COVID-19 live updates: California to require all health care workers to get booster

COVID-19 live updates: California to require all health care workers to get booster
COVID-19 live updates: California to require all health care workers to get booster
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 809,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 61.6% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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

Dec 22, 3:46 am
Portugal bans outdoor drinking, large gatherings for New Year’s Eve

Portugal said it would limit outdoor gatherings to 10 people and prohibit outdoor drinking on New Year’s Eve.

The country, which has 52 confirmed omicron cases, will also require most people to work from home starting on Saturday, the president’s office told ABC News on Tuesday.

The new restrictions, which are set to expire Jan. 10, will require people to present negative COVID-19 tests as they enter sporting events, theaters, weddings and other large gatherings.

Bars, discos, and schools will close on Saturday, the president’s office said.

The country reported an uptick in COVID-19 cases between Dec. 16 and Dec. 19, but numbers were slightly down on Tuesday, with 2,752 newly diagnosed cases and 18 deaths, according to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 dashboard. Portugal’s adult population is 87% fully vaccinated.

-ABC News’ Aicha El-Hammar Castano

Dec 21, 7:53 pm
California to require all health care workers to get booster

California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted Tuesday evening that he will require that all health care workers in the state to get their booster shot.

“With Omicron on the rise, we’re taking immediate actions to protect Californians and ensure our hospitals are prepared,” he tweeted.

More details about the order will be shared on Wednesday, according to Newsom.

Dec 21, 7:05 pm
Chicago to institute vaccine mandate for indoor events

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a vaccine mandate for most indoor events as the city grasps with a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Starting Jan. 3, anyone over the age of 5 will have to show proof that they are fully vaccinated to “to dine indoors, visit gyms, or enjoy entertainment venues where food or drink are being served,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.

Patrons 16 and older will also need to “provide identification that matches their vaccination record,” according to the statement.

Chicago is averaging more than 1,700 new COVID-19 cases a day — a 79% increase from one week ago, the mayor’s office said.

Dec 21, 4:36 pm
New Hampshire hospital seeing record-high number of patients

Elliot Hospital in New Hampshire is now seeing three to four times as many patients as it had at the beginning of the pandemic, Dr. Laura McPhee told ABC News.

She said their ICU is full with COVID-19 patients and staff is running thin.

“We’re tired. It’s been extremely hard on everybody,” McPhee said, stressing that “most of the patients that we’re seeing are unvaccinated.”

“Most days I’ve been angry and frustrated. … Because this is preventable. It doesn’t have to happen,” she said. “I’ve not ever seen a patient here in the ICU who has been fully vaccinated with a booster.”

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Controversial 110-year sentence to be reconsidered for truck driver responsible for fatal crash: DA

Controversial 110-year sentence to be reconsidered for truck driver responsible for fatal crash: DA
Controversial 110-year sentence to be reconsidered for truck driver responsible for fatal crash: DA
Runstudio/Getty Images

(DENVER) — Truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos was sentenced on Dec. 13 to 110 years in prison for a 2019 fiery crash just outside Denver that killed four people and injured several others – a sentence that the judge in the case said he wouldn’t have chosen if he had the discretion.

A spokesman for the Colorado First Judicial District Attorney’s Office told ABC News on Tuesday afternoon that the DA’s office “filed a motion to start the reconsideration process” of the sentence on Friday afternoon, and Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King has requested that the court set a new hearing “as soon as practicable.”

“As Colorado law required the imposition of the sentence in this case, the law also permits the Court to reconsider its sentence in an exceptional case involving unusual and extenuating circumstances,” the motion says.

Mederos, who was 23 years old at the time of the crash, was charged with 42 counts and was found guilty on 27 – the most serious of which was first degree assault.

Prosecutors sought the minimum penalties for each of the charges — the highest of which is 10 years, but the number of the charges and a law that says that some have to be served consecutively resulted in the lengthy sentence.

Progressive prosecutors aim to change the criminal justice system from the inside
“The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution says punishments can’t be cruel and unusual, and as far as Mr. Mederos is concerned, this is a cruel and unusual punishment,” Mederos’ attorney, James Colgan, told ABC News Tuesday.

A Change.org petition advocating for a commutation for Mederos, indicating that the crash was “not intentional,” was signed by more than 4.5 million people as of Tuesday afternoon, becoming one of fastest growing petitions on the website.

