Mike Litterst, the chief of communications for the National Mall and Memorial Parks, told ABC News. “But we are, for the time being, putting some capacity limits in place. And we are requiring masks of anyone age two and over that enters the monument.”
Litterst said the mask requirement would be enforced even if someone is fully vaccinated. While the monument is able to hold a capacity of 1,100 people per day, according to Litterst, the National Park Service is limiting the number by almost half, down to 580 per day to accommodate for social distancing protocols.
But tickets are selling fast. On Tuesday, it sold out in 90 seconds for Wednesday’s reopening.
“We knew it was going to be popular, but I don’t think we were even expecting that kind of popularity,” Litterst told ABC News.
Tickets to the monument need to be reserved in advance, and visitors can book them starting at 10 a.m. the day before they plan to visit.
“So, if you want to visit on Friday, tickets become available at 10 o’clock on Thursday,” he said.
In the last decade, the monument has been closed more than it has been open. After an earthquake in 2011, the monument closed down for nearly three years due to repairs. Then, it reopened for a year and a half before it was closed again so the NPS could modernize its elevator. After the $10 million+ restoration of the site was completed, it reopened in September 2019. It was only open for about six months before COVID swept across the country in March 2020, shutting down businesses and public spaces like the monument. It then reopened on Oct. 1, 2020 and closed down again on Jan. 11, 2021.
But Litterst is confident the monument will remain open for the foreseeable future, especially because he said no mechanical repairs need to be made soon.
“We are confident and optimistic and hopeful that we’re going to be open starting [today], and we’re going to be open for a good long run in the foreseeable future,” he told ABC News.
He expects the modernized elevator system to run for another 15-20 years before repairs need to be made again.
While his team is excited that the monument is open and accessible once more to the public, Litterst stressed that the top priority for the NPS has, and always will be, the public’s safety.
“Regardless of pandemic or no pandemic, safety has always been top priority for any of our sites,” Litterst said. “That’s why we waited to this point to open, to make sure that we were in a position where people could be kept safe. And that’s the reason that – at least initially – when we open, we’re limiting the capacity and we’re requiring the masks.”
(NEW YORK) — Norwegian Cruise Lines is suing Florida after the state banned vaccine passports, saying it cannot safely resume sailings without ensuring its passengers and crew are vaccinated against COVID-19.
In a complaint filed Tuesday, the company called the move a “last resort.”
“The State of Florida has indicated that it is otherwise preventing (Norwegian) from safely and soundly resuming passenger cruise operations from Miami, Florida, … in the way that this cruise line has determined will be best for all concerned — with the benefit of documentation confirming that all of its passengers and crew have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” the complaint said.
Florida’s law threatens to fine companies $5,000 each time they ask a customer to provide proof that they’ve been vaccinated. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary called the lawsuit “disappointing” saying Norwegian is “discriminating against children and other individuals who cannot be vaccinated or who have opted not to be vaccinated for reasons of health, religion, or conscience.”
“This Administration will not tolerate such widespread discrimination. Therefore, Norwegian faces a $5,000 fine from whom they demand a vaccination status,” Christina Pushaw, the governor’s press secretary, said in a statement to ABC News.
Company CEO Frank Del Rio previously threatened to move the company’s ships out of Florida if they were not allowed to mandate vaccines.
“At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from, and we can operate from the Caribbean for a ship that otherwise would have gone to Florida,” Del Rio said during an earnings call in May.
Norwegian’s first cruise from Miami is scheduled to sail on Aug. 15, but the company said the ban on vaccine passports puts it in an “impossible dilemma.”
“NCLH will find itself either on the wrong side of health and safety and the operative federal legal framework, or else on the wrong side of Florida law,” the complaint said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has banned most cruising from U.S. waters since March 2020. Companies have been working with the CDC to resume sailings under its conditional sail order — a set of guidelines for cruise companies wishing to resume sailing in the U.S., including test cruises and vaccine requirements.
DeSantis recently won a lawsuit against the CDC, in which a judge ruled the agency overstepped in its authority regarding the conditional sail order.
Some companies have already resumed sailings from Florida, with the Celebrity Edge departing Port Everglades on June 26.
The Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — Peppa Pig super fans, brace yourselves.
Reebok and Hasbro have partnered to release an all-new kids-only collection.
