(LONDON) — An American aid worker was gunned down in Baghdad on Monday, officials said.
Millennium Relief and Development Services, a Texas-based international aid group, confirmed in a statement that one of its workers was “shot and killed by armed attackers as he returned to this home on Monday evening.” His name has not yet been released.
“We are greatly saddened by the tragedy that took the life of our colleague, near his home in Baghdad, Iraq,” Millennium said. “An investigation is ongoing and details on the assailants and the motivation for the attack are not known at this time.”
The victim had worked for the past few years for Global English Institute, a local English learning institute that Millennium said has operated under its umbrella for more than two decades. He was in charge of “managing the promotions and advertising while his wife was manager of the school,” according to Millennium.
“He loved the people of Iraq and it motivated him to strive for excellence in his work at Global,” Millennium added. “He will be remembered as a source of great encouragement and will be missed by all who knew him and were touched by his life.”
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing.
Attacks against individual foreigners in Baghdad were common in the early years that followed the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
U.S.-led coalition forces concluded their combat mission in Iraq last year, but American troops remain there to advise and train Iraqi forces in the ongoing fight against ISIS.
(WASHINGTON) — The results of the 2022 midterm elections will almost certainly not be called on election night, but instead in the days and weeks after polls close on Tuesday, according to election experts and officials.
This is normal, they said, because the results of a number of decidedly tight, consequential federal and statewide races will be counted on each state’s separate calendar for canvassing early and mail-in votes and ensuing recounts or challenges to results that could further prolong the certification of votes.
“I would highly doubt that we would know who controls both chambers of Congress by the end of Election Day. I think we need to be prepared for an Election Day that will likely stretch over the week,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University.
“It’s not like the olden days of us getting results, even if it’s late into the night. I think this [getting official results late after Day] is going to be something that becomes a rule instead of the exception,” Koning said.
The process by which American elections are tallied is not new, election officials said, but the timeline for results to become official has swelled in recent years. That’s because of changes in American voting preferences, with many states permanently adopting expanded mail-in and early vote options initially enacted during the height of COVID-19 in 2020, coupled with few changes in state law that allow those early votes to be counted sooner and therefore quicker.
“The election does not ever and has not ended on Election Day… the election ends when all the legal votes have been counted and certified,” said David Alexander Bateman, an associate professor of government at Cornell University.
“The only thing new is that it’s just taking a little bit longer because of the increase in mail-in ballots and failure of some states, Pennsylvania especially, to expand authority to canvass and precanvass mail in ballots to make sure they could count them as quickly as they could,” he said.
Kim Wymaan, the Senior Election Security Advisor for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, noted that though news outlets call races on election night, it takes days and weeks to have official results.
“When the polls close, election officials remain in action — counting, processing, and conducting audits to be sure that the final, official results are accurate,” she said.
“It is precisely because of this rigorous counting and verification that voters can and should have confidence that their vote will be counted,” Wymaan added.
Another large component of the lag in announcing official election results will be the race recounts and candidates who may challenge the results of their contest that may arise after polls close and unofficial tallies trickle in.
And states like Georgia trigger automatic runoff elections between the two top candidates if no one candidate receives over 50% of the vote on Nov. 8. A recount could also be requested by the second-place candidate if the difference between them and the top candidate is not more than 0.5% of the total votes cast in the race.
Given the current polarized political climate, Koenig said she anticipates a number of candidates who will contest results.
“I don’t see any candidate is going to go down without a fight this cycle if the results are anywhere near close on either side of the aisle,” she said.
In the days leading up to Election Day, several states with particularly competitive races have noted they expect to certify their results after the election.
In Pennsylvania, home to one of the most closely-watched Senate races, acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman told reporters in a briefing on Monday that they don’t anticipate having unofficial results for “at least a few days.”
“We prioritize accuracy over speed,” Chapman said, noting that fully certified results won’t come until the Nov. 28 deadline under law. In Pennsylvania, counties will participate in “marathon counting,” meaning that they can start processing votes at 7 a.m. on Election Day, but counting still must begin at 8 p.m., after polls close.
