(ELGIN, Ill.) — Betty Brown was rejected by Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Illinois, for nursing school 71 years ago because she is Black. This year, the now-retired 90-year-old is being named an honorary chief nursing officer by that same hospital.
“It was very emotional,” Brown told ABC News. “And it was emotional for the speaker … because of somebody like me, it made her what she is today,” she said, referring to the hospital’s current president, Sheri De Shazo, who is a Black woman.
“That refusal to let that moment that I know was deeply painful — She didn’t let it become a barrier and that’s what inspires me,” De Shazo told ABC 7 Chicago.
Brown didn’t let the rejection 71 years ago phase her — she went on to make history as the first Black nursing student and the first Black nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Joliet, Illinois.
She later returned to work at Advocate Sherman Hospital, but she never held a grudge against the institution.
“I would always say to the young women: don’t give up,” she said. “Keep your eye on the goal and don’t give up and don’t become bitter.”
She’s also a local leader, volunteering with organizations like the local Elgin YWCA, which she says gave her and other Black children a safe place to play and socialize.
“When I was growing up, there weren’t many places that Black young women could go and be accepted and the YWCA was a place that we could go and be accepted,” she said.
She took swimming, tap dancing and music lessons there — and she says the organization sparked her passion for giving back to the community.
“While other organizations were still segregated, we have always welcomed everyone into our programs,” said Alana Freedman, an administrator at YWCA Elgin. “Over the years, almost her entire 90 years, she’s been a supporter of our programs and our mission. She’s come back to teach classes to our children here, like etiquette classes.”
The YWCA honors Brown annually, by presenting a social justice award in her honor to up-and-coming local heroes: the Betty Brown Racial Justice Award. It’s one of the many ways Brown has been honored over the years.
(NEW YORK) — Frank James, the man accused of opening firing on a Brooklyn, New York subway train last month, wounding 10 people, pleaded not guilty Friday in federal court to a two-count indictment that includes a federal terrorism charge.
(BALTIMORE) — Baltimore police are searching for the gunmen who killed a pregnant woman, leaving her newborn in the hospital in critical condition.
Officers found a man and a 38-year-old pregnant woman shot inside a car at about 8:13 p.m. Thursday, Baltimore police said.
Both victims were taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital where the man was immediately pronounced dead, police said.
The woman gave birth and was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.
The newborn is in critical condition as a result of the emergency delivery, not the shooting, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison told reporters.
Police said they believe at least two gunmen fired multiple shots.
The suspects’ car pulled up next to victims’ car as it was parking, and one person fired out of the passenger window into the victim’s car, police said. Authorities believe the second gunman then got out of the driver’s side and fired into the victim’s car, police said.
“To be quite honest and frank, I don’t really give a s— what the conflict was,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott told reporters. “We cannot have folks shooting at pregnant women in our city.”
Harrison called it a “very, very violent, brazen assault.”
He added, “We will do everything within our power to find who did this, catch them and hold them accountable.”
(NEW YORK) — A storm system that caused damage in South Dakota and Minnesota Thursday is moving east into the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River valley on Friday.
Damaging winds are expected Friday from Michigan to Oklahoma, including Green Bay, Wisconsin and Oklahoma City, just north of St. Louis.
The severe storms across the Heartland brought more than 330 damaging storm reports from Kansas to Minnesota, including three reported tornadoes on Thursday.
Severe storms brought wind gusts of up to 107 miles per hour in South Dakota flipping cars, semis and uprooting trees.
A reported tornado in South Dakota also caused extensive damage. One person was reported dead in South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem confirmed Thursday night.
Flash flooding was reported in parts of Minnesota, where 4 to 5 inches of rain fell in a matter of hours.
Meanwhile, record heat is hitting various parts of the country
Traverse City, Michigan, hit an all-time record high for May of 96 degrees. Madison, Wisconsin, reached 94 degrees, making it the third day in a row of 90s, which has never happened before this early in the season.
Burlington, Vermont, reached almost 90 degrees on Thursday, topping out at 89 degrees, breaking its daily record.
Heat is expected Friday in the same area as well as up into the Great Lakes and northern New England. Record high temperatures are expected to last into the weekend, with highs reaching the 90s in Bangor, Maine.
Warm temperatures in the 80s are also expected in Boston and Philadelphia over the weekend.
Fire danger persists in other parts of the country
A red flag warning is in place in Colorado, where there is wildfire danger.