Mederos was driving a semitrailer loaded with lumber along a highway in Lakewood, Colorado, on April 25, 2019.

Those killed in the crash on Interstate 70 were Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 24; William Bailey, 67; Doyle Harrison, 61; and Stanley Politano, 69.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that Mederos could have taken a runaway truck ramp after losing control of his brakes, instead of driving into traffic.

Colgan said that his client “may have made some negligent mistakes,” but the punishment is “completely disproportionate to what happened.”

“What he did does not deserve a life sentence,” he said.

Why the judge didn’t have a choice

Ian Farrell, a professor of law at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver, said that this case has sparked outrage because Mederos “got the same sentence as someone who intentionally killed 100 people would have gotten in Colorado.”

“In every state in the country, which doesn’t have the death penalty, the maximum possible sentence is a life sentence,” Farrell said.

A Jefferson County jury found Mederos guilty of six counts of first-degree assault, 10 counts of attempted first-degree assault, four counts of vehicular homicide, four counts of careless driving causing death, two counts of vehicular assault and one count of reckless driving.

“I will state that if I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence,” the district court judge, A. Bruce Jones, said during the sentencing. ABC News has reached out to Jones but a request for comment was not responded to.

Mederos was sentenced to 10 years each for six counts of first degree assault, as well as five years each for 10 counts of attempted first degree assault, resulting in the 110-year sentence.

“When the judge said he didn’t have discretion, he was accurate,” Colgan said.
Jones was bound by “sentence enhancers” that are outlined in Colorado law, Farrell said, pointing to mandatory minimum penalties for certain crimes and certain classifications that enhance penalties for violent crimes.

Under Colorado law, first degree assault and attempted first degree assault are classified as “crimes of violence,” Farrell said, which mandates that an individual convicted of more than two “crimes of violence” serve the sentences consecutively, not concurrently.

“One of the things that the sentence enhances and mandatory minimums do is it takes power away from the judge, and gives it to the prosecutor,” Farrell said.

Since vehicular homicide, a class four felony, and the remaining lesser charges are not classified as “crimes of violence,” Colgan said that the judge “had discretion to run [them] concurrently, which he did.”

Prosecutors face backlash

Asked about the backlash over the number of charges and the length of the sentence, District Attorney King told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday that prosecutors “initiated plea negotiations but Mr. Aguilera-Mederos declined to consider anything other than a traffic ticket.”

“The actions and decisions of Mr. Mederos resulted in the loss of four lives, devastating injuries to the survivors and – as we heard them state during the sentencing hearing – grave impacts to their families and loved ones,” King said.

Colgan argued Mederos was “overcharged” in an attempt to “coerce” him into pleading guilty.

Domingo Garcia, President of the League of United Latin American Citizens, told ABC News he believes that “racial bias played a big part” in Mederos’ case, pointing to the fact that he is a Cuban immigrant who used a translator during the trial.

Farrell said that it’s “impossible to know” if racial bias played a part, but “Black and brown people are overcharged [and] over sentenced in every different area of the law.”

PHOTO: District Attorney Alexis King speaks during a news conference in Golden, Colo., Nov. 8, 2021.
David Zalubowski/AP, FILE
David Zalubowski/AP, FILE
District Attorney Alexis King speaks during a news conference in Golden, Colo., Nov. 8, 2021.
King’s office did not comment directly on the allegations of racial bias when asked by ABC News, but said in a statement that “the sentence – which our office requested the minimum for – is within the purview of the court and reflects the judgment of the legislature.”

“Just as the law mandates this outcome, it also provides future opportunity to revisit the sentence, and we will again pursue an appropriate outcome if that opportunity arises, after consulting with the victims and survivors and receiving their input,” King said.

Derek Chauvin wants to go to federal prison, even though it means he’ll do more time
Seeking a commutation

On the witness stand, Mederos expressed remorse for those who were killed and injured in the crash and said that the accident was unintentional and he is “not a criminal.”

“I want to say sorry. Sorry for the loss, for the people injured. I know they have trauma, I know, I feel that,” he said while crying.

“But please, don’t be angry with me … I was working hard for a better future for my family. I have never thought about hurting anybody in my entire life,” Mederos, who emigrated from Cuba to the U.S. at the age of 19, said.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said during a press conference on Tuesday that he received a clemency application from Mederos’ attorney.