“The delay doesn’t mean anything bad is happening,” she said.
The public and media should “not expect complete results on election night,” she added.
In Michigan, it may take until about 24 hours after the polls close before all votes are counted and the unofficial results are reported, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said at a press conference last week.
“Some jurisdictions may be done more quickly, but barring any disruption, we expect it will take until Wednesday late in the afternoon or evening for all jurisdictions to finish counting and reporting their results,” said Benson.
Benson added that the state has seen “meritless lawsuits,” and warned that “many of the seeds of doubt” will perhaps resurface after Election Day.
“We’re seeing the first of what we have seen for years. Meritless lawsuits used to get one’s name in the news and gain media attention caused confusion and sow seeds of doubt among voters. While these suits are ultimately resolved by the judges in accordance with the law, voters can expect that many of the seeds of doubt that they will plant will resurface potentially after the election,” said Benson.
In Arizona — which features a competitive Senate race and a tight contest for the governorship with Kari Lake, an election denier, as the Republican nominee — a high density of mail-in ballots may delay the release of official results. A recount is also more likely in Arizona, after the Republican legislature eased the threshold for an automatic recount to 0.5 percent after the 2020 election.
Nevada has given counties until Nov. 12 to receive mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day, with the secretary of state’s spokesperson Jennifer Russell telling the Las Vegas Sun that it could take a few days following the election to announce unofficial results. Counties have until Nov. 18 to certify results.
Nevada voters and candidates can request recounts which may be utilized as the races remain tight.
(NEW YORK) — A Michigan hospital system has limited the number of young visitors as cases of respiratory viruses continue to spike throughout the state and the country.
Under a new rule that took effect Monday morning, hospitals under the Corewell Health East system will not allow any visitors under the age of 5 to enter buildings.
The only exceptions will be for certain circumstances, such as if a parent or sibling is severely ill or if there is an end-of-life situation.
Cases of respiratory viruses have been increasing across the United States, mostly linked to respiratory synclinal virus, or RSV, and the flu.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, weekly RSV cases rose from 5,845 for the week ending Oct. 1 to 7,679 for the week ending Oct. 29.
Additionally, over the same period, positive tests for influenza reported to the CDC by clinical laboratories have jumped from 2,083 to 7,504, data shows.
What’s more, the cumulative hospitalization rate for flu in the U.S. is currently 2.9 per 100,000, the highest it has been since the 2010-11 season, according to the CDC.
Corewell Health East told local affiliate WXYZ there has been a 500% increase in positive tests for upper respiratory infections among pediatric patients, one of the reasons that led to the implementation of the new rule.
“We’re seeing an unprecedented number of patients in our emergency departments and upper respiratory infection caused by RSV,” Dr. Matthew Denenberg, chief of pediatrics at Corewell Health East, said. “It’s been a really early and severe year for RSV. Worse than any other year that I’ve seen. I’ve been doing this 20 years.”
According to state data, 72.2% of pediatric hospital beds across Michigan are occupied. Denenberg said the pediatric intensive care unit at his hospital has reached capacity.
“Our pediatric intensive care unit here at Corewell East in Royal Oak has been full consistently for the last few weeks,” he said in reference to a hospital 17 miles northwest of Detroit. “In fact, we have some ICU patients that are, you know, boarding over in the adult spaces.”
Corewell Health did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Last week Michigan health officials revealed that a 6-year-old boy died after developing complications from RSV.
The child is from Macomb County, which is made up of northern Metro Detroit and the immediate surrounding area.
According to the CDC, between 100 and 500 pediatric deaths occur from RSV every year.
At the time, Denenberg told “Good Morning America” deaths are not common and usually occur among those with pre-existing conditions.
“Very, very few children die from RSV, and the kids that get that sick, it’s usually a child that has an underlying illness,” he said.
