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NYC police name suspect in Brooklyn subway shooting

April 13, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — New York City police are still hunting for a gunman who opened fire on a rush-hour subway train in Brooklyn, shooting 10 people.

The alleged shooter, identified by the New York City Police Department as 62-year-old Frank Robert James, was initially deemed a person of interest in the investigation before being named a suspect on Wednesday morning. There was a $50,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.

“At this time, based on the preliminary investigation, we believe he was alone,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview Wednesday on Good Morning America.

Law enforcement sources told ABC News that police now have probable cause to arrest James for the attempted murder of 10 people — a determination made overnight after more than 18 hours of investigation that included video, cellphone data and interviews with witnesses. The United States Marshals Service have joined the search for James — who is now considered a wanted fugitive — along with other federal and local agencies.

The shooting unfolded on a Manhattan-bound N subway car during the Tuesday morning commute, just before 8:30 a.m. ET, as the train approached the 36th Street subway station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, according to police.

A man, who was seen mumbling to himself on the train, donned a gas mask and detonated a smoke canister commonly bought online before pulling out a .38-caliber handgun and opening fire, a police official told ABC News. He fired a barrage of at least 33 bullets, striking 10 people, according to police. The gun jammed during the incident, which is believed to have saved lives, a law enforcement official told ABC News.

Smoke poured out of the subway car as the doors opened and screaming riders ran out onto the platform of the station. Bloodied people were seen lying on the floor of the train and the platform as others attempted to administer aid.

A total of 29 people were transported from the scene to local hospitals with various injuries. Five of the gunshot victims were critically injured and have since stabilized, a fire department official told ABC News. As of Wednesday morning, just four of the wounded remained hospitalized, according to the New York City mayor.

Police described the gunman as an “active shooter.”

“At this time, we still do not know the suspect’s motivation,” New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at a press conference Tuesday evening. “Clearly this individual boarded the train and was intent on violence.”

A senior federal law enforcement source told ABC News that authorities are concerned Tuesday’s shooting showed a level of planning and commitment to kill scores of commuters during rush hour. The New York City mayor said there’s currently no evidence to suggest the gunman had any accomplices.

Senior law enforcement officials told ABC News that they have uncovered a number of social media posts and videos tied to the suspect, James, and are studying them closely to see if they are relevant to the subway attack. In one video posted to YouTube just hours before Tuesday’s shooting, James appears to be driving a truck.

The New York City police commissioner said she increased security for the mayor after investigators found what she called “concerning posts,” but declined to call them “threats.”

“There are some postings possibly connected to our person of interest where he mentions homelessness, he mentions New York and he does mention Mayor Adams,” Sewell told reporters Tuesday evening. “And as a result of that, in an abundance of caution, we’re going to tighten the mayor’s security detail.”

Police said James had rented a U-Haul van possibly connected to the violence. The key to the van and a credit card, which law enforcement sources told ABC News was used to rent a U-Haul, were among the gunman’s possessions recovered from the scene of the shooting. James had rented the same van in Philadelphia, according to police.

Police said the U-Haul van was found on Tuesday afternoon, unoccupied and parked near a subway station on King’s Highway in Brooklyn’s Gravesend neighborhood, about 5 miles southeast of the 36th Street station. Nothing of investigative interest was discovered in the vehicle, apart from a pillow and other indications that James had been living inside, a law enforcement source told ABC News.

Other items discovered at the scene of the shooting include the Glock 9 mm semi-automatic handgun used in the attack, three extended magazines, a hatchet, gasoline, four smoke grenades and a bag of consumer-grade fireworks. The gun was not stolen, according to police. Investigators are sifting through evidence looking for any possible fingerprints on the gun and the other recovered items.

None of the surveillance cameras inside the 36th Street subway station were working at the time of Tuesday’s shooting, a police official told ABC News. The cameras, which are aimed at the turnstiles, didn’t transmit in real-time due to a glitch computer malfunction, a source said. The same glitch impacted cameras at the stops before and after 36th Street. Investigators said they are looking into how this malfunction happened.

However, the cameras at the Kings Highway subway station in Gravesend were transmitting live feeds in real-time. That’s where investigators believe James entered the subway on Tuesday morning, just blocks from where the U-Haul van was parked and eight subway stops away from 36th Street station.