Clemency could mean commutation or a pardon but Colgan told ABC News Tuesday morning he is “actively seeking a commutation” and not a pardon at this time.

Conor Cahill, the press secretary for Polis, told ABC News on Sunday before the application was received that Polis “would expedite consideration.”

A spokesman for LULAC, one of the largest Latino civil rights organizations in the U.S, told ABC News on Tuesday that the organization is set to meet with Polis on Wednesday morning to advocate for Mederos.

Asked if he plans to appeal the case, Colgan said that “everything’s on the table.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 live updates: Unvaccinated ‘have good reason to be concerned,’ Biden says

COVID-19 live updates: California to require all health care workers to get booster
COVID-19 live updates: California to require all health care workers to get booster
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 809,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 61.6% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:
-Biden calls out those spreading misinformation ‘that can kill their own customers’
-New York City has highest new case rate in US
-Biden to announce plan to send 500 million free rapid tests to Americans
-Fauci on omicron’s ‘unprecedented’ spread

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

Dec 21, 4:36 pm
New Hampshire hospital seeing record-high number of patients

Elliot Hospital in New Hampshire is now seeing three to four times as many patients as it had at the beginning of the pandemic, Dr. Laura McPhee told ABC News.

She said their ICU is full with COVID-19 patients and staff is running thin.

“We’re tired. It’s been extremely hard on everybody,” McPhee said, stressing that “most of the patients that we’re seeing are unvaccinated.”

“Most days I’ve been angry and frustrated. … Because this is preventable. It doesn’t have to happen,” she said. “I’ve not ever seen a patient here in the ICU who has been fully vaccinated with a booster.”

ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Dec 21, 4:08 pm
Inmates on home confinement due to pandemic can stay out of prison, DOJ says

About 4,000 nonviolent inmates placed under home confinement due to COVID-19 will not be forced to return to prison at the expiration of the public health emergency, as long as officials determine they have not broken rules and made rehabilitative progress during the period of their release, the Justice Department said.

The announcement follows an extensive review by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel that for months weighed whether there was any way to keep the inmates placed on home confinement from being forced back into incarceration. An earlier OLC opinion released during the final days of the Trump administration determined they would have to return to prison within a month of the emergency’s expiration.

ABC News’ Alexander Mallin

Dec 21, 3:42 pm
Biden calls out those spreading misinformation ‘that can kill their own customers’

With omicron now the dominant variant in the U.S., President Joe Biden said in a public address Tuesday, “If you’re not fully vaccinated, you have good reason to be concerned.”

“The unvaccinated have a significantly higher risk of ending up in a hospital — or even dying,” he said.

Biden said “the unvaccinated are responsible for their own choices” but also blamed “dangerous misinformation on cable TV and social media.”

“These companies and personalities are making money by peddling lies and allowing misinformation that can kill their own customers and their own supporters. It’s wrong. It’s amoral,” he said. “I call on the purveyors of these lies and misinformation to stop it.”

When reporters confronted the president about people struggling to find tests before the holidays, Biden said omicron “spread even more rapidly than anybody thought.”

Biden said the omicron surge created a “big rush” for tests and that this does not resemble a “failure” from the administration.

Biden announced a new plan to distribute 500 million free at-home rapid tests to Americans beginning in January. The free at-home rapid tests will be delivered by mail to Americans who request them. Americans will have to request the tests through a website that will launch in January.

The federal government is also opening more testing sites and mobilizing 1,000 military doctors and nurses to overburdened hospitals.

 

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Unruly passengers could lose TSA PreCheck, FAA says

Unruly passengers could lose TSA PreCheck, FAA says
Unruly passengers could lose TSA PreCheck, FAA says
iStock

(NEW YORK) — In an effort to stop bad behavior on planes, unruly passengers could lose their TSA PreCheck privileges.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is partnering with TSA to share information on passengers facing fines for unruly behavior. After receiving the information, TSA said it can then remove those passengers from its PreCheck program.

“If you act out of line, you will wait in line,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said.

The FAA has been cracking down on the unfriendly skies for almost a year, taking a “zero-tolerance approach.” The agency has warned passengers that they could face hefty fines as much as $37,000 for interfering with a flight crew.

Despite the crackdown, there has been a record number of unruly incidents on flights; this year alone the FAA has received 5,664 reports of which 4,000 were mask related.