(NEW YORK) — As the midterm elections begin, sky-high prices for essentials like food and gasoline have become a major line of criticism leveled at Democrats, who control the White House and Congress.
In fact, the issue may be enough to drive the incumbent party out of power — just as it has helped fuel government turnover across the globe, some experts told ABC News.
Global inflation during the pandemic era has helped drive public opposition toward incumbent parties and politicians, contributing to shifts in power across a host of countries over the past year, some financial experts told ABC news.
While experts cautioned against generalizations that diminish other issues or political dynamics at play within a given country, they noted how frustration over living costs has animated efforts to change political leadership in ways that resemble voter sentiment in the U.S. leading up to the midterm elections.
“This is a global inflationary shock – many countries are seeing inflationary pressure they haven’t seen since the 1970s and 1980s,” Robert Kahn, the managing director of global macro-geoeconomics at the New York-based Eurasia Group, told ABC News. “It’s driving a level of unhappiness among populations that’s definitely putting pressure on governments.”
“A lot of what we’re seeing and feeling is a U.S. manifestation of what everyone else is dealing with,” he added.
In Brazil, where President Jair Bolsonaro cut taxes on fuel and electricity in an effort to slash prices over the months preceding an election that concluded in October, the nation nevertheless replaced him with a leftwing challenger.
Meanwhile, in England, Prime Minister Liz Truss responded to the highest inflation in four decades with an economic policy centered on tax cuts and energy price controls. Her tenure in office lasted just 44 days before market reaction and political disarray led to her stepping down.
Over the summer, Colombia elected the first leftist president in its history as the inflation rate soared near 10%. While in Sri Lanka, a couple months prior, a mass uprising led to the removal of the country’s sitting president, as protesters cited frustration over the fastest inflation rate in Asia.
“When essential prices explode in ways that people can’t pay them anymore, it’s like some basic social contract breaks,” Isabella Weber, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, told ABC News.
“People go to work and earn money and they can buy stuff that covers their basic needs on the market,” she added. “If they feel their wage isn’t sufficient to cover these basic needs, then this basic contract starts to crumble for too many people, which brings social and political consequences.”
The pattern this year matches a high rate of leadership change amid inflation crises around the world over the last half century, according to research authored by Kahn and Eurasia Group CEO Maziar Minovi. Examining 57 inflation shocks since 1970, they found government turnover in 58% of cases.
Further, when there was an election during or within two years of an inflation shock, it led to a change in government in roughly three out of every four instances, the study found.
To be sure, at least one expert said it’s too difficult to discern the political impact of inflation alongside other potential factors driving voter sentiment worldwide.
Carsten Kowalczyk, a professor of international economics at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, acknowledged the role that inflation has played historically in contributing to government turnover, but he said the political implications of current price hikes remain uncertain.
“It’s not clear how much inflation has really affected the outlook of folks,” he told ABC News. “Inflation may affect people differently.”
As with other global economic problems, inflation comes down to an imbalance between supply and demand.
Billions across the globe facing lockdowns replaced restaurant or leisure expenditures with couches and exercise bikes. The surge in demand followed a pandemic-induced flood of economic stimulus. Moreover, that stimulus brought about a speedy economic recovery from the March 2020 downturn, triggering a hiring blitz.
But the surge in demand for goods and labor far outpaced supply, as COVID-related bottlenecks slowed delivery times and infection fears kept workers on the sidelines.
In turn, prices and wages skyrocketed, prompting sky-high inflation. The war between Russia and Ukraine has exacerbated the price hikes, worsening a global shortage of oil and food. Such price increases have bedeviled countries across the globe, some of which have suffered much worse inflation than the U.S.
“We made a tradeoff in 2020: We’re going to save the economy and save people’s jobs by pumping trillions into the economy,” Aswath Damodaran, a professor of finance at New York University. “This inflation is the tradeoff. They were effectively delaying the pain that COVID brought to the global economy.”
