(GLYNN COUNTY, Ga.) — A jury was impaneled on Wednesday to decide the fate of three white Georgia men accused of chasing down and killing Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who prosecutors allege was just out for a Sunday jog in 2020 when he was attacked.
Opening statements in the murder trial will likely begin Friday in Brunswick, Georgia, the judge said.
The jury panel in the Glynn County Superior Court case was picked after an arduous selection process that lasted nearly three weeks and started with a pool of 1,000 potential jurors. The 12 selected include 11 white people and one Black person, which caused an objection based on racial bias. Each juror was revisited and the court felt that it did seem there was discrimination, but was limited as to what could be done.
“This is the most complicated jury selection that I have ever been part of and that includes death penalty cases,” Kevin Gough, the attorney for defendant William “Roddie” Bryan, said during a court hearing Thursday morning.
The 16 jurors, including four alternates, were selected from a smaller pool of 64 qualified would-be candidates. All 16 jurors will be sworn in to hear evidence in the case.
Before the final stage of jury selection commenced, one of the potential jurors in the qualified pool was dismissed for cause after Gough alerted the court to a series of TikTok videos brought to his attention overnight of the 44-year-old woman performing what he described as a “dance tribute” to Arbery. Gough noted that at least one of the videos posted by the prospective juror included a heart emoji and the hashtag RunWithMaud.
“Clearly this juror has an emotional connection to Mr. Arbery,” Gough said.
The pool of 48 from which they were drawn included 36 whites and 12 African Americans, a makeup that is more in line with the population of Glynn County, which is 30% Black.
The three defendants are Gregory McMichael, 65, a retired police officer, his son, Travis McMichael, 35, and their neighbor, Bryan, 52.
The men have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, aggravated assault and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
The McMichaels and Bryan were also indicted on federal hate crime charges in April and have all pleaded not guilty.
Arbery was out jogging on Feb. 23, 2020, through the Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick when he stopped and went into a house under construction, according to evidence presented at the preliminary hearing. A surveillance video showed Arbery, who lived in another neighborhood of Brunswick, inside the unsecured house looking around and leaving empty-handed.
Arbery continued running past the McMichaels’ home, where Gregory McMichael spotted him and believed he matched the description of a neighborhood burglary suspect, according to his lawyer.
Investigators allege that Gregory McMichael and his son armed themselves and chased after Arbery in a pickup truck bearing a vanity plate of a Confederate flag. Bryan allegedly joined the pursuit and, according to prosecutors, attempted to use his truck to block Arbery’s path.
Travis McMichael is also expected to claim self-defense, arguing the use of deadly force was justified when Arbery violently resisted a citizens’ arrest under a law that existed at the time. The pre-Civil War-era law that was repealed in May primarily due to the Arbery killing gave civilians the power to arrest someone they “reasonably suspected” of trying to escape from a felony.
Bryan recorded a cellphone video of the confrontation that partly caught Travis McMichael shooting Arbery during a struggle and is expected to be the key evidence prosecutors plan to present at trial.
Bryan’s lawyer claims he was just a witness to the incident, but prosecutors alleged he was an active participant. Prosecutors also allege that Bryan told investigators he overheard Travis McMichael yell a racial slur at Arbery as he lay dying in the street, an allegation the younger McMichael denies.
Since Arbery’s killing, the case has frequently been in the national spotlight as protesters took to the streets for weeks to demand the suspects be arrested and as two district attorneys recused themselves.
Former Brunswick District Attorney Jackie Johnson, the first prosecutor to get the case and who once had a working relationship with Gregory McMichael, was indicted in September on a felony count of violating her oath of office by allegedly “showing favor and affection” to Gregory McMichael and a misdemeanor count of hindering a law enforcement officer. Johnson, who lost a reelection bid in November 2020, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 748,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 67.9% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 03, 2:46 pm
Colorado now has its highest hospitalization rate since December
Health officials in Colorado are growing increasingly concerned as the state’s daily case rate has more than doubled in the last month.
Nearly 200 COVID-19 patients are being admitted to hospitals each day — the highest number of people seeking care since December 2020, according to federal data.
