News – Page 1761 – 105.7 WDNY

Philadelphia reaches a ‘devastating’ 300 homicides for the year

July 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(PHILADELPHIA) — Philadelphia, which is battling an epidemic of gun violence, has reached 300 homicides for the year, police said.

The 300th victim was an 18-year-old man shot multiple times Monday night, according to ABC Philadelphia station WPVI. Three weapons were used and at least 54 pieces of ballistics were recovered at the scene, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Frank Vanore told reporters.

Also among this year’s victims are a 16-year-old boy who was fatally shot three times in the face and a 17-year-old boy gunned down near his high school in the middle of the afternoon.

“Every act of gun violence is an unspeakable tragedy. The fact that our city has lost 300 souls to date this year is devastating,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney told reporters Tuesday. “The surging gun violence that we’ve seen in our city and cities across the country pains us all.”

At this time last year, the city had 304 homicide victims, police said. Last year Philadelphia reached a record high, ending the year with 562 homicides.

To the mayor, easy access to guns is the biggest issue.

“In Pennsylvania — unlike New Jersey or New York or California — it’s very, very easy to obtain a firearm. You and I could drive up to Bucks County [in Pennsylvania] this weekend and probably buy a bag of guns and sell them out of the trunk of my car,” Kenney told a reporter. “And that’s the major problem.”

The mayor stressed, “We implore everyone from elected officials to community members to work together to find solutions to solve this deeply complex issue.”

“To address the availability and ease of access to firearms, we’ll always be fighting an uphill battle. The police department is investigating these crimes and they continue to take a record number of illegal firearms off our streets, but they need the public’s help to solve these crimes,” he said.

With so many young people falling victim to gun violence or committing violence, Erica Atwood, senior director of the city’s Office of Policy and Strategic Initiatives for Criminal Justice and Public Safety, highlighted programs available for high-risk youths.

“These programs are centered in communities that are more vulnerable to gun violence, and are free and open to youth and young adults,” she said at the press briefing Tuesday. “Additionally, there are a number of community organizations that we have funded through our community expansion grants that serve young people in vulnerable communities.”

The city also aims to keep children safe through a curfew that’s in effect this summer for kids 17 and younger, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Curfew centers are now available, Atwood said. If “parents are working two and three jobs and don’t have the ability to have child care,” she said, the curfew center “provides an opportunity for us as a community to know where our kids are, and really kind of rebuild that connective tissue in neighborhoods to take care of one another.”

Shark sightings shut down swimming at New York City beaches

July 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Two shark sightings off Rockaway Beach have closed the entire stretch of some of New York City’s most famous beaches for swimming on Tuesday, according to the city’s parks department.

Rockaway Beach in Queens was closed to swimmers after sharks were spotted off both Beach 102nd Street and Beach 67th Street on Tuesday.

The NYC Parks Department said the beaches are closed to swimmers until it becomes safe to allow people back in the water.

NYPD Aviation is patrolling the area for sharks, according to the NYC Parks Department.

No attacks had been reported in the area as of Tuesday afternoon.

The Rockaway Beach closings come after a string of shark attacks off Long Island over the past few weeks.

From June 30 to July 13, five individuals suffered non-life-threatening injuries from shark attacks near Long Island beaches.

In response, Gov. Kathy Hochul directed state agencies to enhance shark monitoring at Long Island beaches on Monday.

Hochul directed state agencies to implement heightened patrols and surveillance of shark activity, including the use of drone and helicopter monitoring.

She added a direction to the agencies to expand public outreach efforts on shark safety resources and education in order to increase safety among beachgoers.

“As New Yorkers and visitors alike head to our beautiful Long Island beaches to enjoy the summer, our top priority is their safety,” Hochul said in Monday’s statement. “We are taking action to expand patrols for sharks and protect beachgoers from potentially dangerous situations. I encourage all New Yorkers to listen to local authorities and take precautions to help ensure safe and responsible beach trips this summer.”

The governor’s direction is set to increase drone resources for Long Island’s state beaches, and to increase the number of lifeguards on duty by 25%, according to her office.