Despite the global nature of inflation and limited policy levers available to President Joe Biden to reverse it, Democrats are being held accountable for a cost of living crisis experienced while they’ve controlled Congress and the White House, some experts said.
The share of likely voters who say economic issues are the most important concerns facing America stands at 44%, a jump from 36% who said so in July, according to a New York Times/Siena poll released last month. Those economy-focused voters overwhelmingly preferred Republicans, by more than a two-to-one margin, the poll said.
In a similar poll, released by NBC News in September, voters favored Republicans by nearly 20 percentage points on the issue of the economy.
“If you’re an incumbent, you get credit for things that go well, even if they’re not your fault,” Kenneth Rogoff, a professor of economics at Harvard University who studies global inflation, told ABC News. “You get blame for things when they go badly, even if it’s not your fault.”
On the campaign trail, many Republican candidates have criticized Biden and Congressional Democrats for expansive spending, which Republicans say directly led to the spike in prices. Specifically, the Democrats have faced criticism for the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus measure signed into law by Biden in March 2021 in response to the pandemic.
While the Biden measure comprised a major spending package, former President Donald Trump backed even greater coronavirus-related spending, signing into law a package in December 2020 worth $2.3 trillion.
Inflation appears to fuel discontent with incumbents, regardless of whether they pursue liberal or conservative policies, said Kahn of the Eurasia Group.
“There is a tendency in the American economic debate to see what’s happening in the U.S. as unique to the U.S.,” Kahn said. “It’s right to say that it’s playing out differently in the U.S. than it is elsewhere but it’s a part of the same global phenomenon.”
“In the face of a global shock, there is a vote-the-bums-out element to this,” he added. “It punishes whoever is in power, whether left or right.”
(NEW YORK) — Across the country, pediatric bed occupancy is the highest it’s been in two years, with 78% of the estimated 40,000 beds filled with patients, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The rise in occupancy — a 2% increase from last week and a 7% increase from mid-October — comes amid a nationwide surge in cases of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, influenza and rhinovirus/enterovirus (RV/EV).
Amid the surge, five states — Arizona, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Kentucky and Texas — continue to be using at or above 90% of pediatric hospital beds.
Late last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an official health advisory in response to the rise in respiratory infections in children.
The health advisory warned that “Co-circulation of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2, and others could place stress on healthcare systems this fall and winter.”
This year, rates of RSV-associated hospitalizations began to increase during late spring and continued to increase through the summer and into early fall. Preliminary data from October shows weekly rates of RSV-associated hospitalizations among children younger than 18 years old are higher than rates observed during similar weeks in recent years.
While RSV activity appears to be plateauing in some places, the timing, intensity and severity of the current RSV season are uncertain.
RSV is a contagious virus that can spread from viral respiratory droplets transferred from an infected person’s cough or sneeze; from direct contact with the virus, like kissing the face of a child with RSV; and from touching surfaces, like tables, doorknobs and crib rails, that have the virus on them and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth before hand-washing, according to the CDC.
People infected with RSV are usually contagious for three to eight days, but some infants can continue to spread the virus even after they stop showing symptoms, for as long as four weeks, according to the CDC.
Among children, premature infants and young children with weakened immune systems or congenital heart or chronic lung disease are the most vulnerable to complications from RSV.
According to the CDC, death from RSV is rare. There are between 100 to 500 pediatric deaths and 14,000 adult deaths each year related to RSV, with the actual figure likely being higher due to undercounting.
At the same time as RSV cases are surging, positive tests for influenza reported to the CDC by clinical laboratories jumped from 2,083 to 7,504 in October, data shows.
What’s more, the cumulative hospitalization rate for flu in the U.S. is currently 2.9 per 100,000, the highest it has been since the 2010-11 season, according to the CDC.
Experts told ABC News that a combination of waning immunity to COVID and lack of exposure to other viruses, combined with close gatherings indoors, is fueling a “perfect storm.”