Police were able to get an image of the suspect from a bystander’s cellphone video, a law enforcement official told ABC News. Investigators are looking through video from other witnesses and surrounding businesses, hunting for any clues.

Subway service resumed at the 36th Street station in Sunset Park on Wednesday morning, after police concluded their investigation there.

The bloodshed came amid a surge in crime within New York City’s transit system. The mayor said he has already doubled the number of police officers patrolling the city’s subway stations and is also considering installing special metal detectors in the wake of Tuesday’s shooting.

Anyone with information, videos or photos related to the shooting is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

NYC subway shooting witness wondered after escape: ‘Is the shooter still with us?’

April 13, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Kenneth Foote-Smith was on the subway when a gunman detonated a smoke canister, sending commuters into panic.

He saw women screaming and “banging on the door,” and a man trying to open the subway car door, “fighting for his life.”

“That’s when I knew something was very, very wrong and that’s before the gunshots even happened,” Foote-Smith told ABC News’ Good Morning America.

Ten people were shot by a gunman on a Manhattan-bound N subway car during the Tuesday morning commute as the train approached the 36th Street subway station in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, according to the New York City Police Department.

The gunman — who remains at large — donned a gas mask and detonated a smoke canister before pulling out a .38-caliber handgun and opening fire, a police official told ABC News.

Twenty-nine people suffered injuries overall.

Foote-Smith said the first interruption to his commute was “a loud bang, sounded almost like glass breaking.”

“Everyone on my train got up and hurriedly moved toward the conductor’s door, and before I could turn to see what they were fleeing from, there were three loud bangs — and it was much closer and much different noise than that first bang,” he said.

Foote-Smith said he looked at the next subway car and saw a man “banging on our door, trying to open it up with all the ounce of power he can — and the door is not moving.”

That’s when smoke started filling up that neighboring car.

“Once my eyes adjusted to this really thick, white smoke filling up the car, I saw faces pressed against the glass of their subway connector door. And it was women’s faces and they were screaming, they were banging on the door,” he said. “And once we saw that gentleman banging on the door for — fighting for his life, that’s when we noticed — that’s when I knew something was very, very wrong and that’s before the gunshots even happened.”

The gunshots rang out as the train approached the 36th Street station, Foote-Smith said.

“It was three or four quick ‘pop, pop, pops,'” he said, “and everyone on my train immediately knew what it was.”

“No one screamed or said anything, we were just pleading with the conductor to please move this train,” he said. “He does eventually come out and sees the smoke — and the smoke at this point has now completely filled the car. I can’t see into the [neighboring] railway car anymore and people spilled out onto that small platform between the trains and the screams have now increased. “

“This is the moment when the gentleman in our train decides to try and open the subway connector door from our side — after we were frozen in fear for maybe the longest 30 seconds of our life –.and the door still jammed,” he said. “Now have to watch as people scream and struggle and try and fight for their lives for something we don’t know.”

There were more gunshots as the train pulled up to the station, he said.

“As soon as the subway doors opened, it’s a sea of people coming out of the subway,” he said. “I saw people with gunshot wounds and stumbling and pushing people over, coughing and choking on smoke.”

In the chaos, he said a conductor led passengers onto another train.

“My first thought when we got on that train, though, was, is the shooter still with us?” Foote-Smith said.

Police have named a suspect in the shooting — 62-year-old Frank R. James.

James is now considered a wanted fugitive. The U.S. Marshals have joined the search along with the NYPD, FBI, ATF and other agencies.

Inflation surges to 40-year high as food prices spike from groceries to takeout

April 13, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Inflation is at its highest point in nearly 40 years and the cost of food has steadily climbed month over month across multiple categories from groceries to takeout.

The Labor Department announced Tuesday that the Consumer Price Index jumped 8.5% in March compared to a year ago, which is the sharpest increase since December 1981.

Prices have soared as a result of massive consumer demand, supply chain disruptions from labor shortages to increasing fuel costs as well as global food and energy markets made worse by the current Russian war against Ukraine.