“Our partnership aims to promote safe and responsible passenger behavior,” Dickson said. “One unruly incident is one too many.”

ABC News’ Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 live updates: Fauci predicts omicron will peak soon

COVID-19 live updates: California to require all health care workers to get booster
COVID-19 live updates: California to require all health care workers to get booster
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 807,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 61.5% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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

Dec 21, 9:29 am
Biden to announce plan to send 500 million free rapid tests to Americans

President Joe Biden will speak to the public at 2:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, announcing new steps to combat the pandemic.

Biden will announce a plan to distribute 500 million free at-home rapid tests to Americans beginning in January. The free at-home rapid tests will be delivered by mail to Americans who request them. Americans will have to request the tests through a website that will launch in January, a senior administration official said.

The president is also set to introduce new federal testing sites around the U.S., the first several of which will launch in New York City by Christmas.

The government will also mobilize 1,000 military doctors and nurses to overburdened hospitals, the senior administration official said. There are currently 175 troops spread over four states, and since August 2021, when a joint military operation across the Army, Navy and Air Force began, about 530 medical military personnel have been deployed to work alongside civilian health care providers.

-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett, Sarah Kolinovsky

Dec 21, 8:59 am
Massachusetts activates National Guard to help hospitals

Massachusetts will activate up to 500 National Guard members as the state faces a “critical staffing shortage,” Gov. Charlie Baker’s office said Tuesday.

Besides a staffing shortage, hospitals are also seeing an influx of patients, but many patients are from “non-COVID related reasons,” the office said.

Beginning Dec. 27, all hospitals will be directed to postpone or cancel nonessential elective procedures that are likely to result in hospital admission.

Massachusetts has also updated its mask guidance, recommending that everyone, including those vaccinated, wear a mask in indoor, public places.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

Dec 21, 8:19 am
Fauci on omicron’s ‘unprecedented’ spread

Dr, Anthony Fauci on Tuesday called omiron’s spread “unprecedented.”

“It is really extremely unusual,” he told Good Morning America. “It’s a doubling time of two to three days, closer to two days. Which means that if you start off with a few percentage of the isolates being omicron, and you do the math and double that every couple of days, it’s not surprising that just a week or two ago we had only 8% to 10%, and now we have 73% of all the isolates are omicron. That’s truly unprecedented in the rapidity with which a virus spreads.”

Fauci predicted omicron’s peak will be soon.

“It’s going to be a matter of a couple of weeks that we then start to see just as dramatic a decline,” he said. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”

“When you have something that goes up this quickly, often you see it come right back down. Because what will happen is that either almost everyone is either going to get infected, particularly the unvaccinated, or be vaccinated,” he said. “And the vaccinated people will either be — particularly the boosted people, and it’s very important to underscore right now the importance of getting boosted — that those people will either be protected from infection, or if they do get infected, they’ll have a relatively mild course of infection.”

World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday recommended delaying or canceling holiday events, saying, “an event canceled is better than a life canceled.”

Fauci told GMA that family gatherings are safe if you know everyone is vaccinated.

“When you have a family setting, for example, parents, grandparents, children, who are vaccinated, you should have an enjoyable Christmas and holiday gathering, dinner, whatever in your own home,” Fauci said. “What you want to stay away from is indoor congregant sittings in which you do not know the vaccination status of the people around you. That would be quite risky.”

Dec 21, 3:05 am
Broadway’s ‘Harry Potter’ cancels Christmas week performances  

The Broadway shows “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and “Hadestown” canceled their Christmas week performances, citing rising breakthrough COVID-19 cases.

“We will enchant you another time and apologize for the inconvenience,” said a notice posted on the “Harry Potter” Twitter account late on Monday night.

The two shows added to a growing list of those cancelling performances amid the spread of the omicron variant. “Hamilton” and “Aladdin” both announced they’d stay dark until after Christmas.

Another Broadway musical, “Jagged Little Pill,” based on Alanis Morissette’s catalog, said on Monday it would close its doors for good.

The producers of “Pill” said in a Twitter post that the spread of the omicron variant “appears to be another substantial public health crisis.” Members of the production’s company tested positive for COVID-19, the post said.

Dec 20, 7:43 pm
Biden tests negative after close contact with positive staff member

President Joe Biden was exposed to a staff member who recently tested positive for COVID-19, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Monday evening.