A bush fire ignited near Colorado Spring, prompting evacuations, and people at Colorado Springs airport had to shelter in place. The fire has burned 182 acres and is 18% contained.
Gusty winds are expected on Friday for Colorado all the way to North Dakota. Some areas could gust as high as 65 miles per hour with the highest winds in North Dakota.
(NEW YORK) — A Texas inmate serving life for murder managed to break free from his shackles, overpower a bus driver and escape from custody, officials said.
Gonzalo Lopez, 46, was on a transport bus en route from Gatesville to Huntsville for a medical appointment when he escaped in Leon County on Thursday, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.
Two officers were on the bus: one at the front as well as one in the back who was armed with a shotgun, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Robert Hurst told reporters.
Lopez “was somehow able to get out of his shackles and get into the driver’s compartment of the bus,” Hurst said.
Lopez “was able to overpower the driver. There was a struggle … the bus went off the roadway,” Hurst said.
The officer driving the bus was stabbed in the hand and suffered a non-life-threatening injury, he added.
Lopez then jumped off the bus and fled, Hurst said.
Lopez is serving a life sentence for a capital murder in Hidalgo County and an attempted capital murder in Webb County, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.
“We do not know if he has obtained any kind of a weapon,” Hurst said. “Last we saw him he did not appear to have a weapon in his possession, but who knows what he might’ve been able to get.”
Centerville School District schools are closed on Friday as the search continues.
Leon County is about 130 miles south of Dallas. The Leon County Sheriff’s Office urged local residents to lock their homes and cars. Anyone who sees Lopez is asked to call 911 and not approach him.
(KENOSHA, Wis.) — The family of a 12-year-old girl has taken the first steps towards suing a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, who they say kneeled on the girl’s neck while trying to stop a fight she was allegedly involved in.
Video of the incident, which took place during lunchtime in the cafeteria at Kenosha’s Lincoln Middle School on March 4, was captured by students and went viral.
The family intends to file a lawsuit against Shawn Guetschow, who was off duty at the time of the incident, as well as Kenosha Police Chief Eric Larsen, the City of Kenosha, and the Kenosha Unified School District, according to a Notice of Claim obtained by ABC News.
“The claimants’ damages include the violation of the claimants’ rights, pain and suffering, emotional distress, permanent injury, past and future medical expenses, and punitive damages,” according to the document.
The claim further alleges that the girl, who is identified only as “Jane Doe” because she is a minor, “suffered a traumatic brain injury.”
Attempts to reach Guetschow were unsuccessful and it is unclear if he has retained an attorney.
ABC News reached out to the Kenosha Professional Police Association, the police union that represents the officer, but a request for comment was not immediately returned.
“The allegations within the Notice of Claim are unfounded,” attorney Sam Hall Jr., who represents the school district told ABC News in a statement on Thursday. “The Kenosha Unified School District will vigorously defend itself and its employees in the event that litigation is initiated in this matter.”
When asked about the intent to take legal action, a spokesman for the Kenosha Police Department told ABC News on Wednesday that “it appears that the ‘Notice of Claim’ has been made available to mainstream media; however, we have yet to see anything.”
The family’s attorney, Drew DeVinney, told ABC News on Wednesday that the family’s decision to file a lawsuit is “in response to the Kenosha County District Attorney’s decision to criminally charge Jane Doe.”
Asked about the nature of the charges, the Kenosha Police Department did not return a request for comment, but in March police confirmed to ABC News that a charge of disorderly conduct was referred to juvenile court for Jane Doe, as well as the other student involved in the fight.
A video taken by one of the students at the school was obtained by ABC News and shows the officer, who was later identified as Guetschow, responding to a fight between two students.
The 12-year-old girl, who is in the sixth grade, appears to push the officer and then he pins her to the ground and appears to kneel on her neck, according to the video. It is unclear what happened before or after.
Amid a national push for police reform after Floyd’s death, Wisconsin banned the use of police chokeholds in June 2021 except in life-threatening situations or when a police officer has to defend themselves. Chokeholds include various neck restraints.
Guetschow, who was working part-time as a security officer for the Kenosha Unified School District, resigned from his role with the school district on March 15, Tanya Ruder, chief communications officer for the Kenosha Unified School District, previously confirmed to ABC News.
In his resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News, Guetschow cited the “mental and emotional strain” that the public attention surrounding the incident has brought on his family, as well as what he says is “the lack of communication and or support” that he has received from the district.