On Monday, ahead of the latest CPI numbers being released, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki addressed the media and said they expected headline inflation on food “to be extraordinarily elevated due to Putin’s price hike.”

While the new CPI was largely in line with expert predictions, inflation climbed 1.2% compared to last month and consumers have seen the impact, especially on food products.

“It is a reminder to us — that we need to do more to reduce cost for the American people,” Psaki continued. “This data will be a reminder of the need to do something and take additional steps.”

In March, the overall increase in the food index was one of the three largest contributors to inflation, according to the report Tuesday.

The food at home index, which includes groceries, saw a 1.5% jump in the last month. Plus, fresh produce climbed another 1.5% this month after an already 2.3% increase in February for fruits and vegetables. Since the same time period last year, the food at home index has jumped 10% annually, also marking the biggest increase since 1981.

The meats, poultry, fish and eggs index within the food at home bracket has gone up 13.7% since last year. Dairy and other at home grocery food groups ranged from a 7 to 10.3% increases.

Products like “meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 1% percent in March, while the index for cereals and bakery products rose 1.5% and the index for nonalcoholic beverages increased 1.2% over the month,” the report stated. “The dairy and related products index also increased 1.2% in March.”

The food away from home index — which spans limited service options like coffee shops to sit down restaurants — only rose 0.3% in March. But in the last year, the category rose 6.9% overall which was the largest 12-month increase since December 1981.

Consumers have felt the pinch and taken notice of pricier food products, especially with aspects of daily life resuming in the U.S., like returning to the office and getting back into a lunch routine.

Although many Americans were quick to tap or swipe a credit card for the convenience of sandwiches and salads, the prices of a bowl of greens has gone up 11% since last year, according to Square. The technology company told ABC news last month that in a 28-day rolling average of standard lunch items nationally, it found the cost sandwiches has gone up 14% and wraps 18% since last year.

The one contrast of the report was for food at employee sites and schools. That category declined 30.5% over the past year and reflects the widespread implementation of free lunch programs.

Environmentally friendly food brands to add to your pantry year-round

April 13, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — From snacks and condiments to drinks, more consumer product goods have leaned into environmentally responsible practices. As food businesses continue to adapt to the times, it’s easier than ever for shoppers to support brands with products that taste great and help the earth along the way.

Whether it’s a fully sustainable supply chain, ethically sourced ingredients, upcycling or zero-waste packaging, these are a handful of brands who are doing it right:

West~bourne

The zero-waste pantry line from plant-based restauranteur and chef Camilla Marcus utilizes low-impact plastic-free packaging such as sustainably-sourced wood cellulose pouches, sugarcane paper labels and soy ink.

The California-based company commits to low-impact products and a transparent supply chain, offsetting its carbon footprint on each order through investing in The Garcia River Project, a redwood forest preservation and management project that protects carbon reservoirs, preserves wildlife habitats, reduces the risk of wildfires and safeguards the California watershed.

Blue Stripes

Founder and CEO Oded Brenner left his successful international chocolate restaurant chain to forge a new path in the industry working with farmers in Ecuador to utilize the entire cacao fruit — shells, beans, fruit and all — to create wholesome nutritent-rich treats that take upcycled food to the next level.

“I am thrilled to finally share Blue Stripes, an urban cacao wellness brand, with the world and showcase the diversity of the cacao fruit,” Brenner said. “Especially because until today more than 70% of the fruit was wasted, and by using the entire fruit, we’re forming a sustainable structure that is a win/win for the consumer, farmer and the planet.”

His 15 products help curb wasteful practices and utilize every aspect of the crop; from the whole granola that’s made with a proprietary cacao shell flour to the cacao water made from the white, fleshy pulp that surrounds the beans.

“Upcycling ingredients is not just a way of bringing delicious products to consumers, but is also our duty to Mother Nature,” he added.

Sun & Swell

This zero-waste, plant-based, organic, healthy foods brands is helping alleviate the snack industry of plastics with their fully compostable packaging. With sustainability as its main priority, the company works to create a circular food economy by turning its over 100 products’ packaging back into farmable soil.

“We offer a send back program where [customers] send the used packages back in a prepaid return envelope and we will compost for them,” the company stated. “We have a number of composting partners and once we sort through the returned packages at our headquarters — we bring them to our partners to compost. Our bags will decompose within 180 days in an industrial compost setting.”