There are currently more than 1,300 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across Colorado, the majority of whom — 80% — are unvaccinated, according to state data.
With the statewide hospital capacity falling under 10%, Gov. Jared Polis has signed a “particularly urgent” executive order that would permit the state’s health department to order hospitals to transfer or stop admitting patients after reaching or nearing capacity.
Federal data show just 61.7% of the state’s total population is fully vaccinated.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Nov 03, 1:31 pm
Aaron Rodgers tests positive
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss this Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, ESPN reported, citing a source.
The NFL considers Rodgers unvaccinated, ESPN reported. Coach Matt LeFleur did not confirm Rodgers’ vaccination status when he addressed reporters Wednesday.
LeFleur said he’s not sure if Rodgers has symptoms.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Disney is the parent company of ABC News and ESPN.
Nov 03, 1:05 pm
LA mayor tests positive
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said.
Garcetti, who is in Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26, “is feeling good and isolating in his hotel room,” his office said.
The mayor is fully vaccinated, his office added.
Mayor Garcetti tested positive for COVID-19 earlier today.
He is feeling good and isolating in his hotel room. He is fully vaccinated.
Nov 03, 12:26 pm
US death toll forecast to approach 775,000 by Thanksgiving weekend
The COVID-19 Forecast Hub at UMass Amherst, which is used by the CDC, predicts about 15,000 more Americans will die from COVID-19 over the next two weeks. This would bring the nation’s death toll to about 774,100 by Nov. 27, which is the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
A person reaches out to touch a panel of the COVID Memorial Quilt, part of a project by…Read More
The ensemble model estimates that 13 states and territories have a greater than 50% chance of seeing more deaths over the next two weeks compared to the previous two weeks.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Nov 03, 11:37 am
Biden to label COVID an occupational hazard for workers
The Biden administration is finalizing details on an emergency rule compelling companies to mandate employee vaccinations or regular tests.
This would be the first time Washington has set a federal safety standard for the workplace that regards a respiratory virus as an occupational hazard outside the health care sector.
Industry groups have pushed for a 60-day waiting period so enforcement of the rule doesn’t take effect until after the holidays.
-ABC News’ Anne Flaherty
Nov 03, 10:04 am
Case rates falling in the South
Case rates are falling in the South, according to federal data.
In Florida, which was reporting high transmission in every county during the summer, is now only reporting high transmission in two of its 67 counties. Cases in Louisiana, Georgia, Texas and Mississippi are also improving.
Although new fatalities are down by approximately 36.4% since mid-September, when about 1,800 deaths were reported daily, the death toll still remains high, with nearly 1,200 deaths reported each day.
Nov 03, 9:04 am
Don’t give kids pain reliever before vaccine, CDC says
The CDC has updated its website urging parents of children ages 5 and older to get the vaccine “as soon as you can.”
The CDC is also reminding parents not to give kids a pain reliever before the vaccination to try to mitigate side effects. The CDC says pain relievers prior to a shot are not recommended because it’s not known how it might affect the vaccine.
Instead, the agency urges parents to talk to their doctor about a non-aspirin pain reliever after the shot if needed.
In general, the CDC also recommends that people who have recovered from COVID-19 still get the shot. (Waiting 90 days is only necessary if the person received monoclonal antibodies.)
Nov 03, 8:24 am
CDC director: ‘We’ve taken the time to get this right’
“We’ve taken the time to get this right,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky told “Good Morning America” Wednesday, the day after she signed off on the Pfizer vaccine for young kids. “It’s taken us almost a year compared to where we had a vaccine for adults.”
Parents should have peace of mind with the vaccine’s safety, she argued. “We reviewed the evidence, we reviewed the safety profile,” she said.
“You may have questions, and we are here to answer your questions,” she said. “Go talk to your pediatrician, your trusted health care provider, your pharmacist, and get the information that you need.”
Nov 02, 8:46 pm
Biden calls CDC greenlight for child vaccinations ‘a major step forward’
President Joe Biden called Tuesday’s move by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to allow Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations for children 5 to 11 years old “a turning point.”