Biden was near the staff member for about 30 minutes on Air Force One on Friday, during a trip to Philadelphia from South Carolina, according to Psaki.

The staff member, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, tested negative Friday morning, but tested positive Monday, according to the White House.

The president received an antigen test Sunday and a PCR test Monday, and both came back negative, Psaki said in a statement. He will receive another test Wednesday, she said.

“As CDC guidance does not require fully vaccinated people to quarantine after an exposure, the president will continue with his daily schedule,” Psaki said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky

Dec 20, 6:51 pm
U.S. records what’s believed to be 1st known omicron related death

Health officials in Texas announced Monday that it recorded the first death related to the omicron COVID-19 variant.

This is believed to be the first known recorded omicron death in the U.S.

Harris County Health officials would only say the victim was “a man in his 50s,” who was unvaccinated and had underlying health conditions..

Public health officials do not think omicron is more virulent than previous variants, but they do say in general vaccination and a booster shot when eligible appears to lower your risk for severe illness.

Dec 20, 6:39 pm
More military teams to be deployed to hospitals

The military announced it is sending two teams to hospitals in Wisconsin and Indiana to assist with rising COVID-19 cases.

The 20-person teams include nurses, respiratory therapists, and medical doctors from the U.S. Navy.

They will be assisting Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis starting on Christmas Day and Bellin Hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin starting on New Year’s Eve, according to a U.S. Army North spokesperson.

Ten other military teams have been deployed to hospitals in five other states.

-ABC News’ Matt Seyler

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 live updates: Biden tests negative after close contact with positive staff member

COVID-19 live updates: California to require all health care workers to get booster
COVID-19 live updates: California to require all health care workers to get booster
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 807,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 61.5% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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

Dec 21, 8:19 am
Fauci on omicron’s ‘unprecedented’ spread

Dr, Anthony Fauci on Tuesday called omiron’s spread “unprecedented.”

“It is really extremely unusual,” he told Good Morning America. “It’s a doubling time of two to three days, closer to two days. Which means that if you start off with a few percentage of the isolates being omicron, and you do the math and double that every couple of days, it’s not surprising that just a week or two ago we had only 8% to 10%, and now we have 73% of all the isolates are omicron. That’s truly unprecedented in the rapidity with which a virus spreads.”

Fauci predicted omicron’s peak will be soon.

“It’s going to be a matter of a couple of weeks that we then start to see just as dramatic a decline,” he said. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”

“When you have something that goes up this quickly, often you see it come right back down. Because what will happen is that either almost everyone is either going to get infected, particularly the unvaccinated, or be vaccinated,” he said. “And the vaccinated people will either be — particularly the boosted people, and it’s very important to underscore right now the importance of getting boosted — that those people will either be protected from infection, or if they do get infected, they’ll have a relatively mild course of infection.”

World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday recommended delaying or canceling holiday events, saying, “an event canceled is better than a life canceled.”

Fauci told GMA that family gatherings are safe if you know everyone is vaccinated.

“When you have a family setting, for example, parents, grandparents, children, who are vaccinated, you should have an enjoyable Christmas and holiday gathering, dinner, whatever in your own home,” Fauci said. “What you want to stay away from is indoor congregant sittings in which you do not know the vaccination status of the people around you. That would be quite risky.”

Dec 21, 3:05 am
Broadway’s ‘Harry Potter’ cancels Christmas week performances  

The Broadway shows “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and “Hadestown” canceled their Christmas week performances, citing rising breakthrough COVID-19 cases.

“We will enchant you another time and apologize for the inconvenience,” said a notice posted on the “Harry Potter” Twitter account late on Monday night.

The two shows added to a growing list of those cancelling performances amid the spread of the omicron variant. “Hamilton” and “Aladdin” both announced they’d stay dark until after Christmas.

Another Broadway musical, “Jagged Little Pill,” based on Alanis Morissette’s catalog, said on Monday it would close its doors for good.

The producers of “Pill” said in a Twitter post that the spread of the omicron variant “appears to be another substantial public health crisis.” Members of the production’s company tested positive for COVID-19, the post said.

Dec 20, 7:43 pm
Biden tests negative after close contact with positive staff member

President Joe Biden was exposed to a staff member who recently tested positive for COVID-19, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement Monday evening.