LesserEvil

The brand is on a mission to make healthy, organic, less-processed and sustainable snacks more affordable and accessible for everyone.

“We understand that the products we sell have an effect on not just our own health but on that of the planet,” CEO Charles Coristine said in a statement. “The agricultural practices — and their resulting waste practices — that bring food to our customers’ homes directly impact the environment.”

From plant-based Sun Poppers made from upcycled watermelon and pumpkin seeds and PeaNOTS made with water-efficient organic peas, LesserEvil offers a wide range of sustainable snacks.

The company also partners with NEO Plastics to package all of its snacks and help minimize waste and their overall carbon footprint.

ZenWTR

Not many beverage brands can boast a sustainability model that is plastic negative — a company that supports companies in the reduction of disposable plastic until its complete elimination. In fact, ZenWTR was the first and only to receive such certification for its innovative bottles, which are made of 100% recycled, certified ocean-bound plastic.

The vapor-distilled alkaline water company supports new recycling economies by creating demand for ocean-bound plastic and is on track to rescue 50 million pounds of it by 2025.

The brand’s unique supply chain — rescuing and reusing this category of waste to create a product — could change how other food and beverage brands think about plastic. Plus, 1% of its sales go directly to charities and organizations that are dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans and marine environments on top of recycling education and advocacy.

Minor Figures

The recently certified B Corp and sustainably minded coffee company makes 100% plant-based, dairy- and refined sugar-free products for coffee lovers, baristas and a better planet.

The company, which is one of a small handful of carbon neutral food and beverage companies, called it’s certification earlier this month, “more than just a sustainability label” but rather, “a movement with the collective goal of transforming the global economy to benefit people, communities, and the planet.”

“At the time of writing, we’re one of just 4,856 B Corps globally and we’re proud to be among the ranks of companies setting the new standard for the way business should be done,” the company said.

Compostic

While not a food product for consumption, this company said it created the first 100% home-compostable, zero-waste functional alternative to Cling Wrap and Resealable Bags. Plus, the easy sustainable swaps break down in home compost quicker than an orange peel.

US likely ‘dramatically undercounting’ current COVID-19 resurgence, experts say

April 13, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Although officials have been warning for weeks of an impending coronavirus resurgence across the country, health experts say it is impossible to know exactly how widespread the nation’s latest resurgence may actually be, given the declining availability of COVID-19 data.

“An effective public health response depends on high quality, real time data,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “Underreporting, driven by changes in testing behavior, lack of public interest and severely underfunded local public health departments, create a perfect storm of misleading case counts and hospitalizations.”

Since last summer, dozens of states, along with federal agencies, have opted to scale back on regular COVID-19 data reporting. A dwindling number of states still offer daily COVID-19 data reports, with most now moving to an alternate-day schedule or even to a weekly schedule.

“With changing case definitions for hospitalizations, decreased testing, and increased use of at-home rapid tests, data on COVID-19 in the U.S. has become increasingly hard to interpret,” Sam Scarpino, the vice president of pathogen surveillance at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Pandemic Prevention Institute, told ABC News.

The significant decrease in data reporting and the nationwide decline in public testing have left health experts concerned that officials could be missing viral surges and in the dark about true positivity rates in the country, given the lack of information.

“I think that we’re dramatically undercounting cases. We’re probably only picking up one in seven or one in eight infections. So when we say there’s 30,000 infections a day, it’s probably closer to a quarter of a million infections a day,” Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said during an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday. “They’re concentrated in the Northeast right now. And that’s because a lot of people are testing at home, they’re not presenting for definitive PCR tests, so they’re not getting counted.”

Health experts say official counts, which show small upticks, may actually be significantly higher than counted, as millions of Americans, who are taking at-home tests, rarely report their results to local health agencies

In consequence, testing levels are now at their lowest point since June 2020, with official test numbers dropping by more than 80% since the beginning of the year, with just half a million tests reported daily, compared to 2.5 million tests reported at the nation’s viral peak in January.

Dozens of states have also moved to shutter public testing sites, as at-home COVID-19 tests have become more accessible.