As New Yorkers reach the halfway point of their summer season, shark sightings in the area seem to be growing.

There was only one report of a shark bite last summer — a lifeguard bitten in July — but there were 20 confirmed shark sightings off Long Island in 2021, a record for the area, according to Long Island officials.

That number was three times as many sightings as recorded in 2020, according to New York ABC station WABC.

Dad with rare cancer fights to get lifesaving treatment

July 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A New York man is determined not to give up when it comes to fighting the rare disease he’s been living with the last two years.

Anthony Di Laura first noticed something was unusual back in the summer of 2020.

“I was having stomach pain. I thought it was a stomachache. And I realized my belly button was protruding a little bit. No other symptoms,” Di Laura told “Good Morning America.” “It came, it went away after a week. But when it came back, my wife said, ‘Let’s go to the doctor. Let’s go to the gastroenterologist.'”

After visiting a gastroenterologist, Di Laura was referred to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where he received a diagnosis in August 2020 of pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), a rare disease where mucus-secreting tumors grow in the abdominal area, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders.

Since his diagnosis, Di Laura and his family have been on a roller coaster of highs and lows.

The 35-year-old and his wife Jackie Cucullo welcomed their first child, a son named JP, on New Year’s Day in 2021 and daughter Lila Rae just last month — two big life events for the couple, who call their children “miracle babies.”

“We tried for two years to get pregnant. And miraculously I did out of nowhere, right before starting in vitro,” Cucullo told “GMA.” “While Anthony was undergoing chemotherapy, I became pregnant again right before his health declined. And that is extremely rare in itself while someone is undergoing chemotherapy. So we feel blessed for our two children for sure.”

Di Laura had to endure chemotherapy for seven months and elected to undergo cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC — a major surgery with a type of heated chemotherapy — also nicknamed the “mother of all surgeries” or MOAS, three times with different doctors and medical teams, all in an effort to get better.

“It is the most miserable feeling in the world that nobody should ever go through,” Di Laura said of his day-to-day life. “Every day is a battle. Every day is a challenge.”

The chemo and surgeries didn’t yield the results Di Laura was hoping for and doctors began telling him that he was inoperable.

“This gets me every time. I hate talking about it. My last hospital stay … the shift doctor who was in charge came into our room and said, ‘What is your plan?’ I looked at him, I said, ‘What’s my plan? I want to get better.’ He goes, ‘Nobody will operate on you in this hospital … Your best bet is to go on hospice and live a comfortable life until the end.’ That’s what he said,” Di Laura recalled.

Throughout the journey, Di Laura, Cucullo and their family refused to give up hope. In March, the couple received promising news from someone through their PMP Pals support group.

“One of the women heard about another young man whose story was so ironically similar to Anthony’s,” Cucullo said. “They’re even close in age as well. [The woman] immediately called us and she said, ‘I dropped to my knees when I heard his story.'”

According to that support group contact, the other man was “the first person in this country to have a multi-visceral organ transplant” at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, with Dr. Anil Vaidya.

“[Vaidya] is from the U.K. [and] came here to essentially help people like my husband and various other people for other organ transplants,” Cucullo said. “On March 3, I made my first phone call to [the Cleveland Clinic] and that was when the process started for Anthony to be listed as an organ transplant recipient.”

Di Laura and Cucullo have since met the man, Andy Voge, and sought out his doctor, [Vaidya]. After multiple denials and appeals to their insurance company, Di Laura was finally approved to get on the transplant list last week, the first step to getting a modified multi-visceral transplant.

Di Laura’s insurance company, Empire BlueCross BlueShield, confirmed the company had overturned the previous denials for Di Laura to receive treatment at the Cleveland Clinic.

“Together with Mr. Di Laura’s medical team, our clinical team made the decision to cover Mr. Di Laura’s procedure with the surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic,” the company said in a statement to “GMA.” “The transplant surgeon provided additional information to demonstrate this procedure has shown early promise in case reports from the U.K. and could be the only option left that may improve health outcomes for Mr. Di Laura. We will continue to support him and his family as we move forward.”

Cucullo told “GMA” that, as of Monday, her husband had been officially added to the organ transplant list.