Officially releasing on July 19, the collection will include five unique Peppa Pig-inspired sneakers featuring everything from the beloved Peppa character to special designs mirrored after her friends Suzy Sheep and Candy Cat.
Reebok’s latest collaboration with Hasbro was inspired by the success of both brands’ first capsule collections, which launched together in February.
Each sneaker has been designed to encourage children to explore and allow their imaginations to run wild.
One standout from the Reebok x Peppa Pig collection is the Club C sneaker, which is inspired by one of the athletic brand’s classic models. It features Peppa and her friends peeking out of the plant and flower illustrations on each side of the shoe. There are also hidden graphics on the outer soles and heel tabs.
Another great pick from the latest line was inspired by one of Peppa’s go-to summertime activities, which is to blow bubbles. The sneaker is bright pink and also includes fun whimsical glitter-filled graphics along each side as well as the heel of the shoe.
Except for the preschool Classic Leather and preschool Club C sneakers, parents and kids alike will be happy to see that most of the shoes have easy-to-access stretch lace or velcro straps.
In case you are planning ahead for back-to-school shopping, these might be a great addition to your shopping lists.
(SPRINGFIELD, Mo.) — The city of Springfield, Missouri, announced Monday that it was canceling a major summer festival as COVID-19 surges in the region.
The Birthplace of Route 66 Festival, which was scheduled for Aug. 13-14 and typically includes live music and a classic car parade, has been called off for the second year in a row due to COVID-19. In 2019, the last year the festival was held, it drew 65,000 attendees over two days, and it was expected to host 75,000 this year, according to the city.
“With our region’s low vaccination rate against COVID-19, the resulting surge of infections are overwhelming our hospitals and making our community sick,” Cora Scott, director of public information and civic engagement for the city, said in a statement. “We feel it is just not safe to bring tens of thousands of people from all over the world to this community for any reason.”
Missouri’s vaccination rate trails the national average. As of Monday, 46% of residents had received at least one dose, and 40% were fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared with 56% of all Americans who’ve gotten at least one shot and 48% who are fully vaccinated.
In Greene County, where Springfield is located, vaccination rates are even lower than the statewide average. Just 39% of Greene County residents have received one dose of the vaccine, and 34% are fully vaccinated, according to state health department data.
Missouri is among a growing list of states that have seen rising infections, with new cases increasing 64% over the last two weeks, from 796 to 1,304, with a total of 9,100 cases per week, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Nevada lead the nation with the highest weekly case rates per capita, which translates into more than 100 infections per 100,000 residents. New COVID-19 hospital admissions also rose 40% over the same two-week span.
In Springfield, which is in the southwest part of the state, the surge is straining hospitals and front-line workers say patients are becoming sicker more quickly.
Erin Baker, a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, told ABC News that the hospital has had seen an uptick in patients who needed to be intubated.
“A lot of healthier people, younger people in their 20s, 30s, 40s are getting this delta variant or COVID a lot quicker,” Baker said. “Their health deteriorates very quickly.”
Last month, the state health department warned that the delta variant, which is more transmissible than the original form of the virus and is especially dangerous to unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people, had “become prevalent in communities throughout Missouri.”
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats said they have reached a $3.5 trillion budget agreement. This is the first step in unlocking a process that Democrats plan to use to pass many of President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan priorities with a simple majority of votes.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said this budget package, coupled with the bipartisan infrastructure bill currently being negotiated amongst members, comes “very, very close” to what Biden asked for when he laid out his families plan.
“Every major program that President Biden asked us for is funded in a robust way,” Schumer said. “In addition we are making some additions to that.”
On the heels of this announcement, Schumer said the president will join Senate Democrats for their caucus lunch Wednesday to discuss the plan with lawmakers.
Schumer announced the package alongside members of the Budget Committee, though it’s still not certain that all Democrats will support the measure. Unanimous support will be necessary to pass the bill.
The package will be, according to Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., fully paid for. He did not give details on how the reconciliation bill will be funded, but Democrats have favored a hike in corporate tax rates, not unlike the one Biden originally proposed.
“There are times for really big things, this is one of those times,” Warner said. “The plan we’ve put together, which is fully paid for, will make the investments in American families, will take on the existential threat of climate change in a way that will meet the needs, leading the world on this critical issue.”
The $3.5 trillion topline still falls short of the $6 trillion that Budget Chairman Bernie Sanders had been hoping for, but Schumer announced Tuesday night that the reconciliation instructions include a “robust expansion” of Medicare, something that has been a longstanding priority for Sanders.