“These are uncharted waters for us with this virus,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told Bloomberg in an interview last week, reiterating that it is impossible to predict how COVID-19 will play out in the months to come.

“We are probably underestimating the number of infections that we’re having right now, because many of the infections are either without symptoms or minimally symptomatic, and you’ll miss that if people do it at home and it’s not reported to a central bank,” Fauci said.

In an effort to monitor the state of the current resurgence, scientists have been closely monitoring other metrics, including wastewater.

In the last 15 days, nearly 60% of wastewater sites monitored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported an increase in the presence of COVID-19 in their samples.

Hospitalization data, once the gold standard, now becoming less straightforward

For many officials, monitoring virus-related COVID-19 hospitalizations has been key to assessing the state of the pandemic. However, in recent months, hospitalization data, too, has become less accessible.

Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services ended the requirement for hospitals to report several key COVID-19 metrics, including a daily total of the number of COVID-19 deaths, the number of emergency department overflow and ventilated patients, and information on critical staffing shortages.

“Hospitalization data is now considered a key defining metric for pandemic severity by CDC. At the same time, with massive gaps in data from hospitals and states, it’s hard to peg these data as a gold standard by which policy decisions can be made,” Brownstein explained.

Further, certain states, such as Arizona, have stopped outright reporting of statistics including hospital bed usage and availability, COVID-19 specific hospital metrics and ventilator use.

And last week, one state — New Hampshire — quietly shifted the way it counts COVID-19 related hospitalizations to only include certain severely ill patients in its tally.

Despite an uptick in COVID-19 infections across the Northeast, officials from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services are now counting COVID-19 hospitalizations by the number of individuals who are currently receiving treatment for the virus with remdesivir, dexamethasone or both therapies — a move that has left some health experts puzzled, as they say the shift may conceal the real impact of COVID-19 on the health system.

According to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, the new metric is modeled on National Institutes of Health treatment guidelines and “provides a more accurate view of the how many people are hospitalized because of severe COVID-19 illness, as opposed to patients admitted for other health care needs who may incidentally have COVID-19.”

According to the current count, there are 10 patients receiving treatment for COVID-19 in New Hampshire. Comparatively, according to the New Hampshire Hospital Association, there are 83 COVID-19 positive patients receiving care across the state.

“One of the most important metrics has been the total number of people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19, used by state leadership, hospitals and public health to monitor severity of illness and the prevalence of COVID-19 in New Hampshire,” Steve Ahnen, the president of the New Hampshire Hospital Association, told ABC News.

At this time, nationally, there is still no clear number of how many patients are admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 and how many people have coincidentally tested positive for the virus after they were admitted for other reasons.

Experts say these totals likely vary widely, community by community, and a COVID-19 diagnosis, regardless of the reason behind initial admission, can cause additional strain on a health system.

“Unfortunately, the pandemic has continually exposed the fragile infrastructure of which these data are collected. And now at this late stage in the pandemic, data collecting efforts are starting to fracture even further,” Brownstein added.

‘The pandemic phase of COVID-19 is not yet over’

In the wake of the Gridiron dinner in Washington, D.C., where more than 80 top officials, politicians and journalists — all fully vaccinated — tested positive, health officials from the White House began to shift their messaging surrounding risk levels.

“What’s going to happen is that we’re going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation of the amount of risk that they want to take,” Fauci said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.

Such messaging has raised questions from some health experts who suggest that the U.S. may be leaving some vulnerable Americans behind.

“We’re at a time when U.S. public health authorities are basically declaring ‘People, you’re on your own’ when it comes to determining how to co-exist with COVID-19. Sadly, the tools we’ve relied on to determine risk levels are being discounted at best and discontinued at worst,” Dr. Maureen Miller, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, told ABC News. “It seems we’re trying to have it both ways: People are responsible for their own decisions about risk taking as the pandemic continues but are denied the tools to make informed decisions.”

Early, proactive measures to slow transmission, such as indoor masking, will prevent more extreme measures later, Scarpino said, adding, “Saving lives and livelihoods is what good public health is all about.”

Even if this current surge, due to the omicron subvariant BA.2, is not as explosive as the previous strains, it will still likely take hold in vulnerable parts of the country, Miller said.