Biden was near the staff member for about 30 minutes on Air Force One on Friday, during a trip to Philadelphia from South Carolina, according to Psaki.

The staff member, who is fully vaccinated and boosted, tested negative Friday morning, but tested positive Monday, according to the White House.

The president received an antigen test Sunday and a PCR test Monday, and both came back negative, Psaki said in a statement. He will receive another test Wednesday, she said.

“As CDC guidance does not require fully vaccinated people to quarantine after an exposure, the president will continue with his daily schedule,” Psaki said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky

Dec 20, 6:51 pm
U.S. records what’s believed to be 1st known omicron related death

Health officials in Texas announced Monday that it recorded the first death related to the omicron COVID-19 variant.

This is believed to be the first known recorded omicron death in the U.S.

Harris County Health officials would only say the victim was “a man in his 50s,” who was unvaccinated and had underlying health conditions..

Public health officials do not think omicron is more virulent than previous variants, but they do say in general vaccination and a booster shot when eligible appears to lower your risk for severe illness.

Dec 20, 6:39 pm
More military teams to be deployed to hospitals

The military announced it is sending two teams to hospitals in Wisconsin and Indiana to assist with rising COVID-19 cases.

The 20-person teams include nurses, respiratory therapists, and medical doctors from the U.S. Navy.

They will be assisting Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis starting on Christmas Day and Bellin Hospital in Green Bay, Wisconsin starting on New Year’s Eve, according to a U.S. Army North spokesperson.

Ten other military teams have been deployed to hospitals in five other states.

-ABC News’ Matt Seyler

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Derek Chauvin wants to go to federal prison, even though it means he’ll do more time

Derek Chauvin wants to go to federal prison, even though it means he’ll do more time
Derek Chauvin wants to go to federal prison, even though it means he’ll do more time
David Joles/Star Tribune via Getty Images

(MINNEAPOLIS) — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty to killing George Floyd in 2020 — when he dug his knee into the back of the Black man’s neck even though he was aware Floyd had lost consciousness and pulse. But in exchange for his plea, Chauvin, 45, made one request: that he be allowed to do his time in federal prison, even if it means he will serve a longer sentence.

Under the agreement Chauvin signed in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Wednesday, he must serve a minimum of 20 years in prison, and a maximum of 25.

While he was sentenced by Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill to serve 22-and-a-half years in state prison, Chauvin could have been paroled in less than 15 years, assuming he accumulated all good-time credit, according to the federal agreement.

“The Floyd family understands Derek Chauvin may serve more time in federal prison than he would in state prison because federal guidelines indicate a greater percentage of a sentence is required to be served than at the state level. It is important to the family that he serves as much of his sentence as possible,” the Floyd family’s attorneys, Ben Crump, Antonio Romanucci and Jeff Storms, said in a statement to ABC News.

Chauvin — who a jury convicted in state court of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter — is to be sentenced in the federal case at a later date.

During his state sentencing hearing in June, Chauvin seemed to allude to his decision to plead guilty in the federal case. Turning to members of the Floyd family seated in the courtroom, he said, “There’s going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest and I hope some things will give you some peace of mind.”

Difference between federal and state prison

When asked if there is a big difference between federal and state prisons, experts agreed that federal prisons are better.

“The general reason is federal prison just tends to be safer and nicer than state prison and local jails,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told ABC News. “There are many reasons for that. They’re just managed better by the Bureau of Prisons, where state and local jails just are not.”

Rahmani, president and co-founder of Los Angeles-based West Coast Trial Lawyers, added, “There is overcrowding issues in state prisons and local jails that you just don’t have in federal prison.”

The annual cost of housing an inmate in a Minnesota state prison is about the same as the federal government spends on its prisoners.

According to a 2015 study by the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit research and policy organization, the average annual cost of housing an inmate in Minnesota state prison is roughly $41,000.

The federal Bueau of Prisons estimated that the annual cost of housing an inmate in a federal facility in 2020 was a little over $39,000.

Upon receiving his state sentence, Chauvin was immediately placed in the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Oak Park Heights, a maximum-security prison. A spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Corrections confirmed to ABC News that Chauvin is being held in the administrative segregation wing of the prison, isolated in a cell 23 hours a day.

Inmates housed in administrative segregation are usually there for disciplinary reasons or “when continued presence in general population could pose a particular safety concern,” according to the state corrections’ website.