“This is in our a view a pivotal moment in American history,” Sanders said. “For a very long time the American people have seen the very rich getting richer and government developing policies which allow them to pay in some cases not a nickel. What this legislation says among many many other things is that those days are gone. The wealthy and large corporations are going to start paying their fair share of taxes so we can protect the working families of this country.”
Senate Democrats have long said they intend to use a process called reconciliation, which allows them to sidestep the usual 60-vote threshold and pass legislation with a simple majority, to pass parts of Biden’s infrastructure agenda that are not addressed in the separate bipartisan infrastructure deal.
The bipartisan infrastructure plan is also at a critical juncture as that group of senators works to publish the text of their $1.2 trillion legislation — something negotiators do not expect will happen this week. But once that bill is made public, there’s a serious potential obstacle — whether the proposed revenue will actually cover the $600 billion in new spending.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, raised a red flag Tuesday saying that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — which provides lawmakers with a “score,” or price tag, for legislation based on proposed spending and revenue — cannot price out or “score” some of the ways negotiators propose to pay for the bill.
The first way that can’t be scored is the plan to raise money from beefed up IRS enforcement. The bipartisan group of 10 senators, of which Romney is a part, has estimated that for $40 billion of investment in going after those who do not pay taxes, that would net $100 billion in return.
Romney said the CBO has not traditionally issued an official “score” on such matters, which could spell danger for Republicans who are already wary of beefing up a federal agency which has proved politically controversial in the past.
“The CBO won’t score that because they say, ‘Well, the government’s entitled to all of its tax revenue, so you can’t get a score for actually getting more of it,'” Romney told reporters.
“Generally, the CBO’s assessment of tax gaps is that they do not rely on them for scoring purposes and I would presume that would be the case here. But we recognize that there were some things that we saw as a source of revenue that the CBO might not be able to score,” he said.
But Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who is leading the bipartisan effort along with Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, told ABC News in an interview that the CBO is expected to give an estimate of revenue from the tax-gap proposal, though it would not be an official score.
“They will separately analyze it and they will give us, not the official score, but they’ll give us an analysis, which we’ve relied on in the past,” Portman said.
A group of 22 senators, including the 10 who crafted the original package and 12 other Democrats and Republicans who initially signed on to support it, huddled in the Capitol for two hours on Tuesday evening over dinner, wine and cannoli. Several lawmakers touted significant progress in negotiations toward the final bill text, but there remains disagreement among them on how to pay for the bipartisan package, especially with the CBO score hanging in the balance.
The senators have set a Thursday deadline to work out their remaining differences.
“I think that’s our next real goal is to try to get something done so we can show some positive results,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said of the Thursday deadline.
Still, several negotiators left Tuesday’s meeting conceding that the deadline is a “tall order.”
Republican Whip John Thune said that if the CBO returns a score that reflects a bill that is not fully paid for, it could spook some of his members.
“It makes it harder,” the senator from South Dakota said. “I think some of our members would be open to perhaps some amount of debt financing but the majority I think would have to be paid for in a critical way which is a challenge that we’ve had since the beginning of this.”
But for some Republicans, the CBO score is not a deciding factor.
“It’s less crucial for me. I’d like most of it to be paid for,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., part of a separate larger group of 20 negotiators who are part of a consensus-minded group seeking compromises on a number of measures. “I’m willing to accept some things that won’t score, like how much can be done on the private investment side.”
“My test is — is it paid for in my own mind?” Romney said. “Will we be able to –to not add to the deficit? And I know there are some things that we’re relying on as pay for’s that will probably not receive a CBO score, but nonetheless are real. I think my colleagues will know that.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she agreed that the score should be considered, but is not a be-all-end-all.
“Are we all going to pass out if the score doesn’t come out exactly the way we want? No,” Murkowski said. “What we’ve been looking at is alright, is this something where we really missed or is this something where we can adjust?”
And though many Republicans support private investment in public works projects — so-called public-private partnerships — they could be concerned that the CBO is not expected to be able to put a revenue price tag on that either. It’s something the group has estimated should bring in more than $100 billion.
But for Portman, he sees Republicans understanding that — knowing that private investments provide leverage for public funding and often yield a profit down the road.