“The surgery needs to happen and the entire team [at the Cleveland Clinic] is very confident in Anthony’s success […],” Cucullo said. “Anthony and Andy alike can spread the word and they can be the torch holders to say, ‘This is a new way. We can beat this disease.’ As tough of a surgery it might be and a long recovery, this gives hope to thousands of people.”

No matter what happens, Di Laura said he hopes to impart one message to his children, above all others.

“Always fight. Always keep hope and never give up because somebody says it’s impossible,” he said.

“I’ve never taken no for an answer and I’m not going to start now when it’s going to save my life to live with my family,” he added. “So I want my kids to know that never give up in the face of anything because somebody says no. There will always be a way around it. There are always new ideas or always new inventions. There always will be an answer. You just can’t give up and that goes for everything in life.”

Gas prices dip below $4.50 for 1st time since May

July 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Gas prices dip below .50 for 1st time since May

(NEW YORK) — The national average price for a gallon of gas fell below $4.50 on Tuesday for the first time since the middle of May, according to AAA data. The price crossed the milestone amid a sustained fall in gas prices over the past month, owing in part to a decline in global demand.

The national average price for a gallon of gas, which stands at $4.49, has fallen more than 10% since it reached a peak of $5.01 last month, according to data AAA provided to ABC News.

In California, the state with the highest average price, a gallon of gas costs $5.87, though that price has fallen more than 8% over the past month. In South Carolina, the state with the lowest average gas price, a gallon costs $3.99, AAA data showed.

Sky-high prices in the summer stemmed from a travel boom that brought more people to the pump, experts told ABC News in late May.

That spike in demand coincided with a shortage of crude oil supply amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which prompted a widespread industry exit from Russia that pushed millions of barrels of oil off the market, the experts said.

In March, the U.S. and its allies announced the collective release of 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves over the following months, which sought to alleviate some of the supply shortage and blunt price increases.

The fall in gas prices marks good news for federal policymakers, who have sought to dial back prices while averting a recession.

But the milestone for falling gas prices follows an overall spike in the price of goods last month. The consumer price index, or CPI, stood at 9.1% in June, a significant increase from 8.6% in May, according to a release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics last Wednesday. That is the largest 12-month increase since December 1981.

“Tackling inflation is my top priority,” President Joe Biden said last Wednesday after the data was released. “We need to make more progress, more quickly, in getting price increases under control.”

In-clinic ‘surgical’ abortion procedures: What are they, who needs them?

July 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — When Kate Coleman found out she was pregnant, she was overjoyed, she said. She and her husband shared the happy news with family and friends.

But three months later — a heartbreaking ultrasound. The fetus had a fatal brain malformation called anencephaly, a condition where parts of the brain and skull are missing. Coleman’s doctors told her she had a choice: continue with the pregnancy, or seek an in-clinic abortion.

“There are other people in the world [who] would choose to carry to term. For me, it was not the right choice,” Coleman said. “To know that either I was going to miscarry at some point [or] I was going to give birth to a baby that would immediately die — I couldn’t make that choice.”

Coleman had an in-clinic abortion procedure in January 2021 in her home state of Massachusetts. In the U.S., roughly half of abortions are in-clinic procedures, often referred to as surgical abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The other half are medication abortions, done with what is known as the abortion pill.

Today, in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, at least 12 states have banned nearly all abortion services, with more states likely to follow. In the fallout, the Biden administration and abortion advocates alike have rushed to shore up protections for abortion pills, which are legally and practically easier to protect than in-clinic abortions.

The Justice Department, for example, suggested it could take action against states that ban medication abortion because the pills are FDA approved for everyone in the U.S., no matter state of residence.

Meantime, abortion advocates are expanding underground networks to quietly ship the pills to places where abortion is now illegal.

But some doctors and advocates worry that shifting the focus to abortion pills leaves behind people who need or want an in-clinic abortion. For some pregnant people, in-clinic abortions are medically necessary because of an underlying medical condition, or if the pregnancy is more advanced. But for others, it’s simply a more appealing option because it’s nearly 100% effective and can be completed in 10-15 minutes by a trained medical provider.