Safety appears to be Chauvin’s top concern

Rahmani, who was not involved in the Chauvin case, said one likely reason why the former veteran police officer would prefer to serve his sentence in federal prison is for his own safety.

“He’s been a police officer for quite some time and he’s arrested a lot of folks and probably put them in Minnesota state prison,” Rahmani said of Chauvin, who was a member of the Minneapolis Police Department for 19 years. “It’s much less likely that he’s going to run into people that he’s had interactions with federal prison. So, it’s going to be a lot safer for him.”

Justin Paperny is a former stockbroker who served time in federal prison for securities fraud and founded the consulting company White Collar Advice, which counsels white-collar criminals on what to expect in prison.

Paperney told ABC News that while Chauvin will be allowed to make a recommendation on which federal prison he would like to go to, the ultimate decision will be up to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

“There has been criticism that asking for a certain federal prison was a privilege,” said Paperney, who counseled several parents facing federal prison sentences after being convicted in the “Varsity Blues” college-entrance cheating scandal. “In reality, every federal defendant, whether you’re rich or poor, should ask the judge for a recommendation for a prison. It doesn’t mean you’re going to get it.”

‘He’d be wise to lay low’

Paperney and Rahmani said the federal Bureau of Prisons can send Chauvin to any of its 122 federal prisons throughout the United States that house more than 151,000 inmates.

“In federal prison, Chauvin will still likely be isolated,” Rahmani said. “Isolated would probably be the safest for him, or could be housed with folks who are white-collar criminals assignments, who are no risk to violence towards him. Anytime you have a police officer in prison that’s going to be a very risky situation for that individual. They’ve got to basically put him somewhere safe.”

Paperney said anyone headed to federal prison should conduct their own research on what to expect from the various facilities and the different levels of security.

Such prison research was explored in a recent episode of the hit HBO drama series “Succession.” The character Tom Wambsgans, son-in-law to ruthless media tycoon Logan Roy, gets hold of a binder of prison data to thumb through in anticipation of being sent to a federal pen as a sacrificial lamb in an FBI probe of the family business.

While it’s not a binder, per se, Paperney said he actually wrote the book “Lessons From Prison,” which includes strategies and case studies on how people can prepare themselves for life behind bars, learn to make amends and make their prison experience productive.

“Generally speaking, the federal government is going to have a lot more resources than a lot of states who are cash strapped and broke,” Paperney said. “Given the length of his [Chauvin’s] sentence, and no possibility of release any time soon, it makes more sense to be in a federal prison with more security and better access to resources and programming, everything from better food to better housing, to better bunks.”

Paperney said that if he had to chance to consult Chauvin, he’d give him the advice he gives most of his clients.

“Any new prisoner must recognize they’re moving into an environment where people have lived for weeks, months, years. It is a microcosm of society,” Paperney said. “So, he’d be wise to lay low, to listen, to watch, to not assert his authority, not try to impress or influence or offer unsolicited advice. He needs to stay quiet and adjust because the eyes will be on him.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Here are the chances according to NOAA

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Here are the chances according to NOAA
Dreaming of a white Christmas? Here are the chances according to NOAA
dszc/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Ahead of Christmas, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released an interactive map that shows the average percent chance of seeing snow in towns across the country.

NOAA defines the meaning of a “white Christmas” if there is at least 1 inch of snow on the ground by 7 a.m. Christmas morning.

According to data collected by the NOAA over the course of 30 years, most large U.S. cities, from Boston to Chicago to Seattle, don’t typically have much of a chance of seeing a white Christmas on average.

Minneapolis-Saint Paul is the only large metropolitan area that has a likely chance this year, at 74%.

In the Northeast, Washington, D.C., normally has a 5% chance and New York City typically has a 13% chance of seeing a white Christmas on average.

Those out West have a bit more luck.

Aspen, Colorado, has almost a 100% chance of seeing a white Christmas and Breckenridge, Colorado, is not far behind with a 98% chance on average.

With the mild start to the winter season this year, the national snowfall average is behind across most of the U.S.

As of now, not much snow is expected east of the Rockies, where it is forecast to get warmer for most heading towards Christmas this year.

New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Detroit and Denver are not expected to see a white Christmas this year.

However, most of the Rocky Mountains and all of the West Coast at higher elevations will see snow on the ground.

