National

(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 713,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 66% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Oct 11, 6:41 pm

Abbott issues executive order banning vaccine mandates in Texas

Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that he issued an executive order that bans vaccine mandates “by any entity” in Texas.

The executive order prohibits entities from issuing a mandate to anyone who “objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.”

“The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should remain voluntary and never forced,” Abbott said in a statement.

The governor also announced that the issue over vaccine mandates will be addressed in a special session of the state legislature.

As of Monday evening, 72.4% of Texas residents over 12 have received one vaccine dose, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Texas’s seven-day average for new daily COVID-19 cases is 7,447 as of Oct. 8, according to the CDC.

Oct 11, 3:33 pm

WHO advisory group recommends boosters for immunocompromised people

The World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization is recommending boosters for moderately and severely immunocompromised people. The group is also recommending a third dose of China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines for people 60 and older.

The WHO’s Director-General had previously called for a moratorium on boosters, citing inequities in access to vaccines. High-income countries have administered 35 times more vaccine doses than low-income countries. Countries in the WHO Africa Region have only fully vaccinated 3% of their populations.

-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou

Oct 11, 3:09 pm

Philadelphia Marathon requiring in-person participants to be fully vaccinated

All in-person runners must be fully vaccinated two weeks ahead of next month’s Philadelphia Marathon, officials announced. Runners with only a negative test won’t qualify.

Oct 11, 12:41 pm

Daily death average nearly 8 times higher than in mid-July

Although daily deaths have declined by about 17% in the last four weeks, the U.S. is still reporting an average of 1,465 new deaths each day, according to federal data. Over the last four days alone, the U.S. reported another 7,500 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.

The death average is nearly eight times higher than in mid-July when the national average had dropped to a near pandemic low of 192 daily deaths, according to federal data.

But hospitalization admissions have dropped by about 11.4% in the last week, according to federal data.

There are currently about 65,000 COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals, down from 104,000 patients in late August.

In the Mountain Region — Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming — hospital admissions are steadily trending up, federal data show. In the Northeast, hospital admissions are no longer trending down.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Oct 11, 12:13 pm
Boston Marathon returns with COVID protocols in place

The Boston Marathon returned with 18,000 runners on Monday following a two-year hiatus.

The field size was reduced by 36% this year while another 28,000 runners participated in the race virtually.

Runners were required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Although masks were not mandated for the 26.2-mile course, face coverings were enforced on participant transportation, as well as for volunteers who interacted with participants.

According to the Boston Marathon Association, 95% of all Boston Marathon volunteers were vaccinated and 100% of Boston Marathon medical volunteers were vaccinated.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(PLANTERSVILLE, Texas) — When Tim Halfin learned during Bible study about a toddler missing in the thick woods of southeast Texas, he said God told him to go search for the child.

In an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Monday, Halfin said he can only credit “divine” intervention for leading him on Saturday to find 3-year-old Christopher Ramirez, who survived nearly four days alone in the woods of Grimes County, about 50 miles northwest of Houston.

“It’s a miracle,” Christopher’s mother, Araceli Nunez, said during a news conference Monday after bringing her son home from the hospital.

Nunez later met with Halfin and thanked him for finding her son.

“Words cannot describe how I felt when I held him for the first time,” Nunez said of being reunited with her boy, who she held in her arms as he played with a toy car. “It was incredible.”

After hearing of the child’s disappearance, Halfin said he went to the woods around 11:45 a.m. Saturday near his home in Plantersville. About 10 yards in he heard what sounded like a child’s whimper.

“I said, ‘Christopher is that you?'” Halfin said. “Then he speaks again and I’m like, ‘Whoa, praise God.'”

Halfin said Christopher was calm and healthy.

“I don’t know what to make of it. All I know is he was found safe,” Halfin said. “When I picked him up, he was still talking. He wasn’t shaking, he wasn’t nervous. The things I would expect. Maybe he just sensed, ‘I’ve been found.'”

Halfin said he picked up the boy, who had shed his clothes and was completely naked, and called 911. Sheriff’s deputies took Nunez to him.

Speaking in Spanish as a sheriff’s sergeant interpreted, Nunez said she held her child and told him that she loves him.

Before meeting with Nunez, Halfin was shown a photo of the smiling little boy after he was reunited with his mother. “That’s what it’s all about right there.”

“That’s what it’s all about right there,” Halfin said. “That’s why everybody was praying. That’s why God laid it on my heart to go look, to reunite that boy with his mom.”

Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell said Halfin found Christopher about five miles from the child’s home, where he vanished after purportedly following a neighbor’s dog into the woods.

The boy was treated for dehydration and minor scratches on his face at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston before being sent home Monday afternoon.

“He ought to be the ultimate Army Ranger, Navy SEAL, Air Force when he wants to grow up. He’s already passed the first test,” said Sowell, who during the news conference presented Christopher with an honorary junior deputy badge.