There are two types of in-clinic abortion options, but both use suction to remove the contents of the uterus. The first and most common is called vacuum aspiration, typically offered up to 13 weeks of pregnancy. If a pregnancy is further along, doctors may opt for a procedure called dilation and evacuation, which uses suction and medical tools to empty the uterus.

Medication abortions, or abortion pills, are typically two medications taken at home that initiate a miscarriage. The process can take two to three days to complete, and most people experience cramping and bleeding heavier than a normal period.

“Medication abortions are FDA approved up until 10 weeks – that’s 70 days,” said Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News’ chief medical correspondent and board-certified OG/GYN. “There are pros and cons to this approach when compared to a surgical abortion. It depends on the situation that the woman is in, both socially, logistically, work-wise, family-wise.”

Some women may also have underlying medication conditions, including clotting and bleeding disorders, that would make a medication abortion risky.

Others simply “want something that’s definitive and over with — so they have a sense of closure,” said Dr. Elizabeth Langen, associate clinical professor of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Michigan. “The bleeding tends to be a lot less. It’s a little bit more controlled. And for some people, that’s a better either emotional or medical option.”

Coleman says she feels “lucky” that despite the heartbreak of her first pregnancy, she had access to a medical team that helped guide her through the process.

“Everybody was really kind,” she said. She underwent general anesthesia and said she woke up with what felt like “bad period cramps” before taking some Tylenol and going home. Patients who receive abortion procedures earlier in pregnancy typically receive local anesthesia and additional medication to help ease pain and anxiety, Langen said.

Langen who specializes in high-risk pregnancies, says it’s important to have access to both types of abortion — surgical and medication induced — to keep patients safe. While medication abortion is very safe if taken correctly and early on during pregnancy, she said she worries about women who might be too fearful to visit a doctor if something goes wrong.

“Taking away the option and the safety of in-person procedures is unfair and unjust — and potentially unsafe,” Langen said.

House passes bill codifying same-sex marriage right, with some Republicans joining Democrats

July 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill to codify the right to same-sex and interracial marriage in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade — with one justice writing that the right to same-sex marriage should also be reversed.

The final vote was 267-157, with 47 Republicans joining every Democrat in the majority.

Notable among those conservatives was Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming — in a break from her past stance on the issue, which publicly put her at odds with her parents and sister, who is gay. In 2021, Cheney reversed her opinion and said, “I was wrong.” (By contrast, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, of California, voted no on the legislation Tuesday.)

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., kicked off debate on the bill — The Respect For Marriage Act — which would prevent state discrimination related to marriage based on “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.” It would also repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

The legislation, Nadler said, “would reaffirm that marriage equality is and must remain the law of the land.”

“Congress should provide additional reassurance that marriage equality is a matter of settled law. All married people building their lives together must know that the government must respect and recognize their marriage for all-time,” Nadler continued.

Concern among some lawmakers and advocates about the legal fate of same-sex marriage mounted after Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurrence in the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, which reversed Roe last month. In his separate opinion from the majority, Thomas wrote that the court should next revisit its opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, from 2015, which guaranteed nationwide same-sex marriage.

While the court’s majority took pains to note its decision to overturn Roe should not be seen as an indication of future rulings, Thomas’ separate opinion caused alarm among same-sex marriage supporters.

House Democrats have set votes on multiple bills to codify rights that were not spelled out in the Constitution but which were granted — at least for a period of time, in Roe’s case — by Supreme Court rulings.

“The Supreme Court’s extremist and precedent-ignoring decision in Dobbs v. Jackson has shown us why it is critical to ensure that federal law protects those whose constitutional rights might be threatened by Republican-controlled state legislatures,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in a statement on Monday.

Following Nadler’s introduction of the marriage bill Tuesday, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called the proposal an attempt to “intimidate” the Supreme Court and said the threat to same-sex marriage was a “manufactured crisis” — accusing Democrats of using the the legislation as a political tool.

“Democrats can’t run on their disastrous record, they can’t run on any accomplishments less than four months before an election,” Jordan said.

Both he and Texas Republican Rep. Mike Johnson said there was no need for the bill.