“Mostly the issue is there’s low population immunity and kids are, once again, gathered again, and this is facilitating rapid spread of viruses like RSV,” Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, said. “And because of the sheer volume of infection, when you have that larger denominator, you have a situation where a portion of those kids are going to require hospital treatment. And because of that, our hospitals are spread thin, not only for bed capacity, but also for critical staffing, of those beds.”
He added, “So the combination of shortages, bed capacity and rising viral illness all make for an unfortunate perfect storm that we’re seeing happen everywhere right now.”
In Michigan, a hospital system on Monday began limiting the number of young visitors as cases of respiratory viruses continue to spike throughout the state and the country.
Under a new rule, hospitals under the Corewell Health East system will not allow any visitors under the age of 5 to enter buildings.
The only exceptions will be for certain circumstances, such as if a parent or sibling is severely ill or if there is an end-of-life situation.
(WASHINGTON) — Polling places across the country will be bustling with crowds of voters on Election Day, Nov. 8. It can be easy to get confused or lost in the frenzy.
Here’s what voters should know to help get through the day smoothly:
How to vote
It’s recommended that voters check local election websites, or resources from the National Conference of State Legislatures, to know what the rules of Election Day are for their state and region.
Firstly, the FBI warns of possible scams and bad faith actors that may target voters with inaccurate election dates, false voting qualifications and methods and more.
Election Day is always the first Tuesday after Nov. 1 — this year’s date is Nov. 8.
There is no option for the general public to vote online or by text, the FBI confirms on its website.
To vote on Election Day, you must go to your designated polling place. You can find where your polling place is located by putting in your home address in poll locators on websites including Vote.org, Google.com or on your local elections website.
If you’re in need of an accommodation for a disability or need help with voting using a minority language at your polling site, your polling place will likely offer special assistance, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The agency recommends contacting your local elections office for details.
“Contact your local elections office for advice, materials in a specific language, information about voting equipment, and details on access to the polling place, including parking,” the agency states.
Local voter guides can help voters stay informed on who is on the ballot, what the candidates are advocating for and what ballot measures will be up for vote at election time. Your local voters guide can likely be found on your local election’s website or at VOTE411’s Personalized Ballot guide search. Sample ballots are also handy for knowing who and what is on the ballot.
USAGov, a federal service that curates government information, recommends bringing notes, a voter’s guide or a sample ballot with you into the voting booth — this is allowed, so voters can be sure of their choices for candidates and ballot initiative options.
However, some polling places may restrict the use of cellphones, so USAGov recommends bringing paper copies instead of using notes on your phone.
Many states won’t require you to bring your voter registration card to the polls, however the majority of them do expect some form of identification to vote in person.
The laws may have changed in recent years, so it’s recommended that voters check local elections rules on restrictions and identification.
Don’t forget your rights
The American Civil Liberties Union advises voters that if the polls close while you’re still in line, stay in line.
They say that many Election Day snafus should be remedied quickly — if a mistake is made on your ballot, you can ask for a new one and if the voting machines are down at your location, you are allowed to ask for a paper ballot.
If a poll worker says that a voter’s name is not on the list of registered voters, the ACLU recommends that voters ask the poll worker to double check the spelling of their name. The organization also recommends double checking that the voter is at the correct polling place.
If a poll worker still cannot find your name or if you cannot travel to the correct polling place, ask for a provisional ballot. Voters are entitled to a provisional ballot even if they aren’t in the poll book, ACLU states.
Election officials will investigate whether you are qualified to vote and registered — if you are, your provisional ballot will be counted.
If you are turned away or denied a provisional ballot, the ACLU recommends reporting the experience to local election officials or calling the Election Protection Hotline.
The hotline is run by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in case voters run into any issues on Election Day.
The hotline is available in several different languages — English, 1-866-687-8683; Spanish: 1-888-839-8682; Arabic: 1-844-925-5287; For Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, or Vietnamese: 1-888-274-8683.