“COVID-19 has thrown so many curve balls. It has also provided so many predictable events. Every surge in Europe has preceded a surge in the U.S. Why should this time be different?” Miller explained. “The pandemic phase of COVID-19 is not yet over. We should treat it with the respect that it deserves.”

NYC police search for gunman in Brooklyn subway shooting

April 13, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — New York City police are still hunting on Wednesday morning for a gunman who opened fire on a rush-hour subway train in Brooklyn.

The gun jammed during the incident, which is believed to have saved lives, a law enforcement official told ABC News.

A total of 29 people were transported from the scene to local hospitals with various injuries. Five of the gunshot victims were critically injured and have since stabilized, a fire department official told ABC News. The bloodshed comes amid a surge in crime on New York City’s transit system.

Police described the gunman, who is still on the run, as an “active shooter.”

“At this time, we still do not know the suspect’s motivation,” New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at press conference Tuesday evening. “Clearly this individual boarded the train and was intent on violence.”

A senior federal law enforcement source told ABC News that authorities are concerned Tuesday’s shooting showed a level of planning and commitment to kill scores of commuters during rush hour. The source said it is too early to know if the suspect acted alone.

Police said they are also looking for the renter of a U-Haul van possibly connected to the violence. Frank R. James, 62, has been identified by police as “a person of interest in this investigation” and there’s a $50,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.

The key to the van and a credit card, which law enforcement sources told ABC News was used to rent a U-Haul, were among the gunman’s possessions recovered from the scene of the shooting. James had rented the same van in Philadelphia, according to police, who noted that investigators weren’t sure whether he had any link to the attack.

“We are endeavoring to locate him to determine his connection to the subway shooting, if any,” James Essig, the New York City Police Department’s Chief of Detectives, said at the press conference Tuesday evening.

Senior law enforcement officials told ABC News that they have uncovered a number of social media posts and videos tied to James and are studying them closely to see if they are relevant to the subway attack.

Police said the U-Haul van was found on Tuesday afternoon, unoccupied and parked near a subway station on King’s Highway in Brooklyn’s Gravesend neighborhood, about 5 miles southeast of the 36th Street station. Investigators are working to determine if the U-Haul van has any connection to the suspect and are asking the public for their help with any information on what might have happened between the location where the vehicle was parked and the eight subway stops to 36th Street.

Nevertheless, police were able to get an image of the suspect from a bystander’s cellphone video, a law enforcement official told ABC News. Investigators are looking through video from other witnesses and surrounding businesses, hunting for any clues that point to a suspect.

Anyone with information, videos or photos related to the shooting is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.

As youth mental illness soars, US task force recommends screening children as young as age 8 for anxiety

April 13, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Children as young as 8 years old should be screened for anxiety, the country’s leading panel of experts on health prevention recommended Tuesday for the first time.

The new draft guidance comes amid rising rates of anxiety and depression among kids and teens in the U.S., particularly during the pandemic.

Written by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the guidance suggests children and adolescents between ages 8 and 18 be screened for anxiety. It also doubles down on a prior recommendation to screen for major depressive disorder and suicide among children ages 12 to 18.

The USPSTF also said there are now high enough rates of anxiety and plenty of screening tools and treatments to recommend regular screening of anxiety among 12- to 18-year-olds.

Before COVID-19, the most recent comprehensive national survey found that 8% of children had a current anxiety disorder.

The burden of mental illness has only intensified during the pandemic. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this month found 37% of youth have experienced poor mental health since March 2020.

This fall, a coalition of child health providers declared that the country was facing a “National Emergency in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.”

The task force noted that untreated anxiety can be debilitating. In the short-term, it can cause physical symptoms, such as unremitting headaches or stomachaches.

Anxiety can also wreak havoc on daily life by leading kids to avoid school, interpersonal activities, or certain other situations.

In the longer term, those disruptions can lead to poor performance and developmental delays.

Additionally, anxiety can increase the risk of poor coping mechanisms such as substance use or development of other forms of mental illness commonly associated with anxiety such as panic attacks or depression.