Nadler pushed back on the notion that Obergefell was solidified and that the bill was unnecessary. “If that decision is not overturned, this bill is unnecessary but harmless. If that decision is overturned, this bill is crucial — and we don’t know what this court is going to do,” he said.

House Republican Minority Whip Steve Scalise said at a press conference Tuesday morning that Republicans would be free to make their own decision on the bill — reflecting, in part, how the politics around the issue have shifted for the GOP in the seven years since Obergefell. Polling shows Americans have become increasingly supportive of same-sex marriage.

“Every member obviously is going to have to make their own vote on that,” Scalise said.

In a show of Republican backing for the bill, New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis indicated her support shortly before debate began.

“Today, I will vote to codify same-sex marriage to ensure our fellow Americans continue to have the right to equal marriage and benefits under federal law,” Malliotakis said in a statement after expressing regret for a previous vote against the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York when she served in the state Assembly.

After being passed by the House, the bill moves to a split Senate where Republican support is possible, too, if fragmented. It’s unclear if and when the upper chamber will take it up, given other business and a looming recess.

“I’ve made clear my support for gay marriage years ago. I will look at what the House is doing and see what that might mean here on the Senate side,” Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said Tuesday morning. She also listed the Supreme Court’s pro-abortion access rulings and its ruling guaranteeing contraception for married couples as rights she would like to see codified. (Democratic leaders in the House said this week they will also vote on a bill codifying contraception access.)

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., criticized Democrats’ framing of the same-sex marriage proposal but stopped short of saying how he would vote on it.

“It’s obviously settled law right now. This is a pure messaging bill by a party that has failed on substantive issues — be it inflation, crime or the [southern] border and now are looking for cultural issues in order to somehow do better in November,” he said.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said the marriage bill would likely draw a “mixed bag” of Republican votes.

The proposal was introduced Monday by a bipartisan group including Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

ABC News’ Gabe Ferris and Trish Turner contributed to this report.

Army likely won’t meet recruiting goals this year

July 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Army’s recruiting challenges this year continue as senior U.S. Army officials acknowledged to Congress on Tuesday that the total size of the active-duty arm of the branch will be 10,000 soldiers fewer than had been anticipated.

Army officials blame a tight labor market where private companies are incentivizing pay and the decreasing number of young people who can meet their tough eligibility standards.

The total size of the Army, or the “end strength,” as it is known, is met by keeping soldiers through retention or by bringing in new soldiers through recruiting. This year’s retention rates for the fiscal year 2022, ending in September, are higher than had been planned, but the same cannot be said for Army recruiting.

“The Army active-duty enlisted recruiting goal for the FY22 is 60,000 based on the 476,000 end-strength goal announced in March. As of mid-July, the Army has recruited nearly 30,000 enlisted Soldiers, 50% of our mission,” Lt. Col. Randee Farrell, the spokeswoman for Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, said in a statement to ABC News.

Back in March, already facing recruiting challenges, the Army had reduced its annual recruiting target by 15,000 recruits.

On Tuesday during a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing, Gen. Joseph Martin, the Army’s vice chief of staff, acknowledged that the Army’s recruiting challenges will mean it will fall about 10,000 soldiers short of meeting its projected end-strength goal.

“We believe that will land at 466,400 for this year for an end strength if we make our recruiting objectives,” Martin said. “If we’re over or under that will impact next year’s and strength, as well. We’re taking that all into account.”

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., cited new Army information provided to another House committee that the Army would have an even more “dramatic” drop in the fiscal year 2023.

“You’re now shifting from an end strength of 473 [thousand] to somewhere between 445,000 and 452,000, so a reduction of between 21,000 and 28,000,” Speier said. “That’s alarming.”

Martin confirmed Speier’s numbers and said he was planning for it to be higher, though it would all depend on recruiting.

“I’d like to say that it’s 445 to 452 [thousand] but we’re going to mission ourselves for 455 if we can achieve it,” Martin said. “The question is, it’s whether or not we can achieve it.”