“It will allow parents to end months of anxious worrying about their kids, and reduce the extent to which children spread the virus to others,” he said in a statement. “It is a major step forward for our nation in our fight to defeat the virus.”
The president said his administration has secured enough pediatric vaccines for every child in America and has begun shipping out doses.
“The program will ramp up over the coming days, and fully up and running during the week of November 8,” he said.
Nov 02, 8:21 pm
CDC director signs off on child vaccinations
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky approved the agency’s recommendations for administering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to children between 5 and 11 years old.
MORE: In promising milestone, Pfizer vaccine soon available for kids 5 and up
Vaccinations for this age group, which includes over 28 million children, can begin as early as Wednesday morning.
The two-dose vaccine has been approved for an emergency use for children 12 to 15 years old and for full authorized use for patients above 16 years old.
Hartford HealthCare was one of the first locations in the country to administer the vaccine to kids Tuesday evening. The young patients cheered and gave doctors high fives after they received their shots.
Nov 02, 7:14 pm
Pharmacies readying COVID shots for young children
Two major pharmacy chains announced Tuesday evening they are getting ready to offer Pfizer COVID-19 shots to children 5 to 11 years-old.
Pending signoff from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, which could happen as early as Tuesday night, Walgreens told ABC News it expects to begin administering shots to that age group starting Saturday.
Walgreens said its online scheduler for children’s appointments will be available starting Wednesday.
The Pfizer pediatric vaccine will arrive “later this week in select locations throughout the country,” CVS said in a statement. Appointments will be available at individual stores after each receives vaccines.
(NEW YORK) — A crew member on the movie set of “Rust” talked to “Good Morning America” about his safety concerns on that set.
Lane Luper, formerly first camera assistant on the film, had quit and left the production the day before the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Hours before Hutchins was shot by actor Alec Baldwin on set, Luper and half a dozen other members of the camera department walked off the set in protest of poor working conditions.
“What I put in my resignation letter was: lax COVID policies, the housing situation — driving to and from Albuquerque — and specifically gun safety, a lack of rehearsals, a lack of preparing the crew for what we were doing that day,” Luper told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
When Baldwin fired a prop gun on the set, it killed Hutchins and injured the film’s director, Joel Souza, who was hospitalized. Production of “Rust” was paused.
Luper claims that there were very few safety meetings and that complaints about safety were ignored. He said safety bulletins, which are manuals for how to run a safe set, were ignored and not attached to call sheets.
In his resignation letter, Luper said gunfights on the set were often played “very fast and loose” and that there had been “two accidental weapons discharges and one accidental [sound effects] explosives that have gone off around the crew between takes.”
“In my 10 years as a camera assistant, I’ve never worked on a show that cares so little for the safety of its crew,” Luper wrote.
“Rust” producers deny Luper’s claims.
“Mr. Luper’s allegations around budget and safety are patently false, which is not surprising considering his job was to be a camera operator, and he had absolutely nothing to do with, or knowledge of, safety protocols or budgets. As we continue to cooperate with all investigations, we are limited in what we can say,” producers said in a statement to ABC News. “However, safety is always the number one priority on our films, and it is truly awful to see some using this tragedy for personal gain.”
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said investigators suspect a real bullet was loaded in the firearm that Baldwin discharged.
According to a search warrant affidavit, assistant director David Halls handed the gun to Baldwin and yelled “cold gun” to alert the crew of a gun with no live rounds in it. Halls told investigators that he didn’t know there were any live rounds in the gun when he gave it to Baldwin.
The film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is also being scrutinized for her potential role in the incident. Her attorney has stated that she had no idea where the live rounds came from.
Three guns — a Colt revolver, an apparently non-functioning .45-caliber revolver and a plastic non-functioning prop gun — were seized from the set. Some 500 rounds of ammunition — a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and live rounds — were also found on set, according to Mendoza.
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said no decision has been made on whether charges will be filed and that “no one has been ruled out at this point.”
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson, Meredith Deliso and Catherine Thorbecke contributed to this report.