“To address the critical need for supporting the mental health of children and adolescents in primary care, the Task Force looked at the evidence on screening for anxiety, depression, and suicide risk,” task force member Dr. Martha Kubik said in a statement. “Fortunately, we found that screening older children for anxiety and depression is effective in identifying these conditions so children and teens can be connected to the support they need.”

The agency noted that children with certain adverse childhood experiences, such as trauma, abuse and inter-parental conflict may face particularly high risks, as well as children experiencing poverty, or those from communities of color who may be subject to “historic trauma, structural racism, and biopsychological vulnerability.”

The task force did not offer recommendations on how frequently children should be screened but suggested it may be beneficial for some at-risk children to have repeated screenings over time.

“This worsening crisis in child and adolescent mental health is inextricably tied to the stress brought on by COVID-19,” the authors of the national emergency declaration wrote. “We must identify strategies to meet these challenges … [and] improve the access to and quality of care across the continuum of mental health promotion, prevention, and treatment.”

What to know about tinted sunscreens, an inclusive option for sun protection

April 13, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — In recent years, tinted sunscreens have been rising in popularity, in large part because of their ability to better match a person’s skin tone without leaving a visible white film on the skin.

Responding to customer demand, large skin care brands have recently debuted new tinted sunscreen products that don’t leave a streaky white appearance on the skin.

With these sunscreens being tailored to blend in with the skin, experts are hopeful that this would encourage more people to use them, including those with darker skin tones.

“I think tinted sunscreen is absolutely changing the game in terms of inclusivity,” said Dr. Sonia Batra, a board-certified dermatologist in Santa Monica and a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Southern California. “It’s also easier to recommend and convince patients to use it as a daily form of protection when it doesn’t look so obvious on their skin and they’re able to blend it and they feel like there are formulations that have been created with them in mind.”

What are tinted sunscreens?

Unlike many traditional sunscreens, tinted sunscreens have the added benefit of protecting against visible light, which can accelerate skin darkening and pigmentation.

“By tailoring the sunscreen formulations to an individual’s skin tone, people are more likely to protect themselves from the sun, therefore reducing their risk of skin cancer,” Dr. Henry Lim, a board-certified dermatologist and the former president of the American Academy of Dermatology, said in a statement.

In a presentation on tinted sunscreens at the recent AAD Annual Meeting in Boston, Lim explained these new developments in sunscreen are now addressing the issue of sunscreen not matching some people’s skin tone.

Like traditional sunscreens products, they also help block ultraviolet radiation, which causes skin cancer and sunburn.

“It’s very important to protect against visible light because we know that in darker-skinned individuals once the skin becomes dark, for example from blemishes from acne, it will take a long time for it to go away,” Lim said. “So that is the reason that protection against visible light is important. That is the reason that tinted sunscreen is quite relevant now.”

Experts said the option of tinted sunscreens is making sunscreens more inclusive and usable for consumers.

“Accessibility has not been really appreciated for many years,” said Dr. Adam Friedman, a board-certified dermatologist, professor and chair of dermatology at George Washington School of Medicine. “But now I think that there is a real drive to make sunscreen use inclusive by providing sunscreens that are appropriate for everybody.”

What to look for in your sunscreens?

With the many new sunscreens on the market, there are some recommendations on what to look for when buying your next sunscreen.

Here are three tips:

1. If you want a tinted sunscreen, look for the word “tinted” on the label.

“Many of them, if they’re tinted will have on the front, a shade like light, medium, medium dark, or they may have a number which has like a little color associated with it,” Batra said.

2. Use a broad-spectrum, water-resistant SPF 30 or higher sunscreen. It is still important and recommended by dermatologists to use any sunscreens that are broad-spectrum, water-resistant and have an SPF of 30 or higher, in addition to wearing sun-protective clothing like breathable long sleeves and wide brim hats.

The SPF number or whether it’s broad-spectrum or water-resistant can also be found on the label. Importantly, everyone should wear sunscreen every day of the year, regardless of the weather and regardless of their skin tone.

3. Try a tinted sunscreen to see how it matches your skin tone. Experts said the appropriate tinted sunscreen shade varies from person to person, depending on each individual’s skin tone and undertone, which is the hue underneath the surface of the skin and affects the overall skin appearance.