Christopher vanished around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the two minutes Nunez said she was carrying groceries into her house from her car.

The Sheriff’s Office immediately organized a search party after a neighbor told them she saw the little boy follow a dog into the woods.

Using drones, aircraft, K-9 units and numerous volunteer searchers on foot, the rescue party combed the woods night and day, but turned up no sign of the child.

“They told me, ‘We didn’t feel like we could sleep because we knew he wasn’t sleeping and he wasn’t found,'” Halfin said of search-and-rescue volunteers and law enforcement officers.

“I think the story is do not give up hope,” Halfin said. “Even though things look bleak, there’s always tomorrow.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SAN DIEGO) — A small twin engine plane crashed in Santee, California, near San Diego, fully engulfing at least one home in flames, Santee Fire Chief John Garlow said.

There are at least two burn victims who are believed to be from the home, Garlow said.

The FAA said the twin engine Cessna C340 crashed at 12:14 p.m. local time. It’s not yet clear how many people were on board.

The plane also hit a UPS box truck and knocked out a hydrant, Garlow said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Police in Dayton, Ohio, have released body camera footage that appears to show police officers dragging a partially paralyzed man out of his car by his hair.

When officers repeatedly ask Owensby to exit the vehicle during a Sept. 30 traffic stop, Clifford Owensby, 39, can be heard telling them that he is paraplegic and could not do so.

He says he does not want to be touched and calls someone to come to the scene and witness what is going on.

Owensby is then dragged out of the car by the officers, who appeared to use his hair to pull him out, the video shows. He’s handcuffed on the ground and continuously held by his hair as he yells for help, according to the video. Police are seen hauling him into a police cruiser.

“They dragged me to their vehicle like a dog, like trash,” Owensby told reporters at a news conference on Sunday. “It was totally humiliation.”

Owensby accused the Dayton Police Department of unlawful arrest, illegal search and seizure, profiling and failure to read his rights before being taken into custody. He has since filed a complaint with the Dayton NAACP chapter on the incident.

“We’re not talking about his past. We’re not talking about the activity by which the officer was conducting the search or drug activity. We’re talking about this incident and how the incident was handled,” said Derrick Foward, president of the Dayton unit of the NAACP.

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley called the video “concerning.”

“That is why, immediately following this incident, the city released the body camera footage,” Whaley said in a statement to ABC News. “Everyone involved is owed a thorough investigation, and one is already underway. This incident shows why our community-led police reform process, which includes providing transparency, is more important than ever. The goal is always to ensure our police force has the resources to do its job, while treating all of our citizens with dignity and respect.”

According to the police department, officers were patrolling the area and had been sent to a suspected drug house. They initiated a traffic stop on a white Audi that was seen leaving the residence.

According to a police briefing on the incident, Owensby provided his identification when officers approached. Based on Owensby’s felony drug and weapon history, officers say they requested a Narcotics Detection K-9 at the scene for a free-air sniff on the vehicle.

Dayton police policy requires the occupants of the vehicle to exit for their own safety and the safety of the K-9 officer to perform the free-air sniff.

Police reported that a large bag of cash containing $22,450 was found on the floor of Owensby’s car and based on the K-9’s response the bag may have been in close proximity to illegal drugs.

Owensby denies any wrongdoing and says the cash that was found was his savings.

Owensby was charged with obstructing official business and resisting arrest. The case will be referred to the City Prosecutor’s Office, where it will be decided if the city will pursue the charges against Owensby, police said.

The Dayton Fraternal Order of Police told ABC News that officers “followed the law” and defended the use of force.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SAN FRANCISCO) — Pacific Gas & Electric warned tens of thousands of customers in California that their power may be shut off Monday to help prevent wildfires due to severe wind and drought conditions in the area.

The preemptive shutdowns, at the inconvenience of customers, come as the company is still reeling from fallout related to deadly blazes in 2018 and 2020 authorities say were sparked by trees hitting the power grid. They also come as climate change has exacerbated California’s wildfires, stoking conditions experts say have led to the larger and deadlier blazes seen in recent years.

The company sent shutoff warnings to nearly 25,000 customers spanning 22 counties — including Alameda, Fresno and Napa — in northern and central California on Sunday.

On Monday, PG&E updated on its website that shutoffs were required and its map of outages indicated power had been temporarily turned off in a slew of communities in the state’s Northern Sierra Foothills region, North Coast region and beyond.

“Since Friday, PG&E meteorologists have been tracking the weather system, which is expected to start Sunday night and bring wind gusts of up to 50 mph by Monday morning,” the company said in a statement Sunday. “PG&E’s in-house meteorologists, its Wildfire Safety Operations Center and its Emergency Operations Center continue to monitor conditions closely.”