This report is a part of “Rethinking Gun Violence,” an ABC News series examining the level of gun violence in the U.S. — and what can be done about it.
(NEW YORK) — Just before 11 p.m. on an April night, a 19-year-old man arrived at his former job site, an Indianapolis FedEx facility, and chatted with security about his status at the company.
The young man then exited his car with two legally purchased rifles and opened fire indiscriminately, at employees inside and outside the building, authorities said.
After killing eight employees — ranging in age from 19 to 74 — and injuring at least seven others, the gunman died by suicide, an attack “which he believed would demonstrate his masculinity and capability of fulfilling a final desire to experience killing people,” the FBI in Indianapolis said this summer, months after the attack.
According to the nonprofit research center The Violence Project, men are responsible for 98% of mass shootings, and according to an analysis by Everytown for Gun Safety, a grassroots organization aiming to combat gun violence, men were behind 94% of 240 mass shootings (four or more killed regardless of location) from 2009 to 2020 in which the shooter’s gender could be confirmed.
In 40 active-shooter incidents in the U.S. last year, 35 shooters were male, three were female and four were unspecified, according to FBI data.
The gender gap goes beyond active shooter incidents. Of 16,245 murders in the U.S. in 2019, in those for which a suspect’s gender was identified, 10,335 (63%) were committed by men, according to FBI data.
Gun violence victims also are predominantly male, accounting for 85% of fatalities and 87% of injuries through May, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But women are also deeply affected by gun violence, often as grieving family members or because they’re left as sole caregivers of children in the wake of the violence.
Or as victims themselves.
So why are American men so much more prone to gun violence? Experts cite a variety of reasons, from brain chemistry and evolution to how men and boys are socialized, said Jillian Peterson, co-founder of The Violence Project and a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Hamline University.
“The ideology of masculinity is not all that different in Spain or Britain than it is here. But they don’t have mass shootings like this. Why? I think that has to do with a specific version of American masculinity.”
But other experts said it really just comes down to what they say is arguably America’s most dangerous combination: toxic masculinity and gun availability.
‘Only America’
Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, said toxic masculinity, the cultural idea that manhood is defined by violence and aggression to maintain power or strength, is at the root of both domestic violence and mass shootings, adding that there’s one reason gun violence is a “uniquely American issue” — it’s easy to get guns.
Men commit about 90% of murders worldwide (including but not limited to the use of firearms), according to a 2019 United Nations report. But America’s gun homicide rate is 25 times higher than other high-income countries, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.
“Every country has racism, xenophobia, hatred. Only America gives those same people” access to guns, Watts said.
Michael Kimmel, a distinguished professor of sociology and gender studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, agreed.
The traditional idea of masculinity is, “You don’t get mad, you get even,” Kimmel said. “The capacity for violence has been a hallmark of masculinity since the beginning of writing. Go back to ‘The Iliad.’ The Bible is filled with stories about vengeful violence.”
“That is true for masculinity in other countries, in other cultures,” Kimmel said. “So you have to also ask yourself: Why is it that gun violence at the scale that we see it is a phenomenon” in the U.S.?
“You have to ask the question,” Kimmel continued, ‘Why here and not elsewhere?’ The ideology of masculinity is not all that different in Spain or Britain than it is here. But they don’t have mass shootings like this. Why? I think that has to do with a specific version of American masculinity.”
Kimmel said American men are responsible for such a staggering sum of shootings because of that ideological masculinity, American culture, which he said gives a “constant presentation of enemies,” real or imagined, and — the most significant contributor — easy access to guns.
The power of ‘protection’
Kimmel says protection also plays an important role.
“If you ask American men, what’s the role of a man? He will tell you, ‘To provide for and protect my family,'” Kimmel said. “In this uncertain economic world, being a provider is actually far more difficult than it was in my father’s generation, than it was in his father’s generation. I think some part of American men’s fascination with guns and arming themselves has to do with, ‘If I can’t be a provider, at least I can be a protector.'”
About 45% of American men last year said they owned a gun, according to Gallup, and 19% of American women said they did.