What voter intimidation looks like
“The goal of voter intimidation, on the other hand, is to deter or influence voting activity through threats to deprive voters of something they already have, such as jobs, government benefits, or, in extreme cases, their personal safety,” states the U.S. Department of Justice in a 2017 report.
Voter intimidation is a civil rights violation and it is illegal.
“Voter intimidation can vary and the federal and state protections are broad for that reason, seeking to protect voters against a number of different ways that voter intimidation could arise,” said Katie Friel, a fellow in the Brennan Center’s Democracy program. “For nearly all voters, it will be a calm and uneventful Election Day.”
A Georgetown Law fact sheet states that voter intimidate can look like violent behavior in or near a polling site, verbal or physical threats of violence, confrontations with voters while wearing official-looking uniforms, harassment, spreading false information about voting requirements or methods, and more.
If you see or experience voter intimidation, the ACLU urges voters to notify local election officials, document what you experienced, and call the U.S. Department of Justice Voting Rights Hotline at 800-253-3931 or the Election Protection Hotline.
The FBI asks that voters “help defend the right to vote by reporting any suspected instances of voter suppression” to a local FBI field office or at tips.fbi.gov.
If voters fear imminent violence, the ACLU recommends calling 9-1-1.
(WASHINGTON) — Eight more complaints of alleged voter intimidation at ballot box drop sites have been referred to local and federal law enforcement agencies by the Arizona secretary of state’s office, ABC News has learned.
The newest referrals bring to 18 the total number of harassment and intimidation complaints that Arizona officials have elevated to law enforcement since early voting began in midterm elections across the state.
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is also the Democratic candidate for governor in Arizona, elevated the latest complaints to local law enforcement officials, the Arizona attorney general’s office, the Justice Department, and the FBI, officials said.
“Voters should be able to cast their ballot without fear of intimidation,” Hobbs’ spokesperson, Sophia Solis, said in a statement to ABC News. “We encourage anyone who experiences intimidation at a voting location to contact their county recorder, Secretary of State’s Office, or law enforcement.”
All but one of the complaints are related to alleged voter intimidation at ballot drop box sites. The other complaint is related to alleged harassment of election officials.
A federal judge last week banned members of a group accused of voter intimidation from coming within 75 feet of ballot drop boxes in Arizona. The ruling also prohibits members who openly carry firearms or wear visible body armor from coming within 250 feet of ballot boxes.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi, in an unexpected reversal of an earlier ruling in a related case, granted a motion last Tuesday for a restraining order in a case consolidating a lawsuit brought by the nonprofit advocacy groups Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans and Voto Latino with a similar suit brought by the League of Women Voters of Arizona.
Both lawsuits accused Clean Elections USA and the group’s founder, Melody Jennings, of carrying out surveillance of voters in a “coordinated vigilante intimidation campaign” at ballot drop box locations, “with the express purpose of deterring voters … from depositing their ballots.”
According to the judge’s order, members of the group are prohibited from following voters who are delivering ballots to the drop box; speaking to or yelling at voters returning ballots to the drop box; sharing or posting information about voters who return ballots to a drop box; and taking photos or recording videos of voters dropping off ballots.
The group is also banned from accusing individuals of committing voter fraud solely based on the fact they deposited multiple ballots in a drop box, and from making false claims about Arizona laws that permit people to return ballots in a drop box on another person’s behalf in exceptional circumstances.
Addressing Clean Elections USA and its founder’s promotion of a false claim accusing some voters of being so-called “ballot mules,” Liburdi ordered Jennings to write a post on Truth Social stating that there are several reasons why voters in Arizona can legally return more than one ballot to a ballot drop box site. Per the judge’s order, Jennings’ post also included the relevant Arizona law on returning more than one ballot.
Jennings did not comment when contacted by ABC News.
The one report of alleged election worker harassment detailed a menacing message sent to three election employees. “Remember the French Revolution of 1799??” it said.
(NEW YORK) — The second total lunar eclipse of the year is set to take place on Tuesday — and it will be the last time you can catch one until 2025.