Customers impacted were notified via text, email and automated phone calls beginning Saturday, the company said. More information on the latest status in specific neighborhoods can be found on PG&E’s website, along with tips for customers on how to prepare for the planned outages — such as unplugging appliances and using battery-powered flashlights.

Counties that would likely see the most customers impacted include Tehama (where 5,342 customers were sent warnings), Solano (4,561 customers) and Lake (4,008 customers). PG&E initially said it expects “minimal impact” to be felt by customers in the Bay Area and Central Valley.

The National Weather Service has warned of high winds in California due to a powerful storm in the west bringing a “critical fire weather” warning in central and northern California through Tuesday.

The so-called Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS), which proactively turn off power in an effort to reduce the risk of wildfire from energized power lines, come as California has been battling larger and deadlier blazes in recent years linked to climate change.

The preemptive power shutdowns also come as PG&E has been embroiled in controversy linked to the wildfires. Late last month, the company was charged with involuntary manslaughter and other counts related to the 2020 Zogg Fire, which was sparked by a tree contacting a PG&E electric line.

PG&E CEO Patti Poppe disputed the criminal charges in a statement shortly after they were announced, saying, “We’ve accepted CAL FIRE’s determination, reached earlier this year, that a tree contacted our electric line and started the Zogg Fire. We accept that conclusion. But we did not commit a crime.”

“This was a tragedy, four people died. And my coworkers are working so hard to prevent fires and the catastrophic losses that come with them. They have dedicated their careers to it, criminalizing their judgment is not right,” Poppe added.

The latest legal action taken against the firm comes after the company pleaded guilty last year to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawfully starting a fire for its link to the ignition of the devastating 2018 Camp Fire.

In her statement, Poppe noted steps the firm is taking to prevent wildfires, saying it is investing more than $1.4 billion in 2021 alone in vegetation management, removing 300,000 trees and trimming a million more, working toward burying 10,000 miles of power lines and more.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 713,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 66% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Oct 11, 12:41 pm

Daily death average nearly 8 times higher than in mid-July

Although daily deaths have declined by about 17% in the last four weeks, the U.S. is still reporting an average of 1,465 new deaths each day, according to federal data. Over the last four days alone, the U.S. reported another 7,500 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.

The death average is nearly eight times higher than in mid-July when the national average had dropped to a near pandemic low of 192 daily deaths, according to federal data.

But hospitalization admissions have dropped by about 11.4% in the last week, according to federal data.

There are currently about 65,000 COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals, down from 104,000 patients in late August.

In the Mountain Region — Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming — hospital admissions are steadily trending up, federal data show. In the Northeast, hospital admissions are no longer trending down.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Oct 11, 12:13 pm
Boston Marathon returns with COVID protocols in place

The Boston Marathon returned with 18,000 runners on Monday following a two-year hiatus.

The field size was reduced by 36% this year while another 28,000 runners participated in the race virtually.

Runners were required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Although masks were not mandated for the 26.2-mile course, face coverings were enforced on participant transportation, as well as for volunteers who interacted with participants.

According to the Boston Marathon Association, 95% of all Boston Marathon volunteers were vaccinated and 100% of Boston Marathon medical volunteers were vaccinated.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.

More than 713,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 66% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Oct 11, 12:13 pm
Boston Marathon returns with COVID protocols in place

The Boston Marathon returned with 18,000 runners on Monday following a two-year hiatus.

The field size was reduced by 36% this year while another 28,000 runners participated in the race virtually.

Runners were required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Although masks were not mandated for the 26.2-mile course, face coverings were enforced on participant transportation, as well as for volunteers who interacted with participants.

According to the Boston Marathon Association, 95% of all Boston Marathon volunteers were vaccinated and 100% of Boston Marathon medical volunteers were vaccinated.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MARTINSBURG, WVa.) — A current U.S. Navy engineer and his wife were charged with sending restricted naval data internationally, with the intention of selling it, court records unsealed over the weekend show.

Jonathan Toebbe and his wife, Diana Toebbe, allegedly communicated through encryption services with an undercover FBI agent and attempted to sell submarine data that was restricted, according to a criminal complaint.

The FBI were brought into the case from the beginning, court documents say.

Starting in December 2020, an unspecified country received a package from the United States, containing U.S. Navy documents as well as an SD disc and a letter explaining that it was not a hoax, the FBI says.

“Please forward this letter to your military intelligence agency. I believe this information will be of great value to your nation,” the letter in the package allegedly said. “This is not a hoax.”

They turned it over to the FBI legal attaché in the country, and FBI began to communicate through encrypted email, according to the complaint. Allegedly on the other side of that encrypted email was Jonathan Toebbe.

The FBI alleges he asked to be compensated in cryptocurrency writing in an email that, “Face to face meetings are very risky for me, as I am sure you understand. I propose exchanging gifts electronically, for mutual safety.”