In a 2017 Pew Research Center poll, 67% of gun owners said protection was a major reason for ownership, Iowa State professor Craig Rood noted in a Gender Policy Report through the University of Minnesota. Protection was followed by: hunting, sport shooting, as part of a collection and for one’s job.
Only 26% mentioned protection in a 1999 Pew Research Center poll in which hunting ranked No. 1, Rood noted.
“I could imagine several explanations why Americans are more afraid today than they were in 1999,” Rood told ABC News. “For instance, gun sales spiked after several high-profile mass shootings and again when the COVID-19 pandemic began. But not everyone has responded to that fear by turning to guns.”
“When we are talking about ‘protection,’ we are talking about perception of danger, and perceptions of danger can be real, imagined or some place in between,” Rood said. “Statistically, the United States has been relatively safe for most people, as crime and homicide rates started falling from the mid-1990s until quite recently. Yet the perception of danger has increased. So, there’s an obvious mismatch.”
Rood added, “I would bet most men acquire guns for commendable reasons: They want to protect themselves or their family, they enjoy hunting or they simply like guns. But the very presence of a gun in the home opens the possibility for accidents. Guns also heighten the risk for completed suicide and deadly intimate-partner violence.”
What can be done?
Peterson, of the Violence Project, said the key to fewer shootings is prevention, and offered four prongs.
1. Prevention should start early, by teaching boys how to understand emotions and trauma.
“Think about things like trauma screening and teaching social and emotional learning in schools … teach young boys how to cope with emotions and have empathy,” she said.
When it comes to male mass shooters, Peterson said many tend to have an attitude that “the world owes me more than what I have.”
“They feel disappointed where they’re at in life, or they feel frustrated that they lost their job or that they can’t get a girlfriend or whatever it is … so they pick a target of who to blame, whether they pick women or their school or a racial group,” Peterson said.
In July, a 21-year-old Ohio man was charged for allegedly trying to carry out a mass shooting of women, prosecutors said. He allegedly compared his “extremely empowering action” to Elliot Rodger, a 22-year-old man who carried out a mass shooting at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014 after videotaping his rage over his rejection by women and vowed “retribution.” The Ohio 21-year-old allegedly had a manifesto, according to prosecutors, in which he wrote he “would ‘slaughter’ women ‘out of hatred, jealousy and revenge.'”
2. Peterson said the U.S. also needs better systems for crisis training and how to recognize and report someone’s potential crisis.
According to The Violence Project, 82% of men who commit shootings are suffering from a noticeable crisis, with most showing at least one of the following symptoms and more than one-third exhibiting five or more: increased agitation, abusive behavior, isolation, losing touch with reality, depression, mood swings, paranoia and an inability to complete daily tasks.
Peterson said she considers the lack of a social safety net, which impacts trauma and crisis, to be a uniquely American problem.
3. Potential mass shooters often look online for others who validate their thoughts and feelings, or research past or potential shooters, Peterson said, so internet companies, especially social media platforms, must be pressured to better regulate hateful rhetoric and content.
Watts said parents also have a part in this.
“Every nation is home to young men being radicalized online to believe that somehow a loss of power means that they need to become violent,” Watts said.
Watts said she’s constantly talking to her 20-year-old son about how the internet is home to platforms “where this kind of violent rhetoric can become ingrained.”
“It’s a conversation that all parents need to have, in particular with their sons,” she added.
4. Peterson said another uniquely American problem is the struggle to regulate access to guns, like through red flag laws, which allow the court to remove an individual’s guns for a certain amount of time if a judge finds he or she is a danger.
Watts stressed the need for more background checks, noting that only 21 states and Washington, D.C., require background checks on all gun sales — meaning that in every other state, someone looking to acquire a gun quickly can do so at a gun show or via a private transaction.
Watts is also pushing for substantive legislative change, including advocating for an update to the Violence Against Women Act that would include a provision that would prevent abusive dating partners or alleged stalkers from accessing a gun.
The current law doesn’t define abusive dating partners or alleged stalkers as domestic abusers, and instead focuses on spouses and live-in partners, which Watts called a loophole.