Kenosha police Lt. Joseph Nosalik confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday that Guetschow is still employed by the police department and is currently on desk duty amid the investigation. He is not facing any charges.
Kenosha officer accused of kneeling on girl’s neck resigns from school district
“She’s humiliated, she’s traumatized. Every day I gotta hear, ‘Daddy, I don’t wanna go to school,'” the girl’s father, Jerrell Perez, said at a press conference in March.
The investigation launched into the incident by the Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha Unified School District is ongoing.
(NEW YORK) — Stargazers all over the world will have an opportunity to see a blood moon over the weekend as a lunar eclipse moves into Earth’s orbit.
The penumbral eclipse, when the moon is completely immersed in the penumbral cone of the Earth without touching the umbra, the inner part of Earth’s shadow, is expected to begin Sunday just after 9:30 p.m. ET, according to NASA. The penumbral eclipse results in only part of the moon going dark.
The partial eclipse, when the moon appears to move into the umbra and part of the moon inside the umbra will appear very dark, will occur just before 10:30 p.m. ET.
Totality will begin just before 11:30 p.m. ET, when the entire moon is inside Earth’s umbra and transforms to a coppery-red hue. Totality will end before 1 a.m. Monday, and the penumbral eclipse will end at 2:50 a.m.
Residents in the eastern half of the U.S. and all of South America will be able to observe each stage of the lunar eclipse, and totality will be visible in much of Africa, western Europe, Central and South America and most of North America, according to NASA.
A dark environment away from bright lights will make for the best viewing conditions.
The lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, Earth and moon align, and the moon passes into Earth’s shadow, according to NASA. “Blood moon” is the term to describe the part of the total lunar eclipse in which all the Earth’s sunrises and sunsets project onto the moon’s surface as it passes through Earth’s shadow, darkening it and giving it its crimson color.
Rayleigh scattering, the same phenomenon that gives the sky its blue color and makes sunsets red, is what causes the moon to turn red during the eclipse. Red light, which has longer wavelengths than blue light, is seen during a lunar eclipse because the only sunlight reaching the moon passes through Earth’s atmosphere, according to NASA.
“It’s as if all the world’s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon,” according to the administration.
The more dust or clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere at the time of the eclipse, the more red the moon will appear.
During the eclipse, cloud cover is expected from Dallas to Chicago, while scattered clouds will range from Atlanta to New York. NASA will broadcast a livestream of the total lunar eclipse.
The next total lunar eclipse will occur on Nov. 8. After that, another total lunar eclipse will not occur until March 13, 2025.
(NEW YORK) — At least 11 people are dead and dozens were rescued after a boat capsized Thursday off the coast of Puerto Rico, officials said.
The vessel, which was “suspected of taking part in an illegal voyage,” overturned shortly before noon local time Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection aircraft spotted the capsized vessel and people in the water about 11 miles north of Desecheo Island, a small, uninhabited wildlife refuge off Puerto Rico’s western coast.
The Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection responded along with the marine units of the Puerto Rico Police Department. The Coast Guard launched multiple helicopters from Air Station Borinquen and diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Tezanos as part of the rescue operation.
There were 31 survivors, according to the Coast Guard. None of the passengers appeared to be wearing life jackets, it said.
The total number of passengers who were on the boat before it capsized is unclear.
The vessel was transporting non-U.S. citizens, the Coast Guard Office in Puerto Rico said.
Desecheo Island is located in the Mona Passage, a potentially dangerous strait that separates the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.
(HOLYOKE, Mass.) — Massachusetts has reached a $56 million settlement with the families of the dozens of veterans who died and were sickened during the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home’s widespread COVID-19 outbreak in the early months of the pandemic, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Thursday.
“The COVID-19 outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home was a terrible tragedy. While we know nothing can bring back those who were lost, we hope that this settlement brings a sense of closure to the loved ones of the veterans,” Baker said in a press release.
Tom Lesser, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, told ABC News that the outbreak resulted in more than 160 veterans contracting the virus between March 1 and June 23, 2020, with at least 84 veterans ultimately dying from the infection.
The agreement is subject to approval by the federal district court for Massachusetts, and the terms of the settlement will cover veterans who lived at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home at any time between March 1, 2020 and June 23, 2020, and who became ill or died from COVID during that period.
According to the state, estates of deceased veterans would receive a minimum award of $400,000 and veterans who contracted COVID-19 but survived would receive a minimum of $10,000.