Similarly, in the Northeast, snow will be on the ground at higher elevations, especially from upstate New York to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

The forecast this year calls for a white Christmas in most of North Dakota, the northern half of Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and most northern parts of Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Waukesha Christmas parade attack suspect appears in court for prior case

Waukesha Christmas parade attack suspect appears in court for prior case
Waukesha Christmas parade attack suspect appears in court for prior case
iStock/nirat

(NEW YORK) — A Milwaukee County judge on Monday ordered Darrell Brooks Jr., the man charged in the Waukesha, Wisconsin, Christmas parade attack that left six people dead, to make an in-person appearance in February 2022 for an unrelated case.

Brooks, 39, is accused of trying to run over the mother of his child in Milwaukee on Nov. 2. He was on a $1,000 bail for this case when he allegedly drove his SUV into a Christmas parade in Waukesha on Nov. 21.

He is currently being held in Waukesha County Jail and has been charged with six counts of intentional homicide in the crash that injured more than 60 people.

Over a Zoom status hearing, Judge Michelle Havas also increased his bail to $200,000 to secure his next court appearance for this case. Brooks had to dial into the hearing since the jail didn’t have Zoom capabilities.

Matthew Torbenson, who appeared on behalf of the state, asked for an increase in cash bail to $200,000 for this case due to the “extraordinary” and “very serious nature” of alleged bail violations by Brooks.

On Nov. 11, Brooks was issued a no-contact order with the witnesses in the case who goes by the initial EAP and DW. Torbenson, in the Zoom hearing, announced that while in custody, Brooks had made 49 calls to the victim, out of which 25 made it through.

The defense, consisting of Attorneys Robert Hampton and William Rakestraw, argued against an increase in the bail because their client was already facing a $5 million bail charge in the Waukesha case, which would secure his appearance in court. The judge quashed this argument, saying that she has a “huge reason” to think Brooks won’t show up in court if his release is secured in another county such as Waukesha. She gave the hypothetical examples of someone stepping up to be his benefactor and paying off his $5 million bail as a possibility leading to such an outcome.

Toward the end of the hearing, Havas told Brooks that the no-contact order with the victim in the earlier case is still in place and that she would see him in court on Feb. 2, 2022, for his next appearance.

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Benefit raises over $20,000 for Wisconsin teenager injured in Christmas parade

Benefit raises over ,000 for Wisconsin teenager injured in Christmas parade
Benefit raises over ,000 for Wisconsin teenager injured in Christmas parade
iStock/Motortion

(NEW YORK) — A local benefit on Sunday raised around $24,000 to support Erick Tiegs, a survivor of the Christmas parade attack on Nov. 21 in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Tiegs, 16, was playing trombone in his high school’s marching band when a man plowed his SUV through the parade, killing at least six people. Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, was charged with six counts of intentional homicide in the crash that also injured more than 60 people.

According to Donald Tiegs, Erick’s father, the teenager survived several serious injuries, including a spinal fracture, multiple broken ribs and a fractured skull and femur.

The Muskellunge Club of Wisconsin, a fishing club that Tiegs’ father was a part of, hosted the benefit on Sunday in his support.

John Donald, the director of sponsorship and donation for the club, told ABC News that he co-organized the benefit with four colleagues and his wife, Holly Donald, as “an opportunity for us to give back to an awesome family that went through a very difficult time.”

Erick Tiegs, who attended Sunday’s benefit, told reporters that he’s healing and getting better every day.

“It’s fun seeing all these people,” he said. “And it’s cool to see that everyone here supports, and wants to support me.”

Around 175 businesses pooled in items valued at more than $30,000, which were auctioned off at a fundraiser on Dec. 19 held in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Others are still sending over cash checks to John Donald and his team in the form of donations, 100% of which will be sent to the Tiegs. John Donald said he expects the check to reach the family by the end of the week.

Local community members gathered to make bids on auction items, including guided tours in West Virginia and package trips to Canada, WISN reported.

While funds from the event are still coming in, Holly Donald told ABC News that the auction has raised around $24,000 in a check payable to the Tiegs.

“I don’t think any one of us could imagine being in their shoes,” John Donald told ABC News. “But I can tell you with the community that we have — and especially our tight-knit fishing community — if it were to happen to me, I guarantee they’d all step up and help me.”

 

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