“You know there are differences between funding for social programs and funding for fixed assets into the future that are going to create more economic activity and help the economy, and that’s what this is. This is not immediate funding. This is long term funding for fixed assets,” Portman told ABC News.
Some Democrats in the bipartisan group have, throughout negotiations, said they want the infrastructure bill to be credibly paid for. Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the CBO score presents additional challenges in striking a deal.
“It’s tough. This is — this is tough,” King said. “And part of the problem is that the CBO has some very conservative views about what they’ll score.”
Some dismissed concerns on Tuesday of a lower-than-planned estimate.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said he still has questions about how CBO will come to its final determination.
“I don’t know what kind of math they use but it isn’t the math that I learned in high school,” Tester said.
And though Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell repeatedly over the recent two-week recess said he would be looking to see that the $1.2 trillion bipartisan plan is “credibly paid for,” Portman, with whom McConnell is close, said he thinks the senator from Kentucky will understand the sparse nature of the eventual CBO analysis.
“He realizes this is infrastructure and is different than other things,” said Portman, who added that he thinks — despite the bumpy road to floor consideration — the group will get the 10 Republicans necessary for final passage of the legislation, if every Democrat supports it.
“Ten? Oh yeah, for sure,” Portman said.
The group of 22 is still projecting a positive outcome for the bipartisan bill.
“I mean, I’m optimistic that we’re going to find a path forward,” Rounds said. “People in there really are trying hard to listen to each other’s concerns and find (a deal).”
While her sister and musical partner, Halle Bailey, just wrapped up filming Disney’s The Little Mermaid in Paris, Chloe Bailey is busy flexing at home on Instagram.
“Flex Park,” Chloe wrote in the caption of a series photos she posted Tuesday that show her posing in orange swimsuits from Beyoncé‘s latest Ivy Park collection. Chloe got all dolled up with hair and makeup to model a bustier one-piece in the bathroom mirror and a long-sleeve two-piece on a balcony.
Snoah Aalegra, Lala Anthony and more fans left dozens of heart-eye emojis and orange hearts in the post’s comments. Yet most were left drooling over Chloe’s sculpted abs, toned legs and glowing skin.
“Orange is your color queen,” wrote one fan, while another said, “My wife only allow[s] me to like Chloe, [Rihanna] and Beyoncé pics.”
Meanwhile, others were calling for Chloe to drop her highly anticipated solo single “Have Mercy.” Since her birthday earlier this month, the 23-year-old has been dropping teasers of the song, which has yet to be released. She recently approved the song’s dance challenge, which was created by Tik Tok star Charles Niko.
“Finally learned @thecharlesniko dance to ‘Have Mercy.’ How did I do?” Chloe wrote on Instagram yesterday, along with a video showing her grooving to a segment of the tune. “Tag me in your best dance videos, reposting my favs #havemercychallenge.”
It’s unclear when “Have Mercy” will be released, but the upbeat track definitely sounds like it’s worth the wait.
Guardians of the Galaxy star Karen Gillan knows a thing or two about action movies, but usually she’s surrounded by a bunch of guys. In her latest film, Netflix’s Gunpowder Milkshake, out Wednesday, she plays an assassin for hire who teams up and kicks butt with a bunch of women, which she tells ABC Audio was awesome.
“I mean, truly, that was just the best experience ever,” Gillan gushes. “I never realized how rare it is to actually have that many women in the main cast. And so we just had so much fun.”
“I mean, we were having girls nights and wine and laughing. And it was just like, oh, this is just brilliant. I want to do this all the time,” she laughs.
Angela Bassett and Carla Gugino, who kick butt alongside Gillan in the action-packed film, echoed the same sentiment.
Gugino says, “There is no doubt something about a female energy that with that many women around that was super organic and peaceful.”
“Collaborative, supportive,” Bassett adds. The actress also shares that she left filming with “a little tweak” in her ankle that serves as “a little reminder of the good time I had in Berlin.”
“To this day [it] still clicks and clicks and clacks a little bit as I walk or when I’m accelerating driving,” she reveals.
If it already wasn’t obvious by the name, Gunpowder Milkshake features a lot of gunplay but when it comes to the film glorifying guns or gun violence, Gillan says, “I certainly don’t want to be promoting that in any sense, but at the same time, like it was authentic to the characters. And it is a movie and it’s not a realistic movie.”
“It’s extremely like heightened, stylized,” she adds.