Every 16 hours a woman in America is shot dead by a current or former partner, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Further, an Everytown analysis found that in at least 53% of American mass shootings from 2009 to 2020, the gunman also shot a current or former intimate partner or family member.
The VAWA, initially passed in 1994 and expanded in later years, has since expired.
“It’s really toxic masculinity that’s at the root of domestic violence and mass shootings — misogyny and easy access to guns,” Watts said. “Guns are the weapons of choice for extremists, for misogynists, for insurrectionists and, ultimately, women are paying the price with their lives.”
(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 748,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
Just 67.9% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 03, 8:24 am
CDC director: ‘We’ve taken the time to get this right’
“We’ve taken the time to get this right,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky told “Good Morning America” Wednesday, the day after she signed off on the Pfizer vaccine for young kids. “It’s taken us almost a year compared to where we had a vaccine for adults.”
Parents should have peace of mind with the vaccine’s safety, she argued. “We reviewed the evidence, we reviewed the safety profile,” she said.
“You may have questions, and we are here to answer your questions,” she said. “Go talk to your pediatrician, your trusted health care provider, your pharmacist, and get the information that you need.”
Nov 02, 8:46 pm
Biden calls CDC greenlight for child vaccinations ‘a major step forward’
President Joe Biden called Tuesday’s move by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to allow Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations for children 5 to 11 years old “a turning point.”
“It will allow parents to end months of anxious worrying about their kids, and reduce the extent to which children spread the virus to others,” he said in a statement. “It is a major step forward for our nation in our fight to defeat the virus.”
The president said his administration has secured enough pediatric vaccines for every child in America and has begun shipping out doses.
“The program will ramp up over the coming days, and fully up and running during the week of November 8,” he said.
Nov 02, 8:21 pm
CDC director signs off on child vaccinations
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky approved the agency’s recommendations for administering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to children between 5 and 11 years old.
MORE: In promising milestone, Pfizer vaccine soon available for kids 5 and up
Vaccinations for this age group, which includes over 28 million children, can begin as early as Wednesday morning.
The two-dose vaccine has been approved for an emergency use for children 12 to 15 years old and for full authorized use for patients above 16 years old.
Hartford HealthCare was one of the first locations in the country to administer the vaccine to kids Tuesday evening. The young patients cheered and gave doctors high fives after they received their shots.
Nov 02, 7:14 pm
Pharmacies readying COVID shots for young children
Two major pharmacy chains announced Tuesday evening they are getting ready to offer Pfizer COVID-19 shots to children 5 to 11 years-old.
Pending signoff from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, which could happen as early as Tuesday night, Walgreens told ABC News it expects to begin administering shots to that age group starting Saturday.
Walgreens said its online scheduler for children’s appointments will be available starting Wednesday.
The Pfizer pediatric vaccine will arrive “later this week in select locations throughout the country,” CVS said in a statement. Appointments will be available at individual stores after each receives vaccines.
(LOS ANGELES) — Climate change is making wildfires in the western United States larger and more destructive, and the effects are felt across the country, according to a study by Steve Davis, a professor of Earth systems science at the University of California Irvine.
Davis ran a study looking into the cost of wildfires, which was published in the journal Nature Sustainability.
According to Davis, “It’s not just relegated to California, there’s places beyond California that are being affected.”
The research also considers more than just the cost of destruction. It includes the price of health care for smoke inhalation from the fires, people missing work and supply chain issues nationwide from products coming from California.
His team found the cost of the 2018 wildfire season to have totaled about $150 billion in losses. That amounts to .7 percent of the gross domestic product of the U.S.
Davis says, “If we continue to have these kinds of wildfire seasons, the costs are going to maintain themselves.”
In 2021, living in California means an almost year-round threat of wildfires.
According to CAL Fire, wildfires are a natural part of California’s landscape. Yet the fire season in California and across the West is starting earlier and ending later each year.
They say climate change is considered a key driver of this trend with warmer temperatures, less rainfall and a more intense dry season all contributing to more severe wildfires.
Since 2017, wildfires have broken all-time size and destruction records consistently.