“There is no amount of money that can compensate our clients for the loss of their loved ones. But our clients are grateful that the Commonwealth has acted to resolve this matter without the need for protracted litigation by agreeing to compensate both the families of those who died of COVID, as well as the veterans who survived. The settlement is fair and just,” Plaintiffs’ lawyer Tom Lesser wrote in a statement.
For some of the victims’ families, the news of the settlement comes as a relief, though they remain upset at the devastating consequences of the decisions taken by the officials responsible for the state-run veterans’ home.
“I think it’s great because it’s at least some sort of acknowledgement, perhaps, but I would like to see the people with the powers that could have prevented or remedy that in it speedier fashion to be held accountable that needs to happen,” said Susan Kenney, whose 78-year-old father, Charles Lowell, contracted COVID-19 and died in the outbreak.
The loss of Lowell, an Air Force veteran who served from 1960 to 1965 during the Vietnam War, is still fresh for Kenney, who was emotional as she recalled trying to reach her father after he had fallen ill.
“Not knowing if your dad’s dead or alive and you see the death toll rising and rising… I wanted him to be cared for with honor and dignity, and we weren’t allowed that opportunity,” Kenney said.
Kenney stressed that the push from families to make changes at the Soldiers’ Home has nothing to do about the money, but rather a fight for “human rights”.
Earlier this year, the Massachusetts House passed legislation that would require additional oversight of the home.
The state also reports that it has undertaken an “expedited capital project to reimagine the future of the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke and develop the right, longer-term option to meet the current and evolving needs of area Veterans.”
“Something needs to be learned from it,” Kenney said. “Unfortunately, people were put in positions of power yet did nothing to prevent and only allowed people to get complacent in their positions and protocols, and it affected our veterans greatly. And most tragically it could have definitely been prevented.”
Late last month, the Massachusetts Inspector General’s office released a report detailing the “extensive mismanagement” and “oversight failures” at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, prior to the onset of the pandemic.
According to the report, former superintendent of the home, Bennett Walsh, was “quick to anger” and actively “intimidated” employees, further retaliating against staffers who angered him or whom he believed were disloyal.
“He created a negative work environment, engaged in retaliatory behavior, demonstrated a lack of engagement in the Home’s operations, circumvented the chain of command and bristled against supervision,” investigators said.
Walsh, alongside the facility’s former medical director, Dr. David Clinton, had faced charges of elder neglect, and permitting bodily injury. However, a Massachusetts judge cited no “reasonably trustworthy evidence” and dismissed charges for both.
However, the inspector general’s report found that Walsh did not have the managerial skills, leadership capacity, or temperament for his leadership role at the facility.
In May 2020, an attorney for Walsh insisted that Walsh did not keep anyone “in the dark” about the growing crisis inside, and took several steps to notify state and local officials about the growing rate of COVID-19 infections among veterans, but that Walsh’s requests for medical assistance for the facility were denied.
(NEW YORK) — Dr. Susan Hillis, who has spent years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is the lead author of several reports on Covid-related orphanhood and caregiver death, spoke recently about the devastating toll of the pandemic with ABC News’ David Muir, the anchor of “World News Tonight.”
“In the United States, for every four COVID deaths, we have one child left behind, orphaned of their parent or grandparent, caregiver who provided for their needs and nurture,” said Hillis who has a PhD in epidemiology.
Her recent study published in The Lancet in February 2022 includes a real-time Covid orphanhood calculator showing the global impact of the pandemic.
The research was led by the CDC, in collaboration with Harvard, Oxford, Imperial College, USAID, the World Bank, and World Health Organization.
According to the latest data, the number of children globally affected by orphanhood and caregiver death has now surpassed 10 million children — and more than 250,000 children have now lost a parent or caregiver in the U.S.
“It is an extraordinary number of children. That is why, we cannot in good conscience continue to ignore them,” Hillis told Muir.
The February report also compared the number of children whose parents or caregivers died in the first 14 months of the pandemic, 2.7 million children, to those affected in the next six months — and found the number nearly doubled, reaching 5.2 million by October 2021.
The study also shows that children whose parents or caregivers have died are mostly adolescents who have lost their fathers.
The research recommends that care for children must be integrated into every nation’s Covid response plan.
“There is not nearly enough being done, and that’s why it’s so important that all of us begin to ask these questions,” Hillis said, talking about the urgent need to find support for the children impacted by orphanhood.