The big drop in recruiting is blamed on the tight post-COVID labor market and rising incentives from private companies to hire employees. The shrinking number of young Americans eligible to meet their recruiting standards has also shrunk from 29% to 23%.

“Right now what we’re experiencing and the why of what we think’s going on right now is we’ve got unprecedented challenges with both a post-COVID-19 environment and labor market, but also competition with private companies that have changed their incentives over time,” Martin said.

“You’ve seen that with the various incentives that companies have provided, and then what we call a decrease as a result of that, a decreasing propensity and requisite qualifications to serve,” he added.

What impact the Army’s end-strength drop will have on readiness remains to be seen.

Other military branches are also facing recruiting challenges.

“The Department is in fierce competition for skilled, relevant and innovative talent. The labor market, exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic and the military-civilian divide, creates a challenging recruiting environment,” Gilbert Cisneros, under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness of the United States, told senators during an Armed Services subcommittee hearing in April

Ocasio-Cortez, other House Democrats arrested in Supreme Court abortion rights protest

July 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Several House Democrats were arrested on Tuesday while protesting outside the Supreme Court over its decision to overturn constitutional protections for abortion access.

The group of Democratic lawmakers and others marched over to the high court from the Capitol while chanting “we won’t go back” and “our body our choice” — the latest demonstration after five conservative justices ruled last month to reverse the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that first legalized abortions nationwide.

Seventeen lawmakers in total were arrested, according to Capitol Police, including Reps. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Illinois’ Jan Schakowsky.

Police at the Supreme Court told the protesters that they were participating in “illegal demonstration activity” before advising anyone who didn’t want to get arrested to leave, which sparked singing and chanting from the group.

Officers then began arresting the demonstrators, though no handcuffs were seen. Police also collected IDs and took pictures of those arrested — including of some of the lawmakers — and brought water to the staging area for protesters to drink.

Tuesday’s event was part of Democrats’ efforts to continue highlighting the Supreme Court’s blockbuster decision, which allowed the implementation of stringent abortion restrictions or outright bans in at least a dozen states across the country.

In statements, the lawmakers vowed they would keep fighting to protect abortion access.

“The extremist Republican Party is determined to take us back in time and take away our rights. I refuse to stand on the sidelines as their rampage continues,” Clark said in a statement. “I am furious and heartbroken, and I will proudly fight for our right to abortion and all of our Constitutional rights. They can arrest me, but we won’t allow them to arrest freedom.”

The court’s ruling, widely celebrated by conservatives, was met with widespread protests by abortion rights supporters.

Democrats in liberal states have pushed efforts to enshrine abortion protections into law. But at the federal level, lawmakers have struggled to pass similar legislation, given GOP opposition and reluctance to change Senate rules.

House Democrats this week passed two bills, one to codify Roe v. Wade and another to protect a person’s right to travel to other states for legal abortions. However, those measures are not expected to have sufficient support to pass the 50-50 Senate.

Judge finds sufficient evidence to continue Elijah McClain case

July 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(AURORA, Colo.) — A Colorado judge has found that evidence against the five former Aurora police officers and paramedics in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain is strong enough to pursue criminal cases.

Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist and skilled violist, died following an encounter with police in August 2019 while he was walking home from a convenience store.

A passerby had called 911 to report McClain as “sketchy,” as he was wearing a ski mask on a warm night. McClain’s lawyer later attributed this to the fact that McClain was anemic and often cold.

Aurora police officers responded to the scene, grabbing McClain and using a carotid control hold, which led to McClain saying, “I can’t breathe,” and struggling against the police, according to police body camera footage.

Paramedics arrived, giving McClain an “excessive” dose of ketamine, according to McCain’s lawyer, and McClain suffered from cardiac arrest shortly after in an ambulance. McClain was pronounced dead three days later.

The five defendants were indicted in McClain’s death in August 2021 on several charges, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Lawyers representing the three officers and two paramedics asked Adams County District Court Judge Priscilla Loew to review the cases, arguing that there was not enough evidence to support the charges against their clients.

Now, almost a year after the defendants were indicted by a grand jury on a combined 32 counts, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, Loew has decided to continue the case.