CAL Fire’s Top 20 Largest California Wildfire statistics show the top eight largest in the state’s history have all happened in the last five years. This includes the August Complex, which burned 1,032,648 acres of land alone.
(NEW YORK) — Members of the United Auto Workers Union voted Tuesday against a tentative agreement that would have ended the ongoing strike of more than 10,000 John Deere workers.
The vote came up 55% against and 45% in favor, according to the UAW. This is the second time the union has rejected a tentative contract offer.
“The strike against John Deere and company will continue as we discuss next steps with the company,” the UAW said in a statement. “Pickets will continue and any updates will be provided through the local union.”
Earlier news of a tentative deal, which would have given approximately double the wage increase compared the previously rejected offer that kicked off the strike on Oct. 14, came as unique labor market conditions have resulted in workers wielding new power as the pandemic wanes.
An apparent shortage of workers accepting low-wage jobs has left many major companies reeling for staff and has been linked to the spate of strikes that have rocked the private sector in recent weeks. The labor crunch — combined with recent record-high rates of people quitting their jobs and record-high job openings, per Bureau of Labor Statistics data — have resulted in workers gaining new leverage as they seek to bargain for better pay or working conditions.
(NEW YORK) — Democrat Eric Adams is projected by ABC News to win the New York City mayoral race.
The win, while expected in a city with many more registered Democrats than Republicans, makes some history as Adams is only the second Black mayor in the history of the city.
Curtis Sliwa, who founded the Guardian Angels as a response to crime in the subway in the 1970s and was later a political commentator, was the Republican nominee.
“This is is an amazing day, to reach this point,” Adams told reporters Tuesday morning as he took to the polls. “Back in 1977, my mom brought me into that polling place. Every little boy or little girl who was ever told they’ll never amount to anything — every child with a learning disability, every inmate sitting in Rikers, every dishwasher, every child in a homeless shelter — this is for all of you. I only have three words: I am you.”
Sliwa made his own headlines at the poll, trying to bring one of his rescue cats into his voting location. The passionate animal rescue activist was told his feline friend had to stay outside.
But even once he got inside, his ballot got jammed in the scanner and technicians were needed to fix it.
“There will be safe streets, safe parks, safe subways,” he said, later reunited with one of his 17 cats, Gizmo, outside the polling spot. “There will be safe schools. That’s what I’ve been doing as head of Guardian Angels for 42 years.”
Adams currently serves as Brooklyn borough president –first elected in 2013 and reelected in 2017 — and is a former captain in the New York City Police Department. He was also in the New York state Senate from 2006 to 2013 representing Brooklyn.
David Dinkins, who died last year at 93, was the first Black mayor in New York City history, serving from 1990 to 1993 before losing to Rudy Giuliani in a heated reelection campaign.
Adams, considered a moderate Democrat after the progressive Bill de Blasio spent two terms in office, won out for the nominee in a crowded field in June. Adams separated himself from a pack that included former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and second- and third-place finishers Kathryn Garcia, the former Department of Sanitation commissioner, and Maya Wiley, who was favored by progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
In the city’s first use of ranked choice voting, Adams crept over the 50% mark with Garcia at 49.6%. A snafu from the city elections board caused confusion in the weeks after the June 22 voting date before Adams was eventually declared the nominee.
De Blasio was term-limited out of office and previously explored a presidential run during his second term. Sliwa often attempted to tie Adams to the unfavorable opinion many hold for the current mayor.
(LOS ANGELES) — Following nearly two years of reported sightings of a man flying at relatively high altitudes around aircrafts landing at Los Angeles International Airport, the police department released a new theory — there may not have been a man after all.
A helicopter crew captured images of a life-sized balloon flying over Century City last November, near where earlier sightings had been reported, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The balloon reportedly resembles the fictional character “Jack Skellington” from Tim Burton’s 1993 movie “A Nightmare Before Christmas.”
The first reported sighting of a possible jetpack flier was made on Aug. 30, 2020, after two different commercial airline pilots reported seeing a man in a jet pack hovering near LAX, ABC News reported.