The lunar eclipse — when the sun, Earth and moon align, and the moon passes into Earth’s shadow — will begin Tuesday around 3 a.m. ET, according to NASA. Totality will occur at 5:17 a.m. ET.
People living in Hawaii and Alaska should be able to view the total eclipse because the moon will appear to move above the Pacific Ocean.
Totality is also visible in the early morning before the moon sets in North America and Central America, and in the early evening after the moon rises in Asia and Australia, according to NASA.
The Kopernik Observatory & Science Center in New York will livestream the eclipse on its YouTube page.
Tuesday’s eclipse will be the second one in 2022.
In May, there was a total blood moon eclipse. That eclipse was a penumbral eclipse, when the moon is completely immersed in the penumbral cone of the Earth without touching the umbra, the inner part of Earth’s shadow.
The next total lunar eclipse will not occur until March 14, 2025.
(NEW YORK) — A California mother whose son was shot and killed in 2019 by police during a mental health crisis has partnered with local officials to create a mobile task force to aid those struggling with mental illness.
Taun Hall’s son, Miles, began showing signs of possible mental illness during his teenage years. He would later be diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and, as his symptoms progressed, Hall worried about Miles’ safety.
The fears were not unfounded: People with severe, untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed by police, according to Treatment Advocacy Center, a nonprofit based in Arlington, Va. Hall also worried about Miles as a Black man, which made him three times as likely as white people to be killed by law enforcement, according to a study by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Hall reached out to law enforcement in her Walnut Creek neighborhood, a wealthy suburb a few miles from San Francisco, to alert them about her son’s mental health challenges. She also worked with her local mental health officer to open a channel of communication.
“I was trying to be preventive,” Hall said. “I was trying to get things handled before there was a problem.”
Miles’ condition worsened in 2019; he began experiencing delusions and sometimes referred to himself as “Jesus.” But he was 23, legally an adult, and Hall couldn’t force him to get help.
“You see your child going down a mental health kind of spiral… you can see the deterioration, but you can’t do anything to help him.”
When Hall saw Miles’ symptoms getting worse, she reached out to the mental health officer she’d been working with to aid Miles. Hall left a message for her, and called the local police department’s non-emergency line, trying to alert them to Miles’ condition in case her son encountered law enforcement. “I was like, ‘OK, if they know him, they’re gonna respond with care and compassion.’”
The next day, Miles was gardening with his grandmother. A neighbor loaned Miles a gardening tool, a long metal rod that resembled a crow bar. Miles began walking around with the rod, calling it his “staff from God.” He was walking around, saying he was Jesus, when he used the metal rod to break a sliding glass door at the family’s home, Hall said.
Miles came into the home and asked Hall and her husband to leave. They did, in an effort to de-escalate the situation, and Hall called 911. Hall told the 911 operator Miles had a metal rod.
About 10 minutes later, a neighbor called to tell Hall that Miles had been shot. According to police reports, officers responded to several calls that afternoon, not just Hall’s call.
Miles had been pounding on a neighbor’s door and several residents called police. Police footage shows officers calling Miles by his name, shouting at him to “stop” as he approached them, holding the metal rod. Despite their orders, Miles kept moving forward. Then, officers fired a bean-bag round, meant to stop a suspect but not do permanent damage. When that didn’t stop Miles, officers shot him several times with their handguns, killing him.
“The worst fricking moment of, you know, our lives was right then, right there.”
An internal investigation cleared the officers of wrongdoing.
In the years since her son’s death, Hall has worked with Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan to try to stop other families from experiencing the same tragedy. Hall realized that what would have been helpful to her was having someone to call who wasn’t the police. “We needed a different number to call. We needed a different response.”
Replacing police with mobile response units to address low-level calls — like those about mental health — is happening in many cities around the country. Oakland, California, began testing a pilot program in April. The new task force, called MACRO — Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland — was created to provide a first-response option that was separate from the police.