An undercover FBI agent whom he was communicating with was posing as a representative of a foreign country, and allegedly suggested a drop location for him to drop off sensitive information, according to the complaint.

Court documents say Toebbe asked for a signal to be placed in the country’s main building as a sign of good faith while he visited Washington, D.C., which the FBI placed, and as a sign of good faith, paid Toebbe $10,000 in cryptocurrency.

After the exchange, the government alleges Teobbe dropped sensitive documents in West Virginia, while his wife allegedly acted as a lookout.

“Records show that JONATHAN TOEBBE is a government employee working as a nuclear engineer for the United States Navy and holds an active Top Secret Security Clearance through the United States Department of Defense and an active Q clearance from the United States Department of Energy,” the documents state.

The government alleges that Toebbe put an SD card containing restricted naval data inside a peanut butter sandwich.

“Specifically, the U.S. Navy subject matter expert determined that several of the documents contained militarily sensitive design elements, operating parameters, and performance characteristics of Virginia-class submarine reactors,” court documents state.

In total, Toebbe allegedly received $100,000 for dropping off restricted data.

He allegedly conducted three drop-offs.

“The U.S. Navy subject matter expert determined that multiple documents on the SD card contained Restricted Data. Specifically, the U.S. Navy subject matter expert determined that the document contained schematic designs for the Virginia-class submarine. Virginia-class submarines are nuclear-powered cruise missile fastattack submarines, which incorporate the latest in stealth, intelligence gathering, and weapons systems technology,” the documents say. “Virginia-class submarines, with a per unit cost of approximately $3 billion, are currently in service with the United States Navy and are expected to remain in service until at least 2060.”

The Toebbes were arrested in Jefferson County, West Virginia, by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Saturday. They will appear in federal court in Martinsburg, West Virginia, on Tuesday. They have been charged in a criminal complaint alleging violations of the Atomic Energy Act.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif.) — Remains found in a Southern California desert this weekend may belong to 30-year-old Lauren “El” Cho, who has been missing for months, authorities said.

The remains were recovered during a Saturday search for Cho “in the rugged terrain of the open desert of Yucca Valley,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said.

The remains haven’t been identified and a cause of death hasn’t been released. The sheriff’s office said the identification process could take several weeks.

Cho, from New Jersey, was reported missing on June 28 “when she reportedly walked away” from the Yucca Valley home where she was staying, the sheriff’s department said.

The search for Cho was launched this summer and included planes searching the remote mountain terrain and canines scouring the area for evidence, the sheriff’s office said.

Cho’s family describes her as “a talented musician, an incredible baker, a hilarious and loyal friend, a strangely intuitive gift giver, and probably the coolest sister one could hope for.”

“We need her home,” the family wrote last month.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(ALAMO, Ga.) — Investigators announced Sunday afternoon they had arrested the suspect wanted in connection with the killing of a central Georgia police officer who was shot outside his police department early Saturday, authorities said.

Dylan Harrison, 26, of Dudley, Georgia, was working his first shift as a part-time officer with the Alamo Police Department in Wheeler County when he was fatally shot around 1 a.m. Saturday, police said. Harrison was allegedly killed over an earlier confrontation that took place near the precinct a few hours prior, investigators said.

Damien Anthony Ferguson, 43, of Alamo, Georgia, was taken into custody Sunday afternoon following a nearly 38-hour manhunt, authorities said. He was arrested without incident while officers executed a search warrant of his residence, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said during a news conference Sunday evening.

Lindsay Wilkes, the special agent in charge for the GBI, told reporters that Harrison was involved in an altercation at a parking lot on Circle K across the street from the precinct Friday night. Harrison allegedly saw a man who was an associate of Ferguson commit a traffic violation and made contact with him, according to Wilkes.

The officer allegedly used his Taser on the suspect when he did not comply with Harrison’s orders, Wilkes said.

“It is believed that the ambush-style attack on Officer Harrison was retaliation for the incident and the arrest of the man Friday night,” Wilkes said.

Ferguson was charged with murder and with aggravated stalking related to a previous domestic incident, according to the GBI. Attorney information wasn’t immediately available.

Ferguson served eight years in prison after being convicted in Wheeler County of charges including aggravated assault of a peace officer, Georgia Department of Corrections records show. He was released in 2006.

Before his arrest, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued a “blue alert,” which indicates the search for a suspect who’s allegedly killed or injured an officer and hasn’t been apprehended, for Ferguson. An $18,500 reward was offered for information related to Ferguson’s arrest.

Harrison appears to be at least the fifth Georgia officer killed in the line of duty this year, according to Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks law enforcement deaths.

He was also a full-time agent with the Oconee Drug Task Force in Eastman, Georgia, and has been in law enforcement since 2018. He leaves behind his wife and 6-month-old baby.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.