The second report was made on Oct. 14, 2020, and the third was made on July 28, 2021, all in the same surrounding area as the first.
Federal authorities said that none of the theories surrounding the sightings have been confirmed, and they are continuing to investigate the situation with the Federal Aviation Administration.
“The FBI has worked closely with the FAA to investigate reported jetpack sightings in the Los Angeles area, none of which have been verified,” the FBI said in a statement to ABC News on Tuesday. “One working theory is that pilots might have seen balloons.”
(ATLANTA) — A committee of independent experts advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted unanimously on Tuesday to recommend the Pfizer vaccine for children 5-11, checking off one of the last boxes in the authorization process.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to issue the final recommendation as soon as Tuesday evening, capping off the process and allowing the first shots to be administered by Wednesday morning.
But vaccinations are not expected to kick into high-gear until Nov. 8, when the White House says Pfizer’s pediatric vaccines will be more widely accessible across the nation.
About 15 million doses are expected to ship out over the next week. The majority, about 10 million, will be available at pediatrician’s offices, children’s hospitals, community centers and mass vaccination sites. About 5 million doses will go to pharmacies.
Many parents are anxious to protect their children after the delta surge over the summer led to increased cases and hospitalizations among kids. Though the variant is not more deadlier, it is more transmissible — and because kids are unvaccinated, the variant rocketed through schools and camps.
The most recent data from Pfizer’s clinical trials found that the vaccine for children ages 5-11 was nearly 91% effective against symptomatic illness.
For kids, the vaccine will be given at a smaller, one-third dose.
The vaccine also appears safe. The company says none of the children in clinical trials experienced a rare heart inflammation side effect known as myocarditis, which has been associated with the mRNA vaccines in very rare cases, mostly among young men.
The CDC’s expert on myocarditis, Dr. Matt Oster, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, said unequivocally at Tuesday’s meeting that he believes the benefits of the vaccine for 5-11 year-olds outweighs the potential risks of vaccine-related myocarditis.
“The bottom line is getting COVID I think is much riskier to the heart than getting this vaccine, no matter what age or sex you have,” Oster told the committee.
Meanwhile, the risks of not getting vaccinated loom far larger than the rare and mostly mild vaccine side effects seen in some adolescents, CDC’s Dr. Sarah Oliver said.
For every million pediatric vaccinations, more than 18,500 COVID cases and 80 hospitalizations could be prevented, Oliver estimated, using a model based on cases throughout the pandemic so far. If cases returned to the peak seen during the delta variant, over 58,200 COVID cases and over 220 hospitalizations could be prevented.
“There could also be possible prevention of transmission and a greater confidence in a safer return to school and social interactions,” Oliver said. “Wide use of an effective vaccine would reduce the public health burden of COVID in children five through 11 years of age.”
Other CDC committee members agreed.
“I think the data supports that we have one more vaccine that saves lives of children and that we should be very confident to employ it to the maximum,” said Dr. Sarah Long, a member of the CDC’s committee and professor of pediatrics at Drexel University.
Last week, all of the efficacy and safety data was reviewed by a panel of experts at the Food and Drug Administration, which then voted nearly unanimously to authorize the vaccine.
Then, last Friday, the vaccine was authorized by FDA acting commissioner Janet Woodcock.
Whether parents will embrace the vaccine for their kids is still a question. In an October poll, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that about a third of parents with kids ages 5-11 were willing to vaccinate their kids right away, while another third wanted to “wait and see.” The figures represented a slight uptick in vaccine acceptance among parents of elementary-school-aged kids since July, but they have stayed steady since September.
Woodcock told reporters on Friday that she hoped parents would quickly see the benefits.
“We certainly hope that as people see children getting vaccinated and being protected, being able to participate in activities without concern, that more and more people will get their kids vaccinated,” she said.
And she emphasized the urgency of preventing the conditions that can come with COVID diagnoses in kids.
“As a parent, if I had young children this age group I would get them vaccinated now. I would not want to take the risk that they would be one of the ones who would develop long COVID, who would develop multi-system inflammatory syndrome or have to be hospitalized from from the virus,” Woodcock said.
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