After reviewing thousands of pages of testimony and evidence, Loew said, the judge announced on Monday that the case would not be thrown out.

In her order, Loew wrote that based upon the grand jury materials, “there is sufficient evidence to establish probable cause for each of the counts listed in the grand jury indictment filed with the court on Sept. 1, 2022.”

All five defendants have been scheduled to appear in court for arraignment on Aug. 12.

The Aurora Police Department declined to comment on the decision. The city’s EMS department also declined to comment.

Following the 2021 indictment of the five defendants, the Aurora Police Association Board of Directors released a statement in defense of the officers.

“There is no evidence that APD officers caused his death. The hysterical overreaction to this case has severely damaged the police department,” the Aurora Police Association Board of Directors said in a statement.

The Aurora Police Association has not yet responded to ABC News’ request for comment.

Following the death of George Floyd in May 2020, calls for a further investigation of McClain’s death were reignited.

In June 2020, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the case and file charges if “the facts support prosecution.”

The next month, the Aurora City Council had ordered a private investigation of McClain’s death, which was released in February 2021.

It found that the original investigation by the Aurora Police Department’s major crimes unit was badly flawed and alleged the detectives “stretched the record to exonerate the officers rather than present a neutral version of the facts.”

“This case is a textbook example of law enforcement’s disparate and racist treatment of Black men,” McClain’s family and their lawyers said in a joint statement issued following the report’s release. “Aurora’s continued failure to acknowledge the wrongdoing of its employees only exacerbates the problem.”

In November 2021, the McClain family reached a $15 million settlement with the city of Aurora in the civil rights lawsuit filed over McClain’s violent arrest and subsequent death. It is the highest police settlement in the history of Colorado, according to police.

The case will continue following the defendants’ arraignment on August 12.

CDC ends COVID-19 program for cruise ships

July 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has axed a program that allowed the public to view COVID-19 levels on cruise ships that sail in U.S. waters.

The CDC announced Monday it would do away with the program, saying it “determined that the cruise industry has access to the necessary tools (e.g., cruise-specific recommendations and guidance, vaccinations, testing instruments, treatment modalities and non-pharmaceutical interventions) to prevent and mitigate COVID-19 on board.”

The move comes as the BA.5 omicron subvariant spreads across the United States. The variant is now estimated to make up more than 78% of new cases, according to the CDC.

The pandemic-era policy designated ships with a color-coding system based on testing and vaccination rates, allowing the public to monitor the spread of the virus on ships. The CDC said the system was removed because it “depended upon each cruise line having the same COVID-19 screening testing standards, which may now vary among cruise lines.”

The CDC said it will continue to publish guidance for cruise ships to mitigate and manage COVID-19 transmission. It also said each cruise will “determine their own specific COVID-19 related requirements for cruise travel, as well as safety measures and protocols for passengers traveling on board.”

“It’s still too early to tell exactly what it means for cruisers, as the cruise lines now need to figure out what their guidelines will be,” Chris Gray Faust, managing editor of the Cruise Critic, told ABC News. “The CDC’s previous order did cover a wide variety of requirements, including pre-cruise testing, vaccine requirements, masking guidelines and quarantine requirements. Now that this is all back at the cruise line level.”

Currently, coronavirus protocols vary among cruise lines and also depend on local mandates where ships sail.

Royal Caribbean requires all passengers 12 and older to present proof of full COVID-19 vaccination with the final dose administered at least 14 days before sailing.

Carnival Cruise Line offers vaccinated cruises, allowing guests who have received their final dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days prior to the sailing day (not counting embarkation day) and have proof of vaccination. Carnival does provide some exceptions for unvaccinated guests ages 5 and older, requiring those passengers to present a negative PCR COVID-19 test, taken within 72 and 24 hours prior to the sailing date at check-in.

Norwegian Cruise Line requires all guests age 12 and over to be fully vaccinated at least two weeks prior to departure in order to board.

If passengers want to find out about outbreaks on ships, the CDC advises they reach out to the cruise line directly.

“It’s really important to stay up to date on what your cruise line requires. Read those emails that the cruise lines send you because things could be changing. If you have a travel agent, check in with them,” Faust said.

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