Oakland residents can access the task force by calling 911 and being connected to a special MACRO dispatch center. The task force’s interactions with the public come from what they call “on-view” calls. These take place when the team sees someone who may need assistance and offers resources and basic medical attention.
“If someone’s in need and you can put your eyes on them, you can stop and help them,” said program manager Elliott Jones. “And even if you’re just giving them a bottle of water and sitting them up straight, that’s maybe more compassion they’ve gotten and God knows how long.”
Each MACRO team has an EMT, a crisis intervention specialist and a minivan packed with supplies. The team doesn’t just address low-level mental health concerns. It also helps with homelessness, public intoxication and behavioral issues, among others.
Hall worked with Bauer-Kahan on a bill to expand funding for mental health services in California and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill at the end of September, locking in an 8-year roadmap to fund mobile crisis units across California.
Accessible through the national suicide and crisis line — 988 — these services will connect users to crisis intervention specialists, counselors and peer support workers. Hall says that this is the response that could have helped her son.
“I can’t ever take back a phone call,” said Hall, referring to the 911 call she made the day her son was killed. “I can’t ever take back the officer shooting him…but I can take my pain to purpose and make sure this doesn’t happen to somebody else.”
If you are experiencing suicidal, substance use or other mental health crises please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You will reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org.
(NEW YORK) — A tropical storm and storm surge warnings are now in effect along the east coast of Florida as Subtropical Storm Nicole makes its way toward the state, according to the National Weather Service.
The NWS warned Monday that Nicole could be as strong as a hurricane when it approaches Florida’s east coast later this week.
The storm could impact election week in the Sunshine State, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is running against Democratic rival Charlie Crist and Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., is trying to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 34 counties.
“While this storm does not, at this time, appear that it will become much stronger, I urge all Floridians to be prepared,” he said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor the trajectory and strength of this storm as it moves towards Florida.”
Florida Power & Light is urging customers to prepare for power outages and has activated its emergency response plan ahead of Nicole’s potential impact on the state this week.
“[Hurricane] Ian saturated soil and weakened trees in many parts of the state, so Nicole could cause trees to topple over and other vegetation and debris to blow into overhead power lines and equipment, which may cause outages,” Eric Silagy, chairman and CEO of FPL, said in a statement.
Nicole formed in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean on Monday, becoming the 14th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends this month. Nicole’s center will approach the northwestern Bahamas on Tuesday, move near or over those islands on Wednesday, then approach eastern Florida by Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Currently, Nicole wields maximum sustained winds of about 45 miles per hour, with higher gusts. Winds of 40 mph or greater extend outward up to 275 miles to the east of the storm’s center.
“Gradual strengthening is forecast during the next few days, and Nicole could be near or at hurricane intensity by Wednesday or Wednesday night while it is moving near the northwestern Bahamas,” the National Weather Service said in a public advisory issued Monday morning.
A tropical storm watch is now in effect for the northwestern Bahamas.
Tropical storm conditions are possible in the northwestern Bahamas by Tuesday night or early Wednesday. A storm surge could raise water levels by as much as 3 to 5 feet above normal tide levels along the coast in areas of onshore winds, according to the National Weather Service.
Nicole is expected to produce between 2 and 4 inches of rainfall across the northwestern Bahamas Tuesday through Thursday, with a maximum of 6 inches for localized rain. The storm is expected to bring “heavy rainfall” to parts of Florida and the southeastern United States by mid- to late week, the National Weather Service said.
Between 4 and 7 inches of rainfall is possible along the eastern coastline from Florida to the Carolinas. Tropical storm-force winds of 60 to 70 mph are also in the forecast, depending how much Nicole strengthens. The storm could lead to beach erosion, rough surf and rip currents.
Tropical weather systems have the potential to quickly grow into hurricanes, while subtropical ones do not. A subtropical storm typically generates more rain and heavy thunderstorms. If a subtropical storm intensifies enough to have hurricane-force winds, then it has become fully tropical. There is no such thing as a subtropical hurricane, according to the National Weather Service.