The best way to find which one works best for you is trying it first, according to Friedman.

“I think a good rule of thumb whenever trying anything new is exactly that — do a trial, do an experiment,” he said. “Really, the best sunscreen is the one that you’re comfortable using again and again overtime.”

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russia says 1,026 Ukrainians surrendered in Mariupol

April 13, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian troops invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Russian forces have since been met with “stiff resistance” from Ukrainians, according to U.S. officials.

In recent days, Russian forces have retreated from northern Ukraine, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. After graphic images emerged of civilians lying dead in the streets of Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, the United States and European countries accused Russia of committing war crimes.

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

Apr 13, 6:17 am
Russia says 1,026 Ukrainians surrendered in Mariupol

Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed on Wednesday that more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered in besieged Mariupol, which is still held by Ukrainian forces.

“In Mariupol city, near the ‘Illich’ Steelworks, 1,026 Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th Marine Brigade have voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered as a result of a successful offensive by the Russian Armed Forces and Donetsk People’s Republic militia units,” the ministry said in a statement.

Russia said the surrendering troops included 162 officers and 47 women.

“151 wounded Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th Marine Brigade received primary medical care immediately on the spot, after that they were all taken to the Mariupol city hospital for further treatment,” the ministry said.

Tens of thousands feared dead in Mariupol as Russia renews assault in eastern Ukraine

April 13, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Tens of thousands of civilians could be dead in Mariupol, the city’s mayor said, as analysts warn that Russia is regrouping for a renewed assault on eastern Ukraine.

While there is no confirmed number of casualties, Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of Mariupol, suggested in an interview that the number of dead could be well over 10,000 in the coastal town, the site of some of the worst bombardment since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

Russian airstrikes have battered the southeastern city over the past few weeks targeting all kinds of buildings, including a theatre housing those seeking refuge, a maternity hospital and an art school. Officials say that over 80 percent of the city is destroyed.

With the city almost completely cut off from the outside world, it has been difficult for the authorities to verify atrocities alleged to have been committed on the ground, including claims made Monday by the Azov battalion, a far-right group now part of the Ukrainian National Guard, that Russia may have used chemical weapons against the Ukrainian forces in the city.

The claims could not be independently verified by ABC News.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office and the country’s ministry of defense said they are investigating the claims.

“We are currently confirming this information, trying to understand what it was. According to preliminary information, we can say that it is possible– that it was, rather, a phosphorous munition. Official information will be finalized later,” Deputy Minister of Defence Hanna Maliar said during a national news broadcast.

A spokesman for Russian-backed separatists, Eduard Basurin, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying Tuesday that they “haven’t used any chemical weapons in Mariupol.”

But on the eve of the alleged attack, Basurin made the case on Russian TV that his forces should use chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops to “smoke them out.”

Late on Monday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby issued a statement saying that the use of a substance cannot be confirmed, but expressed concerns about Russia’s potential use of “riot control agents including tear gas mixed with chemical agents.”

“We are aware of social media reports which claim Russian forces deployed a potential chemical munition in Mariupol, Ukraine. We cannot confirm at this time and will continue to monitor the situation closely. These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine,” the statement reads.

Britain’s armed forces minister said on Tuesday that should Russia resort to the use of chemical weapons in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, “all possible options are on the table in terms of how the West might respond” in response to the speculation, saying the reports had not been verified.

Whether or not phosphorous is considered a chemical weapon is a topic of debate among militaries and governments.

Although phosphorus is not classified as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Geneva Convention forbids its use as an incendiary weapon in civilian areas.

Amidst the reports of Russia regrouping behind its own borders, the British Ministry of Defense warned today that the fighting is set to intensify over the next two-three weeks with a renewed assault.

“Fighting in eastern Ukraine will intensify over the next two to three weeks as Russia continues to refocus its efforts there,” the U.K.’s ministry of defense stated in a tweet.

“Russian attacks remain focused on Ukrainian positions near Donetsk and Luhansk with further fighting around Kherson and Mykolaiv and a renewed push towards Kramatorsk. Russian forces continue to withdraw from Belarus in order to redeploy in support of operations in eastern Ukraine,” the post added